I'd also like to point out that Mr. Takahashi was a pitcher of the Yomiuri Giants (Tokyo) when they won their version of the World Series (the Nippon Series) twice in 2002 and again in 2009 (he was with the team between 2000-2009; pitched in game 4 of the 2009 series against Ohtani's future NPB team, the Nippon-Ham Fighters [Hokkaido] ). Guy's had a hell of a career.