Seiichi Uchikawa had to pause during his hero interview Friday night following the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' victory over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. A rush of emotions had left the Hawks captain searching for words, as tears welled up in his eyes while he answered a question about the situation in Kumamoto Prefecture, where a series of earthquakes and aftershocks have devastated the region and surrounding areas since Thursday night.
Uchikawa, who hails from neighboring Oita Prefecture, was like many who saw images of residents evacuating their homes and of buildings collapsed and cars overturned. The death toll as of Monday stood at 42 with many hundreds more injured.
"Being the father of one child, and seeing people carrying their children and evacuating and seeing people doing their best to leave, I really wish things like this didn't happen," a clearly choked-up Uchikawa said.