NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Shohei Ohtani鈥檚 soaring popularity was even more evident when it came to jersey sales.
Ohtani had the best-selling jersey in Major League Baseball this season, the first time a Japanese player finished in the top spot. The league and the Players Association released its top-20 list Friday, with rankings based on sales of Nike jerseys since Opening Day on MLBShop.com.
The Los Angeles Angels鈥� two-way star beat out Atlanta鈥檚 Ronald Acu帽a Jr., Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees, San Diego鈥檚 Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Houston鈥檚 Jose Altuve, Seattle鈥檚 Julio Rodr铆guez, Atlanta鈥檚 Matt Olson, Houston鈥檚 Alex Bregman and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels rounded out the top 10. Trout has finished in the top 10 every year since his rookie season in 2012.
Ohtani finished in the top 10 twice before (2018, 2021), but hadn鈥檛 come close to being No. 1.
He鈥檚 the favorite to earn American League MVP honors after hitting .304, with 44 homers, 95 RBIs, eight triples and 20 steals. The right-hander also went 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA in 23 starts on the mound.
A , Ohtani had elbow surgery last week and was shut down for much of the season鈥檚 final month because of an oblique injury.
Ohtani and nine others in the top 20 were born outside of the United States.
They represent sa国际传媒, Cura莽ao, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
The jerseys of two Canadian-born players, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, ranked 13th and 15th, respectively.
Guerrero was the only Blue Jay to crack the top 20.
Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was born in California but represents sa国际传媒 internationally as a tribute to his Canadian parents, had the 11th best-selling jersey this season.
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AP MLB:
The Associated Press
