For nearly 20 years Shinnosuke Abe's go-to phrase during hero interviews, following some heroic feat on the baseball diamond, has been "saikō desu" (the best). He'd be asked a question and would often shout the phrase as his response as the crowd ate it up.

Abe is hardly the only player to do this, but it became one of his trademarks among Yomiuri fans. The phrase can even be found on the Abe-themed bento boxed lunches you can find at Tokyo Dome.

So when Giants fans are asked about their retiring talisman, one response they might give is a hearty "saikō desu!"