By

Yoichi Nagata

And John B Holway

Sadahau Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan. He hit 890 if one counts 22 more against major league teams in Japan. They included some of the greatest pitchers of his era -- Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, etc.

AB H BA Home Runs W- L

1960 San Francisco 12 0 .000 --

1962 Detroit 31 7 .226 Hank Aguirre 16- 8*

1966 Los Angeles 61 21 .344 Jim Brewer 3- 2

Ron Moeller 2- 0

Nick Willhite 0- 0

Nick Willhite

1968 St Louis 59 21 .357 Nelson Briles 19 -11

Ray Washburn 14- 8

Steve Carlton 13- 1

Larry Jaster 9- 13

Wayne Granger 4- 2

Dick Hughes 2- 2

1970 San Francisco NA Frank Reberger 7- 8

1971 Baltimore 54 6 .111 Pat Dobson 20- 8

Jim Palmer 20- 9

Dick Hall 6- 6**

1974 Mets 59 19 .322 Jerry Koosman 15- 11

Jon Matlack 13- 15

Jon Matlack

Jerry Cram 0- 1

Jerry Cram

1978 Cincinnati 53 11 .208 Tom Seaver 16- 14***

Tom Hume 8- 11

1979 All Stars 6 0 .000 --

_______________

335 85 .254 22 home runs

The Dodgers, Cards, and Orioles all finished first in their league. The Reds came in second.

*Aguirre led the league with a 2.21 ERA. Oh’s homer gave the Japanese a 3-3 tie.

** The home run against Hall came in the tenth to earn a 9-9 tie.

*** The blow off Seaver helped win a 7-6 victory.

If one deducts the 1960 and 1979 series, when Oh was 20 and 39 years old, his batting average was .268, and he averaged 35 home runs per 550 at bats.

Palmer, Seaver, and other Americans estimated he might average 25-35 per season in the big leagues.

Yoichi Nagata and John B Holway are co-editors of the Japanese section of Total Baseball.