Aaron Judge makes history with back-to-back American League MVP awards

Shohei Ohtani’s latest unanimous MVP win reaffirmed his historic dominance, but the night also underscored how difficult it is to outshine Aaron Judge. Despite delivering what many consider the greatest offensive season ever by a catcher, Cal Raleigh narrowly missed out on the American League MVP award, finishing just behind Judge in a tightly contested vote.


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Moments after Ohtani earned his third straight MVP and fourth in five years - putting him within three of Barry Bonds’ all-time record - Judge was named AL MVP for the second consecutive season. It marked the first time in MLB history that the same pair of players won MVP honors in back-to-back years.

Judge collected 17 of 30 first-place votes and totaled 355 points, edging Raleigh, who earned the remaining 13 first-place votes and finished with 335. Voters ultimately favored Judge’s MLB-leading .331 batting average, .457 on-base percentage and .688 slugging percentage over Raleigh’s AL-best 60 home runs and 125 RBIs.


"It's pretty wild," Judge said as quoted by Reuters. "You try not to think about it during the season. I try to keep my head down through all 162 and do whatever I can in today's game to help our team win."

For Judge, now 33, the honor represents his third career MVP award, placing him in elite company alongside legends such as Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Mike Trout and a select group of others who have reached that milestone.

In the American League voting, Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez - who posted 30 home runs and 44 steals - finished a distant third. Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (23 homers, 38 steals) and Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, fresh off his second straight Cy Young Award after going 13–6 with a 2.21 ERA, completed the top five.