Unsurprisingly, Shohei Ohtani unanimously selected as 2021 AL MVP

[jmowreader]

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mvp-award-winners-2021?partnerId=zh-20211119-504817-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20211119-504817-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=py7NZgyF3ym%2BDrrD0kvozsfL6giC3OFWa6e%2B7GTP8EHVEUrPUMQn3DylHB6ZK9Aj&bt_ts=1637332224707

Ohtani is the first player in the history of MLB to throw 30+ strikeouts (he threw 156) and hit 30+ home runs (he hit 46) in the same season. He was also the leader in offensive WAR, third in total HR, and tied for first in triples. Hitting five 450-foot HRs didn't hurt him either.

I looked it up. The players who have hit exactly 46 HRs in one season are Barry Bonds (two seasons), Jose Canseco, Vinny Castilla, Orlando Cepeda, Joe DiMaggio, Adam Dunn, Prince Fielder, Lou Gehrig, Jim Gentile, Juan Gonzalez, Harmon Killebrew, Derrek Lee, Eddie Matthews, Ohtani, Carlos Pena, Alber Pujols, Jim Rice, Babe Ruth (three seasons) and Alfonzo Soriano. Baseball Reference doesn't list the men who have thrown only 156 Ks because their chart only goes down to men who threw 211 Ks in a season. (In case you're wondering, of the top 10 players on that list six of them did it in the championship season of 1884, two in 1886, one in 1965 and one in 1973. I doubt you'll ever see Matt Kilroy passed; in 1886 he sat down 513 men over 140 games.)

Bryce Harper is the kid who was born on Christmas Day this year. He won the NL MVP award with 17 of 30 first-place votes.

In this crazy year with the pandemic, supply shortages, and the asshole who lost the 2020 presidential election claiming he actually won, a baseball player from Japan was both the hero we deserved and the hero we needed right now.