Nobuhiro Matsuda, the lively and exuberant soul who plays third base for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, is often referred to as the team's "mood-maker."
You can remember the game is supposed to be fun as Matsuda hops around on one leg in the batter's box, engages the fans with his guttural shouts of "atsuo!" after home runs and also in the earnest way he fields grounders during practice and shouts encouragement to his teammates.
So it's no stretch to think after two wins to open this year's Japan Series, the most recent aided by Matsuda's tiebreaking three-run home run, that the mood around the team is as high as that of its joyful infielder.