Hanshin's Teruaki Sato wins Central League Triple Crown, ninth player in history
In short
Hanshin Tigers infielder Teruaki Sato (佐藤輝明), 27, won the batting Triple Crown on October 8 with a .306 average, 39 home runs and 106 runs batted in as the Central League regular season ended. He is the ninth player to do so and the first since Munetaka Murakami in 2022. He is the first Hanshin player to win it since Randy Bass in 1985 and 1986.
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Hanshin Tigers infielder Teruaki Sato (佐藤輝明), 27, won the batting Triple Crown on October 8, taking the Central League titles for batting average, home runs and runs batted in as the league's regular season ended, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan reported. He finished with a .306 average, 39 home runs and 106 RBIs. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
He is the ninth player in the history of Japanese professional baseball to win the Triple Crown and the first since Munetaka Murakami, then with Yakult and now with the White Sox, in 2022, the outlets reported. Mainichi Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan said it was the 13th Triple Crown in all. Sato is the first Hanshin player to win it since Randy Bass in 1985 and 1986, which Mainichi Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan put at 40 years. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Yahoo! News Japan reported that Hanshin lost 4-0 to Yakult at Koshien on October 8 and that, with all pennant race games finished, Sato's title was settled. Mainichi Shimbun said Sato had no hits in the final game. According to Yahoo! News Japan, the runners-up were Masuda (増田) of Yakult with a .293 average, Morishita (森下) with 35 home runs and Oyama (大山) with 85 RBIs. [ 3 , 4 ]
Yahoo! News Japan said Sato started all 143 games and batted fourth in 133. He was named monthly MVP for March and April, with 7 home runs and 23 RBIs, and for May, with 7 home runs and 14 RBIs. His monthly average fell into the .200s in June and July, but in August he hit .330 with 8 home runs and 18 RBIs for a third monthly MVP award, and in September he added 8 home runs and 18 RBIs. His RBI total was a career high, the outlet said. Asahi Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan said his season helped Hanshin win consecutive Central League titles for the first time in club history. [ 2 , 3 ]
Sato attended Nigawa Gakuin High School (仁川学院高) in Hyogo and Kindai University. Asahi Shimbun said he was a first-round pick in the autumn 2020 draft and that this was his sixth professional season; Mainichi Shimbun said he joined Hanshin in 2021 as a first-round pick. Mainichi Shimbun reported that last season he reached 40 home runs, the first Hanshin-developed player to do so since Masayuki Kakefu (掛布雅之) in 1985, won the home run and RBI titles and was named Central League MVP. Yahoo! News Japan said he fell just short of a second straight 40-home-run season this year. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The title puts Sato among the nine players who have won the Triple Crown, according to the outlets, and Mainichi Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan said it was the first for a Hanshin player in 40 years. Asahi Shimbun and Yahoo! News Japan tied his season to Hanshin winning consecutive Central League titles for the first time in club history.
Key facts
- Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers won the batting Triple Crown on October 8 with a .306 average, 39 home runs and 106 RBIs. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- He is the ninth player in history to win the Triple Crown. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- It is the 13th Triple Crown in all. [ 3 , 4 ]
- He is the first Triple Crown winner since Munetaka Murakami, then with Yakult, in 2022. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- He is the first Hanshin player to win it since Randy Bass in 1985 and 1986. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Hanshin won consecutive Central League titles for the first time in club history. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Sato started all 143 games this season and batted fourth in 133. [ 3 ]
- Last season Sato won the home run and RBI titles and was named Central League MVP. [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Sato won the Triple Crown on October 8 with a .306 average, 39 home runs and 106 RBIs. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Sato is the ninth player in history to win the Triple Crown and the first since Murakami in 2022. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Sato is the first Hanshin player to win the Triple Crown since Bass in 1985 and 1986. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Sato had no hits in the final game of the season. Reported only by Mainichi Shimbun.
- The runners-up in each category: Masuda (増田) of Yakult at .293, Morishita (森下) with 35 home runs and Oyama (大山) with 85 RBIs. Reported only by Yahoo! News Japan.
- When Sato joined Hanshin. Asahi Shimbun says he was a first-round pick in the autumn 2020 draft; Mainichi Shimbun says he joined in 2021 as a first-round pick.
- It is the 13th Triple Crown in all and the first for Hanshin in 40 years. Reported by a single source so far
- Hanshin won consecutive Central League titles for the first time in club history. Reported by a single source so far