Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh in the 2006 World Baseball Classic
First baseman
Born: May 20, 1940 (1940-05-20) (age 71) Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
Professional debut
NPB: April 11, 1959 for the Yomiuri Giants
Last professional appearance
October 12, 1980 for the Yomiuri Giants
NPB statistics
Batting average	.301
Home runs	868
Hits	2786
RBIs	2170
Teams
As Player Yomiuri Giants (1959–1980) As Manager Yomiuri Giants (1981–1988) Fukuoka Daiei Hawks • Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (1995–2008) Japan (2006)
Career highlights and awards
11x Japan Series Champion (as a player) 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 9× Central League MVP (1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977)
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Inducted	1994

Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih (traditional Chinese: 王貞治; simplified Chinese: 王贞治; pinyin: Wáng Zhēnzhì, Hepburn: Ō Sadaharu, born May 20, 1940), is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother,^[1] had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri Giants in 1959 as a pitcher, but was soon converted to first base. Under the tutelage of coach Hiroshi Arakawa, Oh developed his distinctive "flamingo" leg kick. His batting average jumped from .161 in his rookie season to .270 in 1960, and his home runs more than doubled. His performance dipped slightly in both statistical categories in 1961, but Oh truly blossomed in 1962. He was a five-time batting champion and led all Japanese players in home runs fifteen times and won the Central League most valuable player award nine times. In 1977, Sadaharu Oh became the first recipient of the People's Honor award.

Oh played his entire 22-year professional career with the Yomiuri Giants and was their manager from 1984 to 1988. Oh holds the world career home run record, 868, as well as Japan's single-season home run record of 55, set in 1964. He also managed the Fukuoka Daiei/Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from 1995 to 2008 and he was the manager of the Japanese national team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. The Japanese team defeated the Cuban national team for the championship. He is currently the chairman of the Hawks.

Sadaharu Oh holds citizenship in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Despite his celebrity in Japan, Oh, on occasion, was the victim of discrimination because of his Taiwanese ancestry. Oh is the father of three daughters. His second daughter, Rie Oh (born in 1970), is a sportscaster and presenter on the J-Wave radio network.

Playing career

Prep career

In high school, Oh made many appearances at Koshien Stadium and suffered several tough defeats. In 1957, Waseda Jitsugyo High School made it to the Spring Koshien Tournament with the second-year Oh as its ace pitcher. Right before the tournament started, Oh suffered serious blisters on two fingers of his pitching hand. The only way to heal the injury was with rest, but Oh refused to let his team down. Hiding his injury so as not to demoralize his team, Oh pitched the entire first game at Koshien and won. Oh's catcher noticed the bloodstained ball, but agreed to keep the injury secret from the rest of the team. The next day, Oh pitched another complete game and earned the victory, and again his catcher kept the injury a secret, but the blisters worsened. The pain and infection was unbearable, and now Oh faced the prospect of pitching two more games — on back-to-back days — for the championship. All the same, Oh pitched and won another complete game, enduring the pain. After the game, on the eve of the final, he had already lost all feeling in his fingertips, and was convinced he could not pitch in the final.

That night, Oh was paid a surprise visit by his father, who had noticed the injury while watching his son pitch on television. Oh's father had traveled 350 miles from Tokyo to bring him a herbal remedy. The miracle treatment worked, and Oh was able to just make it through his fourth complete game in four days, squeaking out a one-run victory. Oh had won the championship, proved his fighting spirit, and earned fame and the respect of the nation.

Professional career

In 1959, he signed his first professional contract as a pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants. However, Oh was not a strong enough pitcher to succeed professionally and soon switched to first base, working diligently with coach Hiroshi Arakawa to improve his hitting skills. This led the development of Oh's distinctive "flamingo" leg kick. It took the left-handed hitting Oh three years to blossom, but he would go on to dominate the baseball league in Japan.

Oh led his league in home runs fifteen times (and for thirteen consecutive seasons) and also drove in the most runs for thirteen seasons. More than just a power hitter, Oh was a five-time batting champion, and won the Japanese Central League's batting triple crown twice. With Sadaharu Oh at first base, the Yomiuri Giants won eleven championships, and Oh was named the Central League's Most Valuable Player nine times and to the All-Star team eighteen times.

Sadaharu Oh retired in 1980 at age 40, having amassed 2,786 hits (third after Isao Harimoto (Jang Hoon) and Katsuya Nomura), 2,170 RBIs, a lifetime batting average of .301, and 868 home runs.

His hitting exploits benefited from the fact that, for most of his career, he batted third in the Giants' lineup, with another very dangerous hitter, Shigeo Nagashima, batting fourth; the two players forming the feared "O-N Cannon". In his autobiography, Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way Of Baseball (ISBN 978-0812911091), Oh said he and Nagashima were not close, rarely spending time together off the field. Oh was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Managing career

Oh was the assistant manager of the Yomiuri Giants between 1981 and 1983. He became the manager of the Yomiuri Giants between 1984 and 1988. He led the Giants to one Central League pennant in 1987.

