Professional baseball player Yoshio Itoi of the Hanshin Tigers, who has announced his retirement this season, held his retirement match at Koshien Stadium on the 21st. I greeted the fans.
Itoi is 41 years old from Kyoto prefecture.
He has played for three teams, Nippon-Ham, Orix, and Hanshin, and in addition to winning titles such as leading hitter, he has been selected for the Best Nine five times and the Golden Glove Award seven times. I was active.
However, his playing opportunities have decreased over the past three years due to injuries, and he announced on the 13th of this month that he will retire at the end of this season.
In the match against Hiroshima on the 21st, which was his retirement match, Itoi played as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning.
While the Koshien Stadium was filled with thunderous applause, he entered his turn at bat and hit Hiroshima's starting pitcher Masahito Morishita's 147-kilogram straight to the front of the left field, hitting his 1,755th professional hit.
After the game, a retirement ceremony was held, and a message video from Mr. Masataka Nashida, who was the manager of the Nippon-Ham era, and teammate Yu Darvish of the Major League Baseball and Padres were shown.
After that, with many fans watching, Itoi said, "I have no regrets after seeing such a spectacle. I was moved, excited, and excited when I played at Koshien for the first time. I will never forget it for the rest of my life. My baseball life was really happy.
Then, after being tossed up seven times by the other players, the same number as his jersey number, he put down his gloves toward Wright's defensive position and went around the stadium to say goodbye to the fans.