Sadaharu Oh

Oh was born in Sumida, Tokyo, as the fourth of six children of a Japanese mother Tomi Oh 王登美 (née Tozumi 當住) and a Chinese father Shifuku Oh (王仕福 Wáng Shìfú) from Qingtian County, Zhejiang.[3] Oh was the youngest of four children during most of his childhood, as his twin sister died when they were 15 months old, and his younger sister died shortly after she was born. Although born in Japan, Oh is a citizen of the Republic of China (ROC), as his father had left for Japan when the ROC still governed Mainland China and chose to retain his ROC citizenship.

Sadaharu 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. He was asked to retire as Giants manager after the 1988 season.[6]

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, Oh announced that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Hawks to combat a stomach tumor.[7] 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.[8] 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.

On three occasions, foreign-born players challenged Oh's single-season home run record of 55 and faced Oh-managed teams late in the season. On each occasion, Oh's pitchers refused to throw strikes to them on orders from Oh, in accordance with an imperial decree from Emperor Showa. This practice was continued under Emperor Heisei.[9][10]

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.[9]

In 2001, American Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, playing for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, hit 55 home runs with several games left. The Buffaloes played the Oh-managed Fukuoka Daiei 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 pitching 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 Keisaburo Tanoue went on record saying that he wanted to throw strikes to Rhodes and felt bad about the situation.[9][11]

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."[9] In the wake of the most recent incident involving Cabrera, ESPN listed Oh's single-season home run record on its list of "The Phoniest Records in Sports". Cabrera called the whole thing "racist".[10][12]

Wladimir Balentien, a Curaçaoan born player, broke Oh's home run record on September 15, 2013, by hitting his 56th and 57th home runs of the season in a game against the Hanshin Tigers.[13] Balentien ended that season with 60 home runs.

Oh was married to Kyoko Oh (王恭子, Ō Kyōko), and had three daughters with her. She died of stomach cancer, the same disease he had in 2006, in December 2001 at age 57.[14] Their second daughter, Rie (born in 1970), is a sportscaster and presenter on the J-Wave radio network.

• Oh is mentioned in the Beastie Boys song "Hey Ladies": "I got more hits than Sadaharu Oh."
• Oh is Mentioned in A Different World season 2 episode 20, "No means No".
• A character in the manga series Kinnikuman is named after Sadaharu Oh.
• Oh is mentioned in the manga series Hajime no Ippo.
• Oh is mentioned in the 1979 movie The Bad News Bears Go to Japan.

• In 1988, Oh and Hank Aaron created the World Children's Baseball Fair (WCBF), to increase the popularity of baseball by working with youngsters.[15]
• On December 4, 2007, Oh said in Chiyoda, Tokyo that it is just a matter of time before his career 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."[16] (Rodriguez retired seven years later, at the age of 41, with 696 home runs.)
• 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."[17]
• During the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Oh attended many of the games played by Japan.
• During the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo (which took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), he was a part of a group that carried the torch in the stadium.[18]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sadaharu Oh.

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