Seiichi Uchikawa

Seiichi Uchikawa (内川 聖一, Uchikawa Seiichi; born August 4, 1982) is a Japanese former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama BayStars, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, and Tokyo Yakult Swallows from 2001 to 2022.

Seiichi Uchikawa
Uchikawa with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
First baseman, Outfielder
Born: (1982-08-04) August 4, 1982 (age 43) Ōita, Japan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
NPB debut
March 30, 2001, for the Yokohama BayStars
Last NPB appearance
October 3, 2022, for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Career statistics
Batting average	.302
Home runs	196
Hits	2,186
RBI	960
Teams
Yokohama BayStars (2001–2010) Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (2011–2020) Tokyo Yakult Swallows (2021–2022) Oita B-rings (2023)
Career highlights and awards
6× NPB All-Star (2008, 2009, 2011–2013, 2017) 8× Japan Series champion (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017–2021) 3× Climax Series MVP (2011, 2015, 2017) 5× Best Nine Award (2008–2009, 2011–2013) 2× NPB All-Star Game MVP (2013, 2017) Pacific League MVP (2011) Japan Series MVP (2014) Interleague play (NPB) MVP (2011) Central League Batting champion (2008) Pacific League Batting champion (2011) Central League OBP champion (2008) Central League Hits champion (2008) Pacific League Hits champion (2012)
Medals Men's baseball Representing  Japan World Baseball Classic 2009 Los Angeles Team

Career

Yokohama BayStars

Yokohama BayStars selected Uchikawa with the first selection in the 2000 NPB draft [jp].

On March 30, 2001, Uchikawa made his NPB debut.

He rose to prominence in 2008 with a league-leading .378 batting average.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

During the 2010 offseason, he exercised his free agent option and after weeks of negotiations between the Yokohama BayStars, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, he decided to sign a four-year deal with SoftBank worth up to 1.36 billion yen.

On December 2, 2020, he became a free agent.^[1]

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

On December 11, 2020, Uchikawa signed with Tokyo Yakult Swallows of NPB and held press conference.^[2]

On September 27, 2022, Uchikawa announced his retirement from professional baseball.^[3]

International career

He was selected for the Japanese national baseball team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, 2013 World Baseball Classic and 2017 World Baseball Classic.