Tsuyoshi Wada (42), a veteran left-handed pitcher of the Softbank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball, tasted victory at the age of 42 years and 1 month, showing off his rust-free skills.
Wada started in the 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) away game against the Orix Buffaloes held at Kyocera Dome in Osaka,스포츠토토 Japan on the 5th and won 5 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, no runs, and 71 pitches. took care It was the 156th victory in the history of the US and Japan.
Wada, born in 1981, became the winning pitcher at the age of 42 years and 1 month, surpassing the previous record of Yutaro Imai at 41 years and 9 months, breaking the Softbank club’s oldest victory record. Softbank won 5 consecutive victories in the opening game amid strong pitching by 5th starter Wada.
Coincidentally, this was the 43rd wedding anniversary of Wada’s parents. According to Japan’s Sports Hochi, Wada said, “I am grateful to my parents for giving me a body that I can quickly recover from. I think I should give the victory commemorative ball as a gift to my parents today,” he laughed.
Last year, 20 years after his debut, Wada showed off his long-term ERA of 2.78 (81 innings, 25 ERA) in 17 games, 7 wins and 4 losses. His highest fastball speed was up to 149 km, and on September 30, he won his 7th win of the season against Rakuten Golden Eagles, and at the age of 41 years and 7 months, he stepped on the 50th 150 wins in NPB history. Wada, who played for the Chicago Cubs in Major League Baseball from 2014 to 2015, was recording 155 victories in the United States and Japan.
Thanks to this, Wada signed a contract for the 2023 season with an annual salary of 165 million yen (approximately 1.59 billion won, estimated), up 15 million yen (approximately 140 million won) from last year. At the late age of 42, his salary rather rose, and he repaid the trust of the club by sealing 5 scoreless innings in the first appearance of the season.
Wada left a strong impression on domestic fans by showing off the strong side of Korea during his time as a member of the Japanese national team. Following his victory in 5⅓ innings of no runs in the 2003 Athens Olympic qualifying round, Wada played an active role as a Korean killer by performing a reversal with 4 hits and 9 strikeouts until the 6th inning of the 4th round of the Beijing Olympic qualifying league. However, in the 7th inning with a 2-0 lead, he bowed his head after being hit with a two-run gun from Lee Dae-ho at first base. Japan suffered a 3-5 come-from-behind defeat at the time.
