Nobuhiko Matsunaka, who became the seventh Triple Crown winner in Japanese baseball history by leading the league in three major batting categories this year, re-signed with the Softbank Hawks for 320 million yen Sunday.
Matsunaka, who sealed a three-year, 1.05 billion yen deal last offseason, can receive performance-related incentives of up to 30 million yen in the 2005 season and also added a clause in his contract mentioning the Pacific League championship as a requisite to receiving the full amount.
"We couldn't win the league championship but for me personally it was a wonderful year," said Matsunaka, whose team lost in the postseason playoffs despite finishing the PL regular season in first place with a 77-52-4 record.
"After what happened in the playoffs this year, it's only natural as the team captain to think of the team before individual performance," said Matsunaka, who just turned 31.