Forty-two-year-old Nobuhiko Matsunaka has decided to retire. He left Softbank after the 2015 season and reached out to six NPB teams that were willing to listen. Unfortunately, none were in position to offer him a tryout. He might have been able to secure an agreement if he was willing to accept a Ni-gun or Ikusei contract, but he wanted to finish his career giving it his all at Ichi-gun. He started seriously thinking about retirement after he failed to drum up interest when he took batting practice in front of other NPB teams during a workout with Kazusa Magic in Miyazaki on February 19.
Matsunaka spoke to reporters on February 29 and said, "I will retire. I have no regrets. I did what I could and this is the end result." On March 1, he posted an update at his blog and held a press conference in Fukuoka to formally announce his decision to retire.
Source: Sports Hochi 3/1/2016, Daily Sports 3/1/2016, Nikkan Sports 3/1/2016, Sponichi 3/1/2016, blog post
Career Stats
Year | Team | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | SB | CS | SH | SF | BB | HBP | SO | DP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Daiei | 20 | 48 | 43 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 2 | .209 | .255 | .233 |
1998 | Daiei | 34 | 83 | 71 | 9 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .268 | .361 | .479 |
1999 | Daiei | 126 | 462 | 395 | 57 | 106 | 20 | 4 | 23 | 203 | 71 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 46 | 12 | 60 | 11 | .268 | .359 | .514 |
2000 | Daiei | 130 | 540 | 471 | 76 | 147 | 26 | 1 | 33 | 274 | 106 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 56 | 6 | 49 | 12 | .312 | .387 | .582 |
2001 | Daiei | 130 | 551 | 479 | 81 | 160 | 29 | 0 | 36 | 297 | 122 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 57 | 10 | 77 | 6 | .334 | .412 | .620 |
2002 | Daiei | 136 | 561 | 485 | 75 | 126 | 23 | 1 | 28 | 235 | 83 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 52 | 17 | 80 | 12 | .260 | .348 | .485 |
2003 | Daiei | 135 | 590 | 494 | 99 | 160 | 31 | 1 | 30 | 283 | 123 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 81 | 12 | 69 | 12 | .324 | .429 | .573 |
2004 | Daiei | 130 | 577 | 478 | 118 | 171 | 37 | 1 | 44 | 342 | 120 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 84 | 12 | 67 | 7 | .358 | .464 | .715 |
2005 | Softbank | 132 | 575 | 483 | 109 | 152 | 26 | 2 | 46 | 320 | 121 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 76 | 9 | 85 | 6 | .315 | .412 | .663 |
2006 | Softbank | 131 | 559 | 447 | 79 | 145 | 32 | 1 | 19 | 236 | 76 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 102 | 6 | 37 | 5 | .324 | .453 | .528 |
2007 | Softbank | 123 | 519 | 440 | 60 | 117 | 26 | 1 | 15 | 190 | 68 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 68 | 5 | 66 | 5 | .266 | .366 | .432 |
2008 | Softbank | 144 | 632 | 538 | 79 | 156 | 28 | 2 | 25 | 263 | 92 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 77 | 8 | 91 | 11 | .290 | .382 | .489 |
2009 | Softbank | 126 | 521 | 448 | 62 | 125 | 21 | 0 | 23 | 215 | 80 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 8 | 77 | 11 | .279 | .374 | .480 |
2010 | Softbank | 79 | 267 | 238 | 28 | 56 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 96 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 3 | 44 | 4 | .235 | .311 | .403 |
2011 | Softbank | 88 | 304 | 266 | 26 | 82 | 16 | 0 | 12 | 134 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 5 | 38 | 2 | .308 | .383 | .504 |
2012 | Softbank | 65 | 164 | 136 | 10 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 44 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 26 | 1 | .221 | .354 | .324 |
2013 | Softbank | 9 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .200 | .200 | .200 |
2014 | Softbank | 33 | 33 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .111 | .242 | .148 |
2015 | Softbank | 9 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .067 | .125 | .067 |
Totals | 1780 | 7012 | 5964 | 972 | 1767 | 330 | 15 | 352 | 3183 | 1168 | 28 | 11 | 6 | 64 | 857 | 118 | 909 | 107 | .296 | .392 | .534 |
Awards/Titles
- MVP Award: 2000, 2004
- Best Nine: 2000, 2003-2006
- Golden Glove Award: 2004
- MVP of the Month: September 2001, August 2003, May 2004, July 2005, September 2005, June 2006
- All-Star Game MVP: Game 2 2009
- All-Star Games: 1999-2001, 2003-2005, 2007-2009
- National Teams: 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, 2006 World Baseball Classic
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