This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
24
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0-2
1-1
2-2
2-3
7-F
9-HR
K
K
26
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Ohkubo
0-0
0-0
1-2
6-G
4-G
3-G
29
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N.Shimizu
2-1
2-2
0-0
2-3
5-F
HBP
8-SF
BB
30
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2-3
1-0
2-3
BB
6-F
4-G
2
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Kaneda
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1-2
1-0
2-2
9-H
8-F
K
5
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Kood
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0-0
0-1
1-1
2-F
5-F
8-F
Note, the final two outs against Daiei on 9/30 were Rhodes hitting bad pitches.
On 9/25, after Rhodes tied Oh for the record, Nikkan Sports had a full page (plus some) dedicated to Rhodes' accomplishment. One thing that they did was compare Rhodes' 55 to the 55 that Oh hit. Looking at the two individually, one can see how amazing Rhodes' bid for the title was. Some things include:
Then there is the matter of stadiums:
Nonetheless, when you look at how each batter did in comparison to his peers, Oh's accomplishment stand out quite a bit more:
(now Yokohama BayStars) with 36 for a difference of 19 round trippers. Second to Rhodes this season was Seibu's Cabrera with 49.That's a difference of just 6. Furthermore, team mate Nakamura hit 46 home runs and Daiei's Kokubo hit 44, making it 3 people within 11 home runs of him. CFiJ-san had suggested that the ball is livlier this year, and this evidence supports that hypothisis.
made up 7.6 percent of them. There were 1,021 home runs hit in the Pacific League in 2001, of which Rhodes' 55 make up just 5.4 percent.
behind him, didn't get quite as many free passes, so the control term for him was 550 at bats, giving him one home run every 10 at bats.
Also of note, Rhodes led both leagues in runs scored, crossing the plate 137 times. It was Nakamura bringing him home very often, driving in 132 runs in all, 1 more than Rhodes' 131 for the title. Rhodes also takes the slugging percentage title with a .662 average, and finish 4th in batting average hitting .343.
Defensively, Rhodes committed just 3 errors in left and should be up for consideration for his first Golden Glove and perhaps 3rd Best Nine Award. Some things to look forward to this off season.