Sports
As a son and brother, Penn State's Adisa Isaac 'juggled a lot' — now comes the NFL
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — When Adisa Isaac was in third grade, he asked a lot of questions, as third graders do.
There was one that needed thoughtful explanation: “Why are my brothers and my sister different?”
His mother, Lisa Wiltshire-Isaac, expected this day would come. Of her four children, Adisa was the only one who spoke. She sat him down.
His oldest brother, Kyle Wiltshire, she told him, was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Being deprived of oxygen during his birth resulted in autism, intellectual delay, developmental disability and cerebral palsy.
Y’ashua Isaac, Adisa’s next brother in line, didn’t hit some of the developmental markers as a toddler. Doctors told Lisa he had an intellectual disability and developmental delay.
There had been a similar story with Adisa’s younger sister, Tadj Isaac, his mother told him. Tadj, too, was diagnosed with intellectual disability and developmental delay.
So it was an understandable question young Adisa asked.
But there is another one, maybe a better one, in the process of being answered this spring as he prepares to be chosen in the early rounds of the NFL Draft.
Why was Adisa Isaac born into this family?
At the age of 3, Adisa could write his name and knew his mother’s phone number. When he was 8, he began learning the rules of the road, how to make the car go left or right, which pedal accelerates and which stops. Lisa was often alone with the children, whose fathers were not involved in their lives. Her mother thought it was a good idea for Adisa to know how to drive, just in case.
The way Lisa saw it, taking care of Kyle, Y’ashua and Tadj was her responsibility, not Adisa’s. But he watched what she did and how she did it. When her burden was too heavy, he helped, making sure his siblings were showering properly or brushing their teeth thoroughly, helping them get dressed, tying shoes, getting meals prepared or cleaning up in the bathroom — whatever was necessary.
When his friends were gaming, Adisa might have been taking his siblings to the park, watching movies with them or helping with their Play-Doh creations. Lisa says she couldn’t imagine what she would have done without him.
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Lisa spent her childhood in Curepe, Trinidad and Tobago, where she never heard about the NFL. She immigrated to New York with her mother and sister when she was 11. Now she’s a special ed teacher working at PS 138 in Brooklyn with students from kindergarten through second grade. She does at home what she does at work.
“I do,” she says with a Trini accent, “what I was put here to do.”
How she manages, especially since Adisa went to Penn State, is a mystery.
“She does a million things in the dark that are kind of unexplainable that just make her who she is,” Adisa says.
“You can be in a full-on conversation with her, and somehow she knows what all three of her (developmentally disabled) children need without even looking,” says Kyle Allen, Adisa’s football coach his first three years at Canarsie High School.
Adisa’s strength, he will tell you, is from her.
For most of his childhood, the family lived in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where trouble could be found at every bus stop or convenience store parking lot. Sometimes, like a pulling guard, it seemed to come from nowhere with fury. But Adisa always managed to get around it.
Allen says he never saw Adisa cut classes, hang with the wrong people or get into fights. Lisa focused on his grades, so schoolwork eventually became a priority alongside family and sports.
When Adisa was a sophomore in high school, he came down with the flu. His mother instructed him to stay in bed and drink fluids, then phoned to see how he was doing only to hear voices in the background.
Lisa: “Where are you?”
Adisa: “In school.”
Lisa: “What are you doing in school?”
Adisa: “We have a basketball game today, and I can’t let my guys down.”
“He just always puts others before himself,” Lisa says.
The first time Adisa stepped on a football field as a high school freshman, he found a place he was meant to be. “I was in love,” he says.
The game loved him back. After initially considering Adisa as a wide receiver, Allen became awed by the way he fired out of his stance, so he made him a pass rusher. Allen also recognized remarkable football character.
“As I started coaching him, I realized he was a little different from the other kids,” Allen says. “His maturity level was different. His focus was different. His coachability was different.”
Adisa was a captain at Canarsie for three seasons and team MVP for two. As a senior, he had 25 sacks and was rated the No. 1 recruit in New York by 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals.
He chose Penn State over Alabama, Michigan, Miami and other schools because he was impressed with how coaches treated his family. And a school within driving distance was a priority because Kyle feels uncomfortable on airplanes.
