baseball

Balentien breaks Japan's home run record

26 Comments

Yakult's Wladimir Balentien hit his 56th and 57th home runs on Sunday, breaking the Japanese single-season record set by legendary slugger Sadaharu Oh 49 years ago.

Balentien hit a three-run homer in the first inning of Sunday's game against the Hanshin Tigers, sending the ball over the left-field wall at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium to give Yakult an early lead over the Hanshin Tigers. He then added a solo shot in the third for No. 57.

Oh set the record of 55 in 1964. While it was equaled by ex-major leaguers Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002, many felt Oh used his position as a manager to prevent both players from breaking it.

The 29-year-old Balentien missed the first 12 games of this season because of a leg injury sustained while playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

Balentien's challenge of Oh's record comes in a season in which there is controversy over a new, livelier baseball. In June, Japanese baseball officials admitted they introduced the new official ball this season without notifying players. The new ball has resulted in a dramatic increase in home runs.

Rhodes and Cabrera tied Oh's record with several games left in the season but were then walked repeatedly by teams managed by Oh, who later denied instructing his pitchers to not challenge either player.

Randy Bass hit 54 homers in 1985 but fell short in the last game of the season when the pitcher from the Yomiuri Giants, then managed by Oh, walked him in his last at-bat, preventing Bass from tying the record.

Oh is a legend in Japan. His 868 career home runs, which surpassed Hank Aaron's then major league record of 755, made him a national hero.

The single-season home run record is also highly regarded, and former New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui wore No. 55 in recognition of it.

The closest Matsui got to breaking Oh's record was 50 homers in 2002, when he played for the Giants.

While Rhodes, Cabrera and Bass may have been intentionally prevented from breaking Oh's record because they were foreign players, attitudes in Japan have changed over the years as more and more Japanese players excel in the major leagues.

The 73-year-old Oh is no longer actively involved in Japanese baseball and serves as an honorary chairman of the Softbank Hawks, the team he managed when Rhodes and Cabrera were attempting to break his record.

Oh has often said he has no problem with his record being broken as long as it's done by a wide margin and not just one or two homers. Balentien has 17 games left to add to his tally.

Balentien, a native of Curacao, played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before signing with the Swallows in 2011. He hit a Central League-leading 31 homers in each of his first two seasons in Japan.

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26 Comments
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test him for roids too..

-14 ( +1 / -15 )

Congratulations Balentien ! Good that NPA is upgrading its criteria and accepting new challenges.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Waste of talentless. Should be playing cricket.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Congrats, Balentien. Glad to see there was no effort made to deny him a chance at the record. That's real progress here in Japan.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

In June, Japanese baseball officials admitted they introduced the new official ball this season without notifying players. The new ball has resulted in a dramatic increase in home runs.

This clearly makes it comparing apples to oranges. This will give the traditionalists reason to put an asterisk next to this new record.

Perhaps their intention.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

I had the livingroom window open and about 6:15 p.m. I heard a roar coming from the direction of Jingu Stadium. I said to my wife: "Betcha Balentien just broke the home run record. I watched the TV screen for a bulletin saying so, but nothing appeared. Later during a TV newscast it was reported that he not only broke the record, but he hit a second home to boost his toll so far to 57.

Great ... !!!

7 ( +7 / -0 )

test him for roids too..

kimokekahuna Hawaii - Sounds like someone is angry a foreigner broke the most illegitimate record in sports. It should have been Bass's going back to 1985

By the way, Oh is lucky no one tested his infamous corked bats back in the day

6 ( +12 / -6 )

Edojin, looking for a home run keiho on TV, that's awesome. I hope the impressive antics of this Dutch Antilles baseballer are not drowned out by the typhoon!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

This is great. Now if he returns to the majors, he needs to tear it up instead of being a dud like most foreign players that go back.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I'm a bit perplexed by the quote attributed to Oh. Who cares if the record is broken by just only 1 or 2 homers?!?!

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@Rickyvee, Oh's comment is for goading players who are never going to pass him by a small or large margin. Many of the great MLB record holders had an equally arrogant side.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I remember when Tuffy was set to break Oh's record and the Daiei Hawks' pitcher pitched around him every single at-bat. Nobody really knows if Oh ordered it or if the pitcher didn't want to be the guy to give up his boss' record, but it was a very unsporting stain on the game and caused me to lose respect for the old master of the game.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

This clearly makes it comparing apples to oranges. This will give the traditionalists reason to put an asterisk next to this new record.

Let's remember Oh hit his in the era of the small ball park (like Kawasaki stadium). Let's give credit where credit is due please.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

This has to be one of the great days in Japanese Sports history.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Way to go Wladimir-san ! Now, let's aim for 60 !

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Con grad's, go for more, he has worked hard for this.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Congrats to Balentien, I`m glad this record has finally been broken.

About the ball: It is livelier than the ball used last year, but that ball was only used for 2 years. My understanding though (I could be mistaken) is that they just reverted to using the ball they had used before 2010 this year, which would make it the same type of ball used when Oh, Rhodes and Cabrera set the record.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

By the way, Oh is lucky no one tested his infamous corked bats back in the day

Infamous because hoserfella heard from his friend that he heard from someone that that is a fact. ...must be true then.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

slump - either that or hoserfella has actually read a book or 3 on Japanese baseball.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

No bickering please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Congrats to Balentien!!

Now add a few more to it please so we don't have to hear so much about Oh. While he was indeed a great player we also saw he was a no class a$$ as a manager!

Keep the HRs coming!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Congrats to Balentien! While I thought some people might make efforts to stop it, we all knew that with 30+ games left it would eventually be done, and I'm glad to see that, people like Kimokekahuna aside who are extremely bitter about it, most are celebrating. I have no doubt that now that he has passed the record, there will be no more intentional walks and the man will be pushed to get as many homers as he can.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I was just going to post a similar comment about the quote Oh said about beating his record by a large margin as Rickvee wrote. Was he saying that in jest? If it took this many years to just tie the record, a wide margin would seem to be pretty diffiucult. But it appears that Mr. Oh may get his wish as there are plenty of games left to add to the record. Congratulations for breaking the record!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hey, look who's regretting that they made their baseballs lighter - it's the Nippon Professional Baseball league!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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