Oh, Sadaharu (1940-…), was a Japanese baseball star. Oh dominated baseball in Japan for almost 20 years with his power hitting, making him a national sports hero. During his career, Oh hit 868 home runs, more than any other player in professional baseball history.
Oh spent his entire playing career with the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants of the Central League. Oh led the league in home runs 15 times and in runs batted in 13 times, and he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player 9 times. He was inducted into the Japanese baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.
Oh was born on May 20, 1940, in Tokyo, of a Chinese father and a Japanese mother. Although Oh has lived his entire life in Japan, he is officially a citizen of Taiwan. In 1959, Oh signed to play with Yomiuri as a pitcher but quickly was moved to first base. He led the Giants to 11 league championships. Oh retired in 1980 but remained with Yomiuri as an assistant manager from 1981 to 1983 and as manager from 1984 to 1988. The Giants won the league pennant in 1987. After 1988, Oh left baseball. In 1995, however, he returned as manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (later the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) of the Pacific League, leading the team to league championships in 1999, 2000, and 2003 and the Japanese Series championships in 1999 and 2003. He retired as manager of the Hawks following the 2008 season.
See also Baseball (Baseball around the world) .
