Isao Harimoto

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Isao Harimoto (張本 勲)
(hit machine, wild man of Komazawa)

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Biographical Information[edit]

A survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, Korean-Japanese Isao Harimoto is the only player in the history of Nippon Pro Baseball to reach 3,000 career hits. The greatest player in the history of the Toei Flyers, Harimoto was one of the most well-rounded offensive talents in NPB history. Defensively, he was not a good player. The left fielder was the son of Koreans and faced discrimination due to his ethnic background throughout his career. Unlike many Korean-Japanese athletes, he did not hide his roots or change his name. After his playing days ended, he worked in the Korea Baseball Organization as an assistant to the commissioner. An 18-time All-Star, Harimoto is the only player in NPB history with both 500 homers and 300 steals. He holds NPB records for singles (2,089) as well as hits (3,085) and games with 3 or more hits (251) and holds the Pacific League record with 223 intentional walks.

Harimoto began his career in 1959 when he hit .275/.328/.435 for Toei; he won NPB Rookie of the Year honors that season. He tied Yosuke Terada for 8th in homers, and he was 9th in RBI (between Takeda and Kenjiro Tamiya). The next season he batted .302/.350/.508 and was named to the first of 16 Best Nine squads. He would make the Best Nine every season in the 1960s. The 20-year-old outfielder finished fourth in the PL in batting (between Kazuhiro Yamauchi and Akitoshi Kodama), 5th in homers (between Kodama and Kusuo Tanaka), 8th in steals (tied with Kihachi Enomoto) and 8th in RBI (between Yoshio Anabuki and Motohiro Moroki). He was voted into the 1960 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-4 with a double in Game 1. He went 0-for-3 in Game 2, and he hit a game-winning 2-run shot against Genichi Murata in Game 3 to win the MVP.

In 1961, Harimoto won his first batting championship when he hit .336/.399/.596. That season he hit for the cycle for the only time in his career (against the Kintetsu Buffaloes on May 7) and reached double digits in doubles (31), triples (10) and homers (24). He led the Pacific with 282 total bases and posted the top slugging percentage in the circuit. Harimoto also ranked 7th in runs (tied with Katsutoyo Yoshida), 4th in hits (tied with Yoshinori Hirose), 2nd in RBI (17 behind Yamauchi), 9th in steals (tied with Teruyuki Takakura), 2nd in triples (1 behind Shoichi Busujima) and 4th in homers (between Yamauchi and Akio Saionji). He attended the 1961 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 2-for-7 in 2 games; both hits were infield hits.

Harimoto somehow improved on that impressive '61 - he hit .333 and slugged .597, about the same, but raised his OBP to .440 as his walk total rose from 46 to 86 (he only drew 2 more intentional walks, from 16 to 18) in 1962. He broke the PL record for most intentional walks in a season. Harimoto led the league in walks and OBP, and he finished 4th in batting average (between Takao Katsuragi and Enomoto), 2nd in homers (13 behind Katsuya Nomura), 2nd in RBI (5 behind Nomura), 6th in steals (between Kenji Koike and Hiroharu Okajima) and 3rd in hits (tied with Yamauchi). He also topped 30 home runs for the first time, stole 23 bases in 31 tries, scored 90 and drove in 99. Harimoto attended the All-Star Game again, and he went 3-for-4 with 4 RBI and a 2-run shot against Masayuki Dobashi in Game 2 to win his second All-Star MVP. He helped lead Toei to their only PL title, and he was 10-for-25 in the 1962 Nippon Series to lead the Flyers beat the Hanshin Tigers in 7 games and win their only Japan Series championship. For his efforts, Isao was named MVP of the Pacific League for the only time in his illustrious career, and he gained 70 of 142 points in the MVP voting.

1963 was one of Harimoto's most impressive year, and he crushed 33 homers with a .280/.388/.524 batting line. He was again a Best Nine and led the PL in walks (92). He also stole a career-high 41 bases in 53 attempts, and he was 2nd in homers (tied with Yamauchi), 2nd in steals (4 behind Hirose), 3rd in triples (behind Shozo Higuchi and Hirose) and 10th in batting (between Yamauchi and Hachiro Yamamoto). Harimoto was the only 30-30 player in Toei/Nippon Ham Fighters history as of 2025. He was selected into the 1963 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 3-for-13. In 1964, Isao batted .328/.426/.536 and posted the best OBP in his league for the second time in his career. He was 2nd in batting (38 behind Hirose), 7th in hits (between Nomura and Kodama), 5th in homers (between Gordie Windhorn and Masahiro Doi), 5th in RBI (tied with Masuho Maeda) and 2nd in steals (41 behind Hirose). He again attended the 1964 NPB All-Star Game, and he went 2-for-11.

