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
I believe this team is much stronger and will be probably the strongest team that Japan ever had against a Cuban team.
Personally, I think Japan is the strongest team in Asia and we want to finish Pool A as the top team in the group.
I did mention small ball, but I didn't think we'd need it in this round because we are the most powerful team. In Asia, we're strong and we have speed and we were able to show that tonight. When we get to the United States, we may have to change our tactics.
It will be a very tough competition. The level of play will be very high and there will be teams that want to beat us, so we knew we had to go with a strong team.
I am proud that Japan is the strongest team in Asia. We are determined to go through at the top.
I had strong legs that would have made me a good sumo wrestler and I used that to my advantage, but my home runs were achieved by technique.
To be honest, I haven't felt this thrilled in a long time.
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.
That was the mindset of the entire team. We kept pushing hard and our players played with all their might.
I thought I would never, never get a chance to manage a team like this.
We fought each game as best as we could, and as a result we've been able to bring you good news.
Wada didn't really have a lot of control tonight. But that doesn't change my overall trust in him.
We have to win all three games. So I will make sure they stay focused on (Sunday's) game.
I expected much and they lived up to my expectations. But I believe they can perform much better.