We are establishing a new "prize" here. It is the Baseball Bullet-In "Out of the Blue Award" with recognition given to the player in Japanese pro baseball who has the best season among those virtually unheard of and who came from seemingly nowhere to become a star.

The winner of the first annual "Out of the Blue" is outfielder Katsuya Kakunaka of the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Whoever would have thought a player in his sixth professional season, and who batted .266 with no home runs and10 RBIs in just 51 games in 2011, would go on to win the 2012 Pacific League batting title?