Adisa Isaac (right) with brothers Kyle (top) and Y’ashua (left) and sister Tadj (bottom). (Courtesy of Lisa Wiltshire-Isaac)
Kyle, 33, is often cautious, serious, and to himself. Adisa quells his anxiety. Kyle sulks. Adisa makes a funny face. Kyle cracks up, transformed with a halogen smile. And then he wants his brother’s attention.
Tadj, 19, wants his affection. She’s possessive of Adisa. If somebody she doesn’t know shakes his hand, she might grab Adisa and try to pull him away. After one game last season, he was signing autographs in a group of people when a highly excited Tadj seemingly came out of nowhere, charged him and nearly tackled him with a hug — and then, a wet kiss on the cheek.
“She is just a really loving girl,” he says.
With Y’ashua, Adisa is more likely to be in pursuit. Y’ashua has a mind of his own and likes to stretch his boundaries, especially if he sees an opportunity to flirt. “He’s the cool guy,” says Adisa, who, at 22, is one year younger than his younger brother, with whom he shared a bedroom growing up.
At each of Adisa’s games, his siblings wore jerseys, T-shirts or sweaters with his name and his No. 20 on the back. And of the hundred-and-something-thousand fans around them in Beaver Stadium, none were more exuberant and joyous than the three sitting in the front row behind the Nittany Lions’ bench.
Adisa found them in pregame warmups. Often, when he came to the sideline after a defensive series, he let them know he saw them. They pointed. He did a little dance. They went wild.
“They scream, make noises and gestures,” he says. “It makes me feel good to acknowledge them and then go play my heart out.”
They had little to be excited about in 2021, however. That summer, Adisa was doing lateral drills when his ankle gave out. Adisa required surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon and missed the season. It was a challenging time in his life, but few could tell.
“He was just like, ‘Well, it happened for a reason and I’m going to get over it,’” Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes said. “Things really don’t faze him that much. I don’t think I have ever seen him down.”
It took time for Adisa to come back completely, but by the 2023 season, he was ready to elevate to a new level. He led the Nittany Lions with 7 1/2 sacks and 16 tackles for a loss. He was voted first-team All-Big Ten. Sports Information Solutions named him first-team All-American.
Teammates voted him a captain last season. He acted as a go-between when coaches and players weren’t connecting. To one teammate, Adisa stressed the importance of staying with proper technique even though that player was having success doing things his own way. When another player was frustrated by a slump, Adisa spoke with him every day to try to keep him engaged and optimistic.
He also spent about 20 hours a week interning at State High School, earning $10 an hour working with kids with disabilities.
Adisa often worked one-on-one with students. One boy, Sahd, struggled with anxiety. Adisa, with the voice of an overnight jazz deejay, taught him how to walk in the hallway with his head up, how to be assertive about what he wanted and how to interpret what was happening around him.
“He ended up growing and learning and having a more joyous personality that he didn’t show to begin with,” Adisa says.
Adisa sometimes worked a sleep shift, staying the night to teach students how to be self-sufficient and prepare for independence.
Barnes says Adisa still put in extra football training while working for the high school. “It was like the internship didn’t even exist in my eyes,” Barnes says.
“I got a little tired at times, but being able to help them grow was big for me,” Adisa says. “I feel like I’ve juggled a lot, much more than that. So it came easy to me.”
At 6-foot-4, Adisa stands more than a head taller than his siblings. His mom can’t explain his height. Or his heart.
“Sometimes he wonders why I’m staring at him because he has me in such awe,” Lisa says. “He’s such a beautiful person.”
Adisa has learned the value of selflessness and how a positive attitude can impact those around him. He figured out why accountability matters and developed patience. All of this is reflected in the football player he has become. He is like no other prospect.
“You would want a thousand Adisas,” Barnes says.
His most outstanding trait may be his ability to bend. A protractor would say he sometimes rushes the passer at a 160-degree angle. Barnes says he turns the corner with the flexibility of Chandler Jones, who had 112 career sacks for the Patriots, Cardinals and Raiders.
“When I watched him in drills at his pro day, he got so low I thought he was going to fall down, but he keeps his feet,” says a veteran NFL talent evaluator.
