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BRADENTON, Fla. -- Masumi Kuwata, one of the top pitchers in Japanese baseball history and a major leaguer for the first time last season at age 39, retired Wednesday from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Kuwata, who turns 40 on Tuesday, had a 1.80 ERA in five innings this spring, but had not pitched since March 18. When it became clear that he would not make the Pirates' opening-day roster, he chose to retire rather than start the season at Triple-A Indianapolis.
To honor Japanese tradition, Kuwata carefully walked to the McKechnie Field mound about an hour after the Tigers-Pirates exhibition game ended and, without stepping on the white-painted pitching rubber, carefully placed a ball atop it.
More than 50 Japanese reporters and photographers watched the ceremony, some with visible emotion. Kuwata is a beloved baseball figure back home after spending his career with the country's signature team, the Yomiuri Giants.
The right-handed Kuwata, the most valuable player of Japan's Central League with the Giants in 1994, was offered a minor league coaching job by the Pirates but declined that and will return to Japan.
"I wanted to try one more time," Kuwata said. "I thought I was pitching with good results. But my heart was telling me it was time to retire."
Kuwata had long wanted to pitch in the majors but, saddled with a restrictive contract he signed with the Giants early in his career, could not do so until last season.
Although his career had declined for years, Kuwata -- 4-13 during his final three Japanese seasons from 2004-06 -- signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last year. He injured an ankle during a spring training collision with umpire Wally Bell and stayed in extended spring camp for weeks, but subsequently pitched for Triple-A Indianapolis before being promoted to Pittsburgh.
He made his major league debut at Yankee Stadium on June 9 and was 0-1 with a 9.43 ERA in 19 games before being taken off the roster. His final appearance was Aug. 13, when he allowed five runs in one inning against the San Francisco Giants.
"I still cannot believe I pitched in Yankee Stadium," Kuwata said.
Kuwata was the oldest player to make his major league debut since 41-year-old Diomedes Olivo, also for the Pirates, in 1960.
The Pirates' new general manager, Neal Huntington, invited Kuwata to camp -- partly out of respect, he said, for the professionalism displayed by the pitcher during his time with the team last season. Huntington also offered Kuwata a scouting position in Japan.
Kuwata was 173-141 with a 3.55 ERA in 442 career games with the Yomiuri Giants and was chosen the league's pitcher of the year in 1987.
