Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani secured his historic fourth career Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, all by unanimous vote, achieving a major career milestone, and the reaction from his biggest endorsement partner summed up his dominance in a single word. Shortly after, New Balance, with whom the 31-year-old Japanese phenom signed a footwear deal in 2023, labeled him with a fitting title: “Unicorn.” Their message, posted on X (formerly Twitter), read: “Four MVPs. One Unicorn.”

The description followed a historic night for Ohtani, who won his second straight National League MVP and became only the second player in MLB history to win the award at least four times. The only player above him is seven-time winner Barry Bonds.

Ohtani’s victories came in 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025, making him the first player ever to win multiple MVPs in both leagues, a distinction previously held only partially by Frank Robinson, who won once in each league. All four of Ohtani’s MVPs have been unanimous, making him the only player in MLB history with more than one unanimous win.

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Ohtani’s performance this year provided overwhelming justification. Offensively, he slashed .282/.392/.622 across 727 plate appearances, leading the National League in both slugging and OPS and producing 55 home runs, a Los Angeles franchise record for the second straight year. He also scored a major-league-best 146 runs, stole 20 bases, and added 102 RBIs despite spending almost the entire season hitting leadoff.

His return to the mound was equally significant. After undergoing his second UCL repair, Ohtani made 14 starts, blazing through 47 innings with 62 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA, including 16⅔ consecutive scoreless innings to close the regular season. His combined contributions yielded an NL-best 9.4 FanGraphs WAR, while Baseball Reference credited him with 7.7 WAR, second only to Cristopher Sánchez’s eight.

Ohtani’s excellence carried into October. He produced a .265/.405/.691 postseason slash line with eight home runs, tying Corey Seager’s single-postseason franchise record (2020). In the 18-inning Game 3 of the World Series, Ohtani reached base nine times, a playoff record, four via intentional walk. In Game 4 of the NLCS, he threw six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and added three home runs.

Since joining the Dodgers on a heavily deferred 10-year, $700 million contract in the 2024 offseason, Ohtani has won MVP in both seasons and helped deliver back-to-back World Series titles. His four MVP trophies also make him the first Dodger to win multiple MVPs with the franchise.