The timing was right for Masahiro Tanaka.

In 2013, he led the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to a Japan Series title that was about more than baseball to a region still reeling two years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that hit in March 2011.

With the 10th anniversary of that tragedy approaching and Tanaka in search of a new team after seven MLB seasons, it seemed like the perfect time to come home to Tohoku and the Eagles.