Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 458 - 82: Unrivaled Spotlight

"Boss, one copy of today’s newspaper, please." At the newsstand outside the entrance of the Shinkansen, a middle-aged man in a suit placed some change into the cash box with one hand and received the freshly printed daily paper from the silver-haired vendor with the other, before turning around to rejoin the rush hour crowd.

For the office workers of Japan, reading the day’s news during the Shinkansen commute has almost become a habit ingrained in their bones; if a person in society doesn’t know what major events happened the previous day, even chatting with colleagues could lead to confusion, and over time, they might find themselves isolated.

After roughly skimming through the economy and politics sections, Yamamoto, who managed to find a vacant seat when other passengers disembarked, quickly seized the opportunity to sit down, then turned the newspaper to his favorite sports section.

Born in Okayama Prefecture, Yamamoto has been a die-hard Yomiuri Giants fan since childhood. When he first started forming memories, his father took him to the outfield stands of the Tokyo Dome to cheer for the Giant Army with fellow fans;

Later, when he entered high school and became the starting shortstop for the school baseball team, he also dreamed of representing the Giant Team in a game; even now, choosing to move solo to work at the company’s Tokyo headquarters had some considerations in this regard.

Although he had already learned the score of yesterday’s Central League climax match through his phone, Yamamoto’s long-standing habit still had him savoring the insights of professional baseball commentators alone.

But to Yamamoto’s surprise, all the news about the Giants and Hiroshima Toyo match was pushed to the bottom half of the page; whereas, in the usual Yomiuri Giants-dedicated headline space, there was a huge, impactful title spanning the entire page.

[The End of an Unbeaten Legend! SoftBank’s Lin Guanglai Strikes Down the King with a Dream Triple!!!]

At the moment he saw this headline, Yamamoto felt as if he’d seen a ghost, suddenly springing from his seat in disbelief, staring at the newspaper he had crumpled to bits.

Feeling the annoyed stares of those around him, Yamamoto repeatedly bowed his head in apology, then sat back down, forcing himself to calm his internal storm before reading carefully:

"[Rakuten Tanaka suffers a historic defeat... 24-game winning streak halted! The unbeaten myth ends amidst the mournful cries of Miyagi Stadium.]"

"On a September afternoon, the cheers at Sendai Miyagi Stadium seemed frozen: in the first match of the climax series, Tanaka Masahiro (25), an absolute ace with a 24-game undefeated streak leading up to this match, confronted Lin Guanglai, who played this game as a dual swordsman for the third time during the sixth inning, with two outs and bases loaded."

"Under the watchful eyes of over twenty thousand pairs, an inside fastball was perfectly caught. The white ball soared through Miyagi’s afternoon sky, mercilessly flying towards the right field stands—a grand slam worth 4 runs. The scoreboard’s ’0-3’ cruelly flickered to ’0-7’, and Tanaka’s head drooped deeply [see image below]"

"’It’s completely my responsibility. My pitching put the team in a desperate situation.’ After the game, Tanaka repeatedly apologized in pained tones during interviews."

"As for the choice of that last inside high fastball during their third confrontation, Tanaka candidly admitted: ’I knew the opponent is particularly adept at hitting inside pitches, and I also knew I must avoid the sweet spot—but regarding that inside pitch, I believed my choice was correct. Whether it’s the buildup leading to this pitch, its speed, or its quality, everything was at its best; if it got hit, it can only be attributed to the opponent’s exceptional ability.’"

"The one to shatter Tanaka’s unbeaten myth and create this historic moment is SoftBank Team rookie Lin Guanglai (18), who at just 18 years old, is in his first season with the team."

"After the game, having achieved the feat of 3 home runs and a complete game shutout in the 6th inning, Lin Guanglai expressed his views on the game during the heroes’ interview: ’Tanaka is an absolute ace, possibly the strongest in Japan right now—I told myself there’s no backing down against him! I just had faith in all the training I’ve done so far, determined the target I wanted to hit, and swung with all my might.’"

"After the game, Rakuten Manager Hoshino Senichi (66) wore a stern expression: ’This is a trial for him. Baseball is such a game; sometimes it’s not because we’re not good enough, but simply because the opponent was better. There’s no need to act as if it’s the end of the world—in the end, the series is only tied 1-1.’

’What the team needs to do now is figure out how to support him in getting back on his feet—this is something that requires the collective effort of the entire team, and I believe they can do it.’"

...

"In the Nippon Professional Baseball, which is known for strong pitching and light hitting, the achievement of ’three consecutive at-bat home runs’ is already quite rare. Considering yesterday’s game, only four players have ever accomplished such a feat—Tomonori Kanemoto, Atsunori Inaba, Greg LaRocca—and now Lin Guanglai has joined their ranks, being the youngest among them."