Sources: Daily Sports / Sponichi / Sanspo
The greatest import in Hanshin Tigers history has at long last found his way into Japanese baseball’s hall of greatness. Randy Bass (68) played for the Hanshin Tigers from 1983 to 1988 and had an impact far beyond his six short years in Japan. Despite being on the ballot for election as a player for many years, he lost eligibility in 2004. Japan also has an “expert” hall of fame ballot, and though Bass only received 26% approval in 2013 (his first year of eligibility), that rate rose to 71% last year, and at long last this year, he was approved by 78.6% of voters.
Bass “attended” the induction ceremony remotely (and asynchronously) via Zoom from his home state of Oklahoma. He was quoted as saying, “It is an honor to be chosen as a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. I want to thank the Hanshin Tigers for allowing me to be a part of their organization. You can’t come into Japan and play for a better team than the Hanshin Tigers, and the fans are the greatest in Japan.”
Bass played a vital role in leading the Tigers to its lone Japan Series championship in 1985. He won the Triple Crown, CL MVP, and Japan Series MVP, and followed it up with another Triple Crown and a new (and still standing) NPB record for season batting average (.389). Also that year, he tied Sadaharu Oh’s record by hitting home runs in 7 straight games. The last of those was an out-of-the-park home run against Yomiuri Giants’ ace Suguru Egawa. “Probably the most memorable home run of my career,” reflected Bass.
Besides those amazing feats, the most famous moment in team history, three straight home runs to dead center at Koshien against the Yomiuri Giants, started with Bass’ first home run of the 1985 season. It was followed by one from Masayuki Kakefu and capped by a third by current Tigers skipper Akinobu Okada.
Upon Bass’ election to the Hall of Fame, Okada had this to say: “He should have gotten in earlier. I mean, with those numbers it feels like too little, too late… in some ways, maybe it was best for him that he was not such a star over there (in America). He was able to come to Japan, and have a real hunger to get better at the game and make a good living. Maybe that’s not quite the right way to put it, but the desire was there. He played a lot of shogi, too. Learned it all just by watching us.” For his part, Bass said this about Okada becoming manager again: “I’m really glad that Okada has returned as manager of Hanshin. I’m sure he is going to do his thing, building a team centered on pitching and good defense, and I believe they will win the pennant with him. I am hoping to come to Japan this year and watch a Tigers game. I want to meet Okada and talk to him, too.”
Bass was joined by Alex Ramirez (Yakult Swallows, Yomiuri Giants, Yokohama Baystars), who became the first import player in NPB history to join the meikyukai (Golden Players’ Club) by amassing 2000 career hits. Also, composer Yuji Koseki, who wrote Rokko Oroshi (as well as the Giants’ team song, Waseda’s song, 1964 Olympic theme music, and more) was inducted for his contributions to the game. We wish the sincerest of congratulations to all three inductees.