Otani’s Heartfelt Farewell: Baseball Star Surprises Colleague with Emotional Video Tribute on Retirement Day
Pacific League Nippon Ham 1-3 Rakuten (September 25, 2024 ESCON)
Nippon-Ham held a retirement ceremony for pitcher Yohei Kagiya (34) after the game against Rakuten on September 25. A surprise video message was sent from Shohei Ohtani, a pitcher with the Dodgers who joined the team at the same time.
During the post-game retirement ceremony, a video summarizing Kagitani’s career was shown at the stadium. After presenting a bouquet of flowers, Kagitani sent a message to the fans, and the special video was played again at the stadium.
Video messages were played from players such as Lotte’s Sawamura, who was a starting pitcher during his time at Chuo University. However, the video message from Ohtani, who joined the team at the same time, drew gasps of surprise from the crowd.
Ohtani began his speech with a joke, saying, “When you watch this video, I think you’ll be unable to see anything in front of you because of your tears. If that’s not the case, I’ll be a little sad.”
“I joined the team at the same time as Kagitani, and seeing him continue to play for a long time while my fellow players retired, I wanted to work hard together with him, so I’ve been working hard,” he said, expressing his gratitude.
Ohtani also sent a message saying, “I’m a little sad to hear that you are retiring, but at the same time it makes me want to work even harder. I’ll continue to support you.”