Applying for free contract to professional baseball Rakuten island resignation October 21 16:47
Shimamoto Hiroshi, who has been supporting the team for many years as a professional baseball / Rakuten flagship catcher, applied for a free contract with the team on the 21st and decided to leave the team only this season.
The 34-year-old Shima, who was in the 13th year of the professional season, had the least 57 games ever, with a back injury and the rise of young players.
Regarding the next season, the baseball team will be able to start from the estimated annual salary of 100 million yen, with a significant reduction exceeding the limit of the baseball agreement, and to give priority to young players with a view to the future. It was reported that it was not.
On the 21st, Shima, who is aiming to play an active part in the front line, applied to the team on the 21st to be a “free contract player” who can sign a contract with any team.
As the team side also acknowledges, Shima will leave Rakuten for this season only and look for a new affiliation.
Mr. Shima revealed a complicated feeling, "It was sad, regretful and sad to leave the team that we had grown together with, but it was not an easy decision."
On top of that, he said, “Because there is only one professional baseball life, I really want to compete with a team that really needs it.”
About Shimamoto Hiroshi
Rakuten's Motohiro Shima is 34 years old from Gifu Prefecture.
He joined Rakuten in 2007 with a university / worker draft 3rd from Kokugakuin University.
Established regularly from the first year, he became a catcher representing the ball world under the guidance of Katsuya Nomura, the director at the time.
In 2013, including the great pitcher Masaru Tanaka, he contributed to the team's first league championship and Japan's best with a solid lead that makes the best use of the pitcher's team, and a strong batting from the center to the light direction. I won the award.
In addition, he contributed to the reconstruction support from the Great East Japan Earthquake, and before the charity game held in April 2011 after the earthquake, “Let's show the power of baseball” as the team president.
We encouraged those who were affected by calling “Tohoku, Tohoku, Japan to support each other”.
The following year, he served as the chairman of the professional baseball player association for five years. After the professional baseball player retired, he worked to introduce a system that could teach high school and university students without a teacher's license.
Mr. Shima, who has been showing his presence both inside and outside the ground in this way, was only able to participate in 57 games of his own, with the rise of hip injury and young players this season in his 13th year.