Baseball: A Two-Way Player

October 24, 2010.

Japan, Tokyo, Shengong Second Stadium.

The 63rd Autumn Tokyo Tournament, finals, Nihon University VS Waseda Real.

On the electronic scoreboard behind the central field of Shengong Second Stadium, the relevant information of the game and the current score and situation on the field are clearly displayed.

The second half of the first inning just ended, and the score on the field is 0:5.

Nihon University attacking last, trailing in score.

In front of the players' area of Waseda, Coach Izumi Minoru crossed his arms over his chest, looking iron-faced at the players walking back from the field: most of them seemed as wilted as frostbitten eggplants, their energy and spirit completely drained.

Nihon University's attack was very fierce today, constantly pressuring Waseda's players from the first second of the game, as if intending to completely wipe out Waseda's entire team:

In the first half of the inning, during Waseda's attacking round, Yoshinaga Kentarou's pitching could be described as red hot, striking out Waseda's three lead-off batters consecutively with a total of only 14 pitches—keep in mind, Waseda's top three were a strong lineup composed of Shigetsugu, Manabe, and Yasuda, the main players from Summer甲, who couldn't even swing the bat against Yoshinaga.

When it came to Nihon University's own offensive round, their momentum was even more intense: starting from the first batter, Takayama Shun, Nihon University's top lineup struck four consecutive hits without any explanation—Uchida Saint, today's starting pitcher, hadn't even warmed up before giving up two earned runs.

After painstakingly cooperating through defense to get two outs, the seventh batter, Kaneko Rei, in his first swing of the first at-bat in the entire game, sent the ball outside the field—Lin Guanglai chased it all the way from central to right field, but could only watch the baseball fly onto the stands amid the cheers of most of the spectators.

A three-run home run, Nihon University added three more points, bringing the score instantly to 5:0.

Returning to the players' area, the team members were somewhat downcast, complaining to their teammates:

Our side hasn't fully got into the game but Nihon University just soared in place—from the first inning, we're down by five points, and Uchida Saint isn't the type of pitcher who strikes out, which suddenly makes the following contest a lot tougher.

Watching his teammates' dejected looks, Lin Guanglai, who ran back from right field, stood in front of his own coach and spoke in a pleading tone:

"Coach, please let me go pitch, I..."

"No way." Without any hesitation, even before Lin Guanglai finished his sentence, Izumi Minoru firmly denied his idea.

Then Izumi Minoru turned his head, comforting Uchida Saint, who was somewhat dizzy from Nihon University's offense, in a calm tone, "Saint, try to manage your stamina, aim to pitch the complete game today."

After pitching eleven innings in yesterday's game, Lin Guanglai felt some discomfort in his right arm—in the company of Minister Sasaki, he went to the hospital for an examination, where the doctor said it was muscle fatigue.

Since summer and until now, almost half a year has passed, Lin Guanglai hasn't lacked games, and his training volume is among the highest in the team—after all, he is still a child not fully developed, and such high-intensity games have awakened warning signals in his body.

After receiving an accurate answer from the doctor, Lin Guanglai's pitching training and games were temporarily stopped unilaterally by Coach Izumi Minoru: when he gets a doctor's permit, that's when he can return to the pitcher's mound—it surely won't be less than ten days to two weeks of rest.

Without Lin Guanglai's suppression on the mound, Izumi Minoru was already mentally prepared for the result of this game—compared to the player's own future, the outcome of a game, the entry rights of Shengong Tournament, or even the entry rights of Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament, aren't particularly important.

Seeing the coach's indifferent attitude, clearly not agreeing to let him climb the mound, Lin Guanglai had to give up; but as the main player, even if he couldn't pitch as a pitcher, he still had the identity of a hitter to contribute to the team.

All the games in the Autumn Tournament adopt a "mercy rule" system, 10 points in 5 innings or 7 points in 7 innings, the game will end early—Nihon University slashed five points in just a half-inning, with their excellent condition today, wanting to continue to add points, ending the game early is not a difficult task.

But Lin Guanglai didn't want such a result—he isn't unable to accept failure, he just can't accept this kind of failure.

If coming all the way with great difficulty only to play five innings with the opponent and get swept away, receiving the opponent's symbolic consolation of "you played well," then what is the meaning of such a baseball game?

No matter what the final result of the game is, at least, at least they have to play the full nine innings against Nihon University, right?

With this mindset, Lin Guanglai, as the main player, gathered all his teammates from the players' area, expressing his thoughts:

"Listen, everyone, let's not dwell on the game that's passed, look ahead!"

"Nihon University is coming on strong today, their strength is considerable, at least much stronger than us now."

"Don't worry about how many points they scored—let's step onto the field, focus on the ball, and then swing your bat!"

"Let's start with simple things, hitting a single, scoring 1 point, holding one half inning scoreless."

"We didn't beat so many teams to come here just to be side characters for the opponents—if we're in the finals to only play five or seven innings and then get swept, what's the meaning of such a match?"

"Don't worry about so much, think about how we trained, how we did in previous games—and then go onto the field and do the same things."

"Not matter the result, I think we won't have any regrets in the end!"

Although the opponent was strong, Lin Guanglai would not, nor would any player of Waseda, want to be lambs waiting to be slaughtered on the chopping board; they wouldn't want to play only 5 innings in the Tokyo Tournament finals, going back with 0 points, forever nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

Organized by Lin Guanglai, everyone placed their hands together, then fiercely swung them into the sky; while waving their arms, they also cheered for the team with their loudest voices.

"Now, with the first inning over, Nihon University is in excellent form today, scoring five in one half inning, fully demonstrating the potential of this new team—just as I've said many times before, this Nihon University definitely has the strength to become Koshien champions."

"Probably affected by yesterday's marathon game, Waseda's coach Izumi Minoru didn't choose to let Lin Guanglai start pitching today—this is the biggest difference between the first-year Lin Guanglai and the third-year Yoshinaga Kentarou: a pitcher whose body hasn't fully developed is very difficult to endure the intensity of Takano Ren games; and coincidentally, after the third-year retirement at Waseda, a vacuum appeared in the pitcher reserves."

"Top of the second inning, the lead batter for Waseda is the fourth batter, Lin Guanglai—can this boy, who has created so many miracles, respond to the team's call once again?"