Orix Buffaloes Sho Iwasaki pitcher (36) expressed his gratitude on the 3rd for Softbank Hawks Akira Nakamura infielder (36), who announced his retirement at the end of this season. He was drafted together with Ko hitter, who built up 1520 hit over 19 years of Taka 19 years, and played together for 14 years during the Softbank Hawks era. He revealed that he was contacted saying, "I wanted to play longer than Sho..." and expressed his gratitude, saying, "Since we both joined at 18, I don't know what he is, but I've been inspired by Akira a lot and pitched with a lot of inspiration."

The two shared a fond memory from the offseason of 2008, their first year as professionals. Nakamura had asked to be apprenticed by Hiroki Kokubo (current Softbank Hawks manager), and he himself had asked to be apprenticed by Kazumi Saito (current Softbank Hawks farm team manager). The two seniors held a joint offseason training session, which resulted in Nakamura training with them. Seventeen years later, in 2025, their first "rivalry" took place, with Nakamura grounding out to second base and Walk in two at-bats. "He's an incredibly good hitter. There's no doubt he was hitter for that strong The Hawks and built an era," he said, showing the utmost respect.

On this day, he was third in third place from the sixth inning with a one-run lead, runs a inning. "I'm in pretty good shape," he said, marking his second hold of the season. Before retirement, Iwasaki's secret goal is to have a rematch with his close friend. "We even talked about 'let's meet again somewhere.' If I get the chance, I'd like to do it again," he called out with a smile.

In response to his classmate's decision, he candidly expressed his grim resolve, saying, "I feel like I'm ready for the end to come at any time. I want to live each day to the fullest so that I have no regrets." He added, "It might be presumptuous to say this, but I strongly feel that I want to do as much as I can for Akira," showing that as a professional, he will continue to give it his all. (Shunta Nanbu)