And quite an American!!!
Japanese Triple Crown Winner--'85 and '86
Randy Bass 5/3--about 3 month wait
Bass has a fantastic story. Absolutely tore it up in the AAA, winning the American Association MVP with Denver in 1980..But never could hit in the show. In six yrs, he had a whopping 325 abs and hit .214
After '82, he went to Japan and signed with Hanshin Tigers and became a star. He won four consecutive league batting titles; in 1986, he nearly became the first player in Japan to bat .400, finishing the season with a .389 average, a record that still stands, despite Ichiro Suzuki's formidable challenges to it in 1994 and 2000. Bass won consecutive batting Triple Crowns (1985 and 1986), a feat no player has accomplished in the U.S. Major Leagues since the 1960s. In 1985, he was on a pace to break Sadaharu Oh's record of 55 home runs in a single season, but fell short by one, because in the last game of the season the pitcher from Oh's Yomiuri Giants threw only intentional walks (allegedly to prevent the Westerner from breaking Oh's record).
In Japan, among Tigers fans; he is nearly deified, being jokingly referred in conjunction with God and Buddha, "Kami-sama (God), Hotoke-sama (Buddha), Baasu-sama (Bass)" (sama is an honorary variation of "san" similar to Sir or His holiness).
And currently, Bass is a Democratic State Senator from Oklahoma..
Very glad to add this one, I sent to his office in Oklahoma...
Thanks for reading!!
Chris
Japanese Triple Crown Winner--'85 and '86
Randy Bass 5/3--about 3 month wait
Bass has a fantastic story. Absolutely tore it up in the AAA, winning the American Association MVP with Denver in 1980..But never could hit in the show. In six yrs, he had a whopping 325 abs and hit .214
After '82, he went to Japan and signed with Hanshin Tigers and became a star. He won four consecutive league batting titles; in 1986, he nearly became the first player in Japan to bat .400, finishing the season with a .389 average, a record that still stands, despite Ichiro Suzuki's formidable challenges to it in 1994 and 2000. Bass won consecutive batting Triple Crowns (1985 and 1986), a feat no player has accomplished in the U.S. Major Leagues since the 1960s. In 1985, he was on a pace to break Sadaharu Oh's record of 55 home runs in a single season, but fell short by one, because in the last game of the season the pitcher from Oh's Yomiuri Giants threw only intentional walks (allegedly to prevent the Westerner from breaking Oh's record).
In Japan, among Tigers fans; he is nearly deified, being jokingly referred in conjunction with God and Buddha, "Kami-sama (God), Hotoke-sama (Buddha), Baasu-sama (Bass)" (sama is an honorary variation of "san" similar to Sir or His holiness).
And currently, Bass is a Democratic State Senator from Oklahoma..
Very glad to add this one, I sent to his office in Oklahoma...
Thanks for reading!!
Chris
