Giants' win proves it's a good year for baseball's elites

There's a similarity between the baseball champions on either side of the Pacific Ocean.
Days after America's most successful team, the NEW YORK YANKEES, won their 27th title, their Asian counterparts have won the JAPAN SERIES for the 21st time (but first in seven years).
Japan's most successful team, the YOMIURI GIANTS, beat the HOKKAIDO NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS, 2-0, today to win the best-of-seven series at Sapporo Dome, four games to two.
Shinnosuke Abe is the Japan Series MVP.
There's a link, of course, between the two champions. World Series MVP Hideki Matsui starred for the Giants before joining the Yanks.