Yoshiyuki Kamei was added to the Yomiuri Giants' roster on May 31 and he started his season with a bang. His first hit of the year came that night, and it was a tiebreaking home run in the 12th inning of a game in which the Kyojin had been held hitless for the first 10 frames. Yomiuri went on to win 1-0.
Kamei kept right on rolling from there and ended up winning the interleague MVP award despite only playing in 16 of Yomiuri's 24 interleague games. The 31-year-old did hit .356 with three home runs and 10 RBIs, so he made his brief interleague star turn count for a lot.
"I think it was a kind of do-or-die situation when I rejoined the top team," Kamei told media at a news conference after learning he'd won the award. "I'm happy I was chosen as the MVP."