LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani is maintaining elite firm.
The Japanese famous person caps 2024 by profitable The Related Press Male Athlete of the Yr for the third time, tying him with basketball nice Michael Jordan. He trails solely four-time winners Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and LeBron James.
“I am very honored,” Ohtani stated by way of interpreter Matt Hidaka in an unique interview with the AP. “Clearly all of the arduous work has paid off. Perhaps subsequent 12 months, I am going to get the award once more.”
In balloting by 74 sports activities journalists from the AP and its members, Ohtani obtained 48 factors. He beforehand gained the award in 2023 and 2021, when he was with the Angels.
“Rising up in Japan, I did comply with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods,” he stated. “I’d see their accolades and the way they had been profitable in the US.”
The AP honor has been given out since 1931. Golfer Babe Didrikson gained six occasions, probably the most by a person or lady.
Swimmer Léon Marchand of France, who gained 4 gold medals on the Paris Olympics, was second with 10 votes in balloting introduced Monday. Golfer Scottie Scheffler, whose victories this 12 months included the Masters and an Olympic gold medal, was third with 9.
The AP Feminine Athlete of the Yr shall be introduced Tuesday.
Transferring from the beleaguered Los Angeles Angels to the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers, Ohtani gained his third Most Beneficial Participant award and first within the Nationwide League, led his new staff to its eighth World Sequence championship and created Main League Baseball’s 50/50 membership by hitting 54 house runs and stealing 59 bases.
Ohtani signed a then-record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers in December 2023. Already a two-way famous person, he embellished his repute even additional regardless of not pitching all season whereas he rehabilitated from a second main proper elbow surgical procedure he had in September 2023.
Ohtani went wild on offense, making each at-bat a must-see second. The 6-foot-4 designated hitter batted a career-high .310 whereas simply surpassing his earlier profession highs in house runs and stolen bases.
In September, he reached the beforehand unheard of fifty/50 mark in a efficiency for the ages. In opposition to the Miami Marlins in Florida, Ohtani went 6 for six with 3 homers, 10 RBIs, 2 stolen bases and 17 complete bases.
“It would not shock me if he went 60/60 and 20 wins a 12 months from now,” Brad Ausmus, who managed the Angels in 2019 throughout Ohtani’s second season in Anaheim, stated lately. “This man is the best athlete to ever play the game of baseball and there is not a detailed second.”
Ohtani stated he knew the Dodgers’ franchise file for many homers in a season was 49. His earlier greatest was 46, set in 2021.
“I form of wished to recover from that bar,” he stated. “I used to be pleasantly stunned I used to be capable of move that file.”
Ohtani carried the Dodgers offensively through the common season, and he stayed wholesome till Sport 2 of the World Sequence. He injured his left shoulder attempting to steal second base in opposition to the New York Yankees and completed the Sequence enjoying damage.
He underwent surgical procedure a couple of days after the Dodgers celebrated their championship in early November.
“I haven’t got full vary of movement but, however it feels quite a bit higher,” he informed the AP. “There isn’t any ache. There’s clearly nonetheless slightly little bit of tightness, however slowly however certainly it is getting higher.”
Ohtani lately obtained an up to date rehab schedule, and he is targeted on the near-term.
“It is the small steps that I believe are crucial to get me to the final word purpose, which is to only get again wholesome,” he stated.
Ohtani can be throwing within the 70 mph vary, which is typical for pitchers early within the offseason.
“I will proceed to ramp up slowly,” he stated.
The Dodgers’ rotation for subsequent season is in flux, and Ohtani is ready to see the way it shakes out.
“We might go along with a five-man rotation with a bullpen [game], which is what we did quite a bit throughout this season or we might have a six-man rotation,” he stated. “But it surely’s all about balancing out once we can get relaxation and recuperate. We’ll see the place that takes us alongside the playoff chase. I’ve received to clearly tempo myself, however once more that state of affairs will information us to how we get there.”
The Dodgers open the 2025 season in Japan, the place Ohtani is much more carefully watched.
“My private purpose is to be totally wholesome by the point the opening video games do begin,” he stated. “To have the ability to pitch and hit can be nice, however the state of affairs will form of information itself.”
Every time Ohtani involves the plate or steps on the mound, there’s nice stress and expectation for him to carry out spectacular feats.
“I simply go on the market and attempt to keep inside myself,” he stated. “I can solely management what I can management and that is the place you belief your teammates. The fellows behind me, you belief they’ll make the performs for you. I do not actually attempt to overthink it.”
Ohtani generated large bucks for the Dodgers off the sector, too.
Followers traveled from Japan in droves to see him play across the U.S. At Dodger Stadium, and so they paid additional for excursions of baseball’s third-oldest venue narrated by Japanese-speaking guides and to be on the sector throughout pregame batting apply. A majority of the followers purchased Ohtani-branded merchandise, particularly his No. 17 jersey.
Ohtani’s presence additionally helped the Dodgers land a bevy of recent Japanese sponsors.
As a result of Ohtani prefers to talk Japanese and use an interpreter with the media, he’s shrouded in a little bit of mystique. Requested earlier than his first postgame sequence if he was nervous, he dropped a one-word reply in English: “Nope,” which drew laughter.
Japanese-born Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts noticed Ohtani’s behind-the-scenes interactions together with his teammates, coaches and employees, and got here away impressed.
“I actually do imagine that nearly as good of a ballplayer as he’s, he is a significantly better particular person. He is very variety, thoughtful, he cares,” Roberts informed the AP. “I am simply pleased with any fame or glory or award that he receives as a result of he simply does it in such a respectful and humble approach.”
Ohtani relishes his privateness and barely shares particulars about himself off the sector. That is why his February announcement through Instagram that he had wed Mamiko Tanaka, a former basketball participant, shocked his new teammates and the remainder of the world.
The next month, after the Dodgers arrived in South Korea to open the season, he was enveloped in scandal when his longtime interpreter and good friend, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers after being accused of utilizing thousands and thousands of {dollars} of Ohtani’s cash to position bets with an unlawful bookmaker.
His new teammates rallied round Ohtani, who was discovered to don’t have any half within the wrongdoing, and publicly it did not appear to have an effect on him even when he was privately distressed by it.
By June, the uproar had subsided. Mizuhara pleaded responsible to federal financial institution and tax fraud costs and admitted to stealing practically $17 million from Ohtani.
The general public received a glimpse of Ohtani’s softer facet in August, when his canine Decoy delivered a primary pitch to his proprietor on their shared bobblehead night time. The Nederlandse Kooikerhondje exchanged an endearing high-five with Ohtani on the plate.
Because of this, Decoy grew to become a star in his personal proper, together with his breed (pronounced COY-ker-HUND-che) making the listing of probably the most mispronounced phrases of 2024. He and Ohtani had been talked about through the telecast of final month’s Nationwide Canine Present, the place the small spaniel-type breed was among the many rivals.
“The variety of the breed has form of dwindled, so by him gaining slightly bit of recognition hopefully that brings up the variety of his breed,” Ohtani stated. “I do really feel like we had been capable of, in a small approach, contribute to the recognition of the canine and I am certain Decoy himself can be comfortable about that.”
Ohtani shall be seeking to high himself subsequent 12 months whereas eyeing a repeat World Sequence title.
“It is nearly like proper now you may lock within the Most Beneficial Participant within the Nationwide League award as a result of nobody has that capability or expertise,” Roberts stated.
“I am simply excited to see what ’25 has for Shohei Ohtani.”
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