Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara cried last season after the Chunichi Dragons sent his team into a long offseason with a 3-0 sweep in the second stage of the Central League Climax Series.
There were tears this season too. That's about the only thing that was the same.
Hara broke down during his postgame interview after the Giants avenged last season's disappointment with a 3-1-1 series victory over the Dragons in the second stage of this year's climax series — the Giants entered the series with a one-game advantage as the CL champion — on Saturday.