In 1995, he returned to baseball as the manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (later the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks). Oh led the Hawks to three Pacific League pennants in 1999, 2000 and 2003, and two Japan Series titles in 1999 and 2003.

In 2006, Oh managed the Japan national baseball team, winning the championship in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic over Cuba. On July 5, he announced that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Hawks to combat a stomach tumor.^[2] On July 17, 2006, Oh underwent laparoscopic surgery to remove his stomach and its surrounding lymph nodes. The surgery was considered to be a success.^[3] Although the tumor was confirmed to be cancerous, it was caught in early stages. He returned to coaching the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, although he announced he would retire at the end of the 2008 season as manager (but remain as Hawks' GM). He retired as a manager in 2008.

Home run record controversy

On three occasions, foreign-born players have challenged Oh's single-season home run record of 55 and faced Oh-managed teams late in the season. On every single occasion, Oh's pitchers refused to throw strikes to them.^[4]

In 1985, American Randy Bass, playing for the Hanshin Tigers, came into the last game of the season against the Oh-managed Giants with 54 home runs. Bass was intentionally walked four times on four straight pitches each time. Bass reached over the plate on the fifth occasion and batted the ball into the outfield for a single. After the game, Oh denied ordering his pitchers to walk Bass, but Keith Comstock, an American pitcher for the Giants, later stated that an unnamed Giants coach had threatened a fine of $1,000 for every strike that any Giants pitcher threw to Bass. The magazine Takarajima investigated the incident and reported that the Giants front office had likely ordered the team not to allow Bass an opportunity to tie or break Oh's record. For the most part the Japanese media remained silent on the incident as did league commissioner Takeso Shimoda.^[5]

In 2001, American Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, playing for the Kintetsu Buffaloes, hit 55 home runs with several games left. The Buffaloes played the Oh-managed Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on a late weekend series in Fukuoka. Rhodes was intentionally walked during each at-bat. Hawks catcher Kenji Johjima could be seen grinning as he caught the intentional balls. Again, Oh denied any involvement and Hawks batting coach Yoshiharu Wakana stated that the pitchers acted on his orders, saying, "I just didn't want a foreign player to break Oh's record." Rhodes completed the season with 55 home runs. Hawks pitcher Keizaburo Tanoue went on record saying that he wanted to throw strikes to Rhodes and felt bad about the situation.^[6][7]

In 2002, Venezuelan Alex Cabrera hit 55 home runs with five games left in the season and his team played Oh's Hawks. Oh told his pitchers to throw strikes to Cabrera, but most of them ignored his order and threw balls well away from the plate. After the game, Oh stated, "If you're going to break the record, you should do it by more than one. Do it by a lot."^[8] In the wake of the most recent incident involving Cabrera, ESPN listed Oh's single-season home run record as #2 on its list of "The Phoniest Records in Sports."

Personal life

Oh was married to Kyoko Oh (王 恭子 (Ō Kyōko^?)), and had three daughters with her. Kyoko Oh died of stomach cancer in December 2001 at age 57, the same illness he would combat in 2006. In December 2002, her ashes were stolen from their family grave.^[9]

Miscellany

• Oh became friends with Hank Aaron, his contemporary in Major League Baseball. The two squared off in a home run derby before an exhibition game at Korakuen Stadium on 2 November 1974, after Aaron eclipsed Babe Ruth's home run record. By that time, Oh was running away with the Japanese home run record, having become the first Japanese baseball player to hit 600 career home runs that year. Aaron won, 10-9.^[10] In 1988, Oh and Aaron created the World Children's Baseball Fair (WCBF), to increase the popularity of baseball by working with youngsters.^[11]
• On December 4, 2007, Oh said in Chiyoda, Tokyo that it is just a matter of time before his record of 868 home runs will be broken. "I think the 868 record will be broken. There's nobody near that mark in Japan, but I think Alex Rodriguez can do it", he added. "He has the ability to hit 1,000."^[12]
• In 2002 and 2005, he was named by President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan as Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of China.
• President Ma Ying-Jeou honored Sadaharu Oh with the "Order of Brilliant Star" on February 5, 2009, in Taipei. Oh called receiving the award, "The highest honor of his life." ^[13]
• During the 2009 World Baseball Classic Oh attended many of the games played by Japan.

