TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — The stairs must have seemed endless.
Jose Fernandez had just helped the Saitama Seibu Lions overcome the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 7-0 on Thursday, done a hero interview and taken a victory lap.
Now the mountainous flight of green stairs — which stretches from the field to just under the box-seat level — that the player of the game climbs in order to interact with fans, was the last obstacle standing in the way of a well-deserved rest.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.