By Robert Whiting (2020)
As discussed in a previous column, the popular digital sports magazine The Athletic has been running a series of essays by veteran writer Joe Posnanski, on the top 100 MLB players of all time. #100 was Ichiro Suzuki which occupied a previous column.
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Llisted at #85, in the series so far, is Sadaharu Oh, behind Phil Niekro at #84 but ahead of Gary Carter, 86, Charlie Gehringher 87 Red Sox World Series star Curt Schilling 88, Hideo Nomo’s catcher Mike Piazza 89, world champion Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer, 90, Yankees hall of fame reliever Mariano Rivera 91, Ozzie Smith, 93, Dodgers catching great Roy Campanella. 94 Tony Gwynn 95, new NY Mets manager Carlos Beltran 98, and Yankees Hall of famer Mike Mussina 99.
How impressive is that.
Psananski wrote about the importance of aikido in Oh becoming a star hitter, a story that always fascinates Americans. Ballplayer turned coach Hiroshi Arawaka, an aikido expert, helped Oh cure a hitch in his swing by teaching him to stand on one leg through achieve inner balance.
Arakawa’ had had a stunning revelation that preparing to hit was no different than training with a Japanese sword. They requires the same discipline, he said, the same force of will, the same level of inner peace.
Arakawa was convinced that standing on one leg would force Oh to be balanced and force him to be conscious of his “energy center.” As the ball was delivered, Oh would then flex his right knee skyward and stride into the ball in perfect harmony.
“I had reached a point,” Posnanski would quote Oh as saying, “where Aikido had become absolutely necessary to what I did. Without Aikido, I would not learn to stand on one foot, I would not ‘understand it.’”
Posnanski cited Oh’s remarkable stats: He won 13 consecutive home-run titles. He won 15 home-run titles in 16 years. He won two Triple Crowns. He walked at least 108 times for 16 straight seasons. Of course, his 868 career home runs is a world record. His career OPS was 1.080 — and he had an OPS of 1.000 or higher every year from 1963 to 1978.
“What can we make of these numbers? “, he said, “It’s hard to say. It is certainly not easy to translate numbers in Japanese baseball to American numbers. But there are a few points worth making. We have seen many Japanese players, like Ichiro, Hideo Nomo, Hideki Matsui and Yu Darvish, come over in the past 20 years and play at the same supreme level in the major leagues as they played in the Japanese Leagues. It’s not perfect math, of course. Some Japanese stars have not played well here. And Oh played in a different time for Japanese baseball. Still, baseball is baseball. And I must admit, as someone who has spent a lot of time learning about the Negro Leagues, I’m suspicious of anyone who dismisses other leagues or baseball styles as inferior.”
The article then goes on to quote the many, many American players who saw Oh hit and were certain he could have been an American star, among them, players I have also interviewed and can attest to the accuracy of their sentiments.
Davey Johnson, an MLB all-star (and MLB manager) who played alongside Oh on the Yomiuri Giants, said Oh would have hit 700 home runs in MLB and raved about how good of a defensive first baseman. Brooks Robinson said he was just an outstanding hitter.
To Posnanski, the most compelling aspect of Oh’s case was his sheer dominance. Oh wasn’t just the best player in the league. He was far and away the best player in the league. He did not just win 13 consecutive home-run titles. He won eight of them by double digits. He did not just lead the league in on-base percentage every year; for a good stretch of his career, his on-base percentage was right around .500. Nine times, he slugged better than .700.
At age 37, he hit .324/.477/.706 with 50 home runs.
“Could someone be that dominant in Japan and not be one of the best players in the history of the game? I simply can’t see it,” said the Athletic writer.
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The inclusion of Oh prompted the usual debate in the comments section. Some readers objected to OH’s being placed anywhere on the list of the best players ever.
Said one, “Westerners other than Bass to win MVP in Japan: Warren Cromartie, Jack Howell, Tom O’Malley, Roberto Petagine, Alex Ramirez (3), Wladimir Balentien, Joe Stanka, Charlie Manuel, Greg Wells, Ralph Bryant, Tuffy Rhodes, and Wally Yonamine–all guys who washed out in America. I’m puzzled why Joe Posnanski is trying to portray the 2 leagues as somewhat equal when RESULTS prove quite clearly they’re not. Look at the names listed. Many baseball fans haven’t even heard of those guys. Yet they were superstars in Japan.
