Cheater!!! Asterisk!!! Well, according to the NY Times, that Sadaharu Oh was nothing but a big cheater. And I quote:

"he hit most of his home runs using rock-hard, custom-made compressed bats, which were illegal in the major leagues when he played and were outlawed in Japanese baseball after he retired. A batter using a compressed bat, it was said at the time, could propel a ball farther than he can with an ordinary bat."

The article goes on to say that the compressed bats are seldom mentioned in Japan. Imagine that.

Anyhow, I think this makes Oh a dirty rotten cheater, and all of his records should be struck from the Japanese record books. I also think he should be scorned and mocked whenever possible. He has tainted the game, and nobody should like him. And I think his footwear should be analyzed too -- his cleats may have had extra support -- that's cheating too!





By the way. Congratulations Barry -- I stayed up past my bedtime to watch you go deep for the 756th time. You are now the king, and poor old noble Hank is now nothing but your bitch (better your bitch than Selig's I 'spose).

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/opinion/09whiting.html?ex=1187323200&en=7696f1ba92a1c3dd&ei=5070&emc=eta1  ¶ posted by Christopher James at 4:38 PM