VintageMeld

Home run champ, Aaron or Bonds? How ’bout Oh? With 868 career home runs in a playing career spanning 1959-1980, Sadaharu Oh, much like Hank Aaron, achieved his world home run record through consistency and longevity, cracking at least 30 or more bombs every year between 1962-1980. Unlike Aaron, Oh did reach 50 home runs in a season three times, with 50 in 1977, 51 in 1973, and 55 in 1974 which set the single-season record at the time and technically still stands despite some controversy after it having been tied a couple of times.

Sadaharu Oh shows up on American newsstands as he chases Hank Aaron's home run record. This August 15, 1977 issue of Sports Illustrated can be found quite often for just $5-$10

Personally, my home run king is Bonds, but the influx of Japanese ballplayers into America has caused me to no longer consider Oh as much of a gimmicked quiz answer as I did years ago.

While pitcher Hideo Nomo broke ground for Japanese ballplayers in the American major leagues (Masanori Murakami was actually the first MLB player born in Japan of Japanese descent in 1964 for the San Francisco Giants), most of the position players coming over from Japan haven’t translated into power hitters in the States.  While singles hitting phenomenon Ichiro will surely be the first player moving over from Japan to make the American Baseball Hall of Fame, more commonly we’ve seen Japanese players such as Kaz Matsui or Kosuke Fukudome who posted decent home run numbers in Japan come over to the States and be downgraded to doubles-power (and that might be generous).  The one notable exception is the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui, who came over from Japan as a power hitting legend, and has not only managed productive seasons in America but also topped out at 31 home runs in 2004.

Ichiro! Once again Sports Illustrated, May 28, 2001 issue

Which leads one to wonder what Sadaharu Oh would have actually done over here.  Around the time he’d have been eligible to post under the current rules Oh was consistently popping 40-plus and often closer to 50 home runs per season in Japan.  What do you think?  My guess, and it’s a total guess, is that he would have been similar to Hideki Matsui during his best year, but sustained that level for a few more years.

At any rate, happy 69th birthday to Sadaharu Oh.  His home run record made Japanese baseball relevant to Americans at a time before we were able to have the pleasure of watching Japanese baseball stars on an everyday basis.

Coverage of baseball in Japan inside the May 27, 1920 issue of the Mid-Week Pictorial. Headline of story is Baseball Fever Prevalent in Faraway Japan Where First Class Ball Is Played