With their first pennant in 25 years, the Hiroshima Carp are truly beginning to reap what they have sowed.
While every team in Nippon Professional Baseball makes use of overseas talent and some — notably the Hanshin Tigers and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows — have actually signed more, no team manages it with more class than the Carp.
In the years since their last Central League flag, the Carp have hired a representative in the United States and taken on two former players as full-time scouts.