My New Chapter with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows⚾️🏟️
My New Chapter with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows⚾️🏟️
After being released by the Chiba Lotte Marines and considering my future,
I received an offer from the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and will be joining them next season.
Honestly, when I first heard about the offer, surprise outweighed my happiness.
I never imagined I would be able to play as a professional baseball player again.
Of course, I always had the desire to continue my active career.
However, I was fully aware that this is not a world where you can continue just because you 'want to'.
Even with achievements and ability, it doesn't happen unless various factors like team situation and timing align.
I believe that is the harsh reality of this world.
Under those circumstances, the offer I received was truly a surprise.
And the more I thought about it, the more happiness welled up inside me.
Gratefully, I received inquiries from several teams, including NPB and independent league clubs.
After being released, I never dreamed that a day would come when I could truly feel 'I'm glad I entered professional baseball'.
At the time of the draft, the Marines were the only team that sent me a questionnaire.
I never thought that when I might be leaving professional baseball, I would be approached by multiple teams.
Although I couldn't leave behind notable results with the Marines,
it was a decade where I steadily built up what I could do.
I believe that thanks to that accumulation, I was able to form a connection with a wonderful team like the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
Actually, I had a connection with the Yakult Swallows once before when I was a university student.
When a Yakult game was held at Kusanagi Stadium in Shizuoka, I worked a part-time job checking tickets at the entrance and blowing a whistle to guard against foul balls and home run balls in the stands.
I still remember watching the practice and the game from the stands with sparkling eyes. By the way, that was my only part-time job experience.
In this new chapter, as a 'first-year' with the Yakult Swallows, I will be grateful to be able to play baseball, cherish my connections with many people, and do my absolute best to contribute to the team.
I want to find as many things as I can that only I can do and that I should do, and become a presence that can reach the team's 'itchy spots,' like a back scratcher.
And I will work hard so that people will think, 'I'm glad we acquired Tomoya Kakinuma.'
To all the Swallows fans!
I look forward to your support!