http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/sports/baseball/04oh.html?_r=2&ref=baseball&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Sadaharu Oh Still Feels and Thinks the Game
By BRAD LEFTON
Published: May 4, 2008
MIYAZAKI, Japan — After a 22-year playing career in which he became Nippon Professional Baseball’s home run king, Sadaharu Oh is in his 44th season in uniform, now as manager of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
“I never imagined I would manage here for 14 years,” Oh said one morning at the Hawks’ spring camp. “I enjoy baseball more than anything and would like to be involved with it forever, but the reality is your survival is determined by how well you compete, not by your fondness for the game.”
Oh, who turns 68 on May 20, began this season 20 months after surgery to remove his stomach because of cancer. Although he managed the Hawks all last season, his health has been a concern.
But Oh swatted away the speculation that he would retire this season as adeptly as he whacked 868 home runs.
“With that said, I’ve had this surgery and that must be taken into account as I think about my future,” he said. “I want to make this a special year. I want this season to be a culmination of sorts. That’s different than calling it my final season because that would mean I’ve already reached a resolution that this is it, and I have not. I simply want to approach the season with the commitment that it’s my final year without actually deciding now that it is.”
Oh’s will and love for the game are on display as he discusses batting while his team works out. He draws a line in the dirt with his right foot and claps his hands to make a point. Then he rotates his upper body as if swinging a bat. The energetic Oh bends and contorts for more emphasis, and the discussion itself becomes a workout.
Oh took over the Hawks in 1995, the year Hideo Nomo joined the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nomo was the first Japanese native to go to the major leagues from the Pacific League.
Since then, Oh has watched 36 Japanese players appear in regular-season games in the majors, including five who made the jump this year. Two linchpins of Oh
’s 1999 and 2003 Japan Series champions are playing in the United States. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, who left for the Chicago White Sox after the 2004 season, is with San Diego, and catcher Kenji Johjima signed with Seattle after the 2005 season.
“It’s been a great plus for baseball in Japan,” Oh said in an interview conducted in Japanese. “Thanks to Nomo, kids in high school and junior high now have dreams of playing in M.L.B. Going to America and directly competing over there is a much better way to improve the level of play here than the good-will-type all-star exhibition series they used to hold when I was a player. Japan’s still inferior to America in baseball, but as more players aim to play over there, the gap will continue to close.”
Oh sees a much more competitive Japanese league now than when he played, but power numbers here do not transfer to the American game, to the dismay of fans and reporters here.
Nine players with at least one season of 25 or more home runs in Japan including seven that hit 30 at least once — have gone to the majors. But only one, the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui, has hit more than 18 homers in a major league season.
Matsui, who has done so in three of his five seasons with the Yankees, had seven straight seasons of 34 or more home runs in Japan, including 50 in 2002. The most he has hit with the Yankees is 31 in 2004.
“It’s not that we haven’t shown our power yet, we simply don’t have it yet,” Oh said. “When I watch the home run derby at the M.L.B. All-Star Game, I can’t believe the way they launch the ball out of the park like a tee shot in golf. Japanese don’t have the power to do that. Diet has a lot to do with it, but that’s changing.”
Although Oh hit more home runs than Barry Bonds, the major league career leader with 762, Oh said he did not do so with power.
“I had strong legs that would have made me a good sumo wrestler and I used that to my advantage, but my home runs were achieved by technique,” Oh said. “I competed well with the Americans in those good-will-type exhibition games they used to bring here with M.L.B. all-stars, and I always thought if I had a chance to go to America, I could probably hit close to 30 home runs in a season. But again, it would have been with technique.”
As a player, Oh could compute his batting average as he sprinted toward first base. He still uses his skill with an imaginary abacus on the bench.
“It keeps the mind sharp,” he said.
