Sadaharu Oh, the home run king of Japanese baseball and current chairman of the SoftBank Hawks, has had an asteroid named after him. Hitoshi Yamaoka, an associate professor at Kyushu University and a senior member of the Japan Spaceguard Association, was one of those who filed the application, having received permission from the man himself. One of the premises the application was built upon was that the asteroid’s official code number, 61189, includes 1 (his jersey number when he played for and managed the Yomiuri Giants) and 89 (his jersey number when he managed the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, and then its successor, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks). Yamaoka came up with the idea during “Science Pub”, a society for scientists in Fukuoka who want to have a drink whilst discussing astronomy. 75-year-old Oh commented, “I feel so honored. I would be very happy if this further inspires people, including children, who are interested in space, and help those who have not had the chance to learn about space and start to have fun in the field.” Source: News24.jp, 2/26
