Who doesn’t like surprises? And when it’s from a generational star like Shohei Ohtani, it’s a cherry on top. The funny thing is that Ohtani has made it a habit of giving glimpses of wonderful moments to his fans. Lately, the star has gone into overdrive regarding surprises. Fans had barely recovered from the cute visa for his pet Decoy and now he’s managed to charm them once more with his MVP acceptance speech.

Shohei Ohtani recently attended the BBWAA Dinner where his AL MVP season was to be celebrated. During his acceptance speech, the two-time phenom did something unthinkable. He delivered the speech in English without the help of Ippei Mizuhara! The fans lost their minds after hearing Ohtani’s words.

Shohei Ohtani shows off his English-speaking skills  

During the BBWAA Dinner, Ippei Mizuhara accompanied Shohei Ohtani like he always does. While most people expected Mizuhara to go on stage with Ohtani, they were in for a surprise as Ohtani stood there all alone. Mizuhara, who has been by Ohtani’s side from post-game shows to other sporting events was for the first time sitting in the sidelines. That’s when the question emerged – would Ohtani increase his personal English interactions with the audience from now on? Does it mean a reduction in Mizuhara’s role as interpreter? Nonetheless, Ohtani thanked everyone associated with him during his speech.

“To all the voters who voted for me – thank you. This MVP award is very prestigious and winning this means the world to me. So deep appreciation goes out to all of you that voted for me to win this MVP award. To my fellow recipients congratulations to all of you (for) that and the years you had and for some of you up here the careers you had,” Ohtani said. 

The superstar then shifted to the LA Angels and thanked them for the past six years. “To the Angels’ organization, ownership, front office, and the entire staff thank you for the past six years. I always appreciated your support and allowing me the opportunity to play this game I’m so passionate about. To my teammates and our coaching staff for helping and encouraging me throughout the year. I felt your support every day.” 

Watch this story: Shohei Ohtani’s Two-Way Dream: Before Injury, He Always Wanted Both!

Ohtani was then quick to thank the LA Dodgers and then the baseball fans who supported him throughout his time, especially the Japanese fans, whose “passionate support” helped him immensely. Lastly, Ohtani thanked his agent – Nez Balelo and his wife Liz, and finally Ippei Mizuhara and his family.

With Ohtani slowly becoming more fluent in English, it’ll be interesting to see how Mizuhara-san will adjust to this potential new normal. Especially as fans love watching the Icon talk to them directly.

“GOAT” yell the fans on social media 

The extremely rare occurrence of seeing Ohtani speaking English quickly went viral on X. With fans calling him the “GOAT”!

This fan was surprised that Ohtani could speak “straight English”.

Ohtani certainly had butterflies flying in this fan’s stomach.

Fans also teased Mizuhara, the interpreter of Shotime.

Finally, this fan appreciated Shohei Ohtani for “stepping out of his comfort zone”.

Looks like Ohtani’s fans have found another reason to love their icon. He sure is making this offseason quite memorable. 

Read more: Shohei Ohtani Reflects on His Baseball Dream, Opens Up on Special Family Tradition That Led to Two-Way Superstardom