Sadaharu Oh - From Player To Manager To Hall Of Fame

Oh retired from professional baseball after the 1980 season. In 1984 he returned to his Yomiuri Giants as manager. That same year he wrote his autobiography, A Zen Way of Baseball, with David Falkner. In his four-year stint as Giants manager, Oh brought the team to one pennant win but no championships. He joined Hank Aaron in 1988 in working with children to foster good sportsmanship.

In 1994 Oh was voted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. At the start of the twenty-first century, heated discussions and an Internet debate at Baseballguru.com led by Japanese baseball expert Jim Albright were pushing for Oh's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Oh returned to managing baseball when he joined the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 1995. The southern Japanese team went from the bottom of the Pacific Coast League to winning the Japan Series Championship in 1999, the first time for the team since 1964. A year later, the Hawks returned to the series playing against Oh's former team, the Yomiuri Giants, which was managed by Oh's former teammate Nagashima. The Giants won.

In January 2002, Cypress Systems Inc., a leading biotechnology company, announced that Sadaharu Oh, along with American baseball Hall of Fame great Harmon Killebrew, was joining its public health education campaign called "Step Up to the Plate and Take Control of Your Health." The campaign focused on the prostate health benefits to men over 40 derived from supplementing their diet with SolenoExcellS High Selenium Yeast, Cypress's flagship product. In addition to participating in advertising campaigns designed to raise awareness of high selenium yeast, Oh and Killebrew also worked to educate consumers about general cancer prevention and health related issues.

Although some might dispute how Sadaharu Oh would have fared in the American professional baseball arena, none can overlook the records Oh racked up in his home country of Japan, including the world record for 868 home runs. Oh should also be remembered for his longevity with the Yomiuri Giants, his intense practice schedules, and his skill in leading his league to victory.