Statistics

YEAR	Team	Number	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	SB	CS	SH	SF	BB	IBB	HBP	K	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1959	Yomiuri Giants	1	94	193	18	31	7	1	7	61	25	3	1	1	1	24	1	3	72	2	.161	.262	.316	.579
1960			130	426	49	115	19	3	17	191	71	5	4	3	1	67	5	5	101	7	.270	.375	.448	.823
1961			127	396	50	100	25	6	13	176	53	10	5	4	4	64	3	3	72	7	.253	.358	.444	.802
1962			134	497	79	135	28	2	38	281	85	6	4	3	2	72	9	12	99	6	.272	.376	.565	.941
1963			140	478	111	146	30	5	40	306	106	9	5	0	2	123	12	6	64	7	.305	.452	.640	1.092
1964			140	472	110	151	24	0	55	340	119	6	4	0	5	119	20	3	81	8	.320	.456	.720	1.176
1965			135	428	104	138	19	1	42	285	104	2	4	0	3	138	29	6	58	7	.322	.490	.666	1.156
1966			129	396	111	123	14	1	48	283	116	9	4	0	4	142	41	7	51	5	.311	.495	.715	1.210
1967			133	426	94	139	22	3	47	308	108	3	5	0	3	130	30	7	65	7	.326	.488	.723	1.211
1968			131	442	107	144	28	0	49	319	119	5	1	1	6	121	18	10	72	5	.326	.475	.722	1.197
1969			130	452	112	156	24	0	44	312	103	5	2	0	8	111	12	5	61	7	.345	.472	.690	1.162
1970			129	425	97	138	24	0	47	303	93	1	4	0	3	119	24	6	48	8	.325	.476	.713	1.189
1971			130	434	92	120	18	2	39	259	101	8	2	0	5	121	17	5	65	8	.276	.435	.597	1.032
1972			130	456	104	135	19	0	48	298	120	2	0	0	2	108	18	6	43	8	.296	.435	.654	1.089
1973			130	428	111	152	18	0	51	323	114	2	1	0	4	124	38	4	41	7	.355	.500	.755	1.255
1974			130	385	105	128	18	0	49	293	107	1	5	0	2	158	45	8	44	4	.332	.532	.761	1.293
1975			128	393	77	112	14	0	33	225	96	1	0	0	6	123	27	1	62	9	.285	.451	.573	1.024
1976			122	400	99	130	11	1	49	290	123	3	1	0	9	125	27	2	45	8	.325	.479	.725	1.204
1977			130	432	114	140	15	0	50	305	124	1	3	0	6	126	16	6	37	14	.324	.477	.706	1.183
1978			130	440	91	132	20	0	39	269	118	1	2	0	11	114	17	1	43	7	.300	.436	.611	1.048
1979			120	407	73	116	15	0	33	230	81	1	1	0	5	89	10	5	48	9	.285	.415	.565	.980
1980			129	476	59	105	10	0	30	205	84	0	1	0	8	72	8	3	47	9	.236	.342	.462	.803
Total			2831	9250	1967	2786	422	25	868	5862	2170	84	59	12	100	2390	427	114	1319	159	.301	.446	.634	1.080

References

1. ^ Wu, Debby. "Baseball great has roots in ROC." Taipei Times. Sunday November 16, 2003. Page 2. Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
2. ^ The Seattle Times, "Briefs: Sadaharu Oh to have stomach surgery", July 6, 2006.
3. ^ Associated PRess, "Japanese Baseball Great Sadaharu Oh Has Operation for Stomach Cancer", RedOrbit, July 18, 2006.
4. ^ Whiting, Robert, "Equaling Oh's HR record proved difficult", Japan Times, October 31, 2008, p. 12.
5. ^ Whiting, Robert, "Equaling Oh's HR record proved difficult", Japan Times, October 31, 2008, p. 12.
6. ^ Roah, Jeff, "tokyo under the tracks: It's Never Too Late to Insert an Asterisk", Tokyo Q, October 12, 2001.
7. ^ Whiting, Robert, "Equaling Oh's HR record proved difficult", Japan Times, October 31, 2008, p. 12.
8. ^ Whiting, Robert, "Equaling Oh's HR record proved difficult", Japan Times, October 31, 2008, p. 12.
9. ^ Column One: Home run king and gentleman - Japan’s Sadaharu Oh reflects on his career, Barry Bonds and cancer. `I feel lucky,’ he says.
10. ^ Sadaharu Oh [Archive] - Baseball Fever
11. ^ http://wcbf.org
12. ^ "Japanese baseball player expects A-Rod to surpass his home-run record". Agence France-Presse. December 4, 2007. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g1_-v9Iqtp1lVjHHMce7pBNF5bMw. 
13. ^ http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/090206/4/1e02k.html

External links

	Japan portal
	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• Nippon Professional Baseball career statistics from Japanesebaseball.com
• Oh for Cooperstown? Part I by Jim Albright
• Oh for Cooperstown? Part II by Jim Albright

Persondata
Name	Oh, Sadaharu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 20, 1940
Place of birth	Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Date of death
Place of death