His pliability isn’t confined to football. “He’s very adaptable,” Lisa says. “He will see a situation and adapt to it, fit in as needed, try to give a solution.”
Isaac with his mother, Lisa Wiltshire-Isaac. (Courtesy of Wiltshire-Isaac)
He wants to keep helping people with disabilities. Potential charity initiatives swirl in his mind. He graduated last December with a major in rehab and human services and thinks about devoting his post-football life to children with disabilities, potentially counseling or teaching.
After Adisa worked out for NFL scouts at Penn State’s pro day, he, Allen, and Allen’s two sons sat outside the Penn State Berkey Creamery eating ice cream. Allen asked him if he realized he would soon be rich.
Adisa said yes. His family now lives in a rough area in East Flatbush. His goal is to provide a better home for them, and he wants them near him.
“I feel like God knew what he was doing putting me in this situation,” Adisa says. “It’s clear cut that I’m here for a reason.”
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: Todd Rosenberg / Associated Press)
Citing a lack of consistency in the kicking game, Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome announced that the team was releasing young kicker Stephen Hauschka, who hours earlier missed a 36-yard attempt against the Cleveland Browns on “Monday Night Football.”
Hauschka was just 9-of-13 on field goal attempts through nine games, and all of his misses were from under 50 yards. The Ravens replaced him by signing free agent Billy Cundiff, who was working at a venture capital firm at the time.
That transaction occurred in November 2009. That’s the last time the Ravens made an in-season, performance-based change at typically one of the most volatile positions in the sport.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh made clear Monday that he has no plans on making another one, even as his longtime kicker, Justin Tucker, is mired in the most difficult stretch of his 13-year career.
“There’s no thought to that,” Harbaugh said. “You have to find that competition first if you’re going to be blunt about it. Where is that competition? That would be one thing. The best option right now is to get Justin back on point, because he’s fully capable of doing it. (We) certainly haven’t lost any confidence in Justin Tucker.”
Harbaugh’s comments came a day after Tucker missed two kicks in an 18-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. After entering the season as the most statistically accurate kicker in NFL history, Tucker has missed 6 of 22 attempts this year, along with a point-after try. Two of the misses came from inside 50 yards, where Tucker had made 90 percent of his kicks over his first 12 NFL seasons. His extra-point miss was just the seventh of his career.
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“It’s certainly frustrating, especially when we know that these games come down to the wire, like this one did, that I let a couple get away,” Tucker said after Sunday’s game. “But, like I’ve said before, the only thing that we can do is just get right back to work and focus on making the most out of our next opportunity.”
Considered one of the most unique weapons in the league for over a decade and the Ravens’ most reliable performer since he entered the league in 2012, Tucker — and by extension, the team’s field goal operation — has suddenly become one of the reasons Baltimore is losing games.
It’s harsh and it feels uncomfortable to say or write about a guy who has been the gold standard in the sport at his position for many years, but the numbers are hard to ignore. The Ravens’ four losses have come by a total of 17 points, and Tucker missed a field goal in each of them that factored prominently in the defeats.
Tucker “needs to make kicks,” Harbaugh said after Sunday’s frustrating loss in Pittsburgh. “He knows that. He makes them in practice, and he made the long one (54-yarder) later, which was good to see. He’s still very capable. Kick them straight, we’ll be good.”
Missing seven total kicks through 11 games would get plenty of other kickers a pink slip. That’s just the nature of the position in the NFL and the fine line between winning and losing. Kicking issues are omnipresent around the league, and Tucker is hardly alone among proven veterans having a tough time this season. The New York Jets have had four different kickers in as many weeks.
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For the Ravens, however, kicking stability has been a constant. Matt Stover, nicknamed “Money Matt” for his accuracy, was the team’s kicker from 1996 to 2008. Cundiff replaced Hauschka in 2009 and was the team’s kicker for three seasons before his crushing late miss in the AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots in January 2012. Tucker arrived on the scene as an undrafted free agent several months later, beat out Cundiff for the job and hasn’t missed a game in 13 seasons.
