MVP award and other honors

The Angels announced on September 25 that Ohtani was named as both the team's Los Angeles
Angels Player of the Year of 2021 and the team's Nick Adenhart Pitcher of the Year Award, as voted
by his teammates.[114]

On September 26, Ohtani reached the 150-strikeout milestone against the Seattle Mariners and
finished the year unbeaten at home, going 6–0 with a 1.95 ERA in 13 starts. Ohtani's home ERA
was the lowest by an Angels starter since Jered Weaver in 2011. He also became the sixth starter in
AL or NL history to make at least 13 home starts without a losing decision and an ERA below 2.00 in
a season.[115] In the last game of the season against the Seattle Mariners, Ohtani passed
teammate Mike Trout's 45 home runs in a single season to finish with the second-most home runs in
a season in Angels history at 46, trailing only Troy Glaus' 47 home runs in 2000.[116]

For the year, Ohtani finished his pitching campaign by making 23 starts on the mound, going 9–2
with a 3.18 ERA, 156 strikeouts, 1.09 WHIP, and 44 walks in 130 1/3 innings. [116] On the hitting side,
Ohtani finished with an American League-leading 20 intentional walks, which was the most by an AL
player since Trout in 2018. Ohtani, who batted .257/.372/.592, including 46 home runs — runner-up
for the MLB lead in homers, 100 RBI, 103 runs, and 26 steals in 155 games and 639 plate
appearances, hit several milestones to close his season, reaching both 100 RBIs and 100 runs for
the first time in his career. He also tied for the MLB lead with eight triples to go along with 26 stolen
bases. Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 45 homers, 25 stolen bases,
100 RBIs, 100 runs, and eight triples in a season and the second player in AL history to record at
least 45 homers and 25 stolen bases in a season, joining Jose Canseco in 1998.[116] According to
Baseball-Reference.com, Ohtani led the league with a wins above replacement (WAR) value of 9.1
and finished third in home runs (46), fourth in slugging percentage (.592), fifth in OPS (.965), first in
triples (eight), fifth in drawing walks (96), eight in stolen bases (26), second in extra-base hits (80),
second in intentional walks (20), fifth in OPS+ (158), and first in power-speed number (33.2). [117]

Ohtani was unanimously voted the American League Most Valuable Player, becoming the 23rd
pitcher and first designated hitter to win the award.[118][119] For the 2021 All-MLB Team, Ohtani is the
only player to be named to both teams, first team and second team, in the same season (as a
designated hitter and starting pitcher respectively).[120] He became the first pitcher, the first Japanese
player and the first Angels player to win the Edgar Martínez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.[121]
[122]
Ohtani was also awarded the Silver Slugger Award for being the best offensive player at
the designated hitter position in the American League,[123] and was named to Time 100's list of most
influential people of 2021,[124] which culminated to many end-of-the-season-accolades. He was
named Associated Press AP Athlete of the Year,[125] Sporting News Athlete of the Year,[126] Baseball
Digest Player of the Year[127] and Baseball America Major League Player of the Year.[128] From his
MLB peers he was given Sporting News Player of the Year Award,[129] Players Choice Player of the
Year Award, and Players Choice American League Outstanding Player Award.[130]

Additionally, Ohtani's 2021 season was recognized for two Guinness World Records titles: (1) the
first MLB player to achieve 100+ innings and record 100+ strikeouts as a pitcher, and 100+ RBIs,
hits and runs as a batter in a single season and (2) the first player to start the MLB All-Star Game as
a pitcher and a designated hitter.[131] He also became the 16th recipient of the Commissioner's
Historic Achievement Award, awarded by Commissioner Rob Manfred,[8] who formally recognized
Ohtani's 2021 season as "historically significant" and "unprecedented", calling it "so special that it
was important to recognize the historic achievement that took place in 2021 with an award just about
2021."[8] Ohtani was offered Japan's national honor, the People's Honour Award, by the Prime
Minister of Japan in recognition of his accomplishments, but Ohtani rejected it, saying it was "still too
early" for such an award.[132]
On December 22, 2021, The Sporting News released the article "The 50 greatest seasons in sports
history, ranked". In it, Ohtani's 2021 season was ranked No.1, topping great seasons by athletes
such as Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, and Lionel Messi.[133]