NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani keeps setting records, even after the season is over.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star added his third Most Valuable Player award to his collection and first in the National League when he was chosen unanimously by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Thursday. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees won the American League award for the second time, also unanimously.
Ohtani last year became the first two-time unanimous MVP. He won the AL award in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting.
He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December. Ohtani became the first player to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, then helped the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series.
“The fact that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pitch this season just made me focus more on my offensive game and fortunately I was able to produce and get this award,” Ohtani said through a translator.
Ohtani sat on a red sofa with his wife and dog Decoy as teammate Clayton Kershaw announced the award on the MLB Network. The Nederlanse kooikerhondje immediately jumped away.
Ohtani received all 30 first-place votes and 420 points. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229.
Judge was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points.
Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season.
A highlight of the season was during the dog days. Ball in mouth, Decoy delivered the ceremonial first pitch to his owner at Dodger Stadium's home plate before an Aug. 28 game against Baltimore.
“The most nerve-wracking game that I had, the most nervous I was when we had that Decoy throw out the first pitch,” he said.
Ohtani played the final three games of the World Series with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Still recovering from right elbow surgery in September 2023, Ohtani had another operation on Nov. 5 to repair the shoulder and has been working on range of motion and started Thursday on core and lower body work.
“The goal is to be ready for opening day and that includes hitting and pitching,” Ohtani said. “But we are kind of taking our time."
When Ohtani resumes pitching, could he win MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same year?
“That would obviously be great, but right now my focus is just to get to get back healthy, come back stronger, get back on the mound and show everybody what I can do,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani became the first primary designated hitter and first player who didn't appear defensively for a single inning to win an MVP. His season started with the revelation longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara had stolen nearly $17 million from the star to fund gambling.
Ohtani is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).
Balloting was conducted before the postseason.
“Moving forward, I think now we do have a target on our back,” Ohtani said. “We are going to be expected to maybe even do — possibly even do more.”
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 31 stolen bases and 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs.
When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two. Judge had discussed the MVP award with Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, the NL winner in 2015 and ’21.
“I was telling him, `Man, I’m going to try to catch up to you with these MVPs here, man,’” Judge recalled. “He’d say, hopefully, he could stay a couple ahead of me, which I think he’ll do.”
When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two. He is the Yankees' 22nd MVP winner, four more than any other team.
Judge was hitting .207 with six homers and 18 RBIs through April, then batted .352 with 52 homers and 126 RBIs in 127 games.
“March and April were not my friend this year.” Judge said. “Just keep putting in the work and things are going to change. You can’t mope. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. Especially in New York, nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. So you just got to go out there and put up the numbers.”
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FILE - New York Yankees' Aaron Judge smiles before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, April 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani smiles after reaching first base on a single off Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Seth Halvorsen in the eighth inning of a baseball game Sept. 29, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
FILE - From left are baseball players, New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte and Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, in 2024. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - From left are baseball players, New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, New York Yankees ' Juan Soto and Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr., in 2024. (AP Photo/File)
PARIS (AP) — When Jean-Charles de Castelbajac watched as Notre Dame cathedral burned in April 2019, he felt compelled to act somehow.
Returning home, the French fashion designer began sketching ideas, imagining the monument’s reconstruction.
So, when the Paris Archbishop’s emissary approached him to design the liturgical garments for the cathedral's reopening next month, Castelbajac — a believer with personal roots with the church — felt the moment transcended mere coincidence.
“It’s bigger than a job. It’s a bit mysterious … mysterious,” Castelbajac said, his eyes brimming with wonder as he previewed some of the 2,000 colorful pieces for 700 celebrants at his Paris home. “It's a calling. To be called like that is synchronicity.”
This duty, as he calls it, led to a collection of work crafted in collaboration with the esteemed artisans of 19M studio. The garments, often in thick off-white Scottish wool gabardine, blend his signature eye-popping pop-art aesthetic with a reverence for the cathedral’s centuries-old legacy with medieval touches.
The unorthodox designs are fun, modern — and perhaps shockingly minimalist.
They undoubtedly break with the richly embellished styles associated with the cathedral's near-900-year-old liturgical garb. At their center is a large gold cross, accented by debris fragments of vivid color-blocked red, blue, yellow, and green velvet.
“It’s something that is exploded that reconstructs itself,” Castelbajac said, likening the dissipated shards coming together to the cathedral’s own rebirth.
The commission was not subject to an open call. Instead, Castelbajac was handpicked by the Catholic leadership, due to his history of designing for the church.
In 1997, he created the rainbow-colored robes worn by Pope John Paul II for World Youth Day in Paris, garments later enshrined in Notre Dame’s treasury as a relic. That connection carried a special weight during the fire.
“As I watched the fire, I was thinking, ‘Are the relics burning? Are the relics safe?’ So my link was not just material. It’s really a strong spiritual link,” he said.
For Castelbajac, 74, the memory of those two hours in 2019 spent watching the fire with his wife amid people praying on their knees still evokes both grief and determination.
“It was not Notre Dame burning. It was hope burning. It was spirituality burning. It was such an intense moment … I was thinking, what can I do?” he said.
The vestments, which will be worn in liturgies permanently — forever, as Castelbajac put it — carry a sense of continuity with his past work. The designs are a variation on the pontiff’s robes, infused with Castelbajac’s signature aesthetic: bright, almost childlike hues that evoke optimism.
Castelbajac’s fascination with color began as a child in a military boarding school in Normandy, an experience he recalled as stifling and gray. “It was the absolute loneliness. It was colorless,” he said.
For the young boy, color became a lifeline.
“Color was like my teddy bear, my transitional element in a world of conflict. Each morning, there was the stained glass in the church and the coats of arms in the refectory that filled my world with primary colors,” he explained.
This obsession would define his career, earning him a reputation as a provocateur in the fashion world.
Castelbajac’s creations have dressed pop culture royalty for decades: Madonna in her teddy bear coat, Beyoncé in sequins, Rihanna in a Donald Duck costume. Collaborating with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, he fused art and fashion into a playground of exuberance.
While his designs have graced runways and music icons, Castelbajac’s work for Notre Dame strikes a different, more personal chord.
The playful vestments might raise eyebrows among traditional Catholics, but he has no doubt about the faith Notre Dame’s leadership placed in him. “Maybe I have the trust of the archbishop,” he mused, reflecting on the “carte blanche” he said he received for his designs.
This combination produced a modern-looking body of work that reflects the unity, hope, and rebirth symbolized by Notre Dame itself—just like the phoenix-like rooster gleaming like fire atop the newly constructed spire.
When the cathedral reopens on the weekend of Dec. 7-8, Castelbajac hopes the vestments will be viewed by the world as a testament to renewal and the “power of color” to heal and inspire.
A visitor takes photographs of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Workers stand on Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
Sketches for liturgical vestments designed by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for the reopening of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral in December, are pictured during an interview with the Associated Press, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac gestures as he speaks during an interview with the Associated Press Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac displays a liturgical vestment for priests to be worn at the reopening of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral in December, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac displays a liturgical vestment for bishops to be worn at the reopening of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral in December during an interview with the Associated Press Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac displays a liturgical vestment for bishops to be worn at the reopening of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral in December, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
