Before tonight’s opening World Series contest, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that he was awarding Angels star Shohei Ohtani an Historic Achievement Award. Ohtani becomes the 16th recipient of the award, which was first given to Cal Ripken Jr. in 1998 in honor of his consecutive games streak.
The Historic Achievement Award is granted at the commissioner’s discretion to individuals and teams who made an historically significant impact on the game. Ohtani is the first honoree of Manfred’s tenure as commissioner; the most recent recipients had been Derek Jeter and Vin Scully, who were recognized in 2014 by then-commissioner Bud Selig.
Ohtani’s two-way promise has been lauded for years, but 2021 was the first time he was able to stay healthy and put together a great season on both sides of the ball. Over 639 plate appearances, the 27-year-old hit .257/.372/.592 and blasted 46 home runs, the third-highest mark leaguewide. He also stole 26 bases and hit an MLB-best eight triples. Only Bryce Harper, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Juan Soto and Fernando Tatís Jr. topped Ohtani as overall hitters by measure of wRC+.
Ohtani also worked 130 1/3 innings on the mound, pitching to a 3.18 ERA while striking out 156 batters. He was selected to the All-Star Game as both a pitcher and position player, and manager Kevin Cash allowed him to start the contest for the American League in both roles. Unsurprisingly, Ohtani’s two-way exploits made him one of the game’s most popular players. According to MLB.com, he had the ninth highest-selling jersey of the 2021 season.
Deserved
Lol
Very strange for an award to be at the comish’s discretion. I had not heard of the award before. Had a great year – even historic but I question the need for a special award. Make him a landslide MVP. if he’s not, this award means very little.
It’s the equivalent of the President’s Medal of Honor or Medal of Freedom. Trump gave a Medal of Freedom Annika Sorenstrom, so Manfred giving one to Ohtani makes perfect sense in that light.
Good for him!!
This is the perfect award for him. And give the MVP to someone else. Hehehe
Vlad
Vlad is so overrated even with the lineup he played in. Ohtani is gonna win mvp as well
Would love to hear how a 22 year old kid who was the best offensive player in the league over 162 games and put up 6.7 WAR can be overrated
Overhyped? Sure…but not overrated. He definitely proved himself a major league star this season.
If Ohtani had some of the Bluejay batters protecting him behind the batting order like Valddy had They would of had to pitch to him how many more home runs Ohtani would have hit
Ohtani surrounded by a healthy Rendon and Trout is going to be NASTY
Will still finish out of the playoffs without pitching.
He would have come close to 60 IMO.
This is the reason why he is going to win the AL MVP award. Vladdy had a great year at the plate but he was in a loaded lineup in which he had protection. Ohtani hit very well when he had Trout, Rendon and Walsh in the lineup. Invthe second half he had no protection. At the same time he had Mayfield and Gossilin protecting him.
Oh, and he pitched at an elite level for the entire year despite having a pathetic defense behind him and a weak bullpen to contend with. He did something that no one has done. This was a truly historic year.
Look Ohtani is going to get the MVP because he was the most valuable player in the AL, but lineup protection doesn’t exist, it’s been disproven over and over again.
Lineup protection does exist but since walks are so highly valuable it doesn’t affect his sabermetric value.
As far as helping a team win, lineup protection is real…
So you’re saying that adding more good hitters to a lineup helps a team win? Are you sure about this?
Your point doesn’t change that lineup protection doesn’t exist.
I’m saying adding good players to the line up creates more opportunities for a good hitter to win games. Ohtani walks didn’t help the Angels all that much, and he wont walk as much with Rendon hitting behind him.
Was it really that complex? If you walk, you are pushing the lineup. Which is very helpful, but it’s the person who takes advantage of run scoring opportunities is the ones who helps his team win more. If the person who bats behind you doesn’t take advantage, then the walk means less…. but not sabremetrically.
Walking is great. And it really helps a players OPS+ and wRC+. and other sabremetric stats, but if good players hit in front of you and behind you, then the odds of said player getting the AB that wins the game is much greater.
Hard to believe people who follow the game doesn’t understand this.
Stats are great tools, but you have to understand the game to apply them correctly.
He really wasn’t the most valuable. The Angels could have finished out of the playoffs without him. There needs to be a Cy Young winner, a player of the year for every day players and an MVP on who really was the most valuable.
