Oh salutes Matsui over 500th homer
Source: Agencies |
July 22, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPANESE home run king Sadaharu Oh yesterday paid tribute to Hideki Matsui after the Oakland Athletics outfielder hit his 500th homer.
"Five hundred is a figure that carries a lot of worth in the major leagues," Oh said. "To keep hitting home runs during a tough schedule while maintaining your conditioning is not easy."
Matsui, who reached his milestone on Wednesday as he led the Oakland Athletics to a 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers, has 168 home runs in the majors and 332 for the Yomiuri Giants.
Oh hit a record 868 home runs over 22 seasons with the Giants, helping his team win nine straight Japan Series championships between 1965-73. Oh shares the Japanese single-season home run record of 55 with Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera.
Only eight players have hit more than 500 homers in the history of Japanese professional baseball.
"I never dreamed he would achieve what he has achieved," Matsui's father Masao told NikkanSports newspaper. "I hope he does everything he can to help his team win."
In Detroit, Matsui drove in three runs to lead the Athletics. Now that he's hit the 500 mark, he's hoping people will stop asking about it.
"I'm happy to get it over with, and it is even better that it helped us win a game," Matsui said through an interpreter. "It isn't like I've been aiming for this, because I don't really combine numbers from Japan and here. To me, they are two separate leagues."
Oakland manager Bob Melvin disagreed. "I don't care that it is split, or how many he hit where. It is still the major leagues here and the major leagues in Japan, and it is quite a feat by a fantastic player."
Matsui led off the sixth inning with his milestone homer - his first since June 16 - to put Oakland up 3-2 and end Duane Below's night.
"It's great to see him get it, because the guys have been teasing him about taking so long," said Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy. "We needed all his hits today to win this game."
Below, making his major-league debut, allowed three runs - one earned - in five-plus innings.
Elsewhere in the American League, it was: Red Sox 4, Orioles 0; Twins 7, Indians 5; Blue Jays 11, Mariners 6; Yankees 4, Rays 0; Royals 2, White Sox 1 (in 11 innings); and Angels 9, Rangers 8.
In San Francisco, two of the top pitchers in the National League went head-to-head as Clayton Kershaw upstaged Tim Lincecum to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.
The 23-year-old Kershaw struck out 12 batters over eight innings on the way to earning his 11th win of the season. Two-time Cy Young winner Lincecum (8-8) went seven innings, striking out seven.
"If you want to write a cool story about the match-up, go ahead. I try to pitch a good game whenever I get the ball," Kershaw told reporters after increasing his major league-leading strikeout total to 167.
Kershaw allowed three hits and just one walk to help the Dodgers snap a string of six consecutive losses to their arch-rivals, and four consecutive defeats overall.
Fellow All Star Lincecum also gave a good account of himself but made one costly mistake in the seventh inning where Los Angeles catcher Dioner Navarro smacked a solo homer for the game's only run.
Elsewhere in the NL, it was: Reds 3, Pirates 1; ; Phillies 9, Cubs 1; Mets 6, Cardinals 5 (in 10 innings); Astros 3, Nationals 2 (in 11 innings) Rockies 3, Braves 2; Brewers 5, Diamondbacks 2 (in 10 innings) and Padres 14, Marlins 3.
"Five hundred is a figure that carries a lot of worth in the major leagues," Oh said. "To keep hitting home runs during a tough schedule while maintaining your conditioning is not easy."
Matsui, who reached his milestone on Wednesday as he led the Oakland Athletics to a 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers, has 168 home runs in the majors and 332 for the Yomiuri Giants.
Oh hit a record 868 home runs over 22 seasons with the Giants, helping his team win nine straight Japan Series championships between 1965-73. Oh shares the Japanese single-season home run record of 55 with Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera.
Only eight players have hit more than 500 homers in the history of Japanese professional baseball.
"I never dreamed he would achieve what he has achieved," Matsui's father Masao told NikkanSports newspaper. "I hope he does everything he can to help his team win."
In Detroit, Matsui drove in three runs to lead the Athletics. Now that he's hit the 500 mark, he's hoping people will stop asking about it.
"I'm happy to get it over with, and it is even better that it helped us win a game," Matsui said through an interpreter. "It isn't like I've been aiming for this, because I don't really combine numbers from Japan and here. To me, they are two separate leagues."
Oakland manager Bob Melvin disagreed. "I don't care that it is split, or how many he hit where. It is still the major leagues here and the major leagues in Japan, and it is quite a feat by a fantastic player."
Matsui led off the sixth inning with his milestone homer - his first since June 16 - to put Oakland up 3-2 and end Duane Below's night.
"It's great to see him get it, because the guys have been teasing him about taking so long," said Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy. "We needed all his hits today to win this game."
Below, making his major-league debut, allowed three runs - one earned - in five-plus innings.
Elsewhere in the American League, it was: Red Sox 4, Orioles 0; Twins 7, Indians 5; Blue Jays 11, Mariners 6; Yankees 4, Rays 0; Royals 2, White Sox 1 (in 11 innings); and Angels 9, Rangers 8.
In San Francisco, two of the top pitchers in the National League went head-to-head as Clayton Kershaw upstaged Tim Lincecum to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.
The 23-year-old Kershaw struck out 12 batters over eight innings on the way to earning his 11th win of the season. Two-time Cy Young winner Lincecum (8-8) went seven innings, striking out seven.
"If you want to write a cool story about the match-up, go ahead. I try to pitch a good game whenever I get the ball," Kershaw told reporters after increasing his major league-leading strikeout total to 167.
Kershaw allowed three hits and just one walk to help the Dodgers snap a string of six consecutive losses to their arch-rivals, and four consecutive defeats overall.
Fellow All Star Lincecum also gave a good account of himself but made one costly mistake in the seventh inning where Los Angeles catcher Dioner Navarro smacked a solo homer for the game's only run.
Elsewhere in the NL, it was: Reds 3, Pirates 1; ; Phillies 9, Cubs 1; Mets 6, Cardinals 5 (in 10 innings); Astros 3, Nationals 2 (in 11 innings) Rockies 3, Braves 2; Brewers 5, Diamondbacks 2 (in 10 innings) and Padres 14, Marlins 3.
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