Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 392 - 41: Like a King Returning to His Palace

[Pacific League March-April MVP Award Announced, SoftBank’s Lin Guanglai, Youngest Monthly Best Pitcher in History Honored!]

[The Heisei Monster’s Grand Impact! Is Professional Baseball a Breeze for Him?]

[39 Strikeouts in 4 Games! The King of the Highlands is Evolving into a Pro Baseball Superstar!]

"Tsk tsk, although I knew our son was a genius, from my understanding of baseball, no matter how much of a genius a young player is, they have to spend some time in the second division. I didn’t expect that not only did he start in the first division, but he also delivered this level of performance in the first month. I must say, he’s truly my son..."

Sitting in a restaurant in a hotel somewhere in Fukuoka, Lin’s father sipped his coffee while reading the newspaper report about his son and expressed such emotion.

His smug remarks earned an eye roll from his wife and daughter sitting beside him—Lin Xinglai’s face of disdain clearly reflected the feelings of the mother and daughter towards their husband/father’s narcissistic behavior.

However, thinking about seeing their son/brother, whom they hadn’t seen for a long time, that evening, the expressions on the two women’s faces became vibrant again.

The life of a professional baseball player is very busy, and Lin Guanglai, a young rookie, is even busier: from the start of the season at the end of March to the official games ending in early October, training and matches take place almost daily for over six months; if the team enters the climax series, that time is further extended.

During the off-season, there are promotional activities arranged by the team, self-training, and improvement sessions, leaving very little time for actual rest and family gatherings throughout the year.

For this reason, the Lin family of three planned this trip during Golden Week—they hadn’t seen Lin Guanglai for more than half a year, and as his family, they missed him dearly.

Time flew by, and the morning passed quickly. As night gradually fell, the game between SoftBank and Seibu was about to begin.

On the way to the Yahoo Dome, the tall, long-legged, and striking Lin Xinglai attracted the attention of many passersby; there were quite a few female fans like her coming to watch the game on-site, and among them, most were wearing Lin Guanglai’s number 21 jersey.

It can only be said that in Japan, where the idol industry is developed, the commercial value brought by a handsome and outstanding star player definitely exceeds ordinary people’s imagination—according to data from SoftBank’s marketing department, in just the first quarter, Lin Guanglai, a high school graduate, has already ranked among the top three in team merchandise sales, with consumption mainly driven by the yet-to-be-tapped potential female demographic.

The marketing department staff were even considering whether to increase promotional efforts for Lin Guanglai next quarter and make him the poster player for the fan shop.

Following the crowd into the Yahoo Dome, the Golden Week stadium was already packed, with occasional latecomers searching for their seats; beer girls weaved through the crowd in the stands.

Though there was still some time before the game started, the audience collectively fell silent; soon, the lights in the Yahoo Dome went out completely, plunging the whole stadium into darkness.

"Welcome, SoftBank fans, to Yahoo Dome!!!"

"The current segment is the 2013 Season March-April ’Japan Life Monthly MVP Award’ Ceremony!"

"Let’s warmly welcome the Monthly Best Pitcher Award recipient—"

"Lin! Guang! Lai!!!"

Soon, a beam of light illuminated the stage on the field; at the same time, a roaring cheer erupted from the over 40,000 SoftBank fans in the stands that almost blew the roof off—the tall and erect figure basking in the light was the very object of the family of three’s thoughts.

Standing on the specially prepared stage, under the scrutiny of the live audience, Lin Guanglai raised his hands high to salute the audience; he stepped down the stage with powerful strides heading towards home plate.

The spotlight followed closely, and the cheers never ceased. Watching her brother on the pitch, Lin Xinglai couldn’t help but feel this thought rising in her heart:

"Guang is now like a king returning to his realm... Indeed, he was born to belong to this red soil..."

It wasn’t until Lin Guanglai stopped at home plate that Yahoo Dome lit up again.

Receiving commemorative plaques and a 300,000 yen bonus check from the award presenters from the league and sponsors, Lin Guanglai bowed slightly, expressing his gratitude to the guests in front of him, the team’s staff, and the on-site fans supporting the team.

As the highest-ranked pick in recent years, after displaying his talent and strength in his first month in pro baseball, SoftBank naturally treated him with the highest protocol—with this award ceremony being the product of discussions in various departments of the team for some time, ensuring all specifications were top-tier for the player.

After the award ceremony ended, SoftBank’s mascot, Harry Hawk, and his family began interacting pre-game with the audience; but all the spectators knew that the award ceremony was just an appetizer—the real show was just about to start.

Today’s game was the sixth in a furious nine-game stretch during Golden Week, and the final match in the three-game series between SoftBank and Seibu—in the previous two matches, SoftBank defeated Seibu by scores of 3-1 and 7-5, surpassing the opponent by 1.5 games, trailing by 0.5 games to the Chiba Lotte Team, who also secured two consecutive wins, before the start of today’s Pacific League game.

However, in today’s earlier game, the Lotte Team lost 3-5 to the home team Orix Buffaloes at the Osaka Kyocera Dome, meaning that as long as SoftBank wins the upcoming match against Seibu Lions, they will ascend to the top of the Pacific League after suffering a hellish start of five consecutive losses!

For this reason, upon receiving news of Lotte’s loss, Akiyama Koji was immensely relieved about his previous decision to rest Lin Guanglai for ten days—as the Pacific League’s best pitcher for March and April, having Lin Guanglai on the mound in this key ranking battle gave him, as the manager, much peace of mind.

Looking at the young man warming up on the mound not far away, Akiyama Koji was filled with confidence for today’s game: he believed that after today, the top spot in the Pacific League would definitely belong to their SoftBank Team!