This is a lame argument. So the MVP by your logic has to come from one of the two World Series finalists because in the end that’s all that matters. If the Angels finished one game out Ohtani’s stats are negated? Ohtani was 9-2 on a team that finished 8 games under .500. He had essentially the same stats as Vlad Guererro. Vlad had a little more of this and Ohtani had a little more of that– plus being the #1 starter. He led all of baseball in WAR. If the Angels didn’t have him they would have finished 20 games out. Not sure how it matters more that St. Louis played exactly one more game than the Angels because they made the wild card.
What’s the Most Valuable? Did he contribute the most wins? Without question he did.
It’s not a well named award. He was the best player in the AL last year. That’s typically who they have tried to give the award to for years.
There is not a knowledgeable fan on the planet who doesn’t understand this.
Vlad gets the Hank Aaron award, Ohtani gets the MVP.
Lineup protection doesn’t exist? Says who?
It has been proven many times. Case in point, Ohtani faced the least amount of balls in the strike zone this year and had the most IBB. That will not happen with Trout hitting behind him. Your argument is truly clueless.
Mr. Angel Fan. As far as lineup protection, it’s complex.
It can’t be dismissed, or ignored. If you don’t have lineup protection, you’ll get a lot more walks and your sabremetric value will go up.
However, your ability to impact a game will be less likely because you are less likely to get pitches to hit with the game on the line or in high leverage situations.
A walk is always good. But If you are forced to hit, you’re going to make outs and naturally you’ll have less sabremetric value than if you always walked.
Anyone who tries to get pithy and says lineup protection doesn’t exist, doesn’t really understand baseball. It’s too complex for a pithy answer.
@Halo11Fan Clearly, teams are more likely to pitch around a player when they don’t have protection behind you. Ohtani lead the team in IBB, no chance that that happens with Trout in the lineup. I understand that walks are not a bad thing, but when you are being pitched around, the results of being pitched around can still manifest itself as outs if the player chases. These walks will be more meaningful with players like Trout and Rendon in the lineup. Teams will be more inclined to pitch to Ohtani with Trout behind him. He will not lead the league in % of balls out of the strike zone or IBB next year with a healthy Trout or Rendon. Facing the lowest % of balls in the strike zone is a direct result of not having protection in the lineup.
As you just noted… it’s complex.
Ohtani bat will be more impactful with protection, but it’s possible his sabre score will actually go down.
Hey, no need to get all pithy with me!
Who cares about Sabre metrics? IMO they have ruined the beauty of the game. Give me a batter who hits .260+, is in the Top 3 in HRs, RBI, 2B, 3B and can steal 20+ bases over a 2019 DJ LeMahieu any day of the week. DJL’s Sabre metrics were off the charts but I’d much prefer option A than a DJL type. It’s better for the fans and for the game.
Trout played 36 games and Rendon had a .700 ops, neither of them factored in to sho’s success
Ohtani is the MVP. It’s not even a discussion
Yes, give the MVP to another player who had 45, 100 and 25SB and also a top 5 league ERA as a starter who went 9-2 on team that finished eight games under .500.
A truly legendary season and well deserved reward.
It’s the only such season by a player in the history of the game.
“Sure thing,” groaned Evil Manfred, “Give that man a piece of metal.”
Well done.
Ohtani deserves an award for getting so many teen girls into the sport. To quote Jared Walsh: “No teenage girls have ever cried because they were standing next to a bus that had Mike Trout on it”
Who’s Mike Trout?
I think he’s the team chef. Seafood is his specialty.
his pitch to Arte: “GM Moreno, seafood is my speciality”
*scratch that, forget he’s the owner. mentioned here too much I guess.
Yeah, he cooks a really nice Tim Salmon,
Fellas, trout is not seafood. Factually incorrect jokes/name-plays, just aren’t funny!!!
He’s some guy who kinda looks like Boston’s right fielder idk
I’m not the only one that thinks trout and Renfroe look alike?!
Bellinger might deserve that more…
I didn’t see any 15-25 year old girls holding up signs with marriage proposals at any of the Dodgers games I went to this year
This year yes cause he was awful BUT he has led to multiple women rushing the field trying to touch him
Actually?
