Kintetsu Buffaloes slugger Tuffy Rhodes is in the process of chasing one of the most revered records in Japanese sports -- Sadaharu Oh's single-season home run mark of 55 set back in 1964.
Rhodes has played in Japan since 1996 after spending a few years in the major leagues. The 33-year-old American, who led the Pacific League in homers and RBIs in 1999, is currently enjoying his best season in Japan and is among the league leaders in home runs, average and RBIs.
Tuffy has agreed to periodically share a few thoughts with The Japan Times as he pursues a place in the history books.
(* Editor's note -- Due to the deadline schedule of The Japan Times, at times Rhodes' comments will have been made prior to the accompanying roundup of the day's Japan pro baseball games, while at other times he may have spoken to us afterward. We hope this clears up any potential confusion regarding statistics, etc.)
We started a big three-game series with the Seibu Lions on Monday. We play four of our last 10 games against the Lions, who are just half a game ahead of us in the standings, so this series could really make or break us.
(Daisuke) Matsuzaka was the starter in the first game. You have to be patient against him, because he's a good pitcher. If you're not, it's going to be a long night.
I don't really keep a book on pitchers. I will keep some notes from the first time I face a new pitcher, but after that I rely primarily on our scouting reports to tell me what I need to know.
The reports are made up in baseball terms, not in Japanese, so it's easy for me to read. For example, a circle is a fastball, a triangle is a curve and a forkball is a square, and so on. These are very detailed and show you every pitch a guy has thrown to you all year.
Over the years, I've done pretty well against the Lions. I have hit a lot of home runs against them. They have good pitchers who pitch with a lot of confidence. I would say their pitchers have as much confidence in their pitching as I do in my hitting, so they tend to come right at me.
That's good for me, because many pitchers will not come right at you. They'll try to pick away at the corners so you have to be more selective.
HOME-RUN TOTAL: 54
JAPAN RECORD: 55
GAMES TO GO: 10
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