Hanshin Tigers infielder Teruaki Sato locked up the Central League Triple Crown on the final day, finishing at a .306 average with 39 home runs and 106 RBIs.
Hanshin Tigers infielder Teruaki Sato clinched the Nippon Professional Baseball Triple Crown on Thursday, Chunichi Sports reported. The 27-year-old finished the Central League season with a .306 batting average, 39 home runs and 106 runs batted in.
Sato went 0-for-4 in Hanshin's 4-0 loss to Yakult at Koshien on the final day, batting second and playing third base. Teammate Shota Morishita, who had trailed him by four home runs, also did not homer, so the home-run title stayed with Sato.
Chunichi said it is the first Triple Crown in Japanese baseball since Munetaka Murakami of Yakult in 2022, and the ninth player to do it, for the 13th time overall. For Hanshin it is the first since Randy Bass in 1985 and 1986, and the first by a Japanese player for the club.
Because the old lucky zone was in place during Bass's seasons, Chunichi said Sato's title is the first Hanshin Triple Crown in the current, larger Koshien. He did not reach 40 home runs for a second straight year.
The clinch is a statistical title after the final game. It is not a Japan Series result.