Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh, also known as Wang Chen-chih, is a retired Japanese–Chinese baseball player and manager who played 22 seasons for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseballfrom 1959 to 1980. Oh holds the world lifetime home run record, having hit 868 home runs during his professional career. He established many NPB batting records, including runs batted in, slugging percentage, bases on balls, and on-base plus slugging. In 1977, Sadaharu Oh became the first recipient of the People's Honor award. He...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth20 May 1940
CountryJapan
We have a saying in Japanese that 'the third time will reveal the truth' and since we've lost twice to South Korea and both were games that we lost by one run and gave up two runs in the eighth inning, we would love the opportunity to meet them again and win.
We heard that TV ratings for our games surpassed 30 percent and 40 percent in Japan and we also got warm fan support in the United States. I feel very happy that we responded to such enthusiastic support with this title.
Our games were very close games. I believe either team could have won either game. We would like to show our best performance this time.
I thought, at first, our players were a little bit nervous. But we take pride in being the best in Asia, so we loosened up after the fourth inning and were able to score a big victory.
I think the batter was too good for Ishii. It was the eighth inning and the batter came up with a big home run. If I knew he was going to do that, I wouldn't have (put Ishii into the game).
I was disappointed but it's up to him to decide. It was not a surprise that he refused since he had been hesitating for such a long time.
He hadn't been in top condition lately, but he was really swinging very good in practice. I had confidence I could use him any time. I didn't have any doubt.
I expected much and they lived up to my expectations. But I believe they can perform much better.
My players showed me a fantastic performance tonight. I know they're doing it for Japan.
I thought I would never, never get a chance to manage a team like this.
Wada didn't really have a lot of control tonight. But that doesn't change my overall trust in him.
We fought each game as best as we could, and as a result we've been able to bring you good news.
We have to win all three games. So I will make sure they stay focused on (Sunday's) game.
We really respect the fact that they fought their heart out and tried to show their best game ever. We lost both games (to Japan), but those were very close games, and I believe either team could have won either game.