Masahiro Tanaka pitched his way into the record books. Wladimir Balentien slugged his way there.
The history-making pair crossed paths only once this year — Tanaka got Balentien to fly out in the first inning of Game 1 of the All-Star Series — but came together Tuesday night as Nippon Professional Baseball officially crowned them Japan's best.
In a surprise to absolutely no one, Tanaka, of the Japan Series-winning Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, was named Pacific League MVP, while Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Balentien ran away with the award in the Central League.