From the Star, here's Eric Hinske's impression of Japan and its place in the world of baseball.
Geoff Baker cites "talk over the years of staging a showdown between the World Series and Japanese League winners to declare a global champion" and is apparently serious: "But the question remains whether individual Japanese clubs have the pitching depth to compete with a World Series champion."
Hinske tried, diplomatically, to provide the reporter with the answer to that brain-twister.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20021207012627999