Good day all!
On the blog today, the next Japanese legend to get the spotlight here, this time Hall of Fame outfielder Isao Harimoto:
Harimoto put in 23 seasons in the Japanese League, playing between 1959 and 1981, mainly for the Toei Flyers (Hokkaido).
He was Rookie of the Year in 1959, hitting .275 with 13 homers and 57 runs batted in over 125 games.
From
then on he would turn into a legend of the game in japan, becoming the
All-Time hit leader when he retired with 3085 hits, while also clubbing
504 home runs and driving in 1676 runs, while scoring 1523 himself.
To this day he is still the only player in Japanese history to collect 3000+ hits over a career.
He
would top 20 homers 16 times, with five of those seasons 30+, while
finishing up with a career average of .319, hitting .300+ 16 times.
He
won seven batting titles, hitting as high as .383 (1970), and was
selected for the "Best Nine Award" 16 times, as well as an MVP Award in
1962 when he hit .333 with 31 homers and 99 RBIs.
He is also
the only member of the Japanese 3000/500/300 club, finishing with 319
career stolen bases, something only Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez have
done here in the United States.
In 1990, he was duly elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
