Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka of Seibu, a professional baseball player who has announced his retirement from active duty this season, will be on the starting pitcher's mound in the uniform with the uniform number "18" he used to wear in the official game on the 19th of this month. rice field.
This was revealed in an online interview by Seibu director Hatsuhiko Tsuji on the 13th.
41-year-old pitcher Matsuzaka, who has won 170 wins in Japan and the United States, has announced that he will retire from active duty for the rest of the season, and announced that he will hold a press conference on the 12th and 19th of this month.
After the press conference, Pitcher Matsuzaka will start the game against Nippon-Ham Fighters at MetLife Dome, the home base in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, and according to the team, he is currently making adjustments for this match. It means that there is.
Also, last year, pitcher Matsuzaka, who returned to Seibu for the first time in 14 years, has a uniform number of "16", but in the game on the 19th, he was a vacant number, wearing the "18" uniform he used to wear on the mound. It means going up.
Director Tsuji said that pitcher Matsuzaka would wear the number 18 uniform, "I wanted to respond to his commitment to the number 18 and his thoughts."
After that, he said, "I made a tough choice while fighting the breakdown, but I'm glad I was able to show up in front of the fans at the end."