ohtani was his league's m.v.p.name: the fighters are owned by nippon ham, makers of japan's best-selling sausages. and while, yes, the name resists serious treatment, the team itself is widely regarded as the most innovative in the league. manager hideki kuriyama leads the fighters, also the former team of yu darvish, now an ace for the texas rangers. can you compare this to anything you've seen? >> hideki kuriyama ( translated ): no. never seen anything like it. never. >> wertheim: what's it like having a player who's your best pitcher and also your best hitter? >> kuriyama ( translated ): he's so talented, it's really tough to use him the right way, with the right balance. >> wertheim: if you thought "moneyball"-- the practice of using baseball data over intuition- contorted a manager's conventional thinking, try overseeing a two-way player. kuriyama's formula? he pitches ohtani on sundays then bats him the rest of the week, with a day or two off before each start. distractions are to be kept to a m