9× Central League MVP (1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977)
2× Japanese Triple Crown (1973, 1974)
3× Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (1974, 1976, 1977)
Hit for the cycle on April 25, 1963
Yomiuri Giants #1 retired
As manager
2× Japan Series champion (1999, 2003)
Fukuoka Daiei/SoftBank Hawks #89 honored
As executive
7× Japan Series champion (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017–2020)
NPB/World records
868 Career Home runs (World record)
1.079 Career OPS (Japanese record)
2,170 Career Runs batted in (Japanese record)
Member of the Japanese
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction
1994
Wang Chen-chih Sadaharu Ō
Hand print of Sadaharu Oh
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
王貞治
Simplified Chinese
王贞治
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin
Wáng Zhēnzhì
Bopomofo
ㄨㄤˊ ㄓㄣㄓˋ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh
Wang Jenjyh
Tongyong Pinyin
Wang2 Chên1-chih4
Japanese name
Kanji
王 貞治
Kana
おう さだはる
Transcriptions
Romanization
Ō Sadaharu
Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: 王貞治, Ō Sadaharu; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (Chinese: 王貞治; pinyin: Wáng Zhēnzhì), is a Japanese-born Taiwanese former professional baseball player and manager who is currently the chairman of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Oh's playing career spanned across four decades, during which he only played with the Yomiuri Giants. He holds the world career home run record at 868, over 100 more than MLB record holder Barry Bonds.[1]
Oh batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Originally signed with the powerhouse Giants in 1959 as a pitcher, Oh was soon converted to a full-time hitter. Under the tutelage of coach Hiroshi Arakawa, Oh developed his distinctive "flamingo" leg kick. It took Oh three years to blossom, but he went on to dominate the baseball league in Japan. He was a 15-time home run champion and was named to the All-Star team 18 times. 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 Oh at first base, the Yomiuri Giants won 11 Japan Series championships. Oh was named the Central League's Most Valuable Player nine times.
In addition to the world career home run record, Oh set many other NPB batting records, including runs batted in (RBI) (2,170), slugging percentage (.634), bases on balls (2,390), and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) (1.080). He held Japan's single-season home run record with 55, until Wladimir Balentien broke the record in 2013. In 1977, Oh became the first recipient of the People's Honour Award. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
After retiring as a player, Oh served as the Giants' manager from 1984 to 1988. He also managed the Fukuoka Daiei/Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks from 1995 to 2008.[2] He was the manager of the Japanese national team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which defeated Cuba for the championship. He is currently the chairman of the Hawks.
^Spatz, Lyle. Historical Dictionary of Baseball (Scarecrow Press, 2012), p. 169.
^Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ō Sadaharu" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 758.
SadaharuOh (Japanese: 王貞治, Ō Sadaharu; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (Chinese: 王貞治; pinyin: Wáng Zhēnzhì), is a Japanese-born Taiwanese...
the last game of the season against the Oh-managed Giants with 54 home runs, one short of manager SadaharuOh's single-season record of 55. Bass was intentionally...
over the previous five years under new manager and home run king SadaharuOh. Under Oh (as manager and later executive), Daiei, and later SoftBank, the...
daughter of former baseball player and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks team manager SadaharuOh. She graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, and is also qualified...
previously held by professional baseball's all-time home run leader SadaharuOh in 1964, Tuffy Rhodes in 2001, and Alex Cabrera in 2002. Balantien finished...
Japan, surpassed the record for runs scored by a Japanese player set by SadaharuOh. On 18 June, he was batting .294 after playing in 64 of the Marlins'...
Paris SadaharuOh (王貞治, born 1940), Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager Sadaharu Tanikawa (谷川 貞治, born 1961), Japanese journalist Sadaharu Yagi...
territory (a conventional home run), or by an inside-the-park home run. SadaharuOh holds the Nippon Professional Baseball home run record (as well as the...
uniform number 55, which was the single-season home run record held by SadaharuOh.: 235 Matsui's first three seasons were unspectacular. His breakout...
Minoru Murayama, and rookie SadaharuOh also had a home run in the game. The Yomiuri Giants cleanup consisting of SadaharuOh batting third, and Nagashima...
single season home run record in 2022 with 56 home runs, surpassing SadaharuOh's record of 55 set in 1964. View of Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium, a franchise...
both of them playing in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). SadaharuOh, who played 22 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, holds the world career...
as Shohei Ohtani, Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Shigeo Nagashima and SadaharuOh are regarded as national stars, and their exceptional performances have...
consecutive batting Triple Crowns (1985 and 1986). In 1985, he challenged SadaharuOh's record of 55 home runs in a single season, but finished the year with...
career home run record, the world career home run record is held by SadaharuOh (868); Oh played his whole career in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan...
He hit 55 home runs in 2001, tying the NPB single-season mark set by SadaharuOh in 1964. Rhodes was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He acquired the nickname...
SadaharuOh managing the Japan national team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Playing for the Central League's Yomiuri Giants (1959–80), Oh set the...
tying SadaharuOh for the most home runs by a Japanese player in a season, and for second in NPB overall, alongside Alex Cabrera, Tuffy Rhodes, and Oh. Unfortunately...
League. There have been 22 players who have won the award multiple times. SadaharuOh currently holds the record for the most awards won, with nine. Hisashi...
Global Information
