At his retirement ceremony, he was overcome with emotion and cried several times.
■ Softbank 6-0 Lotte (24th, PayPay Dome)
Fielder Kenji Akashi retired from Softbank on the 24th against Lotte at his home PayPay Dome. When he appeared as a pinch hitter in the 7th inning, he hit the pitch attacking the pitcher and crying a lot. At the end of the retirement ceremony held after the game, he reproduced the home in the backflip and was thrown up eight times by his teammates, the same as the uniform number.
During the greetings at the ceremony, his voice choked many times, and he was surrounded by great applause from the fans, saying, “I was able to do it for 19 years because I had no power of completely, and it was with the help of the seniors, managers, coaches, and those people. I was able to do it for a year,” he expressed his gratitude. I couldn’t stop crying, and even though it was my retirement ceremony, I apologized saying, “I’m sorry for messing up.”
When you go around the venue, you will go around the diamond at the end, and at the end you will reproduce the backflip home in from Rondart. He hit his first farewell home run in the game against Orix on April 25, 2019, recreating the famous scene that thrilled the fans, and received a standing ovation from his teammates.