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野球長青樹－王貞治
在王貞治22年的球員生涯中，他成了日本全壘打王。而如今，身為福岡軟銀鷹總教練的他，野球生涯已正式邁入第44年。
王貞治一天在鷹隊春訓時說:我從沒想到我會留在這超過14年。野球雖然是我一輩子的最愛，但告訴你們，你能留在球場上多久是由你的表現來決定，而不是熱情來決定的。
王貞治今年5月20即將邁入68歲，而今年球季初也是他胃癌開刀後的第20個月。雖然他去年一整年仍帶領著球隊，但他的健康狀況一直是大家關注的焦點。
但，就像是王貞治擊出第868號全壘打那樣，這一次，他又輕鬆自在地擊破了大家的疑慮。
他說:今年在接球隊時，很多人都叫我要考慮到自己的健康狀況。但是我希望今年是特別的一年，可以的話能再創另一個高峰。這並不代表我今年就要退休了，因為抱著退休心態帶隊的話，那就真的代表我就到此為止了。我現在只想以退休前的那種拚勁來帶好球隊，而不去想我是否要退休了。
王貞治對棒球的熱愛從他的教球上展露無遺。他會先用腳在地上劃一條線，然後舞動著雙手來告訴大家擊球位置，接著他就像揮棒那樣扭動他的上半身。精力充沛的王貞治手舞足蹈地教球，對他來說那已變成了他的一種運動。
王貞治在1995年接掌大榮鷹時，剛好是野茂英雄加盟道奇隊的那年。野茂是第一位到大聯盟發展的日本球員。
從那時起，王貞治就目睹了36位日本球員先後到大聯盟發展，其中包括今年跳槽的5位球員。而他在1999與2003年奪下日本第一後，陣中的兩名愛將也先後赴大聯盟發展。分別是二壘手井口資仁，他在2004年從芝加哥白襪隊轉到聖地牙哥教士隊，與2005年加盟西雅圖水手隊的捕手城島健司。
王貞治說:這對日本的棒球發展是件好事。由於野茂的關係，我們國中跟高中的小球員也都夢想有朝一日能到大聯盟打球。直接去大聯盟打球比在這裡打明星賽更能提升球技，我當時也還常參加明星賽咧!日本的棒球目前雖然仍比不過美國，但是當我們有越多球員到那邊去打球，兩邊的差距也會越來越縮小。
王貞治認為現在日本職棒的強度已超越他那個年代，但是令大家失望的是，在日本打得好，並不代表在大聯盟也能吃得開。
日本到大聯盟發展的球員中，有九名球員有一年至少25支全壘打的實力，而其中七名球員甚至曾經超過30支。但是只有洋基的松井秀喜可以在大聯盟打超過18支的全壘打。
松井秀喜在洋基五年有三年達到這個成績，但是他在日職可是曾經創下連續七年打超過34支全壘打，在2002年他更是擊出了50支全壘打。而他在洋基的最多紀錄是在2004年擊出31支全壘打。
王貞治說:並不是我們還沒有盡力，而是我們根本就沒有那種怪力。當我在看大聯盟的全壘打大賽時，我簡直不敢相信我的眼睛，他們打全壘打就跟揮高爾夫球桿一樣輕鬆。我們日本人是不可能有那種怪力的。這跟飲食有很大的關係，但是我們會慢慢改善。
雖然王貞治比大聯盟全壘打王邦茲擊出過更多的全壘打，但他說他並不是靠怪力來擊球的。
王貞治說:我有跟相撲一樣的好腳力，這就是我的優勢，但是我主要是靠技巧來打全壘打的。我以前曾經跟來日本的大聯盟明星隊交手過，我當時總認為要是我有機會到大聯盟打球的話，我一年可能可以擊出將近30支的全壘打。但那還是要靠技巧而不是怪力。
球員時代，王貞治可得在球場上盤算著自己的打擊率，而如今，身為教練的他仍得在休息室巧妙地盤算著戰略。
他說:頭腦要動才會清楚。
