Yokohama BayStars manager Alex Ramirez is fond of saying that it's not how you start, but how you finish. It's one of his most well-worn axioms actually.
The second-year skipper can give his favorite saying a few more spins this season, because his BayStars aren't finished in 2017 quite yet. After walloping the Hiroshima Carp 9-3 in Game 5 of the Central League Climax Series Final Stage on Tuesday, wrapping up an improbable 4-2 series victory with four straight wins, Ramirez's BayStars are headed to the Japan Series for a date with the Pacific League's Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Yokohama is the first third-place team in CL history to win the Climax Series, which the league co-opted from the PL in 2007.