After announcing his retirement, he returned to the first team, 42-year-old pinch hitter Aoki's clock moves again, 2727 hits from the U.S. and Japan.

Sep 25, 2024

Aoki returned to the first team after the retirement press conference and hit four hits. He has 2,727 hits in the U.S. and Japan. Aoki will end his 21-year professional career this season. Photo capture = Yakult Swallows SNS

Aoki's retirement press conference held on the 13th. When junior Murakami sobbed after delivering a bouquet of flowers, Aoki couldn't hold back his tears. Photo capture = Yakult Swallows SNS

'1949'The clock that was stopped on the hit moves.

Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki (42) played as a pinch hitter against the Yokohama BayStars on the 23rd. He took a 4-3 lead with two outs in the top of the eighth inning. Yokohama right-hander JB Wendelken hit a fastball to the body. He made a hit in his Japanese professional baseball career '1953rd' with the ball count of 2S. The total number of hits in the U.S. and Japan has also increased to '2727. Wendelken played four straight fastballs.

I can see the last stop in front of me. After seven games, you can no longer see player Aoki. This year is the last season for Aoki, who was called "Mr. Swallows". He held a press conference on the 13th to announce his retirement. Murakami Munetaka (24), the junior who delivered the bouquet, sobbed and Aoki also cried.

Coach Takatsu Shingo placed Aoki in the first division entry after announcing his retirement. Manager Akinobu Okada (67) of the Hanshin Tigers delivered a bouquet of flowers to Aoki, who came to Koshien Stadium on an away trip. It has become a kind of retirement tour. Coach Okada made headlines by putting his shoulder to shoulder with Aoki and taking a commemorative photo. The two are alumni of Waseda University, who have been different for more than 20 years.

The 42-year-old veteran, who is about to retire, is fierce at the plate. Since the match against Hiroshima Carp on the 18th, he has played as a pinch hitter in six games and has four hits in six at-bats and a batting average of 6607.

The match against Hiroshima was held at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on the 18th. He went out as the leadoff hitter in the fifth inning, trailing 2-3, and hit a heavy hit. He hit a two-seam fastball that came into the low course outside. Aoki, who went to second base with two outs, dug home when Domingo Santana made a timely hit. They scored a 3-3 tie. Yakult came from behind to win 5-4. The 42-year-old veteran contributed to the team's victory.

Joined as the 4th pick of the 2004 rookie draft. This year, he started the season in the first team, but his position has narrowed further due to sluggishness. He mainly went out as a pinch hitter.

Until the first-team registration was expunged on August 15, he had a batting average of 192-20 hits-9 RBIs-7 runs-OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.492 without a home run. This is his record in 61 games. The highest hitter with a career batting average of 313 was not out of the 10% range. He said "It's hard to show fans the performance I think"and gave the reason for his retirement.

Aoki started in the first team this season, but mainly played as a pinch hitter due to poor batting. The first-team registration was canceled in mid-August after failing to exceed the batting average of 10%. Aoki, 42, is the oldest baseball fielder in Japan this year. Photo capture = Yakult Swallows SNS

He had 1953 hits for Yakult and 774 hits in the major leagues. If you add 47 hits, you will have 2,000 hits in Japanese professional baseball, but you can't fill it and take off your uniform.

Aoki became the batting champion three times and topped the hit twice. He held the Golden Glove in his arms seven times as an outfielder. In 2006, he stole 41 bases and won the title,

He had 202 hits in 2005 and 209 hits in 2010. He was the only Japanese player to have 200 hits twice.

In 2012, he moved to Major League Baseball and played six seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Mets before returning to Yakult. He has exceeded 100 hits for five consecutive years since his first major league season.

Japanese sports magazine Sports Hochi reported that Takatsu will lead Yakult next year. Takatsu said he accepted the team's offer to serve a second term.

Yakult jumped everywhere under Takatsu. He finished last in 2020, his first year as a coach, and won the Central League and Japan Series in 2021.

Aoki topped 200 hits twice, in 2005 and 2010. He was the only one in Japanese professional baseball to have more than 200 hits twice. Photo capture = Yakult Swallows SNS

Murakami won his second consecutive league title in 2022, when he became the youngest player to win three hits at the age of 22. I managed to avoid last place last season. He finished fifth ahead of Chunichi in winning percentage without a ride. As of the 24th, he is in last place, two games behind Chunichi.

huelva@sportschosun.com