Shohei Ohtani was honored with the Hank Aaron Award for the second year in a row on Thursday. This was in recognition of his outstanding first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which he had the most home runs and RBIs in the National League.
Shortly after the Japanese superstar received the NL award, given to the league’s best offensive player, he was selected to the All-MLB First Team as a designated hitter.
Ohtani doesn’t just break Japanese baseball records
He also won the Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award for the fourth consecutive year, given unanimously by a panel of beat writers and broadcasters.
Aaron Judge was honored with the American League’s Hank Aaron Award, which Ohtani won last year as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. The New York Yankees outfielder was also named to the All-MLB first team.
Ohtani is the first player to win the Hank Aaron Award, selected by a panel of Hall of Famers and a fan vote, in both leagues. He did not attend the awards ceremony in Las Vegas after recently having surgery on his left shoulder, but gave his acceptance speech in a video message.
“It is an honor to receive an award named after the legendary Hank Aaron,” said Ohtani. “My deep gratitude goes out to all the fans and Hall of Famers who voted for me. Your support means everything to me.”
The All-MLB teams were selected through a process in which 50 percent of the votes were cast by fans and the remainder by a panel of experts.
Dodger outfielders Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez were selected to the All-MLB first and second teams, respectively.
Ohtani received his third Silver Slugger Award earlier this week as the NL’s top offensive player as a designated hitter, tying Ichiro Suzuki for the most wins by a Japanese player.
The 30-year-old is the favorite for the NL MVP Award, which will be presented on November 21st.
Shota Imanaga, a first-year left-hander with the Chicago Cubs, was named to the second team and surprised the awards ceremony by singing the team’s theme song, “Go Cubs Go,” with a band.
Imanaga, who recited some of the song’s lyrics at his introductory press conference in January, further endeared himself to Cubs fans by going 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 29 starts.
