For the first time since 1962, the Nippon Ham Fighters are the cream of the Japanese baseball crop, as they used a two run homer by DH Fernando Seguignol to go in front 3-1 and Atsunori Inaba homered again for insurance in a 4-1 final over Chunichi in game five of the Japan Series Thursday at Sapporo Dome to take the title four games to one. Game one protagonists Kenshi Kawakami and Yu Darvish started for the Dragons and the Fighters respectively and this time it was Darvish who collected the win by going 7.1 innings of one run, eight hit ball while striking out six and walking three to even his series record at 1-1. 

Kawakami was okay, as he went six innings of three run, six hitr pitching, but okay wasn't going to get it here since his teammates were only 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on. 

Nippon Ham second baseman Kensuke Tanaka singled to left with one out in the first and first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to right. One out later, Inaba walked to load the bases. But centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo whiffed to let Kawakami off the hook. 

The Dragons then put two on with one out in the second. However, that jam was liquidated on two groundouts. 

They would also have men on first and third with two gone in the fourth, but first baseman Tyrone Woods grounded to short for the inning's last out. 

Darvish's control would subsequently go south in the fourth, as DH Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right and advanced to second on a sacrifice. One out later, catcher Motonobu Tanishige and centerfielder Hidenori Kuramoto both walked to pack the sacks. Second baseman Masahiro Araki slapped a ground ball that Ogasawara dove for and gloved but couldn't make a throw on and Tatsunami crossed for a 1-0 lead on the infield hit. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata flied out to right and Darvish had adequately supressed what couldn't have been a big inning for the Nagoya crew. 

Kawakami, in the meantime, had gotten into a groove, retiring ten in a row after filling the bags in the first, but in the fifth, Fighters third baseman Naoto Inada doubled to the wall in center and went to third on a sacrifice. Manager Trey Hillman called for the squeeze and Inada took off for the plate. Shortstop Makoto Kaneko laid it down and it was tied 1-1. 

In the sixth, Tanaka, who would finish with three hits and bat .313 on the series, singled to center and stole second. Ogasawara grounded to first and Tanaka hustled over to third. Seguignol was next and got a 2-1 cutter up toward the label, but he still managed to somehow muscle it over the rightfield wall and into the first row to put his team in front 3-1. 

Following that bad fourth, Darvish, who was clocked at a career best 95mph, put away nine of the next ten men to get through the seventh. With one out in the eighth, though, Tatsunami singled to right and lefty Hideki Okajima was summoned from the bullpen to face third baseman Masahiko Morino, who grounded into a 3-6-3 double play, and the Fighters were now only three outs away from destiny. 

Inaba checked in with one out in the bottom stanza and parked a delivery from Yuichi Hisamoto in the rightcenterfield stands to make it 4-1 and put the finishing touches on snagging the MVP. 

Michael Nakamura, who had pitched in each of the last three matches, entered from the bullpen and retired the side in order in the ninth, leftfielder Hichori Morimoto camping under pinch hitter Alex Ochoa's fly ball to put it to rest. Morimoto ran over to Shinjo and the two shared a hug while streamers fell from the stands. 

After the obligatory hero interviews, the players went to a parking garage inside the stadium and emptied 1500 bottles of beer and champagne all over each other in 20 minutes. 

The last time the Nippon Ham organization had won a Japan Series they were called the Toei Flyers. Since that year, they have gone 2599-2865-250 for the worst winning percentage over that span by any team in the Pacific League. They have finished in the first division only 18 times in the last 43 seasons. 

Chunichi has lost six consecutive Japan Series, a new record. The old mark of five had been held by three teams, the Dragons, the Seibu Lions and the Hankyu Braves, though in the latter case they had the misfortune of playing the main fall guy to the great Yomiuri V9 squads of Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima. Thanks to Sankei Sports for those stats and the ones above. 

Pacific League teams have prevailed in each of the last four Japan Series, the first time that has occurred since 1974-1977. 

Since 2000, six different teams have won the Japan Series (Yomiuri has come out on top twice). Inaba has now played on four Japan Series winners between his time with Yakult and Nippon Ham. With the limited player movement in NPB that is quite a feat but it isn't a record. Kimiyasu Kudoh has played on Japan Series champions with three clubs, Seibu, Daiei and Yomiuri across both leagues and I don't think that is a record, either. 

This is also just the third time that a five game series has gone off without either side registering at least one ten hits or more game and the first since 1996. 

While they want him to play in the Asia Series, this was likely Shinjo's final game in a baseball uniform and his parents Hidetoshi and Fumiko were in the stands to see their son's last outing. Shinjo, who grew up as poor as a churchmouse, struckout
in the eighth against reliever Atsushi Nakazato after a 1-4, two strikeout showing. He ended the series with a .353 average.

Indeed, looking at the Japanese sports dailies you would have thought that the whole rationale for the staging of this series had been to see Shinjo off, as most of the articles concerned him Thursday. His teammates hoisted him on their shoulders and tossed him in the air a few times after they had done the same to manager Trey Hillman. Hillman got very little ink Thursday, such was the amount of media air sucked up by Shinjo. The unfortunate fact of the matter was that Nippon Ham did this more in spite of Shinjo than because of him. His OBP over the last three seasons was .325, .278 and .298, making him the most feted out machine in NPB. His OPS this year was .714. He retires with a lifetime OPS of .739. 

Hillman is the second non-Japanese-American to lead his side to a series title, the other being, of course, Bobby Valentine. 

Chunichi shot caller  Hiromitsu Ochiai suggested after the game that he might tender his resignation since his contract is up this season and he wants to show he is taking responsibility for this latest setback in the postseason. But that will probably be one of those peculiar Japanese rites and he wilL be asked back for next season and he will agree to it. Yeah, it's wacky, but it is also Japan for you, where making the gesture is often as important as what the end result is. 

Both Hanshin and Chunichi have each droped two Japan Series this decade, so since one expects them to dominate the CL in 2007, one of them may end up becoming the Buffalo Bills of Japanese baseball (if Chunich isn't already) by blowing multiple championship bids in s short period. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 1-4 and is at .267. Ochoa was 0-1 and is at .200. 

Seguignol was 1-4 and is at .294. He drove in a total of five runs in the series, only two off of what Inaba amassed.

For more game info, see Seattle Marinerds.

SB: Tanaka

Game Time: 3:16
Attendance: 42,.030
Umpires: Kasahara (HP), Kawaguchi (1B), Tomoyose (WB), Nakamura (3B)