Ohtani takes home 2 ESPYS, including for best single game
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Even nine months later, Shohei Ohtani’s jaw-dropping performance in Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS is still making waves.
The game earned Ohtani the award for Best Single-Game Performance on Wednesday night during the annual ESPYS. The Dodgers superstar, who won his fourth MVP Award in 2025, additionally took home the ESPY for Best MLB Player.
Ohtani’s NLCS Game 4 was one for the ages. Serving as the Los Angeles starting pitcher, he issued a leadoff walk before striking out the side in the first inning. That was just a taste of what was to come at Dodgers Stadium, as Ohtani then flipped sides to the plate, blasting a leadoff home run.
By the end of the night, Ohtani had tossed six scoreless innings on the mound, striking out 10 Brewers. He also crushed three home runs, earning him NLCS MVP honors as the Dodgers marched toward their second consecutive World Series.
The game made all kinds of history. Ohtani was the first pitcher to hit a leadoff home run in postseason history and the first pitcher to hit multiple home runs in a postseason game. It was additionally just the 13th three-homer performance in postseason history.
And those records don’t even begin to cover it, so it’s no surprise that Ohtani earned some big-time hardware for this game.
It was a big night for baseball as a sport, with former big league pitcher Jim Abbott also winning the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. Abbott delivered an inspiring speech about reaching his successful career despite being born without a right hand.