Olympic gold medalist Munetaka Murakami surpassed legendary Sadaharu Oh, who hit 55 in 1964, as the Japanese player with the most home runs in a single Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) season. Murakami, who plays for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, hit his 56th home run in the last game of the regular season against the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars at the Swallows' Jingu Stadium.
Murakami, 22, dominated the Central League, leading in almost every hitting category, including runs batted in (134) and batting average (.318), thus earning the Triple Crown.
Since his NPB debut in 2018, Murakami has been an All-Star in 2019, 2021 and 2022. He led the Swallows to the 2021 Japan Series title, earning Central League MVP honours.
The Swallows finished first in the Central League 2022 with an 80-59 record.
Murakami starred for Samurai Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where he went 5-for-15 and a .333 batting average in five games with a home run and eight RBIs. He started all games at third and didn't commit an error.
Dutch slugger Wladimir Balentien holds the single-season NPB home run record. He hit 60 in the 2013 season for the Swallows.
Tuffy Rhodes (USA, Kintetsu Buffaloes, 2001) and Alex Cabrera (Venezuela, Seibu Lions, 2002) had previously tied Oh at 55.
