Koji Uehara, once forced to intentionally walk slugger chasing season home-run title, happy Wladimir Balentien was pitched to in Japan

BOSTON — Fourteen years later, there was no need for a young pitchers tears in Japan. Nippon Professional Baseball has evolved since Red Sox closer Koji Uehara‘s rookie year in Japan, and the closer believes for the better.

Wladimir Balentien of the Yakult Swallows on Sunday hit his 56th and 57th homers of the year, breaking the single-season home run record shared by legendary slugger Sadaharu Oh.”Records are meant to be broken,” Uehara said Sunday.Some of his NPB peers seemed to feel differently for a long time.

Ohs record of 55 was set in 1964, and had been matched since — but never broken. That, it has always seemed, was by design.From The Japan Times:” … fans stood and cheered after Balentien’s first homer, a far cry from the environment that met previous challengers to the record. Those players,…

via Koji Uehara, once forced to intentionally walk slugger chasing season home-run title, happy Wladimir Balentien was pitched to in Japan | masslive.com.