It seemed impossible in a dream for an Asian player to win an individual major league title. In particular, the main titles corresponding to the triple crown, such as pitcher’s multiple wins, earned run average, strikeouts, and batter’s batting average, home runs, and RBI, were ‘ungamsaengsim’.
However, in 1995, Hideo Nomo broke this ‘prejudice’ once and for all by ranking first in strikeouts in the National League (NL). Noh joined the LA Dodgers that year and, with his ‘tornado’ pitching form, recorded 13 wins, 6 losses, an ERA of 2.54, and 236 strikeouts, and was named NL Rookie of the Year. He led the NL in strikeouts.
In 2001, Nomo struck out 220 times for the Boston Red Sox and won the American League (AL) strikeout title. So, he swept the strikeouts category in both leagues once. Above all, Nomo was also a pitcher who achieved no-hitters in both leagues.
Yudo Darvish won the title in this category with the Texas Rangers in 2013 with 277 strikeouts. It was first in both leagues combined that year. Thanks to this, he was able to come in second place in the AL Cy Young Award voting, following Max Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers.
Has there ever been an Asian big league champion with multiple wins? Of course. The main character is Taiwanese Wang Qianming. In 2006, when he was an ace for the New York Yankees, he recorded 19 wins (6 losses) and tied for first place in the AL in most wins. Minnesota Twins left-hander Johan Santana also posted 19 wins. Santana was the AL Cy Young Award winner that year.
Ryu Hyun-jin also appears in Asian big leaguer history. He is the only Asian pitcher to win the Major League ERA title. He posted an earned run average of 2.32 for the LA Dodgers in 2019, ranking first not only in the NL but also in both leagues combined. The Houston Astros’ Gerrit Cole (2.50) ranked first in AL ERA that year. However, Hyun-Jin Ryu was running as a strong NL Cy Young Award candidate, but he slipped after August and was unfortunately defeated by Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.
On the batting side, Ichiro Suzuki stands out. He joined the Seattle Mariners in 2001 and immediately achieved his dream of conquering the Major League. He made history by winning AL Rookie of the Year and MVP awards with a batting average of 0.350, 242 hits, 127 runs, and 56 stolen bases. The AL batting leader was Ichiro. He also raised a batting average of 0.372 in 2004, ranking first in batting in both leagues. In particular, he hit 262 hits, the most in a single season ever, breaking the 257 hits set by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920 in 84 years.
However, no Asian player has yet ranked first in home runs and RBIs. In the case of a pitcher, he can conquer the major leagues with only excellent ball control, sharp ball combination, and skillful game management. The same goes for batting average, where contact ability and starting pitching are important. However, in the home run category, which requires power, it was considered ‘impossible’ to compete with American and Latin American players with excellent strength, elasticity, and balance.
Hideki Matsui, the best power hitter in Asia, has never been in the top 10, let alone won a title, in the home run category since joining the Yankees in 2003. Matsui’s 31 home runs in 2004 are the highest record for an Asian hitter.
However, Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) was virtually confirmed to be the first Asian home run king. History is being written as the first Asian home run king since the NL and AL systems of the major leagues were launched in 1901.
Ohtani, who underwent elbow surgery on the 20th and ended the season early, still ranks first in the AL home run rankings. The last time he hit a home run was a month ago, on August 24th, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds. He caught opponent Andrew Abbott’s 92.9 mph fastball in the bottom of the first inning and hit a 442-foot two-run home run to right-center.
This is the 44th home run of the season. Lewis Robert Jr. (Chicago White Sox), second in AL home runs, has 37, 7 fewer than Ohtani. He cannot catch Ohtani in the remaining 9 games.
However, Ohtani failed to surpass his highest record of 46 home runs in 2021. And the hunt for the RBI title, which was halted due to injury, still remains a task.
BY: 먹튀검증