Kenji Johjima, the first Japanese player to catch in the major leagues, will retire at the end of this season, sources close to the matter said Friday.The 36-year-old catcher, who has suffered all year with injury and is in the third year of a four-year contract with the Hanshin Tigers, was quoted as saying, "I'm not a player worth ?400 million a year."A native of Nagasaki Prefecture, Johjima turned pro out of high school as the No. 1 pick of the Daiei Hawks and contributed to the team's rise from the weak link of the Pacific League to a powerhouse and was named the PL's MVP in 2003. He moved to the majors in 2006 as a free agent and played four seasons for the Seattle Mariners before returning to Japan in 2010 with the Hanshin.Johjima has been unable to catch this season due to left knee and right elbow injuries, playing just 24 first-team games for the Tigers, primarily as a pinch hitter.In 14 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Johjima has played in 1,323 games with a career batting average of .296, 244 home runs and 808 RBIs. He played 462 games in the big leagues, batting .268 with 48 homers and 198 RBIs. He missed the 2006 World Baseball Classic due to a broken leg, but was a key contributor to Japan's second championship in 2009.Johjima won six PL Best IX Awards and eight Golden Gloves, his last coming with Hanshin in 2010 before injuries began to derail his career.
Showing posts with label retire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retire. Show all posts
Friday, September 28, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Huskies head coach Calhoun expected to retire
NEW YORK — Jim Calhoun has spent more than half his life as a head basketball coach, never venturing far from the New England area where he was born.
Signing off: UConn men's basketball coach is expected to announce his retirement on Thursday. APBetween coaching stints at Northeastern and Connecticut, he racked up 873 wins — 625 of them coming at his beloved UConn, where he ran the men's program for 26 years and won three national titles.Recently, though, the 70-year-old Hall of Famer has struggled with health problems, including a fractured hip last month that put him on crutches. On Thursday, he planned to announce his retirement, a person familiar with the decision told AP.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Calhoun's move had not yet been made public. WVIT-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, first reported the expected announcement.Assistant coach Kevin Ollie was expected to replace Calhoun, the person who spoke to the AP said.Ollie will take over a Huskies team that is ineligible for the 2013 NCAA tournament because of its failure to meet national academic standards, one of several off-court problems that hit UConn late in Calhoun's tenure.Before fracturing his hip, Calhoun fought off cancer three times and missed eight games last season while suffering from a painful spinal condition. He returned just four days after having back surgery to coach the Huskies in their regular-season finale and the postseason.UConn finished the year 20-14, losing to Iowa State in the first-round of the NCAA tournament.In addition to his medical leave, Calhoun served a three-game suspension at the start of the Big East season last winter for failing to maintain an atmosphere of compliance in his program with NCAA rules, an issue that dated back to recruiting violations in 2008.A native of Braintree, Massachusetts, Calhoun played college basketball at American International in Springfield, where he was a team captain and leading scorer his junior and senior years.After graduating in 1968, he began his head coaching career at Old Lyme High School in Connecticut, before moving back to Massachusetts where he coached at Westport High School and then Dedham High School.He led Dedham to a 21-1 record in 1972, and was hired as head coach at Northeastern.Calhoun spent the next 14 years at the school, leading the team from Division II program, to a mid-major power with five appearances in the NCAA tournament.Calhoun was then hired by UConn in May 1986 and won an NIT title in his second season. His teams won 10 Big East regular-season championships and seven Big East Tournament titles over his tenure.CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina — Notre Dame got everything it wanted and the Atlantic Coast Conference got Notre Dame.The school announced Wednesday that it would join the ACC in all sports except football, though it will play five games annually against league programs and have access to its non-BCS bowl tie-ins. It's unclear exactly when the Irish will leave the Big East for its non-football sports."I don't think there's out there a better situation than the situation we have," said the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president. "The ACC has allowed us to retain a tradition (of football independence) that's so central to our identity in football while we're joining a conference that athletically as well as academically fits Notre Dame perfectly."
