Vladimir Valentin, 38, who hit the most home runs in Asia in a single season, is still playing. He came out of retirement to play in the Mexican League 카지노사이트.
Valentin is playing for the Mexican League’s Caneros de Los Mochis this season. Through 20 games, he’s batting .236 with two home runs, 11 RBIs, and an OPS of .794.
A native of the Netherlands, Valentin made his debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2000. He went on to play for the Cincinnati Reds. In three seasons in the majors, Valentin batted just .221 with 15 home runs, 52 RBIs, and a .655 OPS in 170 games. But it was in Asia that he blossomed.
Playing for the Yakult Swallows of the Nippon Professional Baseball League since the 2010 season, Valenz hit 31 home runs in his first year and then 31 more the following year, winning the home run title two years in a row. 2013 was the highlight. His power set a new milestone in Nippon Professional Baseball. He hit a whopping 60 home runs, surpassing the NPB single-season record of 55. He also broke Lee Seung-yeop’s Asian record (56) with the Samsung Lions, setting a new record for most home runs in a single season in the Asian professional leagues. While Yakult finished last in the Central League, Valentin was named MVP.
After hitting 31 home runs in 2014, Valentin was limited to just one in 2015 due to injury. In 2016, he again showed off his power, hitting over 30 (31 homers).
After nine seasons with Yakult, Valentin moved to the SoftBank Hawks in 2020, where he played two more years before leaving. In his 11 seasons in the NPB, he played in 1104 games, batting .266 with 1001 doubles, 301 home runs, 794 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.917.
Playing in the Mexican League since last year, Valentin indicated that he would retire after the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March, but he reversed course and is still playing. It’s been more than a decade since he hit 60 home runs.
“Ten years after his legendary 60-homer season, he is still enjoying baseball at the age of 39,” said Japan Full Count, adding, “Although it didn’t happen in the WBC, there are many Japanese fans who would like to see Valentin play. We look forward to his visit to Japan through the Premier12 next November and a trial against the European national team next March.”