The voting for the 2022 American League MVP award came down to a two-way sensation against a man who hit more home runs than anybody in AL history. In the end, the long ball prevailed.
Judge won the hotly-contested race for the AL’s top individual award, receiving a whopping 28 out of 30 first-place votes. While the writers who decided the award saw the race as one-sided, baseball fans were a bit more split.
Firstly, both players had historic seasons. Judge—who is now, at 6’7”, the tallest player to ever win the MVP award—played out of position for most of the year, moving from right field to center. He led the majors in nearly ever major category, and his 62 home runs are the most in AL history, breaking Roger Maris’s 61-year mark.
Ohtani, on the other hand, went where no player has ever gone before, putting his two-way talents on display for the second straight year. He’s the only player in league history to qualify as both a hitter and a pitcher, reaching the necessary plate appearance and innings pitched marks. Ohtani finished fourth in the AL in home runs (34) and sixth in OPS+ (145), while going 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts on the mound. He led the AL in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9), finishing fourth in Cy Young Award voting.
Given how great each player was this past season, there were plenty of strong reactions to Judge’s sizable victory. Here are some of the best of the bunch below.
