Shortly before the end of the Japan Series managers' meeting the skippers of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Yomiuri Giants were asked to name their starters for Game 1.
Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo spoke first, grabbing a mic and stating simply with no hesitation, "For the Hawks it's Kodai Senga," Giants skipper Tatsunori Hara, spoke with similar conviction as he named Shun Yamaguchi as his man.
Just like that, a blockbuster Japan Series got a blockbuster pitching matchup to kick things off.