Tanaka To Rejoin Rakuten After 7 Seasons In Mlb
Professional baseball pitcher Tanaka Masahiro is headed back to his former Japanese team, Rakuten, after playing seven seasons in Major League Baseball.
Tanaka became a free agent after last season, wrapping up his seven-year contract with the New York Yankees.
The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles announced on Thursday that it reached an agreement with the 32-year-old to play for the team based in the northeastern city of Sendai.
Tanaka's uniform number will be 18, the same as before he went to the Major Leagues. He launched his professional career with Rakuten as the club's first draft pick that year.
He notched 11 wins in his first season and was named rookie of the year.
In 2013, he recorded 24 wins and no losses, with an earned run average of 1.27, helping the club win its first league and national titles.
The next year he joined the Yankees, and would mark double-digit wins for 6 straight years.
Tanaka has 177 career wins -- 99 in Japanese pro baseball, and 78 in the Major Leagues.