Baseball: A Two-Way Player

"Hirao Toshitaka, what's your take on this hit?"

"It's outta here, it's outta here!!! The baseball flew out! Three-run homer!"

"Nihon University, leading by 4 runs—they're getting closer to their school's first victory at Shengong!"

...

"Top of the ninth inning, two outs, three balls and two strikes, full count—Yoshinaga Kentarou, the ace pitcher of Nihon University, can he do it?"

"The batter swings and misses! Struck out!"

"Nihon University, for the first time in history, conquers Shengong, achieved!!!!!!!"

The excited shouts of the game commentator echoed in the room full of people. Oshima Takakou picked up the remote control in his hand and lightly touched the pause button, bringing the sound to an abrupt halt.

The scene frozen on the large TV screen at this moment was the very moment when Nihon University won at Shengong Stadium—the image showed the team's captain and ace, Yoshinaga Kentarou, exuding towering confidence, raising his hands high as teammates surged up from behind him and from the sidelines, capturing the exuberant spirit of youth.

Standing on the stage at the front of the room, Oshima Takakou, the current president of the Japan High School Baseball Federation, scanned the audience with his gaze: including himself on stage, 60 people were present today—if there were any elderly reporters on site, they would undoubtedly be astonished by the identities of these people.

Among them, some had served as presidents of various prefectural high school baseball federations, while others held positions of department head or higher at the Daily News and NHK—yet here and now, regardless of where they were from and no matter their prestigious status, all those present shared a common name:

Members of the selection committee for the 83rd Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament.

"First, I'd like to thank everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to participate in the activities of the selection committee—I know you all have many things to attend to at work, so I won't be long-winded."

"Over the past year, various competitions in Japanese high school baseball have continued to flourish, not only has Summer甲 achieved its highest ratings in recent years, but there have also been many young players full of talent—I think everyone, as practitioners, should be satisfied with such a result."

"So let's get straight to the point, how should the teams for Senbatsu be chosen?"

As the current president of the Japan High School Baseball Federation, Oshima Takakou unavoidably took on the responsibilities of the chief adjudicator of this edition's Senbatsu selection committee—the 2010 season of Takano Ren had ended, and it was time to look ahead to the following year's events; with Senbatsu being the first national competition of the 2011 season, it was naturally the focal point of this meeting.

According to previous arrangements, the lineup for the Senbatsu teams would be announced at the end of January; the 60 individuals present were the ultimate judges deciding which schools could make the candidate list to advance to the Spring Koshien.

On the whiteboard behind Oshima Takakou, various situations from regional competitions were already outlined, generally allocating 28 schools for selection, one slot for Shengong Slot, and three for the 21st Century Slot.

"Let's proceed according to the previous rules—those who win the regional autumn tournaments automatically qualify for Senbatsu participation, does anyone disagree with this proposal?"

To this, none of the dozens of people in the room raised objections, expressing their attitudes by shaking their heads: if even the strongest teams from autumn didn't qualify for Spring Koshien, it would be quite laughable.

"Very well, let's move onto the next agenda—the slot for Shengong, what does everyone think?" asked Oshima Takakou.

Unlike the previous unanimous situation, when Oshima Takakou raised this question, the whole venue exploded as if it were an oil-and-water mixture, with huge disagreements emerging among the judges.

"Without a doubt, Waseda Jitsugyo—if the strongest school in the autumn tournament goes to spring, the second strongest should naturally get this slot."

"I think the slot should go to National Academy Kugayama—as an esteemed school, shouldn't it be expected for Waseda Jitsugyo to win the quasi-championship? Instead, it's National Academy Kugayama, a team with average strength but having created great achievements in the autumn tournament, that deserves the slot. This reflects the humanistic care of Takano Ren…"

"Is it expected for a prestigious school to win the quasi-championship? Such statements are simply too absurd—how can you not consider the situation where Waseda Jitsugyo's strength declined after the third-year retirees? Achieving the quasi-championship in this context fully demonstrates their level."

"Is National Academy Kugayama really much worse? You should know their opponents in the previous rounds were much stronger than those faced by Waseda Jitsugyo—if not for the huge consumption, they even fully have the strength to overturn Waseda Jitsugyo."

"Such baseless conjectures are simply a waste of time—if these two teams hadn't faced each other, I might reluctantly agree with your statement, but the reality is Waseda Jitsugyo won the direct confrontation with National Academy Kugayama, which is an undeniable objective fact! Are we to let the loser replace the winner to compete in Koshien? Then where is the fairness of Takano Ren's events?"

"But I'd like to remind you, the final score of that match was merely 1:0—in the case of completely unequal recruitment resources, I believe National Academy Kugayama's performance already transcends winning or losing. When did the Koshien event become a haven of meritocracy? Shouldn't we care more about the content of the game itself than the outcome?"

"But Waseda Jitsugyo has an exceptional star player like Lin Guanglai—such a remarkable young player, both in appearance and skill, plays an incredibly positive role in promoting the Koshien event and showcasing our achievements in player development, and National Academy Kugayama falls far short in this regard!"