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Sadaharu Oh or officially Wang Chenchih (Chinese: 王貞治; Pinyin: Wáng Zhēnzhì, Hepburn: Ō Sadaharu, born May 20, 1940), is a former baseball player and manager of the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball and is the current manager of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. He holds the Professional baseball record for home runs, having hit 868 in his career. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji The Hepburn romanization system ) is named after James Curtis Hepburn, who used it to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet in the third edition of his Japanese–English dictionary, published... is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Yomiuri Giants ) are one of the popular Central League baseball teams based at the Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. ... Part of the History of baseball series. ... The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks ) is a Japanese baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. ...

Oh is the son of a Chinese father and a Japanese mother and was born in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. Because of nationality laws at the time, Oh has never been a Japanese citizen, but in fact a national of the Republic of China, though he speaks only Japanese. Sumida (Japanese: 墨田区; -ku) is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. ... Tokyo Metropolis (東京都 Tōkyō-to) is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and, unique among the prefectures, provides certain municipal services characteristic of a city. ... Anthem National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital (and largest city) Taipei1 Official languages Standard Mandarin (GuóyÇ”), Taiwanese, Aborigine Government Semi-presidential system  -  President Chen Shui-bian  -  Vice President Annette Lu  -  Premier Chang Chun-hsiung Establishment Xinhai Revolution   -  Independence declared October 10, 1911   -  Republic established January 1, 1912...

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 their 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. Hanshin Kōshien Stadium (阪神甲子園球場, Hanshin Kōshien KyÅ«jō) is a baseball park located near Kobe in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. ... The National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament (選抜高等学校野球大会 senbatsu kōtō gakkō yakyÅ« taikai) of Japan, commonly known as Spring Kōshien (春の甲子園 haru no kōshien) or Senbatsu (選抜), is an annual high school baseball tournament. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

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 Chinese 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. Information in this article or section has not been verified against sources and may not be reliable. ...

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. Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The position of the first baseman First base redirects here. ...

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. Mark McGwire swinging for the fences. ... A batting title, in baseball, is said to have been reached when a player has the highest average in his league, while still having had 3. ... See also: Central League (football) The Central League (セントラル・リーグ Sentoraru Riigu) is one of Japans two major professional baseball leagues (the other is the Pacific League). ... In baseball, the Triple Crown refers to: A batter who (at seasons end) leads the league in three major categories -- home runs, runs batted in, and batting average. ... The position of the first baseman First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that players team. ... In sports, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. ... All-star (also, Allstar or All Star) is a term with meanings in both the worlds of sports and entertainment. ...

Sadaharu Oh retired in 1980 at age 40, having amassed 2,786 hits (third after Isao Harimoto and Katsuya Nomura), 2,170 RBIs, a lifetime batting average of .301, and 868 home runs. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... One of the greatest catchers in Nippon Pro Baseball, Katsuya Nomura was known for his slugging hitting and his endurance behind the plate. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively. ...

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. Shigeo Nagashima (長嶋茂雄 Nagashima Shigeo, born February 20, 1936) is a famous Japanese baseball player in Japan. ... The Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (野球体育博物館; Yakyû Taiiku Hakubutsukan) first opened in 1959 next door to Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ...

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. Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... New York Yankees manager Joe Torre returning to the dugout (September 2005). ... Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ...

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. Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... The Pacific League (パシフィック・リーグ Pashifikku Riigu) is one of Japans two major professional baseball leagues (the other is the Central League). ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Yomiuri Giants have won twenty Japan Series, more than any other team. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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.^[1] 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. ^[2] Although the tumor was confirmed to be cancerous, it was caught in early stages. He has since returned to coaching the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The 2006 World Baseball Classic was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Laparoscopic surgery, also called keyhole surgery (when natural body openings are not used), bandaid surgery, or minimally invasive surgery (MIS), is a surgical technique. ... Lymph nodes are components of the lymphatic system. ...

Oh's tenure as a manager has not been without controversy. On three occasions, foreign players have challenged his single-season home run record of 55 (Americans Randy Bass in 1985, 54 HRs, and Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes in 2001, 55 HRs; and Venezuelan Alex Cabrera in 2002, 55 HRs). Each of these men played against teams managed by Oh late in the season with the record on the line. In each instance Oh's pitchers were either instructed or refused to throw hittable pitches, in order to safeguard Oh's record. Reacting to treatment of Bass in 1985, Japanese baseball commissioner Hiromori Kawashima termed Oh's team's behavior "completely divorced from the essence of...fair play." Randy William Bass (born March 13, 1954 in Lawton, Oklahoma) is a former American baseball player and current politician. ... Karl Tuffy Rhodes (born August 21, 1968, in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a retired professional baseball player. ... Alex Cabrera (born December 24, 1971 in Caripito, Sucre State, Venezuela) is a first baseman and right-handed batter who played in Major League Baseball for the Arizona Diamondbacks. ...

The Bass/Oh record incident was used as a plot point in the Tom Selleck movie Mr. Baseball in which Selleck's character, preparing to break his team's manager's record for consecutive home run games, starts getting walked by pitchers when he comes to bat. And similar to Bass, Selleck would challenge the pitchers to throw strikes by gripping the bat upside down. Thomas William Selleck (born January 29, 1945 in Detroit, Michigan) is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning American actor, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his starring role on the long-running television show Magnum P.I.. // Born in Detroit to Slovak-Rusyn[1] father Robert Selleck and... Mr. ...

In the case of the Rhodes incident, Oh's pitching coach, Yoshiharu Wakana, took the blame by saying he gave the order to pitch around Rhodes. He then bluntly added, "I just didn't want a foreign player to break Oh's record.". Hawks pitcher Keizaburo Tanoue went on record saying that he wanted to throw strikes to Rhodes and felt bad about the situation.^[3]

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.^[4] ESPN, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ...

Others

In 1988, Oh and Hank Aaron created the World Children's Baseball Fair (WCBF), to increase the popularity of baseball by working with youngsters. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Henry Louis Hank Aaron (born February 5, 1934 in Mobile, Alabama), nicknamed Hammer, Hammerin Hank”, or Bad Henry”, is a retired American baseball player whose Major League Baseball (MLB) career spanned the 1950s through the 1970s. ...

Oh was married to Kyoko Oh (王恭子 Ō Kyōko) and has three daughters.

Kyoko Oh died of stomach cancer in December 2001 at age 57. In December 2002, her ashes were stolen from their family grave. The reason for this theft is still unclear. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Also see: 2002 (number). ...

"Ō" is the Japanese rendering of the common Chinese surname "Wang", which literally means "king". This is a coincidence considering he is considered a "Home Run King" in baseball. ÅŒ is a Japanese family name. ... Wang (王; pinyin: Wáng) is one of the most common and ancient Chinese family names. ...

Oh is referenced in the Beastie Boys' song "Hey Ladies" ("I've got more hits than Sadaharu Oh"). The Beastie Boys are a musical group from the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. ... Hey Ladies Track #08 on Pauls Boutique. ...

The Lancaster, Pennsylvania rock band Sadaharu is named after Oh. Nickname: Location of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania Location of Lancaster in Lancaster County Country United States State Pennsylvania County Lancaster Founded 1730 Incorporated March 10, 1818 Government  - Mayor Rick Gray (D) Area  - City  7. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

References

The Seattle Times is the leading daily newspaper in Seattle, Washington, United States. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

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