Isao Harimoto was named the Pacific League MVP in 1962
Japanese baseball legend Isao Harimoto, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima as a child, has died in Tokyo at the age of 86, according to BBC Sport on Thursday.
Harimoto, widely known as the “Hit Machine,” holds the record for the most hits in Japanese professional baseball history, with 3,085 hits during a 23-season career.
He remains the only player in Nippon Professional Baseball history to reach 3,000 hits.
He also hit 504 home runs and stole 319 bases, making him the only NPB player to record at least 500 home runs and 300 stolen bases. In Major League Baseball, only Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez have matched that combination.
