LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani just added another line to an already wild Dodgers résumé. The AP announced Tuesday that Ohtani has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2025, his fourth time winning the award. That ties him with Lance Armstrong (oops), LeBron James and Tiger Woods for the most AP Male Athlete honors ever, and he now stands ahead of Michael Jordan on that list.
Speaking to the AP in Japanese, Ohtani called the recognition “something truly special” and admitted that this was not an accident. “Last year, I said I wanted to win this award again,” he said, “and I will work hard so that I can win it again next year as well.”
For Dodgers fans, this is another reminder that the guy in the number 17 jersey is operating in his own universe. The voters clearly agreed. Ohtani received 29 of 47 votes from AP journalists after a season where he helped deliver a second straight World Series title to Los Angeles and put up a postseason performance that people are already calling one of the greatest single games in sports history.
A season that matched the hype
Since signing his then-record 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers in December 2023, Ohtani has done pretty much everything people dreamed about and then pushed it a little farther.
In 2025, he won his fourth career MVP and his second with the Dodgers, and he did it by unanimous vote. No one in Major League history had ever been a four-time unanimous MVP before Ohtani.
The numbers are silly even by video-game standards. He finished the regular season with a 1.014 OPS and 55 home runs, while also returning to the mound for the first time since 2023 and posting a 2.87 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings over 14 starts.
That would be a dream year for most players. For Ohtani, it was the setup for October.
The Brewers game that already feels like legend
The AP story points to Game 4 of the NLCS against the Brewers as the moment that pushed this award over the top. Ohtani didn’t just carry the Dodgers. He basically ran the entire show.
On that night at Dodger Stadium, he threw six scoreless innings, struck out 10, and hit three home runs. He walked away with NLCS MVP and later admitted, “If you think about it in terms of a single game, I’d say that’s probably true” that it was the best of his career. “It was a crucial game in the postseason, and I personally feel I played quite well in that game.”
Even a player at his level still rides the emotional roller coaster. Asked if he ever surprises himself, Ohtani said, “There are times when I feel that way about myself, and of course there are times when I think I’m not good enough, so I suppose athletes experience both kinds of feelings.”
It’s a rare window into how he processes all of this. From the outside, it looks effortless. Inside, it is constant evaluation and adjustment.
Human in Game 7, champion again by the end of the night
If NLCS Game 4 was Ohtani at his absolute peak, World Series Game 7 in Toronto was a reminder that he is still human. On short rest, he took the ball after singling in the top of the first. The command was not there. He gave up five hits in 2 1/3 innings, including the three-run homer to Bo Bichette that briefly tilted the night toward the Blue Jays.
But the story of 2025 was not Ohtani’s rough outing. It was that the Dodgers still found a way to win what many are calling the most electric World Series in decades, and they hoisted a second consecutive trophy by the end of the night. Game 7 drew 13.1 million viewers in Japan and 51 million worldwide, the biggest World Series audience since 1991, and Ohtani was the central figure for much of the global baseball world.
Dave Roberts summed it up about as well as anyone could after that game. “Shohei obviously has the weight of the world on his shoulders as far as expectations, being probably the face of baseball, certainly when you’re talking about the world,” Roberts said. “It’s just really special what he’s done. Just a great person and a great competitor.”
How he keeps raising the bar
Ohtani’s answer to the “how does he keep doing this” question sounds simple, but it explains a lot. “I think the higher your goals are, the more you have to do, and the more you want to do,” he told the AP. “If you’re satisfied with where you are now, I don’t think it’s possible to achieve your goals without putting in the effort. So, setting goals high is what I believe is most important.”
The Dodgers managed his return to the mound carefully this season, slowly building up his workload after elbow surgery in September 2023. His innings were capped early, then stretched out only when he felt ready. Even so, Ohtani described what it feels like to stand on the mound with everything on you: “It’s a position where you can single-handedly ruin a game, and at the same time, it’s also a position where you can contribute to a win. So, in my mind, I feel that being a pitcher is truly a special role.”
At 31, he has already undergone three major surgeries, two on his right elbow and one on his left shoulder. He still insists he wants to remain a two-way player until the day he walks away from the game. “I think it’s best to keep doing it right up until the moment I retire,” he said.
There is not much evidence he is backing off. Ohtani plans to suit up for Japan again at the World Baseball Classic in March, though he said the team is still working out how much he will pitch and how his workload will look on both sides of the ball.
And yes, one of his biggest goals for 2026 is exactly what you’d expect: a third straight World Series championship. When asked about objectives, he called staying healthy and appearing in every game “the smallest goal” he has.
Life off the field, still all business
Away from the diamond, 2025 was huge for Ohtani too. He and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, welcomed their first child, a daughter, in April. He keeps details about his family extremely private, and he still jokes around the edges about how his dog Decoy is handling the new addition.
Dodger fans have also gotten a kick out of hearing him speak English at the parade and on the championship stage. He understands most of what is said around him, but still leans on his interpreter during formal interviews. “I think it would be best if I could speak in English, so even if it’s just small steps, I want to keep working at it,” he said. “Whether it’s with fans or in different situations, being able to speak directly in English might help bridge the gap between us.”
For now, the bat and the right arm are plenty loud.
From tying Tiger and LeBron in an AP vote to leading the Dodgers to back-to-back titles, Shohei Ohtani keeps stacking seasons that feel impossible to top. If he has his way, this fourth AP Male Athlete of the Year award is just another checkpoint on the way to even bigger goals in Dodger blue.
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