Sadaharu Oh Quotes (39 Quotes)

My baseball career was a long, long initiation into a single secret: At the heart of all things is love.

I will take up the post for not only Japan but also the development of baseball in the world. I would like to create the best possible team.

We have to win all three games. So I will make sure they stay focused on (Sunday's) game.

I think the batter was too good for Ishii. It was the eighth inning and the batter came up with a big home run. If I knew he was going to do that, I wouldn't have (put Ishii into the game).

The opponents and I are really one. My strength and skills only half of the equation. The other half is theirs. An opponent is someone whose strength joined to yours creates a certain result.

I had confidence I could use him. I didn't have any doubt.

The style of baseball between Cuba and Japan is very similar. The way they played the game (against the Dominican Republic) was more like the Japanese style than the American style. When we meet them, the game will be played in a very similar way, with a lot of speed and a lot of schemes.

In the past when the Cuban team was using the metal bats, we surely had a different style of baseball. But nowadays, the style of baseball between Cuba and Japan are very similar. So when we meet them, the game will be played in a very similar way, with a lot of speed and a lot of schemes in the game.

There was a wrong impression of Ichiro that he is sort of selfish. But as people can see, he really committed himself to this team, and he put so much time into this.

We didn't score when we had chances to which hurt. We will want to take revenge next time.

I feel anew that baseball is wonderful.

I expected much and they lived up to my expectations. But I believe they can perform much better.

The efforts you make will surely be rewarded. If not, then you are simply not ready to call them efforts.

He hadn't been in top condition lately, but he was really swinging very good in practice. I had confidence I could use him any time. I didn't have any doubt.

I never coached a team for a tournament like this, and never thought the pressure to be so high. Baseball is the best sport. Everyone has to work together. There is nothing more wonderful than that Japanese players did such a wonderful job and showed that to everyone in the world.

One thing I can tell for sure is that we can show a great performance in Monday's game against the Cuban team. Whether we win or lose, we will play the game with a lot of heart and a lot of pride that we came to the final game of this World Baseball Classic.

It's just unimaginable that this could have happened, or this did happen, in the U. S. where baseball is very famous and popular. And it's a pity that it was overruled.

We respect that they fought their heart out to show the best game ever.

Ichiro had been perceived in the media to be selfish but through his participation and commitment in this tournament, I think his popularity will only increase with the fans.

To be honest, I haven't felt this thrilled in a long time.

We have a saying in Japanese that 'the third time will reveal the truth' and since we've lost twice to South Korea and both were games that we lost by one run and gave up two runs in the eighth inning, we would love the opportunity to meet them again and win.

We fought each game as best as we could, and as a result we've been able to bring you good news.

I was disappointed but it's up to him to decide. It was not a surprise that he refused since he had been hesitating for such a long time.

I believe this team is probably the strongest team Japan ever had against Cuba. We can show a great performance against Cuba on Monday. Win or lose we'll play with a lot of heart and a lot of pride.

We heard that TV ratings for our games surpassed 30 percent and 40 percent in Japan and we also got warm fan support in the United States. I feel very happy that we responded to such enthusiastic support with this title.

I thought I would never, never get a chance to manage a team like this.

In his autobiography Sadaharu Oh, a Zen Way of Baseball, ... acquire the body of a rock.

It's unfortunate the play was overruled. It's just unimaginable this could have happened, this did happen, in the United States, where baseball is very famous and very popular.

We really respect the fact that they fought their heart out and tried to show their best game ever. We lost both games (to Japan), but those were very close games, and I believe either team could have won either game.

In the future, I hope to have this Classic as the football World Cup, something many more countries can join.

I thought, at first, our players were a little bit nervous. But we take pride in being the best in Asia, so we loosened up after the fourth inning and were able to score a big victory.

I don't know about the politics, but since it's named the World Baseball Classic, I would like to see the Cuban team there.

This first World Baseball Classic is a great success and it showed a lot of positives to the baseball world, but I don't really know how the Olympic committee would perceive this success.

I was really surprised that the American team lost to the Mexican team, because we thought somehow the Americans would be the world's best. And because of that notion, when we lost the second game in the second round, we never thought that we would be able to be playing in the next round here.

It will be a very tough competition. The level of play will be very high and there will be teams that want to beat us, so we knew we had to go with a strong team.

Our games were very close games. I believe either team could have won either game. We would like to show our best performance this time.

Wada didn't really have a lot of control tonight. But that doesn't change my overall trust in him.

We have a saying in Japan - third time comes truth.

Tomorrow if we can win, we'll be happy. What happened (on Sunday), happened. It's in the past now and it's time to move on.