The hitter who went for 868. (Japanese baseball player Sadaharu Oh)

He stood up at the plate like a flamingo on one leg, But went on to Hit more career home runs than anyone in history.

BACK IN THE WINTER OF 1968, WHEN BASEBALL started taking notice of a home-run hitting machine named Sadaharu Oh, we decided to take a clinical look at the Tokyo Giant with the enchanting name and mildly bizarre batting style.

"Oh, What a Hitter!" appeared in the March 1968 issue of SCHOLASTIC COACH. By that time, Oh-san had belted his 307th home run and attracted wide-world attention by touching up the touring Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers for 5 home runs and a .341 batting average.

All very imposing - but only the beginning for the Japanese long-ball prodigy. When Oh finally retired in 1980 at age 40, he had surpassed the home-run records of the entire civilized world.

Babe Ruth set the original "ultimate career record" with 714 home runs. Hank Aaron pushed the "ultimate" to 756, and then along came Sadaharu to make a mockery of all the records.

In his 20 years as a player, he hit 868 four-baggers while recording a lifetime .301 average.

For the record: Ruth hit his 714 home runs in 2,503 games; Aaron belted his 756 home runs in 3,298 games, and Oh hit his 868 home runs …