The Yomiuri Giants made it three Central League pennants in three seasons on Friday night in Yokohama.
The team spilled out of the dugout following the final out to celebrate, as the BayStars, long relegated to the lower reaches of the league but making strides under manager Kiyoshi Nakahata, could only watch stoically. The Giants players partied on into the night, spraying beer and champagne all over the place.
There was nothing shocking in this ending. The surprise was more in what it took for the Giants to make it from wearing neck warmers and gloves on a chilly morning in Miyazaki on Feb 1., to donning goggles and T-shirts in a Yokohama hotel on Sept. 26.