Career Home Run Leaders #1 -Sadaharu Oh

Not that anyone doesn't already know this, but #1 on the list of career home run leaders is Sadaharu Oh with 868 home runs. Oh played his entire career from 1959 to 1980 with the Yomiuri Giants.

I've done a couple of tributes to Oh previously, both as a player and as a manager along with a post about the 2009 BBM Tribute set. I think I did a lousy job picking cards of him as a player, so I thought I give it another try - this time using only cards that came out while he was playing.









From the top of the post we've got his card from the 2002 BBM 2nd Version 400 Home Run Club subset (#824), a 1974 Calbee card (#140), a 1974/75 Calbee card (#431), a 1975/76 Calbee card (#1235), a 1978 NST card (not sure of the number, the scan's from an unnumbered parallel issue), a 1978 Yamakatsu card, his 1979 TCMA card (#1) and a 1980 Yamakatsu card.

Career Home Run Leaders #2 - Katsuya Nomura

Almost finished and Tuffy Rhodes and Tomoaki Kanemoto haven't completely made this list obsolete yet. Number Two on the all time list is long time Nankai Hawk catcher/manager Katsuya Nomura with 657 home runs. According to A Noburu Aota Fan's Notes, Nomura was the career leader in home runs from 1965 until Sadaharu Oh passed him in 1974. Curiously, Oh and Nomura are the only players in the top 15 to ever be the career leader.

Nomura played briefly for Nankai in 1954, then was up for good in 1956. Here's his 1964 Marusan Menko card:


He became player/manager for the Hawks in 1970, leading them to the Nippon Series in 1973 (to be the final team to lose to the V9 Giants). This is a card from an unknown source that I think is from 1975:


1975/76 Calbee #1113:


Nomura was dismissed as Nankai manager following the 1977 season, apparently because his wife Sachiyo was somehow interfering with the running of the team. He played for Lotte in 1978, then joined Seibu in 1979 and played for them until his career ended in 1980. (Oddly enough, the 1979-80 Lions featured three of the players from this list - Nomura, Koichi Tabuchi and Masahiro Doi.) This is his 1979 TCMA card (#13):


Following his retirement in 1980, he was a TV commentator until the Yakult Swallows hired him as manager for the 1990 season. He remained with the Swallows through 1998, winning four Central League pennants and three Nippon Series championships. This is 1993 Tomy card #286:


He was let go by the Swallows following the 1998 season and hooked up with the Hanshin Tigers the following year. He remained manager of the Tigers through 2001, when his wife's tax evasion scandal became public and Hanshin let him go. This is his 2001 Upper Deck card (#102):


Following his depature from Hanshin, he managed an industrial league team for a few years. After the 2005 season, he was named the manager of Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a position that he still holds. Here's his 2006 BBM Rookie Edition card (#133):


The card at the top of the post is #825 from the 2002 BBM 2nd Version set.

Career Home Run Leaders #3 - Hiromitsu Kadota

Number 3 on the countdown is long time Hawk (both Nankai and Daiei) Hiromitsu Kadota with 567 career home runs. Kadota debuted in 1970 with the Nankai Hawks at age 22 following high school and a few years in the industrial leagues. I've shown this one before, but here's his 1973/74 Calbee card (#78) again:


1977 Yamakatsu:


1978 Yamakatsu:


He changed his uniform number from 27 to 44 in 1980 to honor his mother, who had just passed away at age 44. 1981 Calbee #26:


Later in the '80's he again changed his number, this time to 60. I don't know why. 1987 Calbee #104:


Following the 1988 season (a season in which he lead the Pacific League in home runs at the age of 40), the Hawks were sold to Daiei and moved from Osaka to Fukuoka. Kadota did not want to move and was traded to the Orix Braves so that he could remain in the Osaka area. 1990 Lotte #40:


After two years with Orix, he apparently decided he'd give Fukuoka a try after all and he was traded back to the (now Fukuoka Daiei) Hawks. He played the last two years of his career there, retiring after the 1992 season at age 44. 1991 BBM #312:


The card at the top of the post is 2002 BBM 2nd Version #826.

Career Home Run Leaders #4 - Koji Yamamoto

Number four on the list of Career Home Run Leaders is long time Hiroshima Toyo Carp outfielder Koji Yamamoto with 536. Yamamoto played for the Carp from 1969 until 1986.

