AWESOME, NO ASTERISK

With his fourth MVP, Ohtani joins Bonds as only ones with more than three

- JACK HARRIS

SHOHEI OHTANI'S MVP campaign was perhaps most notable for his return to excellence as a pitcher.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

When it came to Major League Baseball’s history of the most valuable player award, there used to be Barry Bonds — then everyone else.

Over his 22-year career, Bonds won baseball's highest individual honor a record seven times. Before this year, no one else had more than three.

But, like Bonds, accomplishing things no one else can has become the defining trait of Shohei Ohtani’s rise to superstardom.

And on Thursday, his career was elevated another notch higher, as he was named MVP for the fourth time by unanimous vote from the Baseball Writers Assn. of America to join Bonds in an exclusive club of winners with more than three.

Like his three previous wins, which also came via unanimous vote, Ohtani was a virtual lock. As a hitter alone he led the National League by a wide margin in OPS (1.014) and slugging percentage (.622), was second in on-base percentage (.392) and, despite being outside the top 10 in batting average (.282, ranking 13th), set a career high with 55 home runs, trailing only Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber for the crown. His 7.5 wins above replacement, according to Fangraphs, just outpaced Arizona's Geraldo Perdomo and Philadelphia's Trea Turner for most in the league.

And then there was his pitching.

In perhaps the most impressive aspect of his season, Ohtani returned from a second Tommy John surgery the kind of procedure only a handful of pitchers have fully rebounded from - and flashed almost every bit of his dominant form despite missing the previous year and a half on the mound.