Photo/Illutration Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak, left, walks with Shohei Ohtani, center, after playing against the Oakland Athletics on Oct. 1 in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo)

ANAHEIM, Calif.--Despite missing the final month of the season, Shohei Ohtani's virtually insurmountable lead held up, allowing the Los Angeles Angels slugger to become the first Japanese player to win the American League home run crown. 

Ohtani played his final game of the season on Sept. 3 but his 44 home runs still led the league as the regular season wrapped up on Oct. 1. That far outpaced Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers, who hit 39. 

“It’s quite an honor, and I’m humbled when you think about the great players that have come before me that have played MLB from Japan,” Ohtani said in a comment shared through his team. 

“Thank you to my teammates, coaching staff and fans that helped me to achieve this goal,” he said.

Ohtani, 29, visited Angel Stadium, the team’s home stadium, for the Angels' final game of the season on Oct. 1.

On the previous day, when he appeared in front of the fans for the first time after having undergone surgery to his pitching elbow, he also cheered on his team from the bench during the game.

When his teammate blasted a homer and rounded the bases on Oct. 1, Ohtani high-fived him in the dugout after the player donned a Japanese kabuto samurai helmet, a customary celebration.

Ohtani nearly wore out the kabuto as his bat was on fire this season. He belted seven homers in April, eight in May and then exploded for 15 in a red-hot June.

On June 30, during a home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he hit a moonshot that forever changed the image of Japanese players unable to hit for power in the major leagues.

In the sixth inning, he launched the ball high and far into the right-field stands, setting a personal record distance of about 150 meters. With this, he became the first Japanese player to hit 30 homers for three consecutive years.

Ohtani slugged his 40th homer on Aug. 3, faster than any other player this season to reach the mark, including in the National League.

He sat out the last four weeks of the season due to impending surgery for a torn right elbow ligament and lingering pain in his right abdomen. But his substantial lead in the American League home run race ensured that no other player would challenge him for the league crown. 

Many top players from Japan have made the successful jump to the major leagues.

However, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners had been the only Japanese player to capture at least one rung of the Triple Crown, consisting of the three major batting categories: batting average, home runs and runs batted in. Ichiro led the American League in batting average twice.

Even hitters who have led Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball leagues in home runs have found themselves lagging in power compared to MLB players and were unable to compete in the home run race.

The only Japanese player before Ohtani who consistently thrived as a power hitter in the major leagues was Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees.

Ohtani overturned the notion that a Japanese player could never compete for the home run crown in the major leagues, and is delivering extraordinary performances both at the plate and on the mound.

He is set to become a free agent after the season and an unprecedented bidding war for his services is expected to ensue.

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