The oldest, most popular and wealthiest team in Japan, the Yomiuri Giants have succeeded in buying themselves more pennants and Japan Series victories than any other team.

Much like the George Steinbrenner Yankees, the Tsuneo Watanabe Giants spare no expense to purchase big-name free agents and then ruthlessly tear them down when they don't live up to expectations. And like the Turner Broadcasting Braves, the Yomiuri media empire uses its two newspapers, one sports tabloid and various airwaves to relentlessly keep "Japan's team" in the public eye and ear.

Some of the best Japanese players of all time have worn Yomiuri's orange and black uniforms, including home run king Sadaharu Oh, legendary pitcher Eiji Sawamura, Russian-born hurler Victor Starfin and .314 lifetime batter Tetsuharu Kawakami. One of the best pitchers of the 1980s, Suguru Egawa now hosts a nightly sports program while five-time MVP Shigeo Nagashima manages the Giants.

Re-hired with hope that his popularity might boost waning public interest in the team, Nagashima has repeatedly proven himself the most incompetent manager in Japan. But that doesn't seem to matter to his millions of admirers--even if he stumbles, fumbles and bumbles, they will come.

Today's Giants are a confused team. With plenty of young talent sitting on the sidelines and bottlenecked on the team's minor league squad, the Giants have proven either unwilling or unable to develop their prospects. Instead of giving the kids a chance, Yomiuri's management routinely spends big bucks to fill its roster with heavy-hitting free agents whose best days are behind them.

With such over the hill players as Hiromitsu Ochiai, Hiroo Ishii, Katsumi Hirosawa and Kazuhiro Kiyohara recently playing for the Giants, the Tokyo Dome often resembles a halfway house for has beens.

Also known by their Japanese name, the Kyojin have played in Japan's capital city since 1936, and moved into the Tokyo Dome in 1988. Covered with a white inflatable canopy reminiscent of the Minneapolis Metrodome, the enormous gas bag earned the nickname "Big Egg" because of its resemblance to one of the two most common objects to pass through a chicken's exhaust pipe. With unimpressive sight-lines, a dull atmosphere, and mediocre sound, probably the best place to watch a Giants game is on TV.

At Yomiuri home games, you'll likely see the team's idiotic mascot, a half Y & G logo, half rabbit. The odd creature goes by the name "Giabbit" (Pronounced "Jabbit").