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During my morning reading yesterday, I came across this piece of news on Hardball Talk: this past Saturday night, the Yomiuri Giants beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to win the Japan Series. This was the Giants' record 22nd title. Why is this something I'm mentioning to you? Because on the Giants are two former Phillies, Scott Mathieson and John Bowker. Mathieson was drafted by the Phillies in 2002 and after spending parts of three seasons with the major league club, he was released a year ago to go play in Japan. That apparently worked out pretty well for him. Bowker wasn't so much a player as he was a perpetual out machine. The Phillies picked him up at the end of August 2011 to be a pinch hitter, and the man literally batted .000. So of course, Bowker received an Outstanding Player Award at the conclusion of the Japan Series.
The theme of this offseason is: Former Phillies find glory with the Giants. Is it March yet?