Just the idea of making a kicking change in Baltimore seems blasphemous, given Tucker’s well-earned status. Before the two misses in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Tucker’s career field goal percentage (89.7) made him the most accurate kicker in NFL history and put him on a Hall of Fame track.
His clutch kicking as a rookie in 2012 was instrumental in the Ravens winning their last Super Bowl. He’s been selected to seven Pro Bowl teams and named an All-Pro on eight occasions. Time and time again when the Ravens needed points, particularly late in games, Tucker stepped up, performed his tried-and-true pre-kick ritual and calmly delivered. He’s previously been the highest-paid kicker in the sport, and for good reason.
Tucker’s kicking brilliance, along with his charisma, outgoing personality and multitude of talents, made him one of the faces of the team and one of the most popular and recognizable athletes in Baltimore. Tucker’s No. 9 jerseys are not hard to find when you’re scanning the seating bowl at Ravens games.
But this season has brought long-avoided angst in Baltimore about the performance of the kicker and led to a small but growing segment of Baltimore’s fan base to question why the organization hasn’t moved on, or at least brought in competition, for its longtime star.
“Knowing the team, knowing the character of Justin, yes, his performance in the past does warrant him the benefit of the doubt, for sure,” Stover said. “But this is the NFL. It is a very immediate performance you have to have. With an objective job like being a kicker, it becomes a quick response for people to say, ‘Hey, man, what’s wrong with you? Do we need to make a change?’”
Yet, Stover said, “He’s one of the best who has ever done it. Who are you going to get who you can guarantee will be better?”
Justin Tucker has missed a field goal in each of the Ravens’ four losses this season. (David Eulitt / Getty Images)
Bringing in another kicker in mid-November likely means either signing a well-traveled veteran who hasn’t been able to land another job or plucking someone off another team’s practice squad. It’s inconceivable at the moment that the Ravens would trust one of those options more than Tucker at a time when they fancy themselves as Super Bowl contenders.
“He’s definitely our best option, and he’s going to make a lot of kicks — I really believe that,” Harbaugh said. “But it’s up to him and the guys he works with every day to make those balls go straight. Competition right now, at this time, no that’s not something we’d want for Justin.”
Stover, who is in the Ravens’ Ring of Honor, still lives in the Baltimore area and has relationships with many people in the building, including Tucker. He also understands what Tucker is going through. There were times early in his career with Cleveland when he struggled and the Browns brought in competition for his job. In 1999, the Ravens claimed kicker Joe Nedney on waivers while Stover remained on the roster.
“That was brutal. He wasn’t on the practice squad. He wasn’t on IR. He was on the roster,” Stover said. “It really just comes down to performance. There’s no subjectivity. I got through it.
“Justin is going through a little blip. He’s mentally strong. He’s got a great support staff around him. He’s got a head coach who totally gets it. To do it for 12 years as well as he’s done it says a lot about who he is and his character. It’s the first time he’s ever had to deal with this. I dealt with it three or four times. It was hard and it sucks. He’ll get through it.”
Stover, who trains young kickers, acknowledged that he hasn’t broken down Tucker’s mechanics, but he maintains the fact that Tucker has missed all seven kicks wide left is a “good thing,” because that often points to a fixable issue. It doesn’t appear to be a leg strength issue with Tucker. Almost all of his kicks, except one, have had the necessary distance.
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There has been plenty of speculation about whether his issues are being caused by snapping and/or holding problems, but Tucker and others at the Ravens’ facility have continued to say snapper Nick Moore and holder Jordan Stout, who aren’t new at this or to the team, are doing their jobs.
After Sunday’s misses, Tucker retreated to the locker room to address reporters and insisted his struggles are not a confidence issue, either.
“I’m still confident I’m going to go out there and nail every single kick,” Tucker said. “Part of the way we stay confident is by continuing to work and trust the process, and I know I might sound like a broken record, but it’s a part of what brings us success — just trusting the process and then taking it one kick at a time.”
Harbaugh, a former special teams coach, has a very close relationship with the kicker. Senior special teams coach Randy Brown has been with Tucker every step of his career and is considered one of the top kicking gurus in the league. Ravens assistant special teams coach Sam Koch is a former holder for Tucker and one of his closest confidants.
