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Baseball Legend Isao Harimoto Dies at 86, Survived Hiroshima Bombing
Confirmed
In Short: Japanese baseball icon Isao Harimoto, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and set a record with 3,085 career hits, has passed away at 86.
Japanese baseball legend Isao Harimoto, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and became the first player from his country to reach 3,000 hits, has died at the age of 86, according to reports.
Born to Korean parents in Hiroshima in 1940, Harimoto was just five years old when he survived the bombing, with his mother shielding him and his sister from the blast.
Despite severe burns and limited mobility in his right hand from an accident at age four, Harimoto went on to have a stellar career, recording 3,085 hits, a record that still stands in Nippon Professional Baseball.
He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990 and was named the Pacific League MVP in 1962, helping the Toei Flyers win their first Japan Series that year.
The Golden Players Club, one of Japanese baseball's two halls of fame, expressed deep respect and gratitude for Harimoto's achievements and offered condolences following his passing.
Harimoto's legacy includes being the only player in Nippon Professional Baseball history to reach 3,000 hits and the only player to combine at least 500 home runs with 300 stolen bases.
What's confirmed
- Harimoto, whose record 3,085 career hits still stands, was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.
- Isao Harimoto was named the Pacific League MVP in 1962 Korean-Japanese baseball legend Isao Harimoto, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, has died in Tokyo at the age of 86.
- Harimoto, known as the Hit Machine, recorded the most hits in Japanese baseball history - with 3,085 hits during his 23-season caree.
- Only three players in Major League Baseball history have achieved the same feat: Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.
What's still developing
- The five-year-old survived unharmed - in 2011 he explained that his mother used her body to shield him and his sister after the flash of the bomb exploding.
- Harimoto went on to enjoy an outstanding career, joining the Toei Flyers in 1959 with whom he spent 16 years before later representing the Yomiuri Giants and the Lotte Orions.
- Harimoto - whose birth name was Jang Hun - overcame significant obstacles to achieve greatness.
- The Meikyukai, an association of former and current Japanese professional baseball players, said on the 10th that Chang died on the morning of the 9th at a hospital in Tokyo.
- The Japanese Professional Baseball Meikyukai, an association of elite former players also known as the Golden Players Club, announced Thursday that Harimoto died Wednesday afternoon.