Hall of Famer Shigeo Nagashima was the 25th player in the history of the Yomiuri Giants to hit fourth in the Kyojin's starting lineup, according to the team's records. Sadaharu Oh was the 28th, and Hideki Matsui the 62nd. Taishi Ota, in the cleanup role for the past four games, is the 81st.
The Giants both keep track of this and play it up, because of course they do. It might, for instance, take a little digging to find the sequential order of Tokyo Yakult cleanup hitters through the years, and perhaps even more research to find someone, even among Swallows fans, who really cares. Which makes it exactly the type of exercise in grandiosity one would expect from the Kyojin.
There is, however, some meat on this bone. Because the collective fawning over each lucky new yonban batter has shined a light on an offensive deficiency. Because while Giants are getting enough timely hitting and good pitching to be in first place, it's been without much pop out of the No. 4 spot.
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