A four-gone conclusion: Shohei is AP's Male Athlete of the Year

PASADENA, California — Shohei Ohtani is catching up with more legends.

The baseball superstar ends 2025 by winning The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the fourth time, tying him with Lance Armstrong, LeBron James and Tiger Woods for most among male honorees.

"Receiving this award multiple times is something truly special," Ohtani said in Japanese in an exclusive interview with the AP.

Ohtani received 29 of 47 votes in balloting among sports journalists from the AP and its members after his two-way dominance culminated in a repeat World Series title for his Los Angeles Dodgers — delivering perhaps the greatest single-game individual performance in his sport's history along the way. He previously won the award in 2024, his first season with the Dodgers, and in 2023 and 2021, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

The AP honor has been given out since 1931. Multisport standout Babe Didrikson Zaharias won six times over the 1930s, '40s and '50s, the most by a man or woman.

The ultra-competitive Ohtani's latest win broke a tie with Michael Jordan, who along with Woods, he followed while growing up in Japan.

"Last year, I said I wanted to win this award again, and I will work hard so that I can win it again next year as well," he said.

American-Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, who won his third consecutive world title and has reset the world record 14 times, including four times in 2025, was second with five votes in balloting announced Tuesday.

Carlos Alcaraz, the world's top-ranked tennis player who won titles at the French and US Opens, was third with four.

The AP Female Athlete of the Year was set to be announced on Wednesday.

Ohtani has shown remarkable consistency since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2023 on a then-record $700 million, 10-year contract.

Being named 2025 National League Most Valuable Player gave him his fourth career MVP title (his second with the Dodgers) by unanimous vote, the first player in major league history to achieve the feat.

This year, he posted a 1.014 OPS and hit 55 home runs. Returning to the mound for the first time since 2023, he had a 2.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 47 innings over 14 starts.

Ohtani, though, saved his best for the postseason.

In Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, he pitched six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and hit three home runs to earn the series MVP honor. He said it was his greatest game in a career full of incredible feats.

"If you think about it in terms of a single game, I'd say that's probably true," he said. "It was a crucial game in the postseason, and I personally feel I played quite well in that game."

Does he surprise himself?

"Well, yes, there are times when I feel that way about myself, and of course there are times when I think I'm not good enough," he said, "so I suppose athletes experience both kinds of feelings."

Another year, another championship for Ohtani and the Dodgers.

Ohtani showed he's human in Game 7 of the World Series. He singled in the first inning and then took the mound on short rest, but he struggled with his command. He gave up a three-run homer to Toronto's Bo Bichette along with five hits in just over two innings.

But he and the Dodgers raised a second straight World Series trophy after outlasting the Blue Jays in the most scintillating series in recent memory.

"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," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Game 7. "It's just really special what he's done. Just a great person and a great competitor."

Ohtani's presence has been transformative for MLB's global reach. Game 7 of this World Series averaged 13.1 million viewers in Japan, the most-watched World Series game on a single network there ever. Also, 51 million watched worldwide to make it the most-viewed since Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

How does Ohtani keep outdoing himself?

"I think the higher your goals are, the more you have to do, and the more you want to do," he said. "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 high goals is what I believe is the most important thing."

The Dodgers carefully managed Ohtani's return to pitching this year by gradually increasing his workload after rehabbing from elbow surgery in September 2023.His innings were initially capped, before he was allowed to make longer starts as he felt better.

"When it comes to feeling nervous, being on the mound definitely makes me more tense," he said. "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."

Agencies Via Xinhua