Yesterday, major league baseball presented other awards to its first class and the new member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani, emerged as the big winner of this presentation.
For the first time in his career, the Japanese won the prestigious Hank Aaron Trophy awarded to the most deserving offensive players whose batting performances can be described as exceptional. Ohtani won the award for his performances as an American League representative.
In the National, the award went to Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves. The young Venezuelan received this notable honor also for the very first time.
The Braves' social media has made a big splash about the appointment of Acuna Jr. and it makes sense because Hank Aaron has been a very influential figure in Atlanta. For their part, the Angels have been rather discreet about the honors won by Ohtani and we can understand them because they certainly did not want to add a layer of discontent coming from their fan base.
The Hank Aaron Awards have been presented since 1999 and are attended by Hall of Famers and voting supporters. Remember that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won this distinction in 2021.
In addition, Ohtani was twice selected to the first all-star team in major baseball. Yes, you read correctly, Ohtani was crowned best designated hitter in addition to finding a place among the most deserving pitchers during the last season.
This first all-star team is also made up of two representatives from the Dodgers (Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman), as well as two members of the reigning World Series champions, the Texas Rangers (Marcus Semien and Corey Seager). The Atlanta Braves are best represented by having three of their players on this first team: Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley, as well as pitcher Spencer Strider.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman has found himself a spot on the second all-star team. He is the only representative of the Jays to have made his nest there.
