Japanese baseball legend Sadaharu Oh believes his lifetime home-run record of 868 is doomed to be broken by New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez.
"I think A-Rod will eventually hit his 1,000th," the 67-year-old Oh said. "Technically, he is already capable of doing so and he has been free from injuries. I hope he will set his goal that high and challenge it."
The Yankee third baseman has cracked 518 home runs since 1995, this year becoming the youngest player ever to hit 500 -- at the age of 32 years and eight days.
"My record will be broken as a matter of course. But Japanese players may not break it for some time as none is close," Oh said when he was honoured by the Foreign Sportswriters' Association of Japan Monday for his lifetime achievement.
Oh said he could also be overtaken by the controversial Barry Bonds, who surpassed Hank Aaron's 33-year Major League home-run record of 755 this year and now stands with 762. Bonds was indicted last month for allegedly lying about steroid use.
"He may be advanced in age but he is quite physically fit," Oh said of the 43-year-old Bonds.
Oh, manager of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks since 1995, has long admitted his mark cannot be compared to achievements in US Major League Baseball because the level of the US game is higher and US ballparks are bigger.
"No one thinks that my record is the world's number-one," he had said when Bonds cracked his 756th home-run on August 7, 30 years after Oh reached the mark. "I should have at least played on the same (sumo) ring with Bonds."
At home, the active player who is the closest to Oh's mark is 40-year-old Orix Buffalo Kazuhiro Kiyohara at 525.