Lee established himself immediately, winning the PL home run (34) and RBI (109) titles in his first season. He also grabbed a batting title three years later with a .358 mark as he slammed 33 dingers and plated 90 runners.
Second to Lee was former Minnesota Twin Greg "Boomer" Wells, who was with the Hankyu Braves (later the Orix Blue Wave) from 1983-1992 and went yard on 277 occasions during that span. Wells, who was beaten out by a fellow you may have heard of in Minneapolis named Kent Hrbek, compiled a .317 lifetime batting average in Japan. The remarkable thing about Boomer was that for a power guy he rarely struck out, fanning only 333 times in 4451 at bats, or just a little over 8%. He was one of the few players to win a Triple Crown, a feat he accomplished in 1984 by hitting .355 with 37 homers and 130 RBIs, which also got him the league MVP. In addition, he took a batting crown in 1989 with a .322 mark. He had back to back 40 homer seasons in 1986-87, his career high being 42 during the former campaign.
As for the ex-Dodger Bryant, he sent 259 balls over the wall between 1988-95 for Kintetsu. If I'm not mistaken, though, Bryant does hold the all time PL single season record by a foreigner for homers with 49 in 1989. Randy Bass holds the all time Japanese single season record for longballs by a foreigner with 54 while he was with Hanshin in the mid-80's.
If I'm recalling correctly, Leron, whose brother Leon also had a fine career in Japan, is now working in the Cubs' international scouting department while Wells has acted as a player agent and adviser. I have no idea what Bryant is doing these days.
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Hello!
I am a big sports trivia fan, and I have a question you probably know the answer to. Could you please tell me who is the all-time American home run leader in the history of the PL? And how many he hit? I know Oh has 868, but I was wondering which player from my country has the most.
Respectfully,
David Juliano