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 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.
I thought I would never, never get a chance to manage a team like this.
I believe this team is much stronger and will be probably the strongest team that Japan ever had against a Cuban team.
I don't know about the politics, but since it's named the World Baseball Classic, I would like to see the Cuban team there.
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 was really surprised the American team lost to the Mexican team.
I was really surprised that the American team lost to the Mexican team, because we thought somehow the Americans would be the world's best. And because of that notion, when we lost the second game in the second round, we never thought that we would be able to be playing in the next round here.
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.
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 have no intention of resigning. I wouldn't mind dying at a ballpark. I would like to aim high for the team next year.
I am proud that Japan is the strongest team in Asia. We are determined to go through at the top.
I never coached a team for a tournament like this, and never thought the pressure to be so high. Baseball is the best sport. Everyone has to work together. There is nothing more wonderful than that Japanese players did such a wonderful job and showed that to everyone in the world.
To be honest, I haven't felt this thrilled in a long time.
That was the mindset of the entire team. We kept pushing hard and our players played with all their might.