The Lupin Cliff Hangers are going to play for the Neo-Tokyo Cup.  Yes read that one again.  True fact.  In all seriousness, if someone would have said that a year ago this time, they likely would have to be sent downtown for a toxicology exam.  But it became true in the bottom of the 11^th inning when Shigekazu Munakata hit a hard grounder that just eeked past Naha shortstop Yukinaga Komatsu just far enough to let Mashashi Yano score from second base.

Boggle.

It was an epic game in every way.

“This entire game was a microcosm of our entire season,” said starting pitcher Akira Watanabe.  “Everyone stepped up and did what they needed to do to win it in the end.  Watanabe stepped up himself, throwing 8 impressive innings, striking out ten Shisa and giving up only two runs and looking like he was going to be the winner when he gave Lupin a 3-2 lead going into the last fram.  But Naha jumped on bullpen ace Jo Kichida for two runs in the top of the ninth, and the Cliff Hanger faithful were facing disaster.

“That was tough,” Kichida said.  “I kind of stunk the place up.  I’m glad the guys were there behind me though.”

But we’re putting the cart before the horse again.  Let’s start where everything started, and that would be with third baseman Dan Stewart, who deposited the first pitch he saw from Shisa starter Masaru Nishikawa into the left field bleachers for an opposite field homer that put the Cliffies up 1-0.  Watanbe gave that back by giving up a walk and then a homer off the bat of Yo Horiuchi.  And after a Hiroyuki Masuda single brought Kuniyoshi Kato around to tie the game up in the 5^th, Stewart then drilled a laser shot into the deepest part of right-centerfield for a second homer that put the team up 3-2. 

There is so much to be said for that sequence.  Stewart, of course, was a risky free-agent signing by GM Ron Collins, and who struggled to a .179 post-season batting average.  But he hit ‘em when they counted.  And Masuda was on the roster all year only due to the Rule 5 foul up that saw him drafted by his own team, then stepping into the starting centerfield role only because star Sadatake Sato was injured.  Masuda responded with that run-scoring single, but dropped a sizzling .444/.500/.815 slash, with 3 homers and 10 RBI for the series.

And that brings us all to that faithful ninth inning, an inning that started with a struggling Shiro Adachi coax a walk to lead off of Shisa’s star closer Bill Bradley, only to see Masuda and pinch hitter Kichibei Kumagai strike out to leave the Cliff Hangers down to their last out.  With the fans standing and chanting, veteran outfielder Mashashi Yano worked another walk to bring utility infielder Shoichi Koyama to the plate, the same Shoichi Koyama who was acquired as the secondary guy in the Kichida deal and who stepped into part-time starting role when injuries sidelined Stewart, and Kaz Yamada throughout the season.  Now, with Lupin’s season on the line to score Adachi to tie the game, but then Yano made an aggressive “mistake” and got thrown out at third base to end the inning.

“I thought I might have messed up big-time,” Yano said.

But fans could at least breathe more easily in the sense that the game was extended into the tenth, where, once again, Naha touched Kichida and fellow reliever Tadao Harada for another run to put Lupin down a run with only three outs to go.

Munakata struck out, but then Kazuma Yamada, the team’s silent star who posted a .524/.655/.714 line in the playoffs, fought off nine pitches to walk.  When pinch hitter Sosa Kiyomizu flew out to deep center, the team was, once again down to its last out with Kuniyoshi Kato at the plate.  Kato had a stellar season, but had struggled all playoff.  This time, though, Kato drove a 1-1 pitch to the wall in right-center for a resounding triple, and once again the game was tied.

Here came the 11^th.

Middle reliever Motonobu Hirano set the Shisa down in order in the top of the inning.  After a fly out, Yano redeemed his base-running blunder by doubling to the center field wall.  Then Koyama popped out, to set-up Munakata’s fateful single that dribbled through the infield.  Yano made the turn at third and ran like the wind, crossing the plate without a throw.

And with that the Lupin fans went crazy, chanting and throwing hats and foam bats and crying … and on the field the players buried Yano under a human pile of celebration.

“Sure,” Adachi said afterward, “We know we’ve got another series.  But this was important.  This was a statement.  We find ways to win where no one sees them.  This team deserved that moment of celebration.  We’ll be okay, though.  Give us a day and we’ll be back to the moment.”

So, yeah.  The Lupin Cliff Hangers are playing for the Neo-Tokyo Cup.

Who would have thunk it?