When the MLB Awards finalists were named ten days ago, every fan and their mother knew what would happen tonight. As expected, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have been named the MVPs of the 2024 baseball season.
Their victories were as dominant as their seasons, as both won the top award in their respective leagues in unanimous fashion.
Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are unanimous winners of the AL and NL MVP Awards, respectively. Here are the full votes: pic.twitter.com/VCDAeLkZ4z
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 22, 2024
In fact, it's just the second time in league history that a pair of players have won the MVP award unanimously in the same year. Last year, Ohtani (then with the L.A. Angles) joined Ronald Acuna Jr. as the first pair of MVPs to win the award without any blemishes in the voting process.
As you might expect, it's not the only history Judge and Ohtani made on Thursday night.
Ohtani wins third unanimous MVP, Judge nabs first
Ohtani won his first unanimous MVP award in 2021, and has now followed it with perfect performances last year and this year. He is the only player in league history to win multiple unanimous MVP awards, and is now the only player to win the MVP award unanimously in both leagues.
Judge, meanwhile, became only the second Yankee to win the award unanimously, joining Mickey Mantle (1956).
Including this year's victories, there have now been 23 players in MLB history to win unanimous MVP awards.
Unanimous MVP Winner | Year | Team |
|---|---|---|
Hank Greenberg | 1935 | Tigers |
Carl Hubbell | 1936 | Giants |
Al Rosen | 1953 | Guardians |
Mickey Mantle | 1956 | Yankees |
Frank Robinson | 1966 | Orioles |
Orlando Cepeda | 1967 | Cardinals |
Denny McLain | 1968 | Tigers |
Reggie Jackson | 1973 | Athletics |
Mike Schmidt | 1980 | Phillies |
Jose Canseco | 1988 | Athletics |
Frank Thomas | 1993 | White Sox |
Jeff Bagwell | 1994 | Astros (NL) |
Ken Caminiti | 1996 | Padres |
Ken Griffey Jr. | 1997 | Mariners |
Barry Bonds | 2002 | Giants |
Albert Pujols | 2009 | Cardinals |
Mike Trout | 2014 | Angels |
Bryce Harper | 2015 | Nationals |
Shohei Ohtani | 2021 | Angels |
Shohei Ohtani | 2023 | Angels |
Ronald Acuna Jr. | 2023 | Braves |
Shohei Ohtani | 2024 | Dodgers |
Aaron Judge | 2024 | Yankees |
In his first season in the National League, Ohtani wasn't able to live up to his two-way status due to an ongoing recover from Tommy John surgery. However, like Babe Ruth before him, being able to focus solely on hitting (as the Dodgers' primary DH) turned him into an offensive juggernaut, the likes of which the game hasn't seen before.
He became the first player in MLB history to post a 50/50 season, leading the NL in WAR (9.2), plate appearances (731), home runs (54), RBIs (130), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.646), OPS (1.036), OPS+ (190), and total bases (411), and he tacked on 59 steals for good measure. Suffice to say, he's living up to that $700 million contract.
Ohtani's win also means he is the only primary designated hitter to win the MVP award, an astonishing feat considering both of his previous unanimous wins were backed by the fact that he was a star as both a pitcher and a hitter.
Over in the American League Judge took advantage of Ohtani's exodus to the senior circuit, leading the AL in WAR (10.8), home runs (58), RBIs (144), walks (133), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701), OPS (1.159), OPS+ (223), and total bases (392). Outside of his home run total, each of those figures were improvements over his first MVP season in 2022, when he edged out Ohtani.
After that legendary MVP race two years ago, voters were evidently relieved to not have to make a choice between Ohtani and Judge again this year.