More than 300 former Yomiuri Giants players, including Hideki Matsui and Shigeo "Mr. Giants" Nagashima, were at Tokyo Dome on Opening Night to participate in a ceremony celebrating the franchise's 80th anniversary.
So there was no way the present-day Kyojin were going to let their longtime archrivals crash the party.
"We never want to lose, especially against Hanshin," said outfielder Itaru Hashimoto.
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