Whoever wins the Sawamura Award this year might want to do whatever it takes to avoid Randy Messenger and the Hanshin Tigers on Opening Day next season.
Things didn't really work out so well for the last two recipients when they went up against the big Nevadan and his teammates.
Messenger shut down the Yomiuri Giants' hitters, Kosuke Fukudome and Yusuke Oyama hit the first two home runs of the 2018 NPB season, both off Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano, and the Tigers got their year off to a roaring start with a 5-1 win over their CL rivals in the season opener in front of a crowd of 46,318 on Friday night at Tokyo Dome.