Hiroyuki Nakajima to Retire Seibu Lions Likely to Pass No Interest in Independent Leagues

Nakajima’s response 

Hiroyuki Nakajima, former Chunichi Dragons infielder (42, registered as Hiroyuki Nakajima), is approaching 2,000 career hits, needing 72 more. He has recently made a strong decision to retire soon. Nakajima began his professional baseball career in 2000, drafted 5th by Seibu from Itami Kita High.

“During the draft, other teams completely overlooked him, but Seibu’s excellent scouts discovered Nakajima, who had been languishing in a public high school, and helped him enter the professional league. After joining the team, he was put through tough training under coach Masahiro Doi (81) as he took over the position of starting shortstop from Kazuo Matsui (49), who went on to play in the Major Leagues, and grew into a regular player.” (Former Seibu team official)

Nakajima, who helped build an era for Seibu with his handsome looks, two seasons of the highest on-base percentage, one season with the most hits, and three Gold Glove Awards, exercised his overseas free agent rights in the 2012 offseason. He challenged Major League Baseball for two seasons but struggled and joined his hometown team, Orix, in December 2014.

“After four years with Orix, he was called by Tatsunori Hara (66), with whom he had played in the World Baseball Classic, and joined the Giants. During this time, he was increasingly used as a pinch hitter, and injuries became more noticeable. He spent five years with the Giants and accepted his release in 2023. However, the Chunichi Dragons, led by former manager Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (55), decided to acquire him, following strong support from the team. But after 15 appearances in the first team without a hit, he was released again last offseason. Although he was determined to transfer to another NPB team and continued his offseason training, it was heard that he had been saying, ‘It might be tough now.'” (Former Orix team official)

In January, he participated as a lecturer in a paid baseball clinic, and opened an Instagram account, leading fans to speculate about his preparations for a second career…

“Seibu, one of the leading possible destinations for his move, has formed a new front office and team management, deciding that they couldn’t afford to add veterans given their last-place finish last season. There may be a one-day contract after his retirement announcement, but the ‘Seibu return plan’ has completely fallen through.

As spring camp comes to a close, he appears to have decided to retire without being called for a tryout by any of the 12 teams. He is currently in contact with a veteran sports journalist who has experience guiding player transfers and is timing his retirement announcement, looking for a day that doesn’t coincide with the end of camp or Samurai Japan events.” (Sports newspaper desk)

A question was sent to Nakajima regarding this matter, but no response was received by the deadline.

It seems that Nakajima will not achieve membership in the Hall of Fame and will soon retire from the game. He is expected to pass on his brightness and exceptional skills to the next generation of players.

(Editors’ note) On February 25 at 18:41, the following response was received from Nakajima:

“I’ve been discussing this matter with my agent, so if there are any developments, I will contact you! Thank you for your concern!”