The last time Masahiro Tanaka was in Japan, he went 24-0 during the regular season and led the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to the 2013 Pacific League pennant and Japan Series title before heading off to join the New York Yankees.
While Tanaka was away, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks became a fully formed dynasty. The Hawks won six of next seven Japan Series while Tanaka was away and claimed the PL pennant four times.
Now that Tanaka is back, the Hawks are ready to show him how much things have changed.
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