#Isao Harimoto

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Harimoto

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Oh and Harimoto

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The Japan sporting world is mourning the passing of one of its great icons, Masaichi Kaneda, who died on Oct. 6 at the age of 86.

Kaneda was the most dominant pitcher in the history of Japanese professional baseball. In a 20-year career, spanning the 1950s and 1960s, he won a record 400 games, far more than anyone else, a total surpassed only by two pitchers in North America's Major League Baseball.

He also held career records with 365 complete games, 298 losses, 4,490 strikeouts and 5,526 and two-thirds innings pitched, figures that awe any knowledgeable baseball fan.

Kaneda's win-loss record was all the more remarkable because for 15 seasons he toiled for one of the worst teams in Japan, the perennial Central League doormat Kokutetsu Swallows. However, he spent his last five seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, helping them win Japan championships in each of those years.

On his retirement the team retired his uniform number, 34.

Korean-Japanese sportsmen faced tough choices when it came to discussing their nationality. Kaneda seldom talked publicly about his Korean background and opted to become a naturalized Japanese citizen in 1959.

Kaneda dropped out of high school as a 17-year-old in 1950 to sign with Kokutetsu Swallows. Standing six feet tall and weighing only 160 pounds, which earned him the nickname "Telephone Pole," he nevertheless threw the hardest pitch in the game, a blazing fastball that he claimed -- before the invention of radar speed guns -- easily exceeded 100 miles per hour.

Kaneda went on to win 20 games in a season -- 20 wins being the benchmark for ace pitchers at the time -- an amazing 14 years in a row, developing new pitches like sinkers and sliders and change-ups along the way.

Twice he won 30 games and also pitched two no-hitters, including one perfect game. He was given the Eiji Sawamura Award for best pitcher for three consecutive years, and in 1955 he struck out slugger Mickey Mantle three times during one game when the New York Yankees were on tour.

Kaneda was born Kim Kyung-hong to Korean parents in Japan in 1933, but he never used that name to avoid discrimination. Japan had colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945 when it was known as "Chosen." Although Koreans, or Chosen-jin, were nationals of Imperial Japan, they were regarded as second-class citizens and subjected to injustice on a daily basis.

Japan's postwar pro-wrestling icon Rikidozan also hid his Chosen roots; biographies and biopics depicted a fabricated upbringing in Nagasaki replete with incidents that never took place.

This contrasted with another ethnic Korean in Japanese professional baseball, batting star Isao Harimoto, who went by a Japanese name but refused to naturalize and boasted of his Korean ancestry, which earned him insults such as "garlic belly" from fans in the stands.

Kaneda was courted by MLB scouts in 1962 and again in 1966, but he demurred. As he told Sports Illustrated, "It would be a great honor to pitch in the American major leagues, but there is more to be gained here. And I feel I owe something to Japanese baseball, which has been so good to me."

In retirement, Kaneda managed the Lotte Orions (1973-78, 1990-91), owned by Japan's leading chewing gum and candy corporation, which had been founded by a postwar entrepreneur of Korean ancestry. He led them to a Japan championship in 1974. He also forged a career as a TV commentator.

Kaneda's nickname in the pros was "The Emperor" in part because of the confident, almost arrogant, manner with which he performed his duties on the mound and also because of his stature. This gave him the power to put himself into a close game as a relief pitcher to garner the official win, as he did at the end of the 1960 season to earn his 10th consecutive 20-win season.

He was also known for his quick temper. In June 1990 he punched and kicked an umpire for which he was suspended for a month and fined a million yen.

He feuded with American Jim Lefebvre during his first stint as manager of the Orions and during a game in 1976 challenged him to a fistfight when Lefebvre threw his glove at the dugout wall in protest over being removed from a game.

However, Kaneda was perhaps the hardest-working player in the game. When he joined the Giants in 1965 for his first spring camp -- the Giants being renowned for their work ethic in practice -- he surprised with the length and intensity of his workouts.