Harimoto miss the All-Star team for the only time in a 19-year period in 1965, and he played 132 games with a .292/.394/.486 batting line and 23 homers. He failed to slug .500 and didn't lead the league in any major offensive statistic for the first time in six years, but he still ranked 6th in batting (between Hirose and Tony Roig), 7th in hits (between Yoji Tamatsukuri and Enomoto), 7th in homers (between Francis Agcaoili and Roig) and 6th in RBI (tied with Stan Palys). In 1966 he again didn't top the Pacific in a key stat but returned to All-Star duty and hit .330/.387/.558; he was 4-for-12 in the 1966 NPB All-Star Game with a 3-run shot off Eiji Bando in Game 2. He finished second to Kihachi Enomoto in batting, and he was also 4th in OBP, 3rd in slugging, 3rd in hits (between Nomura and Busujima), 3rd in runs (behind Nomura and Enomoto), 2nd in RBI (93, 4 behind Nomura), 2nd in homers (6 behind Nomura) and tied for 7th in walks - and this was an off-season for the Korean-Japanese star.

In 1967 Harimoto captured his second batting title. The 27-year-old left fielder hit .336/.439/.597 with 28 homers; he led the Pacific not only in average, but also OBP and slugging. He was voted into the 1967 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 3-for-4 with a solo shot against Kiyotake Suzuki in Game 1; he went 2-for-7 in the rest of the series. Harimoto was 5th in hits (between Windhorn and Atsushi Nagaike), 4th in homers (tied with Doi), 3rd in homers (between Katsuo Osugi and Doi) and 5th in steals (tied with Hiromi Wada). He repeated as OBP, batting and slugging champ with almost identical stats in 1968 (.336/.437/.579); it was his third and final slugging title. He was 6th in homers (between Kiyoshi Yano and Art López) and 10th in RBI (between Yano and Roig). He had a 3-for-10 record in the 1968 NPB All-Star Game.

The 27-year-old star split the batting title with Yozo Nagabuchi at .333 in 1969. He had a .421 OBP and slugged .519; he led the league in OBP for the fifth time in his career. He had his final 20-steal season and he had it in style as he was nabbed on the bases just once in 21 tries. He led the Pacific in walks for the third time with 71, and he was 2nd in hits (2 behind Nagabuchi), 3rd in doubles (between Fujio Yamaguchi and Toshizo Sakamoto), 7th in steals and 7th in RBI (between Doi and Enomoto). Harimoto was 3-for-10 again in the 1969 NPB All-Star Game. 1970 witnessed Harimoto win his fourth straight batting championship, with a record-setting .383/.467/.649. He set career highs in all three statistics but failed to lead the league in slugging (Osugi topped him by 22 points). He led the league in OBP for the 6th time and led in hits (176) for the first time. He set personal highs in RBI (100), homers (34) and total bases (298), and he was 3rd in homers (behind Nomura and Osugi) and 4th in RBI (between Nagaike and Clarence Jones). His batting average record would last 16 years before Randy Bass broke it; the only Japanese native to beat it was Ichiro Suzuki in '94 and 2000.

In 1971, Harimoto's run of batting titles was snapped and he missed the Best Nine for the first time in a 12-season span to that point. For the only time in a 8-year period, he didn't lead the Pacific in OBP as Shinichi Etoh led the circuit in OBP and average in his second season after coming over from the Central League. Isao hit .313/.386/.531, and he was still 7th in batting average (between Osugi and Doi), 5th in hits (between Nagaike and Nagabuchi) and 9th in RBI (between Nomura and Lopez). He attended the 1971 NPB All-Star Game, and he had a 2-for-9 record. 1972 saw the 32-year-old star return to form when he batted .358/.443/.625 for his second-best slugging and average marks. He lost the slugging mark by 17 points to Atsushi Nagaike but won his 6th batting championship and led the league in OBP for the 7th time. He was 3rd in doubles (tied with Yutaka Fukumoto and Hideji Kato), 5th in homers (between Jones and Doi) and 5th in RBI (between Jones and George Altman). He got his 2,000th hit against Osamu Higashio on August 19, and he posted a career high in runs scored (93). He led the Pacific in total bases (295), hits (169) and returned to the Best Nine, making his 12th Best Nine.

Harimoto had his 5th and final 30-homer season in 1973 when he jacked 33 long balls. He hit .324/.448/.590 and finished second behind Kato in average. He drew 93 walks, a career high, and led the league in walks for the fourth and final time. Harimoto led the league in OBP for the 8th time in his career, an he was 3rd in hits (between Wes Parker and Kato). He was voted into the 1973 NPB All-Star Game, but he only got one hit in 12 at-bats. Harimoto would win his 9th and final OBP title in '74 when he hit .340/.452/.507. He also captured his 7th and final batting title - that would stand as a record until Ichiro Suzuki tied it when he won his seventh in 2000. Despite the great year, his run of 13 straight seasons of 20+ homers came to an end when he only muscled out 14. He did set a record by reaching base 13 consecutive times - that record lasted 18 years until Yoshinobu Takahashi and Michihiro Ogasawara both reached in 14 straight trips. In the 1974 NPB All-Star Game, Harimoto was 2-for-4 with a game-winning RBI single against Yoshiro Sotokoba in Game 3, and he won his third and last All-Star MVP.

