Baseball: A Two-Way Player

After the final of the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament ended, the players couldn't wait and boarded the first Shinkansen the next morning, bringing the Koshien victory flag and shield back to Tokyo, and into the trophy room of the Waseda Industrial Baseball Club.

The saying "success isn't complete without returning home, like wearing a brocade robe while walking at night" probably describes this feeling — from the moment they returned to Tokyo, this batch of Waseda Jitsugyo players truly experienced what Koshien victory meant to their hometown.

Upon returning to Tokyo, to commemorate the school's reclaiming of the Senbatsu victory after 54 years, the Waseda Jitsugyo school had already prepared a grand celebration banquet for the baseball club — throughout the banquet, a production crew related to the Daily News followed along, collecting interesting stories and touching moments for the "Our Koshien" program, either to serve as the main course of the show or as highlights, for all those interested in the stories behind the Senbatsu winning team.

When the triumphant bus arrived at the campus gate, the then principal of Waseda Industries, Watanabe Shigeo, personally came out to welcome the school's heroes home, and received the victory flag and shield from Lin Guanglai and Kenshu Yasuda, respectively; they posed together for a commemorative photo;

Also present at the celebration were alumni who had already graduated — Onoda Shunsuke, Tsuchiya Ryota, Suzuki Kensuke... Compared to their time in the baseball club, these predecessors had grown out their hair, no longer possessing the youthful appearance from their days in the club.

Seeing these familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar faces in front of him, Lin Guanglai felt his eyes moisten slightly, feeling so happy he almost wanted to cry.

The former captain of the baseball club, also one of the seniors who took care of Lin Guanglai the most, Suzuki Kensuke looked enviously at the blue-purple Senbatsu victory flag, feeling infinite emotions in his heart and said:

"How amazing, Guanglai! The dream of nationwide dominance has really come true!"

"We seniors are truly proud of you!"

"You've grown into a remarkable baseball player!"

Beside him, Tsuchiya Ryota familiarly put his arm around Lin Guanglai's shoulder, then grabbed his neck, patting his back while laughing heartily, said:

"What we seniors couldn't achieve, Guanglai, you did — you truly are my valued junior!"

Holding back the tears about to fall, Lin Guanglai shook his head at the seniors in front of him, and slowly said:

"No — the promise to the seniors hasn't been fulfilled yet."

He was met with puzzled looks from everyone.

Without addressing their looks, Lin Guanglai turned his head toward Suzuki Kensuke's direction and slowly said:

"Senior Suzuki, do you remember what was the last exhibit we saw when we went to the Koshien Museum last summer?"

After saying this, Lin Guanglai did not give Suzuki Kensuke a chance to speak, but continued talking to himself

"Winning Senbatsu is great, but it's not true nationwide dominance."

At this point, Lin Guanglai paused again, as if making some determination, and said:

"This summer, the seniors should be free, right?"

"When the time comes, please come to Koshien with us!"

"Senior Suzuki, the deep crimson victory flag we couldn't hold up last summer, this year — I'll definitely let you see us hold it!"

After saying this, urged by teammates and the coach, Lin Guanglai bid farewell to the seniors before him, and then moved toward the center of the crowd.

The batch of members that had already graduated remained in place, chewing over the meaning behind their junior's words.

After the celebration banquet concluded, there was a lavish feast prepared by the school — actually, the night they won the victory, the baseball club players already enjoyed an extremely sumptuous meal; but today's was even better than before, laid before them were a variety of dishes, including some with expensive ingredients.

In such a cheerful atmosphere, it was just that high school students weren't allowed to drink; otherwise, everyone would probably be drunk to the point of losing consciousness amid many people's congratulations, just like Mr. Izumi and chief Sasaki.

As the joy of winning Senbatsu gradually faded away, from top to bottom, from the coach to the manager, to all the players, the Waseda Jitsugyo Baseball Club needed a good rest — nearly half a month of high-intensity tournaments had subjected the players to tremendous physical and mental pressure, coinciding with spring break, making everyone feel fatigued.

Therefore, when Mr. Izumi woke up from the drunkenness the next day, he waved his hand and announced a one-week suspension of training for the baseball club — during this week, the club members could live like regular students, not forced to stay on campus, and could go home every day, enjoying a relaxing high school campus life.

It was during this week that Lin Guanglai truly experienced what "star treatment" felt like.

From the moment he returned home, many neighbors came to visit one after another, surrounding his house with a bustling scene for several days; the rarely returning Lin Guanglai felt like an exotic animal kept as an attraction in a zoo;

Finally, he coped with the enthusiastic neighbors, and when he had nothing to do and wandered around, Lin Guanglai was surprised to find that shops large and small near his home were plastered with his posters:

The images printed had his graceful stance while batting, and static shots of him throwing with all his might on the pitcher's mound — what surprised him the most was that some photos were ones he had never seen before, leaving traces unknown to him at some time or years ago — this left him feeling amused.

It was as if overnight, Lin Guanglai found himself becoming a hero of the city, turning into the pride of the residents in the area — those grandparents familiar to him, having watched him grow up all the way, elevated him, like Lin Guanglai was their proud grandson.

"Mr. Lin, congratulations on winning Koshien — whether it's the perfect batting or the final pitch, it was really cool!"

"Mr. Lin, can you give me a signature? I have a friend who really likes you and wants a signed photo of yours!"

"Mr. Lin, do you have a girlfriend? If not, would you consider..."

"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin..."

Because of his height, Lin Guanglai sat at the back of the classroom, but his position couldn't help but become the focus of his classmates.

Early on during his enrollment, Lin Guanglai already drew attention from girls for his appearance; the situation only slightly improved after he fully committed to the baseball club routines;

After returning from Senbatsu, the enthusiasm of the classmates was beyond Lin Guanglai's expectations — most importantly, their behavior affected even the teachers of various subjects who started to show concern during classes:

Due to putting all his effort into baseball, Lin Guanglai's academic performance was mediocre, being neither good nor bad, which he found hard to cope with.

Faced with the fiery enthusiasm of his classmates, Lin Guanglai couldn't refuse their goodwill.

Therefore, he could only silently sigh to himself:

"Alas, this is what it feels like to become a star?"