Yakult Munetaka Murakami and Orix Yoshinobu Yamamoto, three professional baseball MVPs

This season's MVP = best player of professional baseball was announced, and the Central League hit 56 home runs, the most for Japanese players in the season, and Yakult Munetaka Murakami, who won the triple crown at the youngest time in history.

In the Pacific League, Orix pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won four major titles for starting pitchers for the first time in history for the second year in a row, was selected for the second year in a row.

The MVP of professional baseball is determined by the sum of votes from reporters and others.

In the Central League, Yakult's Murakami ranked first in all 299 valid votes and was selected by unanimous votes.

Following last year, it is the second MVP two years in a row.

22-year-old Murakami played in 141 games this season, his fifth year, batting 30%, 1 minute, 8 minutes, 56 home runs, and 134 RBIs, contributing to the team's consecutive league title.

For the first time in Reiwa, he was the youngest ever to win the Triple Crown.

56 home runs in a season is the most for Japanese players.

He is the fourth person in the Central League to be selected as MVP by unanimous votes, the first time in 45 years since Sadaharu Oh in 1977.

In 2013, Rakuten pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was selected unanimously in the Pacific League.

On the other hand, in the Pacific League, Orix ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who won Japan's best for the first time in 26 years, was selected as the MVP for the second consecutive year.

24-year-old pitcher Yamamoto won the most wins, best ERA, best winning percentage, and most strikeouts and four main starting pitcher titles for the first time in history for the second consecutive year in his sixth season.

▽ 15 wins, ▽ ERA 1.68, ▽ Strikeout "205" are all top 12 teams, and he was also selected for the "Sawamura Award" given to the starting complete pitcher for the second consecutive year.

What is Munetaka Murakami?

Murakami is 22 years old from Kumamoto prefecture.

A left-handed batter who joined the team in 1st place in the 2018 draft from Kyushu Gakuin.

A strong batting characteristic, he hit his first home run in his first professional at-bat in the game where he was promoted to the first team at the end of the first season. Shined.

In his third year, Ototoshi started all games as No. 4, and last year, when the team won the league championship and Japan's No. He was also named league MVP.

He also participated in the Tokyo Olympics and contributed to Japan's long-awaited gold medal.

Mass-produced home runs as a constant number 4 in this season, his 5th year.

He won the monthly MVP award for three consecutive months from June to August, and in August he broke the professional baseball record by hitting five consecutive home runs and becoming the youngest player to hit 150 home runs.

Then, on September 13th, he hit the 55th home run in a game against the Giants, tying in with Sadaharu Oh's record for most Japanese players in a season.

After that, he fell into a slump, but in the last game of the regular season against DeNA on the 3rd of last month, he hit the 56th home run and broke Mr. Wang's record for the first time in 58 years.

Murakami, who won the triple crown, has also won the title of the highest on-base percentage in addition to the top hitter, home run king, and RBI king.

He left an overwhelming record of 4 crowns in the batting division, and left a result worthy of unanimous MVP.

Munetaka Murakami "I'm glad I was able to achieve my goal"

At the awards ceremony, Munetaka Murakami said, "The MVP award cannot be won by one person alone, so I would like to thank my teammates and everyone who supported me. Thank you very much."

And in an interview, he smiled, saying, "I'm glad I was able to achieve what I set out to do before the season started," and said, "I'll do my best" to win the MVP for the third consecutive year.

Finally, he called out to his fans, "Thanks to everyone's support, I was able to do my best. Please lend me your strength next year."

At the press conference, Munetaka Murakami said, "I would like to thank the journalists who voted for me. I am honestly happy, and I was able to win this award because of the support of many people, so I would like to thank everyone around me." I talked about my feelings.

After that, he said, "I'm satisfied because it's very difficult to keep getting good results, but I can still do it, so I want to do my best to get it next year."

Then, after losing in the Japan Series this year and missing the number one in Japan for the second year in a row, he said, "I had a frustrating end, so I want to somehow become number one in Japan. To get revenge, I need to win the league three times in a row. I want to do my best to aim for 1st place in both."

On the other hand, regarding the match in which the Japanese national team defeated the powerhouse Germany at the World Cup Qatar tournament, he said, "I also feel the difficulty of playing while many people in Japan are expecting and cheering for me, so I respect them very much. It was nice," he said.

What is pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto?

Orix pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is 24 years old from Okayama Prefecture.

He was drafted 4th in 2017 from Miyakonojo High School in Miyazaki Prefecture.

▽ In the first year of Reiwa, the third year of the professional career, he won the best ERA with an ERA of 1.95, and the title of the most strikeouts with 149 strikeouts.

Last season, he won 15 consecutive wins without losing since May and won 4 starting pitcher titles, including the most wins with 18 wins and 5 losses. Award”.

This season, his sixth year as a professional, he achieved his first no-hitter no-run against Seibu on June 18, showing overwhelming pitching throughout the season. He won four and contributed greatly to the team's consecutive victory in the Pacific League, and also won the "Sawamura Award" for the second year in a row.

And in the Japan Series in October, he started in the first game and got off the mound in the middle of the 5th inning due to a discomfort in his left flank. I'm restarting catch ball.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto "I'm glad I was able to spend the day desperately"

At the awards ceremony, pitcher Yamamoto said, “Thank you very much.

In an interview, he explained why he continued to play an active role from last year, saying, "There were games where we conceded a lot of goals, but overall I was able to pitch consistently. I'm glad that I was able to spend the day desperately."

Looking ahead to the next season, he said, "I want to do my best so that the team can be number one in Japan for the second year in a row. Hearing the fans' cheers makes me feel rewarded. Thank you for your support."

In addition, pitcher Yamamoto said at the press conference, "I am happy that my results for the first year have been evaluated. I am also happy that I have achieved good results for the second consecutive year."

Also, regarding the part that grew the most this year, he said, "I think I grew when I was able to throw in a more stable condition than last year. However, there were some issues that remained, so I did more off work. I want to do my best to have a good season,” he said.

On top of that, looking ahead to the next season, he said, "I will do my best as a member of the team so that we can win the league title three years in a row and be number one in Japan for two years in a row."