The amazing part worth mentioning is that they came back from being 13.5 games behind the Hanshin Tigers and pipped them for the League's top spot on the last day.Check out the chart:
The red squiggly line going up is the Giants, the yellow squiggly line sagging is the Tigers. As late as 8th of July, the Giants sat at 13games behind. They actually caught them once on the 21st of September, and then dueled the Tigers to the finish line.My father is cursing this one more than the Yankee no-show for the Post-Season (or the market meltdown). The Tigers are his NPB team since childhood. I actually don't have one, which makes it hard to talk to Japanese baseball fans. I barely saw anything in Japan, and any time I'm there and I see a game, I'm struck by how different it feels to MLB.
One time slugging 3B for the Yomiuri Giants and now manager, Tatsunori Hara is the guy being thrown into the air.
I think it's worth noting that Hara was brought back several years ago to revitalise the Giants, so he has surely accomplished his initial mission. He's certainly doing a better job than the last time he was a manager.It's the first time the Yomiuri Giants have won 2 years in a row since 1989-90. The 13 games made up is actually the second highest turn around in the history of the Central League. Another Giants team managed by Shigeo Nagashima overcame a 11.5 game deficit in 1996.
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