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Then this: “Matsui going to MLB lost almost half his HRs per year; averaged 42 his last 4 NPB years, 23 his first 3 in MLB. Ichiro lost more than 1/3 of his HR rate. Just 3 other Japan-born players hit 40 HRs in an MLB career after a significant NPB career: Kenji Johjima, Tad Iguchi, and Kosuke Fukodome. All lost at least half their HR rates coming to MLB…With the limited but consistent evidence we have, it’s just not reasonable to think Oh would have been the 10th ever with 600 MLB HRs.
On the PLUS, however, side was this:
“I am so very glad that you are including more than just people from the MLB in these rankings! Baseball is so much more than just the majors and needs to be recognized. I’m already looking forward to reading the comments and people losing their minds over Oh’s inclusion, but he truly changed the game in the second largest baseball market and was GREAT! 頑張れ日本 I can’t believe Joe put him #85 on this list… so low, should have been much higher up.”
“I had the good fortune to be living in Japan for three years in the mid 1960’s and later in the 1970’s so I had the opportunity to see a lot of Japanese baseball. Most of Oh’s home runs were not the everyday variety, they were high majestic bombs with lots of carry that would have easily cleared the fence even in today’s American parks. As stated in the article, he was a pull hitter and teams regularly “shifted” against him. He was asked why he didn’t go the other way and his reply was “that would be surrendering to the defense.” Sounds like a strange thing to say, but that’s the Japanese mind set.”
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“Seeing Oh this much higher than Ichiro seems odd.”
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It’s funny that Joe is suspicious of people who view other leagues as inferior, when he himself views Japanese baseball as inferior… if he didn’t he would’ve had Oh at #1.
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“To see the MLB stars of the time speak with such certainty about his ability to succeed in the majors changes my perceptions of Oh, and Japanese players.”
“Coming to a wildly different culture in the US, with different approaches to hitting and pitching, the greater travel requirements, the differences in training, it explains why Japanese players might struggle here. But now I’m certain there are Japanese league players right now that could excel in the majors given the right support structure.”
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As for Me? I think Oh would have wound up in the US MLB Hall of Fame. He had an inner greatness that transcended everything else, as evidenced by the simple fact he learned to hit a 100 mph fastball standing on one leg. He also had the quickest bat I have ever seen. Adjusting to MLB would have been easy.
What’s your opinion?
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ADDITIONAL REMARKS
“Oh could have played anywhere at any time,” Don Baylor said. “If he played in Yankee Stadium, being the left-handed pull hitter he is, I have no doubt he’d hit 40 homers a year.”
“You can kiss my ass if he wouldn’t have 30 or 35 home runs a year … he rates with the all-time stars of the game,” Frank Howard said.
“I’m sure he would have hit in the 30s and probably in the low 40s,” Frank Robinson said of the numbers of home runs Oh would have hit.
“He sure hit me,” Tom Seaver said. “He was a superb hitter. He hit consistently, and he hit with power. … He’d be a lifetime .300 hitter.”
Pete Rose, who is not always kind when it comes to judging Japanese baseball, in general (and Ichiro in particular), said Oh would have hit .300 for sure.
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Arakawa was 30 years old by then—in the early 60’s– and finished as a ballplayer, but he had a new path in life. He wanted to teach young people the proper way to hit baseballs.
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Said another reader, “Randy Bass and Tuffy Rhodes make a better argument against the 2 leagues being comparable. Neither one amounted to anything in MLB but set records in Japan. Both hit over 50 home runs. It is also necessary to note that Randy Bass won 2 straight CL triple crowns, after utterly failing in MLB. His NPB numbers were even much better than his US triple-A stats…. The overall caliber of play in NPB is not close to MLB, as shown by mountains of evidence — including Ichiro.”
And this: “There are mountains of evidence that Japan’s league truly is inferior to MLB. Particularly the hitters. And the players Joe mentions, Ichiro, Hideo Nomo, Hideki Matsui and Yu Darvish, simply weren’t “at the same supreme level” here as they were in Japan. Ichiro won seven batting average titles and three MVPs in Japan, and two BA titles and one MVP in the US. Matsui was MVP in Japan three times, led the league in HR three times, hit 50 HR once. He was very good in the US, but not at the same supreme level; no MVPs and no HR titles….Likely, Oh would’ve been at best comparable to Mark McGwire, or just possibly Jim Thome. The quotes from the US players support this. That’s a top 200 player, but not a top 100 player.
Tokyo Junkie 