Inside the Sadaharu Oh Museum
A packed house filled the Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome for the Friday evening tilt featuring the southern most team in Nippon Professional Baseball (the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks) and the northern most team (the Nippon-Ham Fighters). The Hawks came into the contest just 3 games out of first place in the Pacific League behind the Seibu Lions. Each team only managed to score one run a piece in the first nine innings so for the second night in a row, the game continued into extra innings. In the top of the tenth, the Fighters were able to manufacture the go ahead run on a safety squeeze. The Hawks went down in order in the bottom half of the tenth as the Fighters came away with the 2-1 win. With the Lions winning this evening in dramatic fashion at the Seibu Dome (a 12-8 win over the Marines with 2 home runs by Takeya Nakamuru), the Hawks fell further behind in the standings.
The Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome was fairly impressive. It is home to the Sadaharu Oh museum and the only retractable dome stadium in the league. The stadium also claims to have the largest food variety in the league offering over 80 varieties of bento boxes.
Tomorrow we begin the trip back north with a day game at the Nagoya Dome.
Question of the Day
Q: Who has hit the most home runs in Japanese Professional Baseball? – Eric
A: That title belongs to the legendary Sadaharu Oh who belted 868 in a career that spanned four decades from 1959 to 1980. This also makes him the all-time home run king passing even Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds for most career home runs in any league. Oh also holds the NPB single season home run record with Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera with 55 home runs in a single season. Interestingly, Oh finished his career as a manager with both the Giants and later the Hawks when he retired after the 2008 season.
Check out the Fukuoka Yahoo! Dome Stadium Guide at Japanese Baseball Stadiums »
