Taichi Yamano had such a nightmarish start to his career two years ago that he was not always sure he wanted to keep playing baseball.

Yamano kept going, however, lugging around a 47.25 career ERA as a reminder of a day he would rather forget.

It took him 852 days to step on the mound for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows again, and he made sure the long wait was worth it.