Takehiro Ishikawa, who became an American football player after signing a free contract with professional baseball DeNA last year, held a retirement ceremony and said, "I am proud of 16 years of fighting with wonderful friends and fans at my favorite Yokohama Stadium." I stated my feelings.
Mr. Ishikawa's retirement ceremony was held after the DeNA-Lotte exchange game at Yokohama Stadium.
While fans and former teammates were watching, Mr. Ishikawa said, "It was a long and very short and happy time. I am proud of 16 years of fighting with wonderful friends and fans at my favorite Yokohama Stadium." Said.
After that, I received a commemorative bouquet from Captain Keita Sano, who took over the uniform number "7" worn by Mr. Ishikawa.
Next, he stood in the at-bat in his active uniform and hit a hit in front of the left against Sano, who played the role of a pitcher.
Then, with a big applause, I walked around the ground and lapped, and finally shook hands with my ex-teammate and left the stadium.
Mr. Ishikawa, 34, joined Yokohama at that time in the sixth draft from Yokohama High School in 2005, and served as the first captain after becoming DeNA.
Although he achieved a total of 1000 hits in total, he did not have a chance to participate in the 1st army last year and became a free contract in November and decided to retire.
Mr. Ishikawa will continue to practice with the aim of participating in the league match with the American football team "Nojima Sagamihara Rise", a member of society based in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture.