Card Of The Week October 2

Today was the last day of the Pacific League season and today the Orix Buffaloes caught the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.  The two teams finished the season with identical 76-65-2 records but since Orix won the season series against the Hawks, the Buffaloes are the Pacific League champions.

The Hawks lost their last two games and yesterday's loss was particularly heartbreaking for them.  They'd been done 1-0 to the Lions but Yuki Yanagita hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth to tie up the game.  But in the bottom of the eleventh, Hotaka Yamakawa did what he's done 40 other times this year:

The Hawks loss yesterday kept them only a game in front of Orix which made it possible for the Buffaloes to catch them today.  Yamakawa is pretty much considered the front runner for the Pacific League MVP this year and you could make an argument that he played a valuable role in the Buffaloes winning the pennant.

Here's a Lions team issued card of Yamakawa from 2017: