oh's 22-season career produced 868 homeruns in 2,831 games. a career batting avg. of .301, and a career .446 OBP. his career OPS is 1.080, and in those 2,831 games, he amassed an astonishing 5,862 total bases. those japan leagues had their hideo and yu strikeout pitchers. all this with the lone strategy of not pitching to him, or giving him anything he could hit. all this from a batter who played his whole career with one team.
oh's single season career highs and bests are equally as entertaining. 55 homers in 472 AB's, 51 homers in 428 AB's, and 50 homers in 432 AB's in that Tokyo home stadium for half his games. single season OPS's descending as 1.293, 1.255, 1.211, 1.210, 1.204, 1.197, 1.189, 1.183, and 1.176.
114 runs scored in 130 games / 124 rbis in 130 games / 9 seasons with a slugging % over .700 / 14 seasons with a slugging % over .600 / a single season high batting avg. of .355 / his strikeout totals are miniscule compared to all sluggers we know. his career total of 2,831 games produced only 1,319 strikeouts. his worst years, swinging and missing, were in his early twenties. he adjusted, and put the bat to the ball for the remaining 75% of his career.
in his prime, his early thirties, oh struck out less than 10% of his at bats. 41 times in 428 AB's, 43 times in 456 AB's, 37 times in 432 AB's, and 43 times in 440 AB's.
this is what a slugger does with a bat. without PED's. no arguing allowed. no arod. no bonds. they could have done this another way. any other way. the asterisk is the biggest digit in the numbers they gathered thru their careers. sadaharu oh is the greater slugger here. and opinionatedly so.
9/1/2013 8:34 PM (edited)