Shock 151 kg 5 years after retirement “Surprise” Reason for unusual participation… 14 balls of “return the favor” | Full account

The fastest speed was supposed to be 145km/h, but the stadium was packed with 151km/h, which embarrassed the athletes.

I decided to reconcile the feelings I had for five years. Takaaki Shima, who retired after leaving Lotte in 2019, participated in a 12-team tournament held at the ZOZO Marine Stadium on the 14th. This is an unusual opportunity for him to participate five years after his retirement. Returning to the pros was never my goal. This was the hill where I revealed my hidden feelings.

I returned to my old home base for the first time in a while. The pitching order is “last to last.” He entered the stadium in the morning to prepare his mind and body. Many players who played for Lotte up to this season also participated, but only one of them wore the Lotte kit from 2019 with a red line on the shoulder. “It was sleeping in my drawer, so I thought it was nostalgia.” Although he has lost 5 kilograms since his retirement, his lower body is still thick even when wearing dress pants.

During his high school days, he was selected for the U-18 team and contributed to winning the Asian Championship with pitchers Tatsuya Imai (Seibu) and Takahisa Hayakawa (Rakuten). A 153 kg right-hander, he entered the professional ranks 3rd in the draft, but suffered from the yips in his first year and was out of action in his third year. “When I was an active player, I retired because I couldn’t take the mound at the end…” Even after I quit baseball, I still felt a sense of unhappiness in my heart.

Even if the batter couldn’t hold back… 14 pitches that made sense: “I have no regrets”

Currently a student at Keio University Graduate School, he is helping a friend with his research, and since the beginning of this year he has been frequently fighting against players on the Keio University football team. In October, he learned that this would be the last test, and decided to participate, saying, “I want to live a life without any regrets.”

“If I could show everyone how well I can throw, I would be able to give something back. There were a lot of fans who supported me, and I wanted to act for those people.”

The ball thrown from the windup was powerful. Before putting it in, he said, “145km/h is the maximum,” but when he faced a batter, he was full of adrenaline and the speed of his ball increased rapidly. He reached a distance of 151km, close to his personal best time of 153km in his third year of high school. “I’m surprised … even when I was active, my best was around 140.”

When Shima’s name was called, the fans in the stadium gave a standing ovation. In the stands, fans can be seen holding up autographs and towels from his playing days. Five years later, he was able to show a side of himself that he could not show during his active days. Although the result was a walk and a hit to right field against two batters, he showed his white teeth and said, “I did my best, so I was able to accomplish my goal. I have no regrets.”You don’t have to be able to hold the batter down. These 14 areas were very important to me in my life.

(Akihiro Ueno)