As he had done for the past eight years, Tomoaki Kanemoto arrived at the stadium on Sunday, put on an ash gray Hanshin Tigers road uniform, laced up his spikes, grabbed his hat and went about his preparations to play the Yokohama BayStars.
What made this gameday unlike the 1,492 that preceded it is that when game began, the Hanshin hero was just a mere spectator.
Not in the starting lineup for the first time in over a decade, the man affectionally known as "Aniki" saw his streak of playing every inning of every game come to an abrupt halt.