of the season, breaking Oh's record for the most home runs by a Japanese born player. He also became the first person who plays offense to win the NPB Triple Crown since Nobuhiko Matsunaka of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in 2004, and the first by a Central League player since Randy Bass of the Hanshin Tigers in 1986, and the youngest player to win the Triple Crown, at 22 years, eight months, and one day old at the conclusion of the 2022 regular season. He then proceeded to win the Central League MVP in a unanimous vote, becoming the first player since Masahiro Tanaka in and the first position player since Sadaharu Oh in to win the MVP ballot unanimously. After the 2022 season, Murakami signed a three-year contract extension worth 600 million yen per year, which stipulates that the Swallows must post Murakami to Major League Baseball after the 2025 season. References External links Career statistics - NPB.jp 2000 births Living people Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen Baseball people from Kumamoto Prefecture Tokyo Yakult Swallows players Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Japan Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic gold medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Japanese people