In 1978 Kaneda founded an association known as the Meikyukai, honoring players with outstanding career records.

Kaneda, who was twice married, is survived by three children. His death was front-page news in all the sports dailies, but none mentioned his ethnic background.

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TOKYO | Ohtani's electrifying start to MLB career a big hit in Japan

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/1ghkDe

TOKYO | Ohtani's electrifying start to MLB career a big hit in Japan

TOKYO | April 13, 2018 (AP)(STL.News)  Shohei Ohtani’s games are shown live in the morning by national broadcaster NHK. For the rest of the day, talk shows dissect his every move and sports programs feature highlights of his latest accomplishments.

A recent afternoon news program in Tokyo dedicated an entire segment to everything Ohtani, with a panel of guests discussing such intricate details as his lack of a drivers’ license and the fact he has a personal chef.

News of Ohtani’s phenomenal start to his Major League Baseball career is ubiquitous in Japan. His image graces the cover of Number Magazine, Japan’s version of Sports Illustrated, and just about every sports newspaper in the country.

So far, the 23-year-old two-way star has exceeded everyone’s expectations, winning both of his starts as a pitcher and hitting homers in three consecutive games. On Sunday, he allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 6-1.

Japan had become somewhat blase about sending its top players to MLB in recent years.

Nomo-mania was a thing when Hideo Nomo went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995 and Ichiro Suzuki made a big splash in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners.

Others followed but nothing so far seems to compare with the excitement Ohtani’s debut with the Angels has generated.

Unlike previous Japanese exports, Ohtani is trying something new — batting and pitching. The Japanese refer to it as as “nitoryu” — a samurai term that translates as “two swords as one.”

Many were initially skeptical of Ohtani’s prospects in America, saying it would be difficult to pull it off in the major leagues. But so far, Ohtani has lived up to his goals.

Even some of the biggest names in Japanese baseball have been taken aback by Ohtani’s early success.

“His success in pitching was to be expected,” said Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh. “But to do that well in batting is surprising to everyone, Americans as well.”

Author Robert Whiting, who has written several books on Japanese baseball, including “The Meaning of Ichiro,” says Ohtani has the potential to surpass the popularity of Nomo, Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.

“It’s hard to top a guy who wins two games and hits three home runs in a week,” Whiting said. “He is very affable and could well have a long career in American baseball __ but most likely as a pitcher.”

Isao Harimoto, who holds the record for most hits in Japanese baseball, saw Ohtani’s three straight homers as proof Japanese baseball is catching up to the major leagues.

“Maybe it’s luck or the level of American pitchers has fallen,” Harimoto told Sunday Morning, a weekly news and sports program. “Three straight homers is pretty remarkable.”

Some have noted that much of Ohtani’s success so far has come against the lowly Oakland A’s, a team that is off to a rocky start.

Still, there is no denying that Ohtani has created a big stir back home and an outpouring of national pride. His model good looks and humble personality also add to his popularity.

He is already a pitchman for sporting goods and mattresses, and there are undoubtedly more endorsements on the way.

“I hope he does well both as a pitcher and as a batter,” university student Takaki Ueno said. “He’s attempting something pretty unique.”

One thing is certain. With his strong start, he’s set the bar incredibly high. A headline in the Nikkansports newspaper after a game in which Ohtani came in to pinch hit in the ninth inning read “Ohtani fails to homer in fourth straight game.”

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By JIM ARMSTRONG, AP Sports Writer,By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (Z.S)

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闘魂のバット 3000本安打への道　張本勲 ベースボール・マガジン社

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Harimoto

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Giants 1977

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1980 Isao Harimoto 3000

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Isao Harimoto

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Isao Harimoto 1959

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1960 Isao Harimoto

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Star Ilust Story

Shgieo Nagashima, Sadaharu Oh and Isao Harimoto

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Katsuo Osugi and Isao Harimoto