Election of Bass, Ramirez to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame could open door for other foreign players
TOKYO — It was nice to see two of the best foreign players in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball, Randy Bass and Alex Ramirez (and two of the nicer people you could meet), elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, as was announced recently. They joined a small, select group of gaijin players in the Hall which included Russian- born Victor Starffin, the Hawaiian-born Tadashi “Bozo” Wakabayashi, and Kaname “Wally” Yonamine. They are the first imported players since Yonamine in 1994 to make the cut, as well as the first to be inducted after playing previously in MLB.
Venezuelan Ramirez, who played parts of three years in the major leagues with the Cleveland Indians and the Pittsburgh Pirates, won two MVP awards in his 13-year Central League career as an outfielder first for the Yakult Swallows, and then later the Yomiuri Giants and Yokohama BayStars. He is the foreign only import to reach the magic 2,000-hit milestone in Japan.
Elected by ballots cast in the so-called players division, Ramirez also hit 380 home runs and had an overall batting average of .301 before retiring in 2013. He was known for his smiling, friendly, outgoing personality and on-field bursts of exuberance with the team mascot after hitting a home run. He presently lives in Yokohama and has acquired Japanese citizenship.
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