Former Fukuoka Softbank Hawk and Tokyo Yakult Swallow pitcher Rick Van Den Hurk announced his retirement in a post on his website yesterday. Van Den Hurk had spend ten years in the Marlins, Orioles and Pirates organizations (along with stints in the majors with each team) before heading for the Far East to spend two seasons (2013-14) with the KBO's Samsung Lions. He joined the Hawks in 2015 and won his first 14 decisions with the team - this streak was split between nine wins in 2015 and five wins in 2016. He was a mainstay of the Hawks rotation for several years and pitched for them in the Nippon Series in 2015 (against the Swallows), 2017 (against the Baystars), 2018 (against the Carp) and 2019 (against the Giants). Injuries cut into his playing time in his last two seasons with the Hawks and he was released following the 2020 season. He signed with the Swallows before last season but only made a couple appearances with the ichi-gun team. The Swallows released him at his request last September.
Van Den Hurk was born in the Netherlands and played for their team in both the 2009 and 2017 World Baseball Classics.
Here are some of his Japanese baseball cards (plus a WBC card for him):
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| 2009 Topps WBC Box Set #36 |
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| 2015 BBM 1st Version #008 |
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| 2016 BBM Classic #001 |
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| 2016 Calbee "Exciting Scene" #ES-01 |
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| 2017 BBM Hawks #H20 |
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| 2018 BBM Hawks 80th Anniversary Celebration #05 |
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| 2019 Epoch NPB #050 |
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| 2020 Konami Baseball Collection #202000-N-H044-00 |
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| 2021 BBM Swallows #S05 |
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