Isao Harimoto

Isao Harimoto, nicknamed the "Hit Machine", became the first player in Japanese professional baseball to reach 3,000 hits in 1980 and finished his 23-season career with 3,085, a record that still stands. Born to Korean parents in Hiroshima in 1940, he survived the atomic bombing of the city at the age of five. He played for teams including the Toei Flyers and the Yomiuri Giants, was an 18-time All-Star and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, later becoming a well-known television commentator. The Golden Players Club said he died in a Tokyo hospital on September 9. He was 86.