ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Before Shohei Ohtani stepped into the bright lights of Hollywood and signed the most lucrative contract in U.S. professional sports history, baseball's two-way superstar put together yet another season of unparalleled brilliance from Tokyo to Anaheim.
What can this singular talent possibly do next? The Los Angeles Dodgers are eagerly paying $700 million to see for themselves.
But what Ohtani already did in 2023 -- both for the Los Angeles Angels and for Japan in the World Baseball Classic -- is the reason he was selected as The Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years.