Shohei Ohtani has won the fourth Most Valuable Player Award of his storied career, which is a number of achievements stuffed inside of an achievement: Ohtani is just the second player in MLB history to win more than three MVPs, with Barry Bonds — who stands atop the mountain with seven MVPs — the only other to achieve the feat.
Here are three other ways Ohtani’s MVP is historically significant — not just in baseball, but in all North American sports:
1. Four MVPs
Ohtani joins an elite group across the major North American sports with his fourth MVP, as well. In the NBA, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Bill Russell (five), LeBron James (four) and Wilt Chamberlain have as many or more MVPs as Ohtani. In the NFL, it’s just Peyton Manning (five) and Aaron Rodgers (four) who have managed to collect at least as many year-end honors as the Dodgers’ superstar. The NHL’s Wayne Gretzky was named MVP nine times, with Gordie Howe earning the award on six occasions and Eddie Shore four times. And in the WNBA, A’ja Wilson’s most recent MVP season broke her out of a tie for what had been the most in league history, and into the same company as Ohtani with four.
Only Barry Bonds has as more MVP awards in MLB history as Shohei Ohtani.
2. Unanimous greatness
Somehow, this is not the most impressive thing to report from Ohtani’s second MVP in as many years with the Dodgers. While Bonds, Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, Russell, Manning and Gretzky have won more Most Valuable Player Awards in their respective leagues than Ohtani has, he has managed something none of them have: he has won four MVP awards unanimously. MLB has had MVP awards in both leagues since 1931, and on just 24 occasions has a player received every possible first-place vote. Four of those seasons belong to Ohtani, who also happens to be the only MLB player to unanimously win the MVP more than once.
This is not just an MLB rarity, but rare in North American sports. Stephen Curry is the only unanimous MVP in NBA history, achieving as much for his 2015-2016 season. The Miami Heat’s LeBron James fell short of a unanimous vote in 2012-2013, while Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal missed out by a single vote in 1999-2000. In the NFL, Tom Brady’s 2010 with the New England Patriots provided a unanimous MVP decision, while Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson received every first-place vote in 2019 … and just missed a second unanimous MVP win in 2024, by one vote.
Wayne Gretzky’s 1981-1982 MVP with the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid’s 2020-2021 MVP — also with the Oilers — are the NHL’s two unanimous campaigns. The WNBA’s inaugural MVP in 1997, Cynthia Cooper, was a unanimous selection for her season with the Houston Comets, while A’ja Wilson’s 2024 season with the Las Vegas Aces was just the second in league history. And MLS has never had a unanimously chosen MVP.
Which is to say that Ohtani not only has the most unanimous MVP wins in MLB history, but he, on his own, has more than every other major sports league in North America has managed.
3. Three-peat
Ohtani has also now won back-to-back-to-back MVP awards, and 2024’s, in which the two-way player didn’t pitch because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, was the first in MLB history for a full-time DH. That puts him just one shy of Bonds in at least this regard, as the Giants’ slugger won four in a row from 2001 through 2004, and in a tie with the NFL’s Brett Favre, the NBA’s Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Bill Russell. Favre won the MVP in 1995, 1996 and 1997 with the Green Bay Packers; Chamberlain was named MVP in the 1965-66, 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers; Bill Russell won in 1961-62, 1962-63 and 1963-64 for the Boston Celtics, while Larry Bird matched the NBA and C’s record in the 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons. Wayne Gretzky is on an island here: of his nine MVPs, he won eight of them in a row, starting with the 1979-80 season, and ending in 1986-87.
So, Shohei Ohtani still has worlds to conquer, is all.
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