Beli is soon to be a father. He’s a changed man, no longer a boy
Belli would have been too high to notice.
A precursor to the MVP Award.
I guess Rob Refsnyder finished second.
Only because Blake swihart had a year for the ages.
I don’t know, Ohtani was really good, but my vote goes to the Cubs for their historic collapse in June.
Ahem, Mets fan here. We have that market cornered. Hell, we collapsed worse than you guys did. At least your only albatross (Heyward) comes off the books in a couple years.
We still have Cano coming back next year…
Guerrero had an excellent year (bringing hope to tubby fellas everywhere), but when you factor in his speed Ohtani was the best offensive player in the AL.
& 130.1 innings of a 141 ERA+ will earn him a top 10 finish in the AL Cy Young race.
Truly: unbelievable.
If that’s not MVP, we should all boycott MLB, man. Not voting for him would be as bad as electing Selig into the hall was.
He didn’t throw any where close to enough innings to be in the CY discussion
But I agree with you on the MVP discussion, Vlad had a historic year for a 22 y/o but overall Sho was just worth more and no other playoff bound player was close to make that a tie break
Gagne won a Cy with 82 innings pitched.
Not a lot of guys throw 200 innings anymore.
Coming off the shortened season, teams were protecting their arms even more so. 130 innings of excellent production is nothing to scoff at.
Also: I did qualify it with “top 10”. Which I would put money on.
Gagne was an awful cy young selection. What a mistake that was, there were plenty more valuable pitchers that year
I’ve always thought they should just create a Mariano award and have a separate award for the top reliever
I glanced over the mention of top 10 and stand corrected. He should finish around 5-6, good call
Gagne was elite and converted like 82 straight saves over two years one being the CY year. ELITE wins CY Young
Gagne was clearly the best pitcher in MLB that year. Prior might have done more, but Gagne was better. His ERA+ was 337 and he threw 82 innings three years running!
Gagne was roided out of his mind so his stats dont count. Cheaters don’t count. The guy was bad before he found steroids.
And a cheater just got the Roberto Clemente award.
I guess it’s OK to steal from fans. teams and players. just so long as you say the right things.
“He didn’t throw any where close to enough innings to be in the CY discussion”
Steve Bedrosian won a Cy Young throwing less than 100 innings, so it really isnt a question of innings. Shohei won’t win the Cy Young this year, but it won’t because he lacked innings to qualify..
Judge would get my vote for MVP. Carried a worthless Yankee team to the playoffs with a little help from Stanton and that’s about it.
Stanton actually carried the Yankees into the playoffs down the stretch. You could not get him out in clutch situations the last 3+ weeks of the season. Judge was merely his wingman.
I don’t know man. I think any award for offense in 2021 goes to Trevor Bauer hands down.
certainly deserved
The Historic Achievement Award is granted at the commissioner’s discretion to individuals and teams who made an historically significant impact on the game and solely for the purpose of deflecting attention away from the Historic Underachievement of the current commissioner.
Greg bird robbed
Oh, Greg Bird. Man. I had such high hopes for him.
I think it was a tie and both Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar should have received it.
So nice of Commissioner Manfred to hand out another “piece of metal.”
What a talent. Angels fans are so lucky right now to get to see him and Trout in their primes.
Now if he just wouldn’t strike out so much…..
Sure. And if he could take tickets and sell programs then he’d be something.
Can the commissioner hand the Angels a .500 season… PLEASE!?
Can you imagine a batting order of:
Ohtani
Trout
Rendon
Walsh
I can hardly wait.
Wait, what did Derek Jeter do to justify a “historic achievement award?“ I concede he was a great player, but he wasn’t any more historic than two dozen of the all-time greats who were better than him.
Ohtani was unique as a two way player. It remains to be seen whether he’s a historical oddity, or becomes a game changer, so to speak. But at least he represents something unique.
Cal Ripken also had a unique achievement. One which looks increasingly likely to never be challenged.
Jeter though? A middle-of-the-pack HOF player. Right in there with the likes of Carlton Fisk and Paul Molitor. Great player, but not historically significant.
Griffey Jr. deserves it more than Jeter, just for being a better player. Heck, Mo Rivera deserves it more for being the GOAT in his position—for turning relief pitching into a real job, instead of just a landing place for failed starters.
Jeter’s a joke.