◇Hokkaido Nippon-Ham vs Tohoku Rakuten Eagles Game 23 (22nd, ES CON FIELD)

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham's Takuya Nakashima, who has announced his retirement at the end of this season, played in his final game.

He was in the starting line-up as the familiar "No. 2, short stop." In his first and second at-bats, he was retired on infield grounders, but in the bottom of the 5th inning with no outs and a runner on second, trailing 3 to 5, he entered his third at-bat with tears in his eyes. Despite being pushed to a 1-2 count, he pulled the fourth pitch toward first base. Using his speed, he scrambled for an infield hit to expand the scoring opportunity.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, immediately after Shun Mizutani 's 6th two-run Home Run turned the game around, he was substituted in the top of the 7th inning after assisting in stopping a stolen base with one out and a runner on first. He retired to the bench amidst a massive roar from the stands.

Takuya Nakashima joined Hokkaido Nippon-Ham as the 5th draft pick in 2008 from Fukuoka Kogyo High School. In 2015, he won the title for most stolen bases (34 stolen bases) and the Best Nine award in the short stop category. The following year, 2016, he played in all 143 games as a key player, contributing significantly to the team's league championship and Japan Series title. Although his number of appearances has decreased in recent years, he served as a role model for junior infielder.

◇Takuya Nakashima Career Stats
1314 games 3706 plate appearances 737 hit 2 Home Run 181 RBI 206 stolen base 256 sacrifice bunt .237 batting average

◇Takuya Nakashima's Records
First appearance: April 20, 2011 vs Orix Buffaloes
First stolen base: April 24, 2011 vs Tohoku Rakuten Eagles
First hit: April 17, 2012 vs Saitama Seibu Lions
First Home Run: July 30, 2017 vs Fukuoka Softbank
200 sacrifice bunt: June 15, 2018 vs Tokyo Yakult
1000 games played: June 30, 2020 vs Fukuoka Softbank
200 stolen base: September 22, 2023 vs Tohoku Rakuten Eagles