Shopping alone at a convenience store…Witness the loneliness of the Giants’ Hayato Sakamoto, who is hopeless in the first half of the season due to a string of injuries, and whispers of retirement

In early June, a man in black-rimmed glasses was shopping alone in a convenience store in Shinagawa Station, carrying a carry-on bag and wearing a suit. At first glance, he did not look like an elite salaryman, but he was Hayato Sakamoto, 34, of the Giants. He was leaving Tokyo on the Shinkansen bullet train for the Orix game starting the next day.

A fan who saw him said, “He is the most popular and talented player in Japan,

Sakamoto is number one in terms of popularity and ability, and it is rare to see him traveling alone. In the past, he would always be surrounded by other players and younger players, but… it was hard to talk to him.

He said, “I just happened to be there alone. It is thought that he was just seen alone by chance, but his back looked a little lonely. After the unprotected abortion trouble with his former girlfriend, which was reported by Bunshun Online last September, when Sakamoto’s name was called out during a game, the yells of “Ass-anana fixed” started flying from behind the back nets. However, at home in the Tokyo Dome, the number of yells has decreased considerably as the stadium staff now pays attention. However,

When I find Sakamoto on the road in the local area, there are still people who yell at him. At away games, there is still a lot of yelling at the stadium,” a fan told us.

The fan mentioned above told us, “I’ve never seen such a big fan of the baseball star. The impact of the baseball star on the fans still lingers on. Sakamoto, too, would like to repay the fans and the team for the trouble he has caused them, but his performance has been as poor as ever.

Last year, he suffered a left medial oblique muscle injury in March, a right knee medial collateral ligament injury in May, and back pain in July, which sidelined him for only 83 games.

He had been in poor form since the beginning of the season, but on June 23, in the first game of the resumed league series, Sakamoto hit an infield single to second base in the first minute of the first at-bat, but as soon as he stepped on first base, he injured the back of his right thigh and was replaced. The diagnosis was a “right thigh biceps long head muscle separation (2nd degree). He is expected to require four to six weeks of rehabilitation to fully heal, and it will be more than a month before he can return to the lineup. A team official commented on the situation, “Both the team and Sakamoto are in good shape,

The team and Sakamoto were starting to get better, so there was a lot of hope for a comeback in the second half of the season. However, since last year, Sakamoto has been out with injury after getting better. Even after returning to the team, he repeatedly broke down in another part of the body by covering up for the injured part. This makes it very difficult for him to make a full recovery. Manager Hara is taking this injury very seriously. We need to move quickly to find a replacement for Sakamoto.

He is in a resigned tone. Sakamoto is 34 years old. It is not surprising that the word “retirement” may be on his mind soon.