Having waited nearly as long for their seventh pennant as they did for their first, Hiroshima Carp fans proved to be a force to be reckoned with this season, Hall of Famer Koji Yamamoto said Saturday.
"The Hiroshima fans feel like we are part of their family. And that's big," said Yamamoto, the 1975 Central League MVP on the city's first pennant-winning club.
On Saturday, the Carp beat the Yokohama BayStars to clinch their first Japan Series birth since Yamamoto, in the first of his two five-year stints as skipper, got them that far in 1991.