Jang Hoon (Japanese name Isao Harimoto), the only player in the history of the Japanese professional baseball (NPB) to surpass 3,000 hits, has passed away.
According to Japanese media, Jang Hoon died at a hospital in Tokyo on the 9th. He was 86.
Born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1940, Jang Hoon, a second-generation Korean Japanese, made his professional debut in 1959 in the Doei Flyers uniform. After winning the Rookie of the Year award from his first year of debut, he has been active since then through the Yomiuri Giants and Lotte Orions. In 1962, he hit .333 with 31 home runs and 99 RBIs in 133 games and was named MVP.
사진 확대 Jang Hoon and former director Sun Dong-yeol. Photo = Reporter Chun Jung-hwan 
사진 확대 Jang Hoon. Photo = MK Sports DB
His overall record is 0.3193085 hits, 504 homers, 1676 RBIs and 319 steals in 2,752 games. 3085 hits is the most unbroken NPB career and the only 3,000 hits in Japanese professional baseball. He hit .300 16 times and became the batting king seven times, the most ever.
In particular, he was respected by many baseball players for his career while maintaining Korean nationality despite being discriminated against for being Korean. After retirement, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen.
He also actively interacted with the Korean professional baseball and the Korean sports community. From 1982 to 2005, when the Korean professional baseball was launched, he served as a special adviser to the president of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), and in 2007, he received the Mugunghwa Medal of the Korean National Medal. The KBO is reviewing the article.
[Lee Hanjoo, MK Sports Reporter]
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3085 hits
Koreans in Japan
Japanese pro baseball
3000 hits
Korean pro baseball