Stout has been holding for Tucker for three seasons, and Moore has been in the Ravens organization since 2020. The kicking battery and coaching staff have an established routine that has yielded very strong results for many years.
“You try to attack everything to the utmost that we can, across the board,” Harbaugh said. “Justin is one of the aspects that we’re looking at. He’s going to get it figured out. We have coaches. We have technique. We look at the tape. He’s practicing well. He’s got to kick it straight.”
(Top photo: Barry Reeger / Imagn Images)
Sports
Florida city council changes mind on paying to repair Tampa Bay Rays' ballpark after hurricane ripped roof off
Just hours after voting to finance repairs to the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays, the St. Petersburg City Council reversed course.
The Rays will now pay the division rival New York Yankees $15 million to play their home regular-season games at New York’s spring training ballpark. That is now the only certain home the Rays will have until further notice.
The stadium’s fiberglass roof was ripped clean off Oct. 9 when Hurricane Milton swept ashore just south of Tampa Bay. Then came the destructive water damage inside the venue, causing an estimated $55.7 million in damage. The extensive repairs cannot be finished before the 2026 season, city documents show.
The city at least would have supplied some funding and started the process with its initial vote, which was a 4-3 decision.
A drone image shows the dome of Tropicana Field, which was torn open by Hurricane Milton in St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)
The initial vote Thursday was to get moving on the roof portion of the repair. Once that was done, crews would begin working on laying down a new baseball field and fixing damaged seating and office areas and a variety of electronic systems, which would require another vote to approve money for the remaining restoration.
Members who opposed it said there wasn’t enough clarity on numerous issues, including how much would be covered by the ballpark’s insurance and what amount might be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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The reversal on fixing Tropicana Field came after the council voted to delay consideration of revenue bonds for a proposed new $1.3 billion Rays ballpark. Just two days earlier, the Pinellas County Commission postponed a vote on its share of the new stadium bonds, leaving that project in limbo.
“This is a sad place. I’m really disappointed,” council Chair Deborah Figg-Sanders said. “We won’t get there if we keep finding ways we can’t.”
The Rays say the lack of progress puts the new stadium plan and the future of Tropicana Field in jeopardy.
“I can’t say I’m confident about anything,” Rays Co-President Brian Auld told council members.
Cots at Tropicana Field before the arrival of Hurricane Milton in St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 7, 2024. (Reuters/Octavio Jones)
The reversal now means the city and Rays must work on an alternative in the coming weeks so that Tropicana Field can possibly be ready for the 2026 season.
“I’d like to pare it down and see exactly what we’re obligated to do,” council member John Muhammad said.
Several council members said before the vote on the $23.7 million to fix the roof that the city is contractually obligated to do so.
“I don’t see a way out of it. We have a contract that’s in place,” council member Gina Driscoll said. “We’re obligated to do it. We are going to fix the roof.”
The team’s planned new stadium would be ready for the 2028 season, if that project advances, the team said Tuesday.
Rays top executives said in a letter to the Pinellas County Commission that the team has already spent $50 million for early work on the new $1.3 billion ballpark and cannot proceed further because of delays in approval of bonds for the public share of the costs.
The damaged roof of Tropicana Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, after Hurricane Milton made landfall in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024. (Reuters/Octavio Jones)
“The Rays organization is saddened and stunned by this unfortunate turn of events,” a letter, signed by co-presidents Auld and Matt Silverman, said. They noted the overall project was previously approved by the County Commission and the City of St. Petersburg.
Asked if Major League Baseball can survive long term in the Tampa Bay area, Rays Principal Owner Stuart Sternberg said the outlook is “less rosy than it was three weeks ago. We’re going to do all that we can, as we’ve tried for 20 years, to keep the Rays here for generations to come.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The coronation was nothing new.
The narrative that came with it, however, reflected just how much has changed in one year.
For the third time in his decorated Major League Baseball career, Shohei Ohtani won most valuable player honors Thursday, claiming the National League’s top individual accolade by a unanimous vote from 30 members of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.
While no designated hitter had won an MVP, the award was not a surprise. In his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani led the NL in home runs (54), RBIs (130) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (1.036). He was second in batting average (.310). And with 59 steals, he became the first player in history with a 50-homer, 50-steal season.
