Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 380 - 29: The Roadblock

"Strikeout!"

"Strikeout!"

"Strikeout!"

"Lin Guanglai! Faced with the heart of the Ham Team’s batting order, he delivers 3 consecutive strikeouts again—two straight half innings, Lin Guanglai, 6 consecutive strikeouts! His touch today is blisteringly hot!"

"My God, is this really at a high school level? Even Matsuzaka Daisuke and Yu Darvish were no more than this when they first entered professional baseball!"

In the broadcast booth at Sapporo Dome, the commentator responsible for the match has had his jaw dropped in astonishment, unable to express the turbulent emotions in his heart except through words; the guest commentator sitting next to him, who leans more towards the home team, doesn’t know what to say. Remaining silent is the last courtesy he can extend.

It wasn’t just the guest commentator who was silent, but also the tens of thousands of spectators present today at Sapporo Dome—on the stands in all directions, the initial momentum from the opening of the game had gradually dissipated, leaving only a few SoftBank fans who traveled with the team still cheering.

The Ham Team’s fans count among the more civilized fan groups in Nippon Professional Baseball, coupled with the fact that there’s no big rivalry between these two teams—if the game being held now was between the Giants and Hanshin, the first concern for these celebrating away fans in the stands would probably be how to safely leave the stadium.

After being struck out by Lin Guanglai, the sixth batter of the Ham Team, Michel Abreu, returned angrily to the dugout with his bat, then threw the bat aside forcefully and slammed the wall with his hand, cursing:

"Mierda!!!" (Spanish for "Damn it," similar in meaning to "F**k")

As a foreign player who just joined the Ham Team earlier this year, although the team’s performance is average, Abreu’s personal form has been quite outstanding—during the opening match against Seibu, he hit his first home run in Nippon Professional Baseball in the third game of the series off Seibu’s pitcher Tokinoko Ken, effectively shattering their dream of a shutout, securing an important role in the heart of the lineup in just three games.

Abreu’s anger has its reasons: as a player without much of a track record, his current annual salary is only 20 million yen, which is one of the lowest among foreign players, always at risk of being replaced.

Having fled from Cuba, Abreu previously developed his career in the United States but failed to make much of his name; he chose to come to Japan largely because the teams here offer generous pay—he’s counting on making a name for himself this season to earn a raise!

Precisely because of this, Abreu found it hard to accept that, as someone who’s been in great batting form recently, he was struck out by the high schooler Lin Guanglai—since for players like him, every at-bat is crucially linked to their "money path" and leaves no room for error!

Not only was Abreu upset, but the other Ham Team batters whom Lin Guanglai struck out felt equally sour:

Already affected by their recent poor performance, the team’s morale wasn’t high, but facing SoftBank, whose recent form was equally poor, Lin Guanglai struck down six consecutive Ham Team batters, not allowing them on base, nor even a chance to hit the ball in play.

Though they were aware their opponent wasn’t any ordinary high schooler, they still had seasoned sluggers like Kotono Eiichi, Sho Nakata, and Atsunori Inaba in their lineup, yet they were still powerless against Lin, making these veteran players feel thoroughly embarrassed.

Fortunately, starting pitcher Masaru Nakamura’s performance was fairly good today; except for the run conceded in the top of the first inning, his performance was almost impeccable—soon in the top of the third inning, with a combination of breaking balls continually inducing pop flies and weak grounders from SoftBank batters, he achieved a three-up, three-down to boost the team’s morale while maintaining a 1-run deficit.

As the game entered the bottom of the third inning, Lin Guanglai took the mound once more; this time facing the Ham Team’s lower batting order.

The first to step into the batter’s box preparing to hit was the Ham Team’s starting shortstop, Keiji Iribe.

Known by his nickname "Defense Professional," he’s a team-oriented player whose defense surpasses his offense, showing plenty of fighting spirit but lacking capability in batting.

Off the field, Keiji Iribe is humble and earnest, actively engaged in charitable works and considered a "model of student baseball." Lin Guanglai respects such a senior with excellent baseball and character.

Therefore, in this upcoming at-bat, he expressed his respect for Iribe with what he considered his highest art of etiquette, that was to strike him out with all his might.

A high fastball in the strike zone, a precisely placed slider on the outside corner of the strike zone for right-handed batters, followed by Lin Guanglai’s favorite forkball for the finish—even the strong defensive and weak offensive Keiji Iribe couldn’t touch the baseball, quickly stepping into the same path as the previous 6 hitters of his team.

"Lin Guanglai! It’s his 7th strikeout of the match! And his 7th consecutive strikeout!" The announcer exclaimed as Sapporo Dome’s stands grew ever more silent.

"Seven consecutive strikeouts in a single match—this is already the third-highest record in Nippon Professional Baseball history, now only 6 people are ahead of Lin Guanglai: 4 with 8 consecutive strikeouts, 2 with 9 consecutive strikeouts."

"And this night belongs to Lin Guanglai, who still has the chance to create new history! We wonder if we have the opportunity to witness him tie the record or even, more aggressively, become the first player ever to bring the consecutive strikeout record into double digits in Nippon Professional Baseball?"

"Of course, because of the unique nature of baseball, this task is not as easy as imagined—as an example right now, if Lin Guanglai wants to continue his march towards the records, he must defeat his next opponent, who is both familiar and unfamiliar to him..."

"Run forward fearlessly, the legend begins here!"

"Come on, pour everything into it; advance, lock on target!"

"Fly high! Ohtani!"

"Towards the shores of dreams!"

Before the announcer finished his words, his voice was almost drowned by the songs of the fans at the scene—as Shohei Ohtani left the on-deck circle and slowly walked into the field, the stands at Sapporo Dome, which had been silent, suddenly seemed to awaken.

Indeed, SoftBank has Lin Guanglai, but what of it?

We, Japan Ham Team, have our own Dual Swordsmanship Ohtani Shohei!

If there’s really someone who can stop Lin Guanglai from advancing to create history, the Ham Team fans have reason to believe that person will be Shohei Ohtani—for this youth standing in the batter’s box ready to hit, they are full of confidence!

The cheering momentum from the stands grew louder, as the entire stadium was revived to its feverish state as at the start of the game; on the pitcher’s mound, Lin Guanglai stared directly at Shohei Ohtani in front of him, his eyes resolute.