Yoshinobu Takahashi looked more relieved than happy after his 300th home run. Many fans and observers had expected it to come earlier in his career, before later wondering if it would come at all. That helped give the moment feelings of both admiration and incompletion.
Takahashi's 300th homer put him in good company alongside Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, Tatsunori Hara and Hideki Matsui as the only players to reach that number while playing solely in the uniform of the Giants. Takahashi is the 37th overall to hit 300 home runs.
"Well, if you narrow (the criteria) down, the number of players tends to get smaller," Takahashi joked. "But I've been able to do this on a team that has a rich history and that's a privilege."