In a season of residence run milestones in American baseball by Albert Pujols and Aaron Decide, 22-year-old Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami has additionally gotten into the act. Murakami now holds the report for many residence runs in a season by a Japanese-born participant in Nippon Skilled Baseball.
Murakami, taking part in for the Tokyo-based Yakult Swallows, hit his 56th residence run of the season on Monday, pushing him alone into second place on the single-season listing. It was the Swallows' final regular-season recreation.
The hit got here within the seventh inning towards the DeNA Bay Stars on the Swallows' Jingu Stadium.
Murakami handed Japan's profession residence run chief Sadaharu Oh, in addition to Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera, who all hit 55 in a season.
Wladimir Balentien, who was born in Curacao and beforehand performed for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, holds the Nippon Skilled Baseball's report of 60 residence runs in a season, which he set with the Swallows in 2013.
Oh hit 55 residence runs for the Yomiuri Giants in 1964, Rhodes did it with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2001, and Cabrera matched it with the Seibu Lions in 2002.
Murakami had gone 13 video games with out a residence run after hitting his 54th and fifty fifth on Sept. 13. The third baseman finishes the season with a .317/.457/.706 batting line, CBS Sports activities reported.
Will Murakami ever play in the USA? As CBS Sports activities famous in August: "For these questioning, it is unclear if Murakami harbors any aspirations of taking part in in America sometime. It's price noting that MLB's guidelines governing worldwide free brokers would limit him from incomes his market worth (he is youthful than 25 years outdated and he has fewer than six years of professional expertise), suggesting he would not be a candidate to return over anytime quickly no matter his intent."