Robert Whiting on Sadaharu Oh

The NHK report on Bond's achievement focused very much on the steroids angle. It was coupled to an examination of the dangers of steroids and did hint that this wasn't a legitimate achievement.

I would agree on the legitimacy of this record. Bonds is a cheat in my book. As for Oh-san, a great hitter no doubt, but he didn't face the likes of Koufax and Gibson in his day. The World Home Run King claim rings hollow. He was no match to Aaron, Mays, and other MLB contemporaries of similar renown.

So Oh used a special bat, illegal in MLB, to achieve his record and Bonds, after Sosa and McQuire, were putting up the big steroid based numbers (with MLB looking the other way back then), used drugs to propel his numbers as well.

These guys are paid to perform and they will do what they can to achieve it. It's no different here or in the USA.

So the question is, how many NPB stars are using 'roids today? Mr. Cartoon Man Kiyohara comes to mind, maybe Tuffy as his numbers defy his age? Perhaps they are clean, but it's hard to say in the steroid age.

There's no evidence for Kiyohara - his bulking up looks like the normal process of years of good living coupled with rigid weight training. Plus steroids would probably go against his moral code (he is renowned for being very straight). Furthermore, his twilight years seem to indicate a fading of abilities as his age advances - not a Bonds like continuation beyond the natural limits. But as you state, it's hard to say.

- There's no evidence for Kiyohara - his bulking up looks like the normal process of years of good living coupled with rigid weight training. Plus steroids would probably go against his moral code (he is renowned for being very straight). Furthermore, his twilight years seem to indicate a fading of abilities as his age advances - not a Bonds like continuation beyond the natural limits. But as you state, it's hard to say.

By "good living," do you mean lots of eating and drinking? If so I agree; I also agree there's no evidence for Kiyohara, and his bulking up/filling out and decline in performance is likely a natural function of age.

Question though - where are you getting your "moral code" and "very straight" stuff? I thought the only thing he was really renowned for, besides being a tough guy, was wasting his tremendous talent in his early years by practicing just the opposite of any kind of rigid weight lifting program.

By "moral code" I mean that he is very "old school." As he has gotten older he has become even more "old school." This does not mean that he is a paragon of virtue, just that he has certain standards and they do not include steroids.

I just want to put in information that I've taken in on this whole thing straight from Oh's mouth. This is Oh's official stance. Firstly, he doesn't consider himself to be the world home run king as being better than the MLB guys. His opinion is that he's the guy who hit the most home runs in Japan. When asked about Bonds and steroids, he said that steroids alone won't help you hit home runs.

Baseball Guru did a nice projection on Oh's possible home run total if he had played in the majors for his entire career. The overall total ended up being estimated around the low to mid 500s.

He's a very humble man, but his accomplishments are absolutely larger than life.

I did not want to take away from Oh-san, who certainly is one of the greatest players in world baseball history. I agree with his opinions as well. Had he played in MLB, my bet is he would have been at the top. He should have let his pitchers give Tuffy something to hit (remotely hittable at least).

I would be very careful speculating aloud about steroid use. With Bonds, I'd say there is a preponderance of evidence supporting steroid use. I don't know about any of the Japanese guys and they deserve to stay innocent until facts or public opinion suggest otherwise.

That was my work estimating Oh's MLB level of accomplishment, and thank you for the kind words.

Jim Albright