Unlike his previous two MVP awards in 2021 and 2023 with the Angels, the two-way star didn’t win this one while pitching, limited to hitting this past season after undergoing last year a revision of the Tommy John surgery he had.
“The fact that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pitch this season,” Ohtani said through an interpreter, “just made me focus more on my offensive game.”
And the circumstances surrounding Thursday’s announcement that Ohtani won were even more different. There were no looming questions about free agency. No lingering doubts about his lack of postseason experience.
Only one last victorious appearance to bookend a celebratory season for the newest Dodgers star.
“I’m representing the team, winning this award,” Ohtani said on MLB Network, after teammate Clayton Kershaw delivered the announcement.
“I obviously don’t go into the season trying to strive to get the MVP award,” Ohtani added. “I was more focused on being one of the guys with a new team, with the Dodgers. I wanted to embrace the fans, as well, and just let them learn who I was. That was my main focus.”
When Ohtani won his second MVP this time last year, the announcement was surrounded by thick offseason speculation. Ohtani was early in his process as a marquee free agent. He had yet to start meeting with clubs trying to sign him. His future was hanging in the balance.
Fast-forward 12 months, and there were a few constants to be found Thursday — right down to Ohtani’s new interpreter for the announcement, Matt Hidaka (who interpreted for Ohtani during his introductory news conference with the Angels in 2017).
Instead of facing total offseason uncertainty like he did last year, Ohtani was looking ahead to his return to the mound with the Dodgers next year, when he is expected to resume two-way duties as a member of their rotation.
Exactly when Ohtani will retake the mound is unclear. He ended the season needing to check a few more boxes in his recovery from elbow surgery, including facing hitters again in live batting-practice sessions.
“The goal is to be ready for opening day, and that includes hitting and pitching,” Ohtani said. “But we are taking our time, obviously … I think we are going to take a little bit more time and be conservative and we’re going to make sure I’m healthy before I step back on the mound.”
A labrum surgery on his left shoulder this month — resulting from the dislocated shoulder Ohtani suffered in the World Series — also likely will push back his pitching timeline, leaving his chances of starting during the Dodgers’ season-opening trip to his home country of Japan seemingly slim.
“The goal is to be ready for opening day, and that includes hitting and pitching,” Ohtani said. “But we are taking our time, obviously … I think we are going to take a little bit more time and be conservative and we’re going to make sure I’m healthy before I step back on the mound.”
It’s also unknown how strictly the Dodgers will limit Ohtani’s pitching workload, as they typically do with pitchers returning from major arm surgeries.
What is clear: Ohtani will have a leading role to play in multiple ways for the Dodgers, who are hoping he can replicate some of his dominant offensive form from the past year while also being in position to impact what was a shorthanded staff.
“Right now my focus is to get healthy, come back stronger, get on the mound and show everybody what I can do,” Ohtani said, after laughing off a question about whether he hopes to add a Cy Young Award to his trophy case next year.
It was all a far cry from where Ohtani was last year, as he embarked on a free-agent process that resulted in a record-breaking $700-million contract.
In hindsight, it’s a decision that worked out for both parties.
En route to helping the Dodgers win the World Series — their second since 2020 and first in a full season since 1988 — Ohtani pulled away from all other NL MVP contenders, including New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (who finished second) and Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (who finished third).
It made Ohtani the 12th player in MLB history with three or more MVP awards (of that group, only seven-time winner Barry Bonds won a fourth). It made Ohtani the second player in history to win both an AL and NL MVP, joining Frank Robinson’s honors in 1961 (with Cincinnati) and 1966 (with Baltimore). And it marked the 13th time in Dodgers history one of their players won an MVP. Cody Bellinger had been the last to do so in 2019.
The Dodgers’ hope is that more MVPs — and World Series titles — are in Ohtani’s future, as he enters the second year of his 10-year deal with the club.
Other than his pitching rehab, after all, the lack of uncertainties surrounding Ohtani on Thursday reflected just how quickly he has settled with the Dodgers.
It wasn’t his first time winning the honor. But it only added to what has been the most triumphant season of his MLB career yet.
“The next goal,” Ohtani said, “is for me to do it again.”
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