Wed, Dec 05, 2007 page18

• Home run record-holder says Rodriguez is next

  • AP
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  Japanese baseball great Sadaharu Oh said New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has the best shot at breaking his world record of 868 home runs.

  Oh, who hit 868 homers over 22 seasons in Japanese professional baseball, said he thinks it's just a matter of time before someone catches up and surpasses him.

  "I think the 868 record will be broken," Oh said on Monday. "Nobody in Japan is close, but I think Alex Rodriguez could do it, he has the ability to hit 1,000."

  Rodriguez, who hit 54 homer for the Yankees this season, has 518 homers after 14 seasons. Barry Bonds has major league record of 762 after 22 seasons, but faces an uncertain future after a federal grand jury indicted him on five felony counts of perjury and obstruction of justice following an investigation into steroid use by elite athletes.

  Oh made the comments at a reception hosted by the Foreign Sportswriters' Association of Japan.

  Oh has always acknowledged that major league home run records carry more weight than those in Japan, where the ballparks are smaller and the level of baseball isn't as high, although that may be changing.

  As a manager, Oh led Japan to the title at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March of last year, when his team played against a US team that included many major league stars including Rodriguez.

  Oh said he expects to see more and more Japanese stars heading to the major leagues now that players like Hideo Nomo, Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki have been so successful there.

  "I think it's only natural for them to go to the majors," Oh said. "They want to test their abilities at the highest level and now that some have gone, more will follow and you can't stop that."

  Oh is revered in Japan for his accomplishments both as a player and a manager. When Oh passed Hank Aaron's home run mark on Sept. 3, 1977, with his 756th homer, all of Japan celebrated.

  The next morning, Oh said about 300 kids greeted him at his doorstep and he signed autographs for all of them.

  When Bonds passed Aaron in August, Oh congratulated the Giants slugger, saying "hitting home runs requires tenacity and passion for baseball."

  Oh also holds the Japanese single season record of 55 homers, a mark that was tied recently by former major leaguers Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera.

  Oh was manager of the Pacific League's Daiei Hawks at the time and it was suggested that he instructed his pitchers to pitch around both players so they couldn't break his record, an accusation Oh denies.

  "There no doubt are people who want to protect my record," Oh said. "But an instruction to do that would never come from me or anyone on my team."

  Oh called on Major League Baseball to take a more positive stance in getting baseball reinstated in the Olympic program after the Beijing Games, Japanese professional baseball allows its players to take part in the Olympics while MLB doesn't, one of the reasons why the International Olympic Committee elected to drop the sport.

  Japan qualified for the Beijing Olympics on Monday with a 10-2 win over Taiwan.

  "MLB has to be more positive about the Olympics," Oh said. "If baseball is to get back in the Olympic program we need MLB to be behind the effort 100 percent."

  Oh says he may retire after next year's season but he wants to go out on a winning note.

  His current team, the Softbank Hawks, last won the Japan Series in 2003 but haven't won since despite reaching the playoffs every year.

  And then there are health concerns to think about. Oh, 67, managed the Hawks this season after being sidelined for the second half of last year's season due to stomach cancer. He had his stomach removed in a successful operation in July last year.

  "I've thought about retirement," Oh said. "But it would be very hard for me to be away from the game."
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