Congratulations to the Nippon Ham Fighters! They won their first Japanese championship in 44 years.

Fernando Seguignol hit a two-run homer and Yu Darvish went 7-1/3 strong innings Thursday as Trey Hillman's Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Chunichi Dragons 4-1 to win the Japan Series.

Seguignol, who played for the Montreal Expos from 1998 to 2001, broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run off Chunichi starter Kenshin Kawakami that just cleared the wall in right field at Sapporo Dome.

It was the second straight year that an American manager has led his team to victory in the Japan Series. The Chiba Lotte Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers last year under former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

I wonder who will be the first Japanese manager in the US?

We recently hosted a Japanese exchange student from Hokkaido, the home of the Fighters. I'll have my daughter write and get her reaction to the victory. The Fighters moved to Sapporo in 2004, since there were too many teams in the Tokyo area competing for attendance.

Update: This looks like a very big win for a poor region of Japan.