In 1975, Harimoto slipped drastically to .276/.364/.424 - he turned 35 during the season and was showing his age. For the first time in a decade he failed to lead the league in any major offensive statistic and he missed the Best Nine. He still managed to attend the 1975 NPB All-Star Game, and he was 1-for-2. 1976 saw Harimoto switch over to the Central League when he joined the Yomiuri Giants (in a trade for Kazumi Takahashi and Masaru Tomita). Harimoto showed he still had something left when he knocked the ball around to the tune of a .355/.414/.571 line - he swatted a career-high 35 doubles (one behind leader Kenichi Yazawa), returned to the Best Nine, missed the batting title by .0001 to Yazawa (if he had won, he would still hold the NPB record for most career batting titles), led the league with 182 hits (his 3rd and final team leading in that category) and led the league with 293 total bases (his third and final total base lead, 15 years after his first). Harimoto was the only played in NPB history to reach .350 batting average in both league as of 2025. He tied Katsuo Osugi for 3rd in RBI, and he was 2nd in runs (10 behind Sadaharu Oh). Harimoto was picked into the 1976 NPB All-Star Game, but he had a 1-for-10 record. He also became the only player in NPB history to top .350 in both leagues, and he had a career-high 30-game hitting streak that season. In the 1976 Nippon Series, Harimoto was 8-for-28 but the Giants lost to the Hankyu Braves in 7 games.

Harimoto made his 16th and last Best Nine squad in 1977, when the 37-year-old outfielder hit .348/.404/.575. He finished second in average once again, losing the title by 10 points to Tsutomu Wakamatsu. He also ranked 3rd in hits (tied with John Sipin) and 10th in RBI (between Sipin and Gene Martin). He never topped a .400 OBP again and his career mark slipped under .400 over the remainder of his career. He was 2-for-8 in the 1977 NPB All-Star Game. He crushed a solo shot against Hisashi Yamada in the 1977 Nippon Series Game 1, and he was 7-for-19 in the entire series; the Braves beat the Giants again in 5 games. The next season he had his 16th and last 20-homer season when he batted .309/.349/.502 with 21 long balls - he never hit .300 again or slugged even .400. He made his 18th and final All-Star team, and he was 1-for-3 in the 1978 NPB All-Star Game. Aging was taking its toll on Harimoto, who in '79 became a part-timer, hitting .263/.323/.399. The next year he returned to the Pacific League with the Lotte Orions and hit .261/.317/.393 - that year he became the only player in NPB history to reach 3,000 base hits (a solo shot against Takashi Yamaguchi on May 28) and he also hit his 500th home run (against Yasuo Kubo on September 28). At age 41, Isao batted .219/.270/.312 as a shadow of his former self in the '81 campaign with Lotte, his final year in NPB after 23 years of service.

Clyde Wright describes Harimoto as one of the biggest pranksters in Japanese baseball. In 1990 Harimoto was voted into Japan's Baseball Hall of Fame and in 2000 he won a higher honor when he was voted onto Japan's All-Century Team, one of only three players from pre-1965 who made the squad as voters favored newer players. The other two outfielders (Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui) were still active; only Oh and Shigeo Nagashima joined Harimoto as old-timers still with enough fame to join the team loaded with active or recent players. In 2009, Ichiro Suzuki broke Harimoto's record for hits by a Japanese professional baseball player. Suzuki said that back in 1995, Harimoto had told him "The only guy who could break my record is you."

Overall, Harimoto hit .319/.399/.534 with 3,085 hits, 504 homers and 319 steals in 23 seasons in NPB. As of 2025, he tied Sachio Kinugasa for 7th all-time in Japan in homers (504), is 9th in triples (72, between Shigeo Nagashima and Yoshio Yoshida), 8th in doubles (420, between Oh and Nagashima), is 3rd in average for players with 4,000+ AB (.31916, behind Wakamatsu and Leron Lee), fourth in RBI (1,676, between Hiromitsu Kadota and Hiromitsu Ochiai), 3rd in runs (1,523, between Fukumoto and Nomura), 3rd in total bases (5,161, between Nomura and Kadota), 27th in steals (319, between Yasuyuki Kataoka and Nobushige Morishita), 5th in walks (1,274, between Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Kadota), tied Nagashima for 5th in sacrifice flies (90) and 3rd in games played (2,752, behind Motonobu Tanishige and Nomura). He hit .370 in Nippon Series, and that was the NPB record for highest career batting average in Nippon Series. He was the only player in NPB history to hit more then 500 career homers and steal 300 bases, and he was also the only player to hit .300 while getting 300 homers and 300 steals.

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