Who? What? Must have missed that memo.
Update: here’s my current choice, although it hasn’t changed much:
If the Dodgers win the World Series: Ohtani - pretty much end of the discussion, especially after that NLCS game 4.
If they don’t:
- A’ja Wilson, who just won her third WNBA ring; it will be a tie-in to the new TV contract and the upcoming players’ negotiations.
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, after successfully switching from hurdles to the “flat” 400m and winning at the 2025 World Championships.
Even if they don’t, I think he’s still a good choice.
I think Ohtani won it last night. That was the greatest individual sports performance of my lifetime.
“The greatest individual sports performance I have seen in my lifetime.”
Fixed that for you.
Giving it to someone on the losing team is not usually something SI does, unless it’s for something like what McGwire and Sosa did in the same year. Besides, the award would also, in part, be for the Dodgers’ back-to-back titles.
He has the massive disadvantage of not being American, so I’d bet against it.
And that hurt Sammy Sosa or Wayne Gretzky in what way, exactly? The “give to to Americans” policy doesn’t really apply if it’s in one of the four major sports leagues.
There have been a total of 3 non-Americans who have gotten the award by themselves in the entire history of the magazine, going back to 1954 - the last of which was Gretzky in 1982. It’s not a disqualifier - but it’s a seriously steep uphill climb to surmount. As RJ put it, it’s a “massive disadvantage”. I don’t see how that’s controversial.
He just hit 3 home runs and pitched 6 innings of 10 strikeout ball, all in the same game.
He’s playing on an American team. That’s probably American enough.
He’s put up several amazing seasons already in the MLB, none of them in Toronto. I’d love to see Ohtani win, but for whatever reason, SI has a bit of a blind spot here.
The numbers he has put up over the past 2-3 seasons are enough to give it to him by himself, assuming the Dodgers win the World Series again. If you think that he shouldn’t get it alone, then who else on the Dodgers should get it?
You misunderstand - I think he should have a wall of them.
I am not a Dodgers fan, or an Angels fan. I’ve never rooted for either team. I sometimes curse Ohtani. But he is a once-in-a-generation talent, or maybe even a unique talent. I don’t know if baseball has ever had someone like him. He absolutely deserves this recognition IMHO.
This Otani fella; did he win the batting title, most RBIs, HRs? Did he win the World Series? Was he MVP for the year or the series? Lowest ERA, most wins, most Ks? I admit he has currency.
MVP hasn’t been called yet, I believe we have to wait for the World Series to be over, but he is the overwhelming choice for MVP for the National League this year. There is pretty much no chance of anyone else getting it. Places where you can make sports bets give him around a 99% chance of winning it (I am not exaggerating this).
He’s a really great pitcher while also being a really great batter. The last player that was great at both was a fellow you may have heard of named Babe Ruth, and even he didn’t do both at once. Ohtani really is unprecedented.
Like all end of season awards the voting was complete before the post season started. MVP, Cy Young etc are announced at the MLB Awards show on November 13.
Secretariat, 1973. But Ohtani was the greatest human sports performance I’ve seen in my lifetime.