Legendary Baseball Hitter Isao Harimoto Dies at 86

Tokyo, Sept. 10 (Jiji Press)–Isao Harimoto, the first and only player in the history of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball Organization, or NPB, to achieve more than 3,000 career hits, died on Wednesday afternoon, it was learned Thursday. He was 86. Harimoto collected a total of 3,085 hits during his 23-year career at the NPB. Born in the western Japan city of Hiroshima, he started his professional career with the Toei Flyers, now the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, in the NPB’s Pacific League, in 1959. He soon became a starting player on the Flyers’ first team roster and won the league’s rookie of the year award in the year. Harimoto accumulated hits with his signature wide-angle hitting technique. He also had an ability to send multiple base hits, including home runs. He became the Pacific League’s leading hitter for the first time in 1961 with an average of .336 and clinched the title a total of seven times in the league, including in the four consecutive seasons from 1967 to 1970. Harimoto moved to the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League in 1976 and to the Pacific League’s Lotte Orions, the current Chiba Lotte Marines, in 1980, when he reached his 3,000th career hit. He retired in 1981. During the 23 years as a professional baseball player, Harimoto played in 2,752 games, recording a batting average of .319, 504 home runs, 1,676 RBIs and 319 stolen bases. Ichiro Suzuki later overtook Harimoto’s total hit record in his combined professional career in Japan and the United States. Suzuki’s 4,367 career hits included 1,278 in Japan. In 1990, Harimoto was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. After his retirement, he worked as a baseball critic known for sharp-tongued comments. From early in his career, Harimoto had been open about being a son of South Korean parents. He contributed to the development of South Korean baseball, including serving as a special adviser to the commissioner of the Korea Baseball Organization. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]