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Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way of Baseball
Reveals how the study of Zen philosophy and the martial arts enabled Sadaharu Oh, Japan's greatest baseball star, to become the biggest home-run hitter of all time
279 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 12, 2018
There was so much about this book I loved. I have never been to Japan but am fascinated with their history and culture, specifically how those intersect with baseball (my favorite sport).
Oh is the best player to have played the sport in Japan and his reflections of a life spent playing the game are well worth the read.
Too many great lines to mention them all but here are a few:
- “The opinions of someone who has spent his life chasing a little white ball around a field ought not be offered as oracles from the Buddha. … Baseball was for me, too, a form of spirit-discipline, a way to make mayself a better person—although I surely never sought discipline for such a reason. It became my Way, as the tea ceremony or flower arranging or the making of poems were the Ways of others.” – p. 7
- “I was ready to give what I could to younger players. I had certainly been blessed by having a master teacher, and if I could ever give to just one young player a fraction of what was given to me, my role would be fulfilled.” – p. 256
- “If I understand anything in this life, it is how to wait. It is not an answer. But for me it is everything.” – p. 262
Oh is the best player to have played the sport in Japan and his reflections of a life spent playing the game are well worth the read.
Too many great lines to mention them all but here are a few:
- “The opinions of someone who has spent his life chasing a little white ball around a field ought not be offered as oracles from the Buddha. … Baseball was for me, too, a form of spirit-discipline, a way to make mayself a better person—although I surely never sought discipline for such a reason. It became my Way, as the tea ceremony or flower arranging or the making of poems were the Ways of others.” – p. 7
- “I was ready to give what I could to younger players. I had certainly been blessed by having a master teacher, and if I could ever give to just one young player a fraction of what was given to me, my role would be fulfilled.” – p. 256
- “If I understand anything in this life, it is how to wait. It is not an answer. But for me it is everything.” – p. 262
January 4, 2019
A surprisingly beautiful reflection by Japan's greatest home run hitter, Sadaharu Oh. Though his authorial voice is restrained, it is clear that he sought to use this book in order to show gratitude to the many people who made his career possible as well as to undermine the myths around his accomplishments that he viewed as absurd. At some points, particularly when he discusses his preference for keeping emotion out of his game, he can sound a bit stuffy. But it's worth seeing how he then undermines his own assertions, concluding simply that his way works for him, but he doesn't expect to impose it on others. Melancholy and deep gratitude run together as he wrote the book shortly after his retirement as a player, honest that he had no idea where he would go next.
As a side note, it's interesting seeing his comments that he hates the idea of his records being broken, considering that in the ensuing decades he would be the center of controversy as people blamed him or his stature for preventing Western players in the NPB from getting more than 55 home runs in a season. The battle between the two Ohs persisted, it would seem.
As a side note, it's interesting seeing his comments that he hates the idea of his records being broken, considering that in the ensuing decades he would be the center of controversy as people blamed him or his stature for preventing Western players in the NPB from getting more than 55 home runs in a season. The battle between the two Ohs persisted, it would seem.
January 6, 2016
Although Barry Bonds holds the overall major league record for home runs and Hank Aaron holds the non-fortified record, both men fall short of the home run king of Japanese baseball: The Yomiuri Giants' Sadaharu Oh, who put the ball over the fence 868 times between 1959 and 1980.
Oh debuted with the Giants as a pitcher but was moved into the everyday lineup as his hitting skills began to show and his pitching skills never did. He hit the ball often as well as far, posting a lifetime .301 batting average, but really only blossomed a few years into his career after being coached by Hiroshi Arakawa, both in baseball fundamentals and Zen philosophy. His 1984 collaboration with David Falkner, A Zen Way of Baseball, focuses on how this meditative school of Buddhist thought helped him focus on baseball activities and improve his ability.
The book is an interesting exploration of how a very Eastern way of understanding things matches with a very Western activity. It's also a great story of how Oh himself survived prejudice in post-WWII Japan. His father is Chinese and he holds dual Chinese and Japanese citizenship; people who mixed ethnicities in vanquished and war-devastated Japan weren't among anyone's favorites.
The sport of the war's victors blossomed after the Nippon Baseball League formed in 1950, with holdover teams from the earlier Japanese Baseball League holding much of the attention. Oh's story also offers a picture of the larger stage of how the more structured and reserved Japanese society changes the way baseball is played there.
Today, with Japanese baseball's major stars finding their way to American and National League teams, it's hard to imagine that someone like Oh would have stayed in Japan for his entire career. In that way, his biography is look at a past moment in time, as much history as biography, and well worth the time for the baseball fan.
Original available here.
Oh debuted with the Giants as a pitcher but was moved into the everyday lineup as his hitting skills began to show and his pitching skills never did. He hit the ball often as well as far, posting a lifetime .301 batting average, but really only blossomed a few years into his career after being coached by Hiroshi Arakawa, both in baseball fundamentals and Zen philosophy. His 1984 collaboration with David Falkner, A Zen Way of Baseball, focuses on how this meditative school of Buddhist thought helped him focus on baseball activities and improve his ability.
