A Japanese professional player named Koji Uehara decided to retire on May 21, 2019 after 21 years of being a right-handed pitcher. He first played for the Yomiuri Giants in 1999 for 10 years, followed by Baltimore Orioles in 2009 and Texas Rangers in 2011. He later chose to stay with the Boston Red Sox from 2013 to 2016 where he received the World Series title. Aside from that, he became the Most Valuable Player in the American League Championship Series. He also played with the Chicago Cubs for a year before he joined the Yomiuri Giants again in 2018. Uehara said that he was not able to give his best performance this season. He finished his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with 95 saves and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA).