40-year-old Takahashi makes major league debut

Sunday 03rd May, 03:36 PM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

5 Comments

ThonTaddeo at 06:55 PM JST - 3rd May

Must be a dream come true for him. Congratulations!

(And I thought Masumi Kuwata was older, with the Pirates. How old was he?)
seeker1 at 06:53 AM JST - 4th May

I think Kuwata was 39 years 2 months, or something like that. Good job Takahashi, gives all of us ojisans something to think about.
saruzenki at 12:39 PM JST - 4th May

"Must be a dream come true for him. Congratulations!"

And on the other end of the spectrum an American kid, years younger, probably better, has to wait in the minor leagues because the NY Mets think an aging Japanese guy will sell more tickets and get more air time in Japan. I'll not be supporting the Mets with this nonsense. Give the young American kids a shot first... Japan has its own league.
BurakuminDes at 09:38 PM JST - 4th May

Good for him! Baseball seems a sport where one can play well into their 40s, it gives the rest of us in our 30s hope that with training and sacrifice, we too can be pro athletes eventually. Can Takahashi possibly be the new Matsuzaka, and lead Japan to the next WBC?
pathat at 10:53 PM JST - 9th May

"And on the other end of the spectrum an American kid, years younger, probably better, has to wait in the minor leagues because the NY Mets think an aging Japanese guy will sell more tickets and get more air time in Japan. I'll not be supporting the Mets with this nonsense. Give the young American kids a shot first... Japan has its own league."

No, the Mets have a lot of injury problems with their pitching staff-hence Takahashi's early-season appearances. Over the 162-game regular season, almost all MLB teams make numerous changes to their pitching staffs due to injury and/or ineffectiveness. The only surprise here is that the move came so soon.

"Japan has its own league."

Yes, and more foreigners in recent years are playing for NPB teams as the teams use creative ways to circumvent the foreign-registered player limits on the top team.

The more opportunities deserving Japanese ballplayers get in MLB, the more the door opens-albeit very slowly-for foreigners in NPB.