Rakuten Eagles pitcher Kenta Maeda, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball, attended a press conference at Rakuten Mobile Park in Sendai on the 16th to announce his signing with the team. As a surprise, he presented the 70 or so members of the press who had gathered with T-shirts featuring his own drawing of the team's mascot. A message was also attached. "I've seen a lot of signing press conferences, but I thought it'd be boring if there wasn't anything special. I'm a bit good at it, so I decided to draw it," he said. On the T-shirt, he also wrote, "I WIIL DO MY BEST."

Maeda is a professional baseball player, but he also has a unique talent for drawing, appearing on TV Asahi's "Ame Talk!" (Thursdays, 11:15pm) as a "comedian with no artistic talent." He revealed that it "took less than five minutes (to make)," and when the conversation turned to the team's plans to produce merchandise in the future, he said, "We'll have to negotiate with the (Rakuten Eagles) team. I don't draw lightly either (laughs). It wasn't in the contract, so we'll negotiate later," drawing laughter with his Maeda style.

[Message] Thank you for taking the time to attend my press conference today despite your busy schedule. I will be returning to Japanese baseball after 11 years. I hope to see you at the stadium many times in the future, both for those who have not seen me in a long time and those who are meeting me for the first time.

I will do my best to get as many coverage as possible from the training camp in February through the regular season. I hope to contribute to the team by pitching with all my heart, so I would be delighted if you could come to as many The Eagles games as possible.

The T-shirt features The Eagles mascot, so I hope you'll enjoy wearing it as loungewear or just for today.