Shohei Ohtani is your NL MVP once again! The Los Angeles Dodgers star clinched his fourth MVP award this season after another electric performance. Unlike the AL MVP race, Ohtani has been the comfortable MVP favorite for most of the season: he was the unanimous MVP in the NL.
However, fans paid a little more attention to Ohtani's reaction to winning the award. After learning that he won the award, the Dodgers star moved to kiss someone by his side. Instead of kissing his wife, Mamiko Tanako, though, Ohtani kissed his dog Decoy instead.
This, of course, has drawn the attention of many fans. Mickey McLean pointed out the contrast between Ohtani and AL MVP Aaron Judge, saying, “A contrast between this year’s MVPs upon learning they won: Shohei Ohtani kisses his dog instead of his wife while Aaron Judge kisses his wife instead of his dogs! 🫣”
@ThunderThatsRed was seemingly amused by Ohtani's reaction. “Shohei Ohtani kissing the dog and not his wife after winning MVP is a power move that you absolutely have to respect,” he said. Alfonso Alvarez also joked that “Freaking Ohtani Son loves the dog more than his wife 😅”.
Others were not as enthused with Ohtani's move. There's a number of people that have used this incident to take a shot at the Dodgers star. Some have even insinuated that the marriage between Ohtani and Tanako was “fake” due to this. However, @huang8414 implored fans to think about this a little more openly. “You don’t know Japanese culture,” he said. “They don’t kiss on TV. Stop using you American standard to see the world. It’s narrow minded.”
