"I have a lot of admiration for Ogino-san, and I have always followed in his footsteps throughout my professional baseball career. He is a senior whom I truly respect. I really wanted to carry on Ogino-san's wishes, so I asked him to take on the role this time."

Lotte's Akito Takabe will wear number, which was previously worn by Takashi Ogino from next season until this season.

Regarding wearing number 0, he revealed that he had an exchange with Ogino, saying, "Before I asked the team, I asked Ogino if I really wanted to wear it, and he said that it wasn't my decision to make, but that he would be happy if I wore it, so I thought that this would be something I could ask the team to do, and I went ahead and asked him."

Takabe stated his determination, saying, "I thought of him as a rival, and we competed with each other to play in games, but he was always a senior who showed me the way and gave me a goal to aim for, so I'm really grateful to him.I wanted to do more, but from now on I'll wear number 0 jersey and do my best to surpass him in my own way."

Looking ahead to next season, he said, "The first thing I want to do is win the batting title. I've never won one before, so I want to aim for it and try to win it. I also think that the defense base running title requires a player who can run and defend, so I want to pursue that and play injury-free all year long," he said enthusiastically. number I will aim to win the title with "0.