Sadaharu Oh loses another record

After losing the homerun season record to Curacao native Wladimir Balentien iwho broke the record by five homeruns in
2013, which set the mark on 60, Sadaharu Oh was surpassed by Takeya Nakamura who hit his sixteenth grand slam of his career which put him in sole posession of the list of career grand slams. In the game vs the Orix Buffaloes, Nakamura’s grand slam, which easily reached the upper deck, contributed to the Seibu Lions’ 9-0 win.

Sadaharu Oh, who was born in Japan out of a Chinese father (Taiwan) and a Japanese mother, still holds dual citizenship. He played his entire career (1959 -1980) for the Yomiuri Giants. After his active career he had several managerial stints. From 1984 through 1988 he managed the Giants. From 1995 through 2008 he managed the Softbank Hawks and guided them to two NPB titles in 1999 and 2003. Oh managed the Japanese team to a win in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic. Oh still holds many NPB records. One of them is the unofficial world record for career homeruns with 868 dingers.

Takeya Nakamura broke into the NPB in 2003. So far he has played for only one club: the Seibu Lions. Through the years he has developed into one of the NPB’s premier power hitters. Despite, or perhaps thanks to, his slugging, his batting average is far from good at times.