Baseball

Swallows Star Norichika Aoki to Retire after 21 Seasons; Has Combined 2,723 Hits in Japan and Major Leagues

Jiji Press
Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:32 JST, September 13, 2024

Tokyo Yakult Swallows outfielder Norichika Aoki, whose combined 2,723 hits in Japan and the major leagues puts him fifth on the all-time list among Japanese players, will retire after the current season, the Central League team announced Friday.

The 42-year-old Aoki, playing in his 21st season, started his career with a bang when he had 202 hits in 2005 and was named the CL rookie of the year. He went on to win the batting title three times, while also leading the league in hits and on-base percentage two times each, and in stolen bases once.

The Miyazaki Prefecture native was a pitcher for local Hyuga High School, but switched to outfielder at Waseda University. He was a fourth-round pick of the Swallows in the 2004 draft.

In 2012, he made the move across the Pacific through the posting system and joined the Milwaukee Brewers. He played in the majors for six seasons with seven teams, most recently the New York Mets, before rejoining the Swallows in 2018.

Through Thursday, he had appeared in 1,713 games in Japan, compiling a .313 career average with 1,949 hits, 145 home runs and 667 runs batted in. In 759 games in the major leagues, he batted .285 with 774 hits, 33 home runs and 219 RBIs.

This season, Aoki, the oldest position player in Japan pro baseball, has appeared in just 61 games, batting .192 with no home runs and nine RBIs.