Rhodes Ties Japanese Home Run Record
Tuffy Rhodes, a former major league outfielder, hit his 55th home run to tie the Japanese Baseball League’s single-season mark set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964.
Rhodes, in his sixth season with the Osaka/Kintetsu Buffaloes, has five games remaining in the 140-game regular season to break the record.
The last time a foreign player approached Oh’s record was in 1985, when Randy Bass hit 54 homers for the Hanshin Tigers. Bass was walked six times in his final nine at-bats that season against the Yomiuri Giants, who were managed by Oh.
Rhodes, 33, had gone nearly two weeks without a home run after hitting his 54th on Sept. 13.
Rhodes, who hit three home runs for the Chicago Cubs on opening day in 1994, has hit more than 20 homers in each of his six seasons in Japan. He hit 40 homers for the Buffaloes in 1999 and 25 last season.
Another former U.S. major leaguer, first baseman Alex Cabrera of the Seibu Lions, is second in the Japanese League with 48 home runs.
Rhodes’ Osaka teammate, Norihiro Nakamura, is third with 44 homers.
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