The Hiroshima Carp are set to retire the No. 15 shirt worn by retired right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, the Central League club’s owner Hajime Matsuda said Monday.

“There are two reasons, the first is his record along with the fact that we won the pennant this year,” said Matsuda. “The other is that he showed today’s society that values are not just based on money.”

Kuroda began his career at Hiroshima and spent 11 years with the club from 1997. He rejoined the Carp in 2015 after seven seasons in the major leagues despite much larger offers on table to stay in the United States.

The 41-year-old this season helped the Carp to their first pennant in 25 years after going 10-8 with a 3.09 ERA, and took his career record to 203-184 before announcing his retirement ahead of the just-concluded Japan Series.

“I wanted to make him remembered in 15 and 20 years’ time not just as a pitcher who won 203 games in Japan and the United States, but also for the influence he had on people,” said Matsuda.

Kuroda is the third Carp player to see his shirt number retired after former sluggers from their golden era of the 1970s and ’80s, Koji Yamamoto’s No. 8 and Sachio Kinugasa’s No. 3.

Kuroda last pitched in Game 3 of the Japan Series on Tuesday against the Pacific League champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo, getting Japan’s fastest pitcher, Shohei Otani, to fly out for the second out in the sixth inning before coming off due to cramp and stiffness to his legs with his team winning 2-1.

The Carp went on to lose that game, and two more, to see Nippon Ham turn the series 3-2 heading into Games 6 on Saturday before the Fighters clinched it with a 10-4 win in Hiroshima, dashing the hopes of Kuroda’s showdown against Otani in Game 7.