David Ortiz (49), the “Big Poppy” who entered the Hall of Fame after retirement with 541 home runs in the Major League, expressed his opposition to Shohei Ohtani (30), the MVP of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His sadness that he never received an MVP award because he was a designated hitter when he was active in the Major League was revealed to be grumpy.
Hector Gomez, a Major League Baseball reporter from the Dominican Republic, delivered Ortiz’s opinion on Ohtani, the NL MVP candidate, on his SNS on the 7th (Korea time).
“The Major League has found a way not to give away MVP because I’m always the designated hitter. We’ll see how they do this year. We’ll see what happens,” Ortiz said, expressing unease. “Otani is the favorite player in the Major League.”
Ortiz, a left-handed slugger whose 34th rank has been retired for the Boston Red Sox with 541 home runs, boasts a brilliant career including 10 All-Star, 7 Silver Slugger, 3 World Series wins, World Series MVP and ALCS MVP. Although he had an enviable career to be inducted into the Hall of Fame after retirement, he has never been an MVP of the regular season. 스포츠토토
It was the season when the second place in the American League was the closest to MVP in 2005. At that time, Ortiz had a batting average of .300 (180 hits in 601 times at bat) in 159 games, 47 homers, 148 RBIs and an OPS of 1.001, but was lagging behind New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez dominated Ortiz in all aspects of offense and defense with a batting average of .321 (194 hits in 605) and 48 homers and 130 RBIs.
The season that Ortiz felt most regretful about was in 2006, the following year. In that year, he recorded the best batting performance with a batting average of 287 (with 160 hits in 558) and 54 homers and 137 RBIs in 151 games. He ranked first in home runs and RBIs in the AL, but only ranked third in the MVP voting. Minnesota Twins catcher Justin Mono (with a batting average of .321 34 homers and 130 RBIs in 157 games) won the MVP award, followed by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter (with a batting average of .343, 14 homers and 97 RBIs in the OPS.900). Ortiz lost even a single vote to Mono and Jeter.
Ortiz, who was designated as a full-time designated hitter with no contribution to defense, had a handicap in the MVP race. Not only Ortiz but all designated hitters were like that. Starting in 1973 in the AL, designated hitter system was introduced in the NL starting in 2022, but a full-time designated hitter MVP has yet to be created. 스포츠토토
However, Ohtani is on the verge of becoming the first designated hitter MVP this year. Ohtani, who has a batting average of 291 in 138 games (160 hits in 549) with 45 homers, 100 RBIs, 112 runs, 46 steals, and .376 OPS.993 slugging percentage, hit his 45th home run of the season against the Cleveland Guardians on the 7th, marking the first 45 homers-45 steals in the Major League. He has achieved unrivaled performance by ranking first in NL home runs, RBIs, runs, slugging percentage, and OPS.
Ohtani, who has not pitched as a pitcher this year since he underwent Tommy John surgery in September last year, is playing full-time as a designated hitter. Although he has no contribution to defense, he has contributed significantly to 46 stolen bases, not only at bat but also at base, with a success rate of 92 percent. In terms of the Baseball League, his team ranks first in the NL (7.2 percent), which is an unprecedented number of players in the same league. The 30-homer shortstop, Franciscaro Lindor of the New York Mets, is fueling competition in the local media, but it is hard to beat Ohtani’s trend.
As Ortiz said, Ohtani is a MLB icon who is loved by everyone. Attention is focusing on whether he will win the MVP award for the first time as a designated hitter or not. If he achieves the 50-50 milestone, he will definitely win the MVP award. He only has five homers and four stolen bases in the remaining 21 games. Arithmetically, Ohtani has a pace of 51 homers and 52 steals.
