When all is said and done, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Chunichi Dragons may look back at the sixth inning of Game 4 as the turning point in the Japan Series.
At the time, the Hawks led the game 2-1, but trailed two-games-to-one in the series. The Dragons were on the move, however, and the lead was in peril as Chunichi loaded the bases against starter D. J. Houlton with no outs.
That spelled the end of Houlton's night and brought out of the dugout Masahiko Morifuku, a 171-cm, 65-kg, left-hander from nearby Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, a medium-sized town about 56 km to the southeast, not far from Mikawa Bay and the Pacific Ocean.