Varland and Ohtani crossed paths in 2024, when the Japanese star joined the Dodgers via free agency, signing a 10-year, $700 million deal. Ohtani is one of the most valuable athletes in the world, a true superstar across Asia. At the same time, his stateside popularity continues to grow as he makes unprecedented history on the baseball field. He grosses millions in endorsements, giving him plenty of money to spare and help out a teammate going through a tough time.
I remember very clearly within the first month of us having Shohei, there was a play where he was running the bases and he didn't necessarily get as good of a secondary lead and he wasn't able to score on a certain play. After the game, it was Freddie, Mookie, our first base coach Clayton, several of us grabbed him and just said,
FOCO is selling new Shohei Ohtani bobbleheads that commemorate his four career MVP Awards and back-to-back World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers. One of the Ohtani MVP bobbleheads portrays him in a white Dodgers uniform and holding four MVP plaques. He's won them equally with the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers, each time in unanimous fashion, to make MLB history.
The Hank Aaron Award is MLB's annual honor that recognizes the most outstanding regular season offensive performer in each league. A committee of MLB.com journalists reviewed the top offensive statistics, accomplishments and performances from the regular season to determine 10 finalists in each league. MLB legends and past recipients of the award comprised a renowned panel that cast votes for their choices for the honor. Fans also were part of determining the winners by casting votes.
Another Friday, another quick one. Shohei Ohtani has won three MVP awards. I think they've all been unanimous. Barry Bonds ended up with seven MVP awards. Ohtani has three but has already crossed the threshold of 30. Then again, the stuff he does doesn't quite rely on age as much as another position. Still, do you think he'll beat Bonds' tally? Or fall short? He needs to win next year to tie Bonds' also-record of four in a row, too.
Shohei Ohtani has his fourth MVP award. As expected, the two-way superstar repeated as NL MVP and has now won the award twice in each league. He's the second player in MLB history to win a fourth MVP. Barry Bonds won the award seven times. Until tonight, he'd been the only player to earn that title more than three times. Ohtani won the award unanimously for the third consecutive season and has gotten all 30 first-place votes in all four of his wins.
Baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, competes with its own deep mythology. So many of its highlights are in black and white, and so many of its GOATs are ghosts, that the former national pastime is easily dismissed as past its prime. It isn't. The 2025 postseason, which ended when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th inning of the seventh game of an ulcer-inducing World Series, stands with any in baseball history.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are 2025 World Series champions, beating the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games in one of the best World Series in recent memory. The Dodgers won Game 7 by a score of 5-4, capping off an incredible series and season from both teams. The Dodgers took their first lead of the game in the 11th inning on a Will Smith home run. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching on zero days' rest, got eight outs to lead LA to a World Series win.