The book is an interesting exploration of how a very Eastern way of understanding things matches with a very Western activity. It's also a great story of how Oh himself survived prejudice in post-WWII Japan. His father is Chinese and he holds dual Chinese and Japanese citizenship; people who mixed ethnicities in vanquished and war-devastated Japan weren't among anyone's favorites.
The sport of the war's victors blossomed after the Nippon Baseball League formed in 1950, with holdover teams from the earlier Japanese Baseball League holding much of the attention. Oh's story also offers a picture of the larger stage of how the more structured and reserved Japanese society changes the way baseball is played there.
Today, with Japanese baseball's major stars finding their way to American and National League teams, it's hard to imagine that someone like Oh would have stayed in Japan for his entire career. In that way, his biography is look at a past moment in time, as much history as biography, and well worth the time for the baseball fan.
Original available here.
May 31, 2021
I can’t recall who recommended this beautiful memoir, long out of print in English translation, by Sadaharu Oh, the best baseball player to ever play in Japan. He hit more home runs than Hank Aaron, who called to congratulate him at the stadium. Oh believes he wouldn’t have hit so many homers if he played in America, though we’ll never know. In Aikido, “ma” is being one with your opponent, and Oh believed that skill cannot shine without a worthy opponent. One only reaches mastery in aikido when one loses desire for combat, which Oh did at 40 with 868 career home runs.
He signed balls with the words “effort”, “patience,” and towards the end of his career, “spirit”. He honed his fighting spirit, stance, grip, backswing, stride, forward, downswing, and impact. I’m in awe of his intentionality and wonder how to bring this focus and craftsmanship to entrepreneurship and leadership?
Oh exhibits a duality of humility and confidence. He dominated Japanese baseball by training in the art of aikido and the way of the sword. He developed a unique batting stance, like a flamingo on one leg, the opposite of drunken boxing - erect and balanced, controlled and powerful.
He signed balls with the words “effort”, “patience,” and towards the end of his career, “spirit”. He honed his fighting spirit, stance, grip, backswing, stride, forward, downswing, and impact. I’m in awe of his intentionality and wonder how to bring this focus and craftsmanship to entrepreneurship and leadership?
Oh exhibits a duality of humility and confidence. He dominated Japanese baseball by training in the art of aikido and the way of the sword. He developed a unique batting stance, like a flamingo on one leg, the opposite of drunken boxing - erect and balanced, controlled and powerful.
May 23, 2025
Great read for fans of the game. It’s funny to think this was wrote with so much retrospective on Oh’s career and life, and it was published nearly 45 years ago. Meanwhile Oh is still with us and has had a whole other lifetime since then.
It was actually quite an emotional read at times for me. To me, the passing of Willie Mays last year felt like a chapter had closed on a grand era in not just sports but Americana and human history. With Bill Russell, Ali, Vin Scully and more leaving us these past few years our titans and orators of the 50s and early 60s have left and gone away. Which is a thought that had made me quite sad.
But Sadaharu is a titan in his own right, albeit in a country an ocean away. It was a refreshing for me knowing he is still with us and even through translated text can recant his experiences grippingly.
It was actually quite an emotional read at times for me. To me, the passing of Willie Mays last year felt like a chapter had closed on a grand era in not just sports but Americana and human history. With Bill Russell, Ali, Vin Scully and more leaving us these past few years our titans and orators of the 50s and early 60s have left and gone away. Which is a thought that had made me quite sad.
But Sadaharu is a titan in his own right, albeit in a country an ocean away. It was a refreshing for me knowing he is still with us and even through translated text can recant his experiences grippingly.
August 11, 2024
Carefully told and well written, one of the best baseball books you'll ever find. Oh comes across as curious, philosophical, warm and self-effacing, no small feat for someone who hit 868 home runs. The book is in many ways less about baseball, and more about his pursuit of the mastery of his art, always slightly beyond his reach despite all his success. In another way it is the story of his hitting coach and sensei, Arakawa, and the affection, admiration, and connection between them. Oh and his master explore Zen, kendo, kabuki, aikido and more in their ongoing quest to get better. If someone can be so good at something so difficult, for so long, and remain hungry to get better, what excuse do the rest of us have?
February 26, 2019
What a Baseball Legend! I had never heard of Oh, but saw somewhere on twitter someone referencing it. This was a great treat to read. His upbringing, his mindset, his devotion to his mentor, big goals and obsession with his swing. Great story, if you like baseball very unlike most sports books.
January 17, 2019
I liked the cultural aspect of his baseball story. The thought process is so different than that of U.S. athletes.
June 4, 2021
I read this 40 years ago and still think about it. It is not just a sports bio but a look at how one culture understands another via a game.
December 3, 2008
This is not your run-of-the-mill sports book. It is a fascinating book about the great Japanese home run hitter, and how he had to struggle to over come his defects. Falkner brings Oh - and postwar Japan - to life. His writing style is simple, yet beautiful. You don't have to like baseball to like this book. It's inspiring to learn that Oh was on the brink of failure before becoming a very great hitter. To me the theme of this book is that talent is not enough, that there are people and things outside of us that can help us find our way
Randy Kadish
Randy Kadish
May 16, 2007
A serious, thoughtful biography about the best baseball player in Japanese history.
March 6, 2013
My favorite baseball book
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews