Baseball's biggest stars were out in full force in New York on Saturday night to celebrate the 100th centennial of the New York chapter's Baseball Writers' Association of America awards dinner.

The annual event is held to present the BBWAA awards to all of the players and managers who earned the prestigious honors for their remarkable performances during the 2024 season.

Shohei Ohtani is becoming a regular honoree at these dinners, though he was unable to attend this year¡¯s event.

¡°I¡¯m sorry I could not attend this year¡¯s BBWAA awards dinner,¡± Ohtani said in a video recorded for the dinner. ¡°Given the recent devastating fires in Los Angeles that affected us all it made it very difficult for so many reasons for me and my family to attend. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those families who lost their homes and loved ones, all of those affected by the fires and all the animals displaced or lost.¡±

Ohtani was honored with his third MVP Award in the past four seasons, including his second straight in unanimous fashion -- though it was his first MVP as a Dodger.

¡°I would like to thank the BBWAA for this special NL MVP award,¡± Ohtani said. ¡°This year was a very special year in so many ways and there are a lot of people to thank. I would like to start off by thanking the entire Los Angeles Dodgers organization for the opportunity they gave me to play for this historical franchise.

¡° ¡­ I wanted to dedicate this award to the entire City of Los Angeles, to all the first responders, firefighters and to all of the fire departments for their heroic efforts to combat these fires in Los Angeles. Stay strong and united, we will get through this.¡±

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge -- the unanimous AL MVP -- has also attended his share of BBWAA events. Judge, who also took home the New York chapter's New York Player of the Year Award this year, was the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year Award winner and has won two of the past three AL MVP Awards.

Like Ohtani, Judge was unable to accept the award in-person -- but he had a pretty good reason.

¡°I'm truly humbled to be accepting the 2024 AL MVP Award,¡± Judge said in a video message played at the event. ¡°I want to start by apologizing for missing the awards dinner this evening, however my wife, Samantha, and I are expecting our first child any day and, unfortunately, could not make it.¡±

This marked the second straight season for which the MVP vote in both leagues was unanimous (Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. each won in unanimous fashion last year). Amazingly, that had never happened in the first 92 years of balloting before now happening two years in a row.

But this awards cycle was historic on another front.

Each Cy Young Award winner -- Tarik Skubal in the AL and Chris Sale in the NL -- earned the pitching Triple Crown in his respective league. That marked just the fourth time that a pitcher won the Triple Crown in each league in the same season -- and just the second time in the past 100 seasons. The other instances came in 2011 (Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw), 1924 (Walter Johnson and Dazzy Vance) and 1918 (Johnson and Hippo Vaughn).

Sale's first Cy Young Award came long after it seemed like that window had perhaps closed for the star southpaw. He finished in the top 6 in AL Cy Young voting seven straight seasons from 2012-18 before injuries largely derailed his career from 2019-23. He bounced back in '24, going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts.

¡°As you guys know, the last few years haven¡¯t been the easiest for me,¡± Sale said. ¡°That¡¯s what makes this moment so much sweeter. What I appreciate most is being able to share this moment with my friends and my family.¡±

Speaking of superior pitching, this was also just the second time in the past 40 years that pitchers claimed both the AL and NL Rookie of the Year Awards.

Yankees right-hander Luis Gil claimed the AL ROY Award after a breakout season in the Bronx, while Pirates phenom Paul Skenes won the NL version after taking the league by storm.

The 22-year-old Skenes -- who was also a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award (he finished third) -- went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 23 starts for the Pirates.

"I would like to clear the air on something," said Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Draft. "I know when the award was announced, my reaction wasn't as bubbly and ecstatic as some of the other people, but I am very excited and truly honored to win this award."

Sticking with the rookie theme, a couple of first-year managers took home some hardware in 2024. Stephen Vogt (Guardians) and Pat Murphy (Brewers) won the AL and NL Manager of the Year Awards, respectively, after directing their clubs to Central division titles.

¡°It's all about what the boys do out on the field, and when you pour into them every single day and allow them to go be themselves, this is a byproduct of that,¡± Vogt said. ¡°None of us in this room that work in baseball would have a job if it wasn't for the players -- it is about them, it will never not be about them.¡±

Also receiving honors were Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (Gotta Have Heart Award); John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman (Long and Meritorious Service); Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield (Willie, Mickey and the Duke Award); Pat Kelly (You Could Look It Up Award); the Mets (Toast of the Town Award); Oswaldo Cabrera (Community Service Award); and Sean Manaea (Good Guy Award).