Seiichi Uchikawa, a 40-year-old professional baseball player of Yakult, held a press conference and announced his intention to retire, stating, "I am happy that I was able to play baseball in the professional world for a long time."
Uchikawa held a press conference at Jingu Stadium on the 28th and said, "I'm happy that I was able to play baseball in the professional world for a really long time for 22 years, and I think it was a really good time." I have announced my intention to retire.
Uchikawa joined what was then Yokohama in 2001, and in 2008, his eighth year, he marked the highest batting average ever for a right-handed batter with a batting average of 30%, 7 minutes and 8 minutes, becoming the top hitter.
He transferred to Softbank as a free agent in his 10th year off, and became the second player in history to win the top hitter in both the Central and Pacific leagues.
He has been playing for Yakult since last season, but has only played six games so far this season.