Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani was the unanimous choice for Major League Baseball's American League Most Valuable Player (MVP). The two-way phenom, who starred as a pitcher in the 2015 WBSC Premier12, received a first-place mention by all 30 voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).
Ohtani started 23 games as a pitcher and appeared in 132 games overall, 126 as the designated hitter (DH). It's the first time a DH is honoured as the American League MVP.
Ohtani is the second Japanese-born player to win the award after Ichiro Suzuki was honoured in 2001. He is also the 11th former Rookie of the Year to go on and win the MVP Award.
MLB Japan announced the light-up of Tokyo Tower to celebrate Ohtani's MVP year. A congratulatory message was displayed at 5.17 pm (17:17, to honour Ohtani's jersey number) Tokyo time on Friday, 19 November.
MLB also announced that the National League MVP is Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies. The slugging outfielder had been honoured also in 2015, when he played for the Washington Nationals. Harper received 17 first place votes out of 30. Harper played for the US U-18 National Team in the Pan Am Baseball Championship/World Cup Qualifier in 2009.
