On the 9th, Orix Buffaloes officially announced that pitcher and pitcher coach Yoshihisa Hirano will retire at the end of this season. He joined the team in 2005 as a draft pick from Kyoto Sangyo University and played Orix Buffaloes for 18 years. He also played in Major League Baseball, and achieved the unprecedented feat of becoming the first player in history to clear 250 saves and 200 hold in his 21-year career in Japan and the US (258 saves, 205 hold).

In 2010, his fifth professional season, he blossomed after switching to the relief role; in 2011, he won the Most Valuable Player award reliever, and in 2014, he claimed the title for most saves. In 2017, he was called up as a late addition to the Japanese national team and competed in the World Baseball Classic, and in 2023, he became the first player from the Orix Buffaloes organization to be inducted into the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame.This season, he also served as a coach pitcher and made only two appearances for the first team. At 42, he is the oldest player Pacific League in the pitcher. The closer, whose name is etched in baseball history, has decided to hang up his uniform.

◆Yoshihisa Hirano: Born March 8, 1984, in Kyoto Prefecture. Age 42. After graduating from Toba High School in Kyoto and Kyoto Sangyo University, he joined Orix Buffaloes in 2005 through the university/corporate league draft. He won the Best reliever in 2011 and the Most Saves title in 2014. In the offseason of 2017, he exercised his overseas free agency rights. After playing for the Diamondbacks and Mariners, he returned to Orix Buffaloes in 2021. In 2023, he achieved 250 saves in his combined career in Japan and the US, and was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. His motto is "Give it your all." 186 cm, 90 kg. Right-handed pitcher and batter.