Ohtani, finish with 7 gold medals? There's one more left if it's 50-50, which is 'historic', but is it just passing by

Nov 25, 2024

LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani. AFP Yonhap News

Shohei Otani achieved 50 home runs and 50 steals for the first time in Major League history, and also won his third MVP in his career with a unanimous opinion. Photo = MLB Official X Capture

LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani was selected as National League MVP and won seven awards this offseason.

Ohtani's award parade led to the Hank Aaron Award, best designated hitter award, Edgar Martinez Award, NL Player of the Year Award hosted by the ML Players' Union, Sporting News MLB Player of the Year, NL designated hitter Silver Slugger, MLB's all-MLB team, and MVP.

Ohtani's best achievement this season is 50 home runs and 50 steals, no matter what anyone says. It is the first record in major league history. The scene where the record was achieved was also dramatic. On September 20 (Korea time), he kissed 50-50 against the Miami Marlins, hitting 6 hits in 6 at-bats, 3 home runs, 2 steals and 10 RBIs.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the Commissioner's Historical Achievement Award should also be given.

The MLB stipulates that the Commissioner's Achievement Award is given to an individual or team that is recognized for a historically significant achievement. Established in 1998, the award has been held 16 times so far. Winners do not come out every year. Once the Commissioner evaluates and decides on the recipients, the awards ceremony can be held at any time. Also, there is no fixed date for the ceremony. The winners may be announced over the years.

It is not yet known whether there will be a winner for this year's achievements because the decision of Commissioner Rob Manfred will decide whether to award or not.

Shohei Ohtani is delighted to win the World Series trophy. AP Yonhap News

There were no winners in 2022 and 2023. But the most recent winner is Otani. MLB said Otani's 2021 season was so special and shocking and unprecedented, when he first performed a cartoonish pitching and hitting double. Commissioner Rob Manfred officially recognized it as a historically significant achievement," he said, explaining why he was chosen as the winner.

Ohtani batted .257 with 46 home runs, 100 RBIs, 103 runs scored, 0.965, 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 156 strikeouts as a pitcher, and unanimously won the MVP award with his best performance in pitching in 102 years since Babe Ruth in 1919. The Commissioner's Achievement Award was deserved.

Ohtani filled the regular at-bats and regular innings for the first time in 2022, and in 2023, he marked the AL home run king with 10-5 losses, a 3.14 ERA, and 167 strikeouts with 44 home runs, and wrote a series of pitching and hitting myths, but it was no longer linked to the Commissioner's Achievement Award. However, it does not mean that there is a rule that one player should not win twice.

Last year, Atlanta Braves Ronald Acuña Jr. did not receive the Commissioner's Achievement Award even though he achieved his first-ever 40-70 home run and steal, which may have given a similar evaluation on 50-50 as well.

Ichiro Suzuki was awarded commissioner in 2004 for hitting 262 hits, the most in a major league season. AP Alliance[

Let's take a look at the major winners of the Commissioner's Achievement Award of all time. In 1998, the first year, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa, who competed for a historic home run, shared the award. Carl Ripken Jr. then became the winner after stopping his streak of playing in consecutive games in 1998 at 2,632 games on his own.

Barry Bonds, who hit a season-high 73 home runs in 2001, also won the award. In 2004, Ichiro Suzuki was recognized as a historical achievement with a season-high 262 hits. In 2006, Roberto Clemente was the only posthumous winner. The most saves in his career, Mariano Rivera, broadcasting Dodgers games in 2013 and 65 years, and Derek Jeter, the most hits and runs in the postseason, received the Commissioner's Achievement Award in 2014.

In 2001, the Seattle Mariners tied the record for most wins in a season with 116 wins, the only winner on the team.