Vladimir Valetin, 40, an outfielder from Curacao, Netherlands in the Caribbean, left his mark on Nippon Professional Baseball with a home run. He hit his 55th home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Hiroshima Carp at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on September 11, 2013. He became the fourth player to reach the 55-homer plateau, joining Sadaharu Oh (Wangchung (then Yomiuri) in 1964, Tuffy Rose (Kintetsu) in 2001 and Alex Cabrera (Seibu) in 2002. In his 122nd game, he tied the Nippon Professional Baseball record for most home runs.
He was silent for the next three games before rewriting Japanese baseball history on September 15 at home against the Hanshin Tigers. He hit his 56th home run in the first inning, the most in Nippon Professional Baseball, and his 57th home run in the third inning to surpass Lee Seung-yeop for the Asian record. On October 4, 안전놀이터 he hit his 60th home run of the season against Hanshin.
Valentin is the only player in Nippon Professional Baseball to reach the 60-homer mark.
In 2013, Valentin injured his thigh muscle while playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). He opened the season with the second team, starting in the 13th game of the regular season, and hit 60 home runs in 130 games.
Yakult junior Munetaka Murakami, 24, was on pace to reach 60 home runs in 2022, but fell into a deep slump in the second half of the season, possibly due to pressure. He hit 56 in the season finale against the Yokohama BayStars to set a new record for most home runs by a Japanese player.
Murakami joined Yakult in 2018 and played two seasons with Valentin.
Valentin played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before moving to Japan in 2011. He exploded from his first year. He led the Central League in home runs for three straight years from 2011-2013. In his nine seasons with the Yakult, he surpassed 30 home runs eight times. In 2018, he led the league with 131 RBIs.
After moving to the SoftBank Hawks in 2021, Valentin left Japan after hitting 13 home runs in two seasons. He left with 301 career home runs in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Valentin is now a free agent.
On Sept. 3 (KST), he unleashed his home run arsenal against Panama in the Caribbean Series at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. He batted sixth and designated hitter in the third inning and hit an outside pitch over the left field fence, according to Japan Press Agency. It was a 127-meter home run to left field. Said he knew it was a home run the moment he hit it. Three hits in four at-bats.
Valentin had previously hit a solo home run to right in Mexico on Aug. 2. In two games of the series, he is 5-for-8 with a double, a home run, and two RBIs.
Valentin moved to the Mexican League in 2022 to continue his career. 파워볼실시간 He announced his retirement at the WBC in March of last year, when he competed for the Netherlands. He went 3-for-11 in four games. He rescinded his retirement announcement after the tournament and continued to play.
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