It’s very rare that a project mixes sports and geekery with such expertise that the final product ncourages both jocks and nerds to learn more about different cultures. An Anime opening featuring the bi-annual World Series Champions of this decade does just that!

I know Laser Time rarely touches upon the topic of non-predetermined sports , but as part of LT’s small baseball fan contingent (which includes Hank and Tyler), I must share this great video I came across today, via Around the Foghorn and The San Francisco Giants’ reddit page. You may care more about the Avengers or Splatoon, but what if the World Champion San Francisco Giants were anime characters? Yeah, I’ve got your ear now, don’t I?

Above is “2014 Giants – Play The Game!”, an amazing AMV from Nat Lee, who mixes anime tropes with the drama of Major League Baseball. Will dreamy ace pitcher Madison Bamgardner accomplish his Ultimate World Series Destiny? Is owner Brian Sabean on the side of the players, or does he have ulterior motives? Is happy-go-lucky third baseman Pablo “Panda” Sandoval eating too many rice cakes? All of these questions and more are addressed in the epic opening sequence largely influenced by the anime “Major.” Want even more? Check out the darker AMV chronicling the Giants’ 2012 World Series victory, shown below!

Even as a died-in-the-wool New York Mets fan, it warms my heart to see these worlds merge (especially with copious shots of AT&T Park, which I’m visiting on an annual basis at this point thanks to living in SF). While I’d love for Major League Baseball to commission Nat to make AMVs for every world series winner in case the Mets win a title (I gotta believe the Mets can pull it off this year, especially since the Giants don’t win titles during odd years), I’ll have to settle for this almost-as-awesome music video from the last time the Mets won it all… in 1986.

Fortunately, there’s great Laser Time baseball content for you to peruse, as we played through some of the weirdest baseball games ever created, including beat-em-up Ninja Baseball Bat Man, Kinect oddity Diabolical Pitch, and the weird mash-up Nicktoons MLB, shown below!