“Angels, thank you for the past 6 years Looking forward to life with the Dodgers”
Major League Baseball (MLB) superstar Shohei Ohtani (30) expressed his expectations about life with the LA Dodgers.
According to the LA Times on the 29th (Korean time), Ohtani attended a banquet hosted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) held in New York on the 28th and received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy.
Ohtani took first place in the BBWAA American League (AL) MVP voting announced in November last year. Ohtani, who dominated 30 first-place votes (a total of 420 points), became the first player to receive the unanimous MVP award more than twice in 2021.
On this day, Otani went out neatly dressed in a tuxedo. Unlike before, he attracted attention by speaking directly in English for two minutes without an interpreter.
Ohtani said, “Thank you to everyone who voted for me. “This award is very prestigious, and it means a lot to me to receive an award like this,” he said.
He then said to the owner and team officials of the LA Angels, where he worked until last year, “I am grateful for the past six years. I am truly grateful for your continued support and for giving me the opportunity to play baseball, which I love. I am also grateful to my teammates and coaching staff who helped and encouraged me. “I felt your support every day,” he said.
Ohtani, who entered the big league with the Angels after playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), swept the big league. He served as both a pitcher and a hitter and stood tall as a representative MLB star beyond the Angels.
Ohtani, who created two MVP seasons wearing the Angels uniform, will be playing in the LA Dodgers uniform starting this year. Ohtani, who appeared on the free agent market this winter, signed a huge 10-year contract worth $700 million (about KRW 936 billion) with the Dodgers.
Ohtani also sent greetings to his new team, the Dodgers.
Ohtani said, “I am grateful to the Dodgers for believing in me. “I’m looking forward to the next step in my career,” he said. “I’m grateful not only to myself, but to all the fans around the world who support Major League Baseball.”
Last year, Ohtani recorded 10 wins, 5 losses, and an ERA of 3.14 as a pitcher, and as a batter, he had a batting average of 0.304, 44 home runs, 95 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. He ranked first in AL home runs and became the first Japanese player to become the home run king. 19가이드03