LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Ichiro Suzuki scored a run for the 1,968th time, spanning his career in the top league in Japan – Nippon Professional Baseball – and top league in the U.S., Major League Baseball, marking the most runs ever scored by a Japanese-born ballplayer.
In an MLB contest Saturday night between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals, Suzuki, playing in his first season with the Marlins, surpassed the previous record set in 1980 when baseball icon and all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh scored his final run.
Oh, who was born outside Tokyo but holds Taiwanese citizenship, first rose to fame in 1957 when he led his high school team to capture the prestigious Koshien crown.
”When it’s Mr. Oh’s record, it’s very special,” Suzuki said, according to The Associated Press.
A very humble Ichiro insisted that due to Oh’s having generated a significant amount of his own run production from his world record 868 homers, as opposed to having been driven in by teammates, Oh’s feat remains more impressive despite being taken over.
Upon announcing the record-breaking run at Marlins Park, fans rose to their feet in celebration and Suzuki was congratulated by his teammates.
The Gold Glove outfielder and more than 10-time MLB/NPB All-Star will add his latest record to a very impressive career, which includes helping the Japanese National Team win the first two editions (2006 and 2009) of the World Baseball Classic.
Last year, another of Oh’s historic records was broken when Yakult Swallows, Olympian and Netherlands National Team member Wladimir Balentien finished the 2014 season with 60 home runs, eclipsing Oh’s NPB single-season home run mark of 55, which was set in 1964.
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