Another Record For Ohtani: Tops MLB Player Jersey Sales For First Time
Friday, September 29, 2023 at 03:11PM By Barry Janoff
September 29, 2023: Shohei Ohtani has shown that he can hit and that he can pitch.
Now he has shown that he can sell.
Ohtani finished the season with the most popular player jersey in MLB for the 2023 season, with his No. 17 Los Angeles Angels attire topping the list for the first time in his career.
He had appeared in the Top 10 after two prior seasons (2018, 2021).
MLB also said it was the first time a Japanese player has reached No. 1 spot.
The list, released jointly today by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Assn., tallied sales from MLBShop.com of Nike player jerseys since Opening Day.
MLB did not release sales figures.
Ronald Acuña Jr.’s record-setting season with the Atlanta Braves — including first player in history with 40 home runs and 70 steals — helped make him second-most popular player jersey in MLB.
Acuña ranked No. 1 ahead of Ohtani in mid-season sales figures released in July.
The Top Five also includes Aaron Judge (New York Yankees), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres) and Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers).
Acuña and teammates Matt Olson (No. 8), Austin Riley (No. 12) and Ozzie Albies (No. 8) made the Braves the most-represented club on the Most Popular Player Jersey list.
The defending World Series champion Houston Astros feature two players in the Top Ten: Jose Altuve (No. 6) and Alex Bregman (No. 9).
Cincinnati Reds rookie shortstop Elly De La Cruz (No. 16) made his debut on the most popular player jersey list and, at 21, is the youngest player on the list.
Seattle Mariners Julio Rodríguez (No. 7) and Baltimore Orioles Adley Rutschman (No. 20), are also in the Top 20 both made their debuts on the Most Popular Player Jersey list at the All-Star break.
Rodríguez is the first Mariners player to finish a season in the Top Ten of most popular jerseys since MLB began unveiling these rankings in 2010.
Rutschman is the first Orioles player since Adam Jones and Manny Machado (2014) to finish a season on the Most Popular Jersey list.
Cincinnati’s Votto, in his 17th MLB season, re-joined the end-of-season rankings (No. 13) for the first time since 2012 — the longest span ever between appearances on the list for any player, according to MLB.
This is also the first time that more than one Reds player has ranked among the Top 20 most popular jerseys
MLB said this season's jersey sales “continues to represent the international makeup of today’s league.”
Including Ohtani, ten of the Top 20 players were born outside of the U.S.: Canada (Guerrero, Votto), Curaçao (Albies), the Dominican Republic (De La Cruz, Rodríguez, Tatis), Japan (Ohtani), Puerto Rico (Lindor) and Venezuela (Acuña, Altuve).
Most Popular MLB Player Jerseys 2023:
1. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels
2. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
3. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
4. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres
5. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
6. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
7. Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners
8. Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
9. Alex Bregman, Houston Astros
10. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
11. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
12. Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves
13. Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
14. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
15. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
16. Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds
17. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
18. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves
19. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
20. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
Based on sales from MLBShop.com of Nike jerseys since Opening Day
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