NISHINOMIYA, Japan - Hanshin Tigers star Teruaki Sato expressed his love for the club and its fans Wednesday ahead of his impending move to Major League Baseball via the posting system.
The 27-year-old infielder, who is in contention for his second straight Central League MVP award after winning the Triple Crown this season, spoke to the press at Koshien Stadium for the first time since Hanshin announced it had approved his request to be posted.
"The roar of the crowd at Koshien is the best sound in the world," Sato said. "I am truly grateful to this team for nurturing me since I first joined."
Sato, a native of Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, where Koshien stands, spent six years playing for the franchise he grew up supporting.
"Fans supported me through both the good times and the bad," he said. "Every time I stepped onto the field, it gave me strength."
He was a driving force behind the Tigers winning back-to-back CL pennants this year and was also a key figure in the club's drought-breaking 2023 Japan Series triumph.
"The cheers during our 2023 championship season -- our first title in 18 years -- were incredible," he said. "I will never forget them."
The 187-centimeter, 96-kilogram slugger became the ninth player in Japanese baseball to win the triple crown with 39 home runs, 106 RBIs and a .306 batting average for the Tigers, who lost to the DeNA BayStars in the CL Climax Series final stage.
He is expected to attract enthusiastic bidding from several MLB clubs, with an MLB.com report describing him as "one of the most intriguing bats available this MLB offseason, if not the best bat on the market."