1976 Mitsuya Small Disk:


1977 Yamakatsu:


1980 Yamakatsu:


1986 Calbee #232:


Yamamoto finished his career by leading the Carp to the Nippon Series in 1986. His final home run was in Game 1 of the Series, which they ultimately lost to the Lions. Apparently, Yamamoto decided to retire after the season was over, so the Carp's retirement celebration for him wasn't until early in the 1987 season (2008 BBM Hiroshima Memorial #14):


After sitting out the 1987 season, Yamamoto returned to the Carp in 1988 as manager. He remained manager through the 1993 season, leading the Carp to the Nippon Series in 1991, losing to the Lions. (The Carp have only played in 5 Nippon Series with Yamamoto being involved in all as either player or manager.) He returned as manager of the Carp in 2001 and continued through 2005. (2001 Upper Deck #50):


In 2008, he was a coach for the Japanese Olympic team (2008 BBM Japanese National Team #JPN03):



(The card at the top of this post is 2002 BBM 2nd Version #827)

Career Home Run Leaders #5 - Kazuhiro Kiyohara

With Tomoaki Kanemoto and Tuffy Rhodes each having a pretty good start to their seasons, I need to get this series of posts wrapped up before they make it completely out of date. Rhodes tied Shigeo Nagashima for 12th on Wednesday with his 444th home run, then moved past him today. Kanemoto already has seven on the season, including three in one game, giving him a current total of 428, nine behind Koji Akiyama for 14th on the All Time List. (Update: Kanemoto actually has hit 3 home runs in a game twice already this season - the second time being two days after the first.)

Still at #5 on the list is the recently retired Kazuhiro Kiyohara with 525. I did a retrospective on him when he announced his retirement last August, plus a post on his 2009 BBM tribute set a few weeks ago. Not to mention a post on this. So I think I've covered him pretty well here. Here's one more card (#30) from the tribute set:

Career Home Run Leader #6 - Hiromitsu Ochiai

The original plan when I started this series of posts was to be done by the WBC final or at least by Opening Day. Well, here it is, Opening Day in the States and I still have six more posts left. Sometimes things don't go as planned.

Number six on the career home run list with 510 is Hiromitsu Ochiai. Ochiai is one of the more unique players in NBP history. After playing in the industrial leagues for a few years, he signed with Lotte in 1978 but didn't become a regular until 1981 when he was 28 years old. Between 1982 and 1986 he won the Triple Crown twice and the Pacific League MVP award three times. Here's his 1984 Takara Kids card:


1986 Calbee #205:


Following the 1986 season, the Orions hired Michio Arito as manager. Arito was a traditionalist when it came to training and didn't like Ochiai's refusal to conform to the rigorous training that was considered normal at the time. He decided it would be better for the Orions to trade Ochiai to the Dragons. They got four players for him. I haven't been able to figure out who they got for him, but it doesn't matter - they got the raw end of the deal.

He played for the Dragons from 1987 through 1993. Here's his 1989 Calbee card (#336):


1992 BBM #315:


He joined the Giants in 1994 and played for them through 1996. Here's his 1995 BBM card (#50):


1996 BBM All Stars #A6:


When the Giants signed Kazuhiro Kiyohara following the 1996 season, they releasd Ochiai. The Nippon Ham Fighters signed him (at the time, the Fighters shared the Tokyo Dome with the Giants, so he didn't have to move!) and he spent the next two seasons with them. Here's his 1997 Diamond Heroes Rivals card with Ichiro (#289):


1998 BBM #453 (his last "regular" BBM card):


He retired after the 1998 season. In 2004, the Dragons named him manager. He led the Dragons to the Nippon Series in 2004, 2006 and 2007. They won the Series in 2007 for the first time since 1954. Here's his card from the 2006 BBM Central League Champion set (#01):

Career Home Run Leaders #7 (tie) - Isao Harimoto

Tied for seventh on the all time list with Sachio Kinugasa is Isao Harimoto. Harimoto hit 504 home runs during his 22 year career. Like Kinugasa, he is better known for something other than the home runs. In his case, it's that he is the only NPB player with more than 3000 hits. (Ichiro has more than 3000 between NPB and MLB.)

Harimoto broke into NPB in 1959 with the Toei Flyers. Here's his 1960 Yamakatsu "Home Plate Back" menko card:


1961 Marusan menko:


1967 Kabaya-Leaf #409:


He continued playing for the Flyers through their name/ownership changes (Nittaku Home Flyers, Nippon Ham Fighters) through the mid 1970's. Here's his 1974/75 Calbee (#773) card:


In 1976 he joined the Giants and played along side Sadaharu Oh for four years. Here's a 1975/76 Calbee card (#1252) showing the two of them:


1977 Yamakatsu:


1978 Yamakatsu:


He left the Giants for the Lotte Orions in 1980 and finished his career with them in 1981. Here's a 1980 Yamakatsu card:


He got his 3000th hit on May 28th, 1980. Here's the "The Scene" insert card from the 2000 BBM 20th Century Best 9 set (#S-07) commemorating this:


Harimoto is my all time favorite NPB player. That card in the upper right corner of the blog is his 1963 Marusho menko card. The card at the top of the post is #829 from the 2002 BBM 2nd Version set.