It had to be Yuhei Nakamura.
If the Tokyo Yakult Swallows were going to finish off an already stunning season with a Japan Series championship, it was only fitting Nakamura, the team's longtime catcher, ended up on the podium as the MVP when it was all said and done.
The Swallows went from Central League cellar-dwellers in back-to-back seasons to 2021 Japan Series champions on Saturday, completing the final step with a 2-1 victory over the Orix Buffaloes in Game 6 in Kobe. Yakult won its first title since 2001 and the first by a Central League club since the Yomiuri Giants in 2012.