Shohei Ohtani’s win of the National League MVP award for the second consecutive year came as no surprise on Thursday.
Following his return to pitching after elbow surgery in 2024, Ohtani once again dazzled as baseball’s premier two-way player, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to back-to-back World Series victories. He topped the league in bases, runs, and extra-base hits, while achieving a 2.87 earned-run average over 14 games—the second-best of his impressive career.
Ohtani’s performance earned him all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, marking the fourth time in five years he has received this honor, dating back to his time with the American League’s Los Angeles Angels. Among MVP winners, only Barry Bonds, with seven awards, outpaces Ohtani, who at 31, is heading into his ninth MLB season.
While Ohtani’s MVP win was expected, the manner of his celebration caught some off guard.
Broadcasted on MLB Network, Ohtani accepted the accolade via satellite, sitting on a sofa alongside his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, and their dog. He shared warm embraces with both, but it was his affectionate kiss directed at the dog that stood out.
“Ohtani hugging his wife while kissing his dog,” a fan commented on social media platform X, adding a playful “lol.”
Many fans were surprised to see Ohtani rush to kiss his dog, Decoy, rather than his wife
Ohtani, Decoy and Mamiko Tanaka sit on a couch as he learns he’s won another MVP award
This reaction was not uncommon.
‘Lol at Ohtani kissing his dog and not his wife,’ another added.
One fan joked: ‘Ohtani reaches for his wife, but kisses… the dog.’
A supporter of the rival Padres then added: ‘I knew that marriage was just for publicity.’
Ohtani’s dog has now been part of two World Series celebrations and was recently seen aboard a double-decker bus with baseball’s biggest superstar and his basketball player wife during the Dodgers’ championship parade.
Known in Ohtani’s native Japanese a ‘Dekopin,’ which refers to the action of flicking someone’s forehead, the Dutch Kooikerhondje’s English name is ‘Decoy.’
And while Decoy is popular with fans, many felt Ohtani was rude for kissing the pooch and not his wife.
‘Ohtani is a real a**hole,’ a gravely serious fan responded. ‘Wins MVP and kisses the dog before his wife. I’d divorce him and take him for a ride.’
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers walks with his dog Decoy and his wife Mamiko Tanaka in 2024
But Ohtani may have his reasons for showing more affection to Decoy than Tanaka. According to several travel publications, public displays of affection are frowned upon in Japan.
‘As a foreigner, you probably won’t get told off for a quick peck, but you might get some dirty looks,’ read a piece on the subject from Islands.com. ‘In order to be respectful of the people around you, you should probably keep your PDA to a minimum.’
A similar piece from JapanToday.com noted in ‘Japan, you’re not likely to see too much public smooching.’
As for the kissing of dogs, that’s more of a case-by-case basis. But like many other places, Japan’s dogs are often considered part of the family, according to a 2012 piece from The Guardian, which claimed the country has ‘arguably the world’s most pampered pooches.’
As for the reason Ohtani was kissing his dog, the left-handed slugging and right-handed pitching All-Star belted 55 home runs in 2025 to set a new career high for himself. And in addition to leading baseball with a .622 slugging percentage, he also boasted a 179 OPS+, meaning he was 79 percent more valuable on offense than the average MLB hitter in 2025.
And unlike 2025, Ohtani should be able to enter the 2026 season as both a pitcher and designated hitter.
