Yuki Saito Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn’t been there yet … The team decided to hold the “retirement match” at the fastest “reason” | Smart FLASH[光文社週刊誌]

Yuki Saito (33) of Nippon-Ham announced his retirement, and the retirement match was decided on October 19th against Orix (Sapporo Dome). When I heard this news, many baseball fans must have felt uncomfortable.

It is said that more than 80 new members join the professional baseball team and more than 100 people leave the team every year. It’s a tough world with only a handful of players who can live their active lives and play retirement games.

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Saito joined the team after being the winning pitcher of Koshien and the ace of Waseda University, but although he won 6 wins in the first year and 5 wins in the second year, he didn’t make a noise after that. The last two years have ended without pitching in the first army in a row, and 15 wins and 26 losses in 9 years in total. It is hard to say that he contributed to the team very much. So why can we play a retirement match? The reporter in charge of Nippon-Ham will explain.

“It’s true that I couldn’t say that I was a force just by looking at the results. However, in his case, he is a meritorious person who supported the popularity of the team.

His popularity in the first year of joining the group is tremendous, and it is said that sales of his related goods such as uniforms amounted to 2 billion yen. I haven’t been able to play an active role in the last few years, so I haven’t acquired new fans, but even so, there are a lot of fixed fans, especially housewives, and that popularity was not to be underestimated. For that reason, the image could have deteriorated if the team had given the guidance early. The parent company is a food company, especially because the housewives were the main customers.

In addition, it must have been the prestige of the first draft. At the time of joining the group, there was a secret agreement such as “I will do it for at least 10 years.” It was taken for granted to play a retirement match within the team, as the contribution was high in things other than grades. “

Saito is worried about the future, but he continues, “I think I’ll first see baseball from the outside and then come back to Nippon-Ham as a coach a few years later.”

“Actually, there is already a battle as a caster and commentator. He has experienced good and bad things, and he has a quick mind. It is said that TV Asahi is particularly enthusiastic about inviting him. increase.

There is a popular program “Netto Koshien” in TV Asahi, so he is the perfect pitcher for Koshien. Currently, Atsuya Furuta is the caster, but he is a strong candidate for the next SAMURAI JAPAN coach. Even if I don’t take office as a director, I think it will be sold as a battery combination of “Saito & Furuta”. “

In addition to this, it is said that Fuji TV is approaching, so there seems to be no worry about a second career even after retirement.

Speaking of retirement games, there is another player who crosses his head. This is Daisuke Matsuzaka (41), who has a good track record in the Japanese baseball world and major league baseball. However, since I announced my retirement on July 7, I haven’t heard any plans after that.

“Matsuzaka seems to be returning to Boston, where he has a family. I’ve heard that he will play a retirement match later this month, but even if he returns to Japan, he will be isolated due to the corona quarantine, so he has to come back soon. If you don’t do it this year, why don’t you do it in the open game before the start of next year? Only the players who have such a track record should not play the retirement game.

After retirement, I’ll be based in my home in Boston for a while. Since I returned to Japan, I have been separated from my family for a long time, so I want to make time with my family. So, the appointment of coach and director is still a long way off. It will be similar to Hideki Matsui, who will be based in Boston and will return to Japan several times to explain. When it comes to commentary, NTV in the old nest, where his wife Tomoyo Shibata acted as an announcer, is regarded as promising. “(Sports newspaper reporter)

It seems that this is also a promise of a comfortable life.