Munetaka Murakami, the youngest man to win a batting Triple Crown while mashing a historic number of home runs, has opened eyes and shattered the stereotypical perceptions of how sluggers attack baseballs and put them in the seats.
Not only did the 22-year-old cleanup hitter for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows surpass the best single-season total of the nation's career home run king, Sadaharu Oh, he did so in unique fashion.
Murakami's 56 home runs this season, second most in Japanese pro baseball history and one more than Oh's iconic 1964 total of 55, were hit with a bat that is a stark departure from those favored by history's great sluggers.