Congratulations to manager Trey Hillman and everyone connected with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on winning the franchise's first Pacific League pennant in a quarter century. The organization has come a long way since the last championship 25 years ago and should make a much better showing than last time in the Japan Series.
It was 1981 when the Fighters -- then based in Tokyo and sharing Korakuen Stadium, the predecessor of Tokyo Dome, with the Yomiuri Giants -- met their co-tenants in a "hallway series." The two clubs had only to change locker rooms and dugouts, crossing the passageway connecting the first- and third-base sides at Korakuen.
That 1981 Japan Series went six games as the inexperienced Nippon Ham club was overmatched by the power and pitching of the Giants. Still, the Fighters took a two-games-to-one lead, winning Games 1 and 3 by respective scores of 6-5 and 3-2. In between, Yomiuri triumphed in Game 2 by 2-1.