Signing off: UConn men's basketball coach is expected to announce his retirement on Thursday. APBetween coaching stints at Northeastern and Connecticut, he racked up 873 wins — 625 of them coming at his beloved UConn, where he ran the men's program for 26 years and won three national titles.Recently, though, the 70-year-old Hall of Famer has struggled with health problems, including a fractured hip last month that put him on crutches. On Thursday, he planned to announce his retirement, a person familiar with the decision told AP.The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Calhoun's move had not yet been made public. WVIT-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, first reported the expected announcement.Assistant coach Kevin Ollie was expected to replace Calhoun, the person who spoke to the AP said.Ollie will take over a Huskies team that is ineligible for the 2013 NCAA tournament because of its failure to meet national academic standards, one of several off-court problems that hit UConn late in Calhoun's tenure.Before fracturing his hip, Calhoun fought off cancer three times and missed eight games last season while suffering from a painful spinal condition. He returned just four days after having back surgery to coach the Huskies in their regular-season finale and the postseason.UConn finished the year 20-14, losing to Iowa State in the first-round of the NCAA tournament.In addition to his medical leave, Calhoun served a three-game suspension at the start of the Big East season last winter for failing to maintain an atmosphere of compliance in his program with NCAA rules, an issue that dated back to recruiting violations in 2008.A native of Braintree, Massachusetts, Calhoun played college basketball at American International in Springfield, where he was a team captain and leading scorer his junior and senior years.After graduating in 1968, he began his head coaching career at Old Lyme High School in Connecticut, before moving back to Massachusetts where he coached at Westport High School and then Dedham High School.He led Dedham to a 21-1 record in 1972, and was hired as head coach at Northeastern.Calhoun spent the next 14 years at the school, leading the team from Division II program, to a mid-major power with five appearances in the NCAA tournament.Calhoun was then hired by UConn in May 1986 and won an NIT title in his second season. His teams won 10 Big East regular-season championships and seven Big East Tournament titles over his tenure.CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina — Notre Dame got everything it wanted and the Atlantic Coast Conference got Notre Dame.The school announced Wednesday that it would join the ACC in all sports except football, though it will play five games annually against league programs and have access to its non-BCS bowl tie-ins. It's unclear exactly when the Irish will leave the Big East for its non-football sports."I don't think there's out there a better situation than the situation we have," said the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president. "The ACC has allowed us to retain a tradition (of football independence) that's so central to our identity in football while we're joining a conference that athletically as well as academically fits Notre Dame perfectly."Ferrero announces plan to retire
VALENCIA, Spain — Former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero says he'll retire after playing in his hometown Valencia Open next month.The 32-year-old Spaniard moved to the top of the rankings in 2003 after winning the French Open and reaching the U.S. Open final.In 14 years as a professional, he won 15 titles and helped Spain win the first two of its five Davis Cups in 2000 and 2004."It was a complicated decision to leave a world you have lived in intensely . . . but I have had a tough year and you start to notice that you don't have the same ambition and motivation," he said on Wednesday.Ferrero plans to devote time to his tennis academy and hotel.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Cyclist McEwen decides to retire
LOS ANGELES — Australian cycling star Robbie McEwen retired on Sunday after the final stage of the Tour of California, concluding a 17-year professional career saw him capture 12 Tour de France stage victories.The 39-year-old from Brisbane was among the world's greatest sprinters at the peak of his career, which also saw him win 12 stages of both the Giro d'Italia and his homeland's Tour Down Under."It's a little bit surreal," McEwen said as the notion of retiring hit him a few minutes after climbing off the bicycle competitively for the last time."Crossing the line I felt like, 'Oooh finished.' I'm still going. I just want to go back to the hotel, have a shower, sit down, have a cold beer and think, 'All right.'"Maybe (it will hit me) when I don't have to pack a suitcase for the next race . . . that's something I'm honestly looking forward to. I've had a great career."
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Lions to retire Inao's No. 24 jersey
The Seibu Lions will retire former Nishitetsu Lions ace Kazuhisa Inao's No. 24, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.
It will be the first retired number since Seibu began to own the Lions in 1979. Inao died of cancer in November 2007 at age 70.In 1958, Nishitetsu came back from a three-games-to-none deficit to win the Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants, with Inao winning four straight decisions from Game 4, three of them complete games.Three years later, Inao won a Japanese baseball single-season record-tying 42 games.Widely known as one of Japanese baseball's greatest pitchers of all time, Inao logged a lifetime 276-137 record with a 1.98 ERA, spending his entire career with the Lions until 1969.Inao led the PL in wins four times and in ERA five times. In 1993, he was inducted into Japan's Baseball Hall of Fame.Seibu plans to have all players on the team wear No. 24 in a game this summer.
It will be the first retired number since Seibu began to own the Lions in 1979. Inao died of cancer in November 2007 at age 70.In 1958, Nishitetsu came back from a three-games-to-none deficit to win the Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants, with Inao winning four straight decisions from Game 4, three of them complete games.Three years later, Inao won a Japanese baseball single-season record-tying 42 games.Widely known as one of Japanese baseball's greatest pitchers of all time, Inao logged a lifetime 276-137 record with a 1.98 ERA, spending his entire career with the Lions until 1969.Inao led the PL in wins four times and in ERA five times. In 1993, he was inducted into Japan's Baseball Hall of Fame.Seibu plans to have all players on the team wear No. 24 in a game this summer.
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