Munetaka Murakami, who hit 55 home runs this season as No. 4 of professional baseball Yakult and is expected to break the record for the most home runs in a season by a Japanese player, will face the Hanshin match at Jingu Stadium, his home ground.
Murakami hit the 55th home run on the 13th of this month, lining up with the season's record for Japanese players set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964.
However, in the next 9 games, there were no home runs, and the team has been at a standstill before breaking the record.
Yakult won the league championship for the second year in a row on the 25th, and Murakami said at a press conference, "I'm the only one who can challenge the record, so I'm happy to be able to take on the challenge. There are various pressures. I want to do my best thinking that I can do it myself," he said, showing his desire to update the record.
Murakami will also start in the match against Hanshin on the 27th as 4th and 3rd.
On the night of the 27th, Hanshin's Akihiro Aoyagi, who is scheduled to start, hit 4 hits in 10 at bats this season, and when he played against Koshien Stadium on the 6th of this month, he hit a solo home run of No. 52.
Attention will be focused on whether Murakami can hit a record-breaking home run in the first game after winning the championship.