Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 461 - 83: Do-or-Die Battle (Part 2)

At this moment, Lin Guanglai approached him, self-recommending and expressing his desire to start in the fourth game, which, to some extent, aligned with Akiyama Koji’s own thoughts.

In his room, Akiyama Koji discussed deeply with Lin Guanglai, considering the data the coaching team held regarding players’ physical conditions and game status. After confirming that Lin’s physical condition was fine, Akiyama Koji announced his decision at the team’s meeting later:

"Today’s heavy rain has given us a moment to catch our breath—but I think everyone should know, being down 1:3, we have no retreat in every upcoming match!"

"Tomorrow’s game, Guanglai expressed his wish to start as the pitcher, and I, as the manager, have agreed. A young man who hasn’t even played a year in professional baseball has such awareness and confidence—are you, veterans who have been with me for years, not even equal to him?"

"In tomorrow’s game, Guanglai will only appear as a pitcher, and I’ve limited him to a maximum of 100 pitches—as his teammates, you know what you should do, don’t you?"

"Since we’re already in a tight spot, don’t focus on the score numbers—treat every upcoming match as the last game of the season and show all of your abilities!"

In the meeting room, other players of the SoftBank First Team first looked at the manager in front, then focused their gaze on Lin Guanglai among the crowd—soon, a massive roar exploded in the room.

"Yes! Manager! We’ll definitely complete the mission!"

Watching this team’s morale slightly rise, Akiyama Koji nodded gently—hmm, morale is usable!

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Monday, October 21, 2013.

Due to it being a workday, today’s Miyagi Stadium appeared somewhat deserted; however, there’s still some time before the game starts, and once the game truly begins, it’s expected that many office workers will rush to the scene after work to watch—after all, for professional baseball fans in Miyagi Prefecture and even the entire Tohoku Region, today might be the day they witness history.

Since its founding in 2006, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, the youngest team in Nippon Professional Baseball history, is now just one victory away from advancing to Japan’s Number One for the first time in history, fulfilling a long-standing wish for the entire Tohoku Region.

After securing two consecutive victories, standing at a historical junction, the Rakuten players naturally reached their peak state, and the pre-game training today filled manager Hoshino Senichi with endless confidence.

Hearing that SoftBank sought a fighting chance by letting Lin Guanglai return a day earlier, this, in Hoshino Senichi’s view, was undoubtedly a foolish move:

It’s crucial to know Lin Guanglai, with his Dual Swordsmanship, didn’t rest for a full 4 days like other pitchers; in the third game of the series, he played 5 innings as a designated hitter until the score gap widened before being substituted.

In other words, a starter resting for 4 days might recover about 80-90%, but Lin Guanglai’s current status, conservatively estimated by Hoshino, is at most around 60% of his peak.

A fully-rested Lin Guanglai was challenging for us Rakuten to hit, but can one at around 60% still block us?

No way, absolutely no way!

Not to mention, young pitchers’ bodies aren’t fully developed yet, and rashly returning could easily cause shoulder and elbow strain injuries; taking such a huge risk for a destined loss and ignoring a lottery ticket worth billions—what else is this but foolishness?

Leaving aside innate team positions, as a respected veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball, Hoshino Senichi actually appreciates Lin Guanglai: young with strong talent, contributing remarkably in his rookie season—a player like this will surely become a pillar in Nippon Professional Baseball and even in Asian baseball in the future.

Therefore, such a level of talent must not perish in this game—Hoshino Senichi’s way of appreciating Lin Guanglai is by demanding his own batters to show more aggressiveness in today’s game, striving to get Lin Guanglai off the mound early.

As the sky gradually darkened, the lights at Miyagi Stadium instantly lit up—under the radiant incandescent lights, the Rakuten starting players, fully warmed up, took to the field.

Behind them on the stands remained a fervent sea of red, with fans holding various support items and banners, faces filled with excitement as if impatiently waiting to witness their team advance to Japan’s Number One.

Rumor has it Miyagi’s government deployed a large number of police officers to maintain order, fearing any incidents from overly excited fans after Rakuten’s potential advancement.

With a call from the head umpire, the curtain for the fourth game of the Pacific League climax series final round officially opened—just like the previous games, the visiting SoftBank attacked first, while the home team Rakuten defended.

After using up the team’s three major aces in the first three games, with a significant lead, Hoshino Senichi employed the most conventional yet reliable strategy for starting pitcher selection:

He sent out this year’s 23-year-old left-handed pitcher Kaina Ryota, a control-type mid-rotation starter—during the regular season, he appeared in 11 games, achieving 3 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 4.42, which seemed mediocre, but his characteristic was a good inning-eating ability, calm demeanor, and less prone to breakdowns—making him a fitting choice at this moment.

Hoshino Senichi’s instructions to him were simple, not requiring heroics like the three aces to decide the game outcome, just try to eat 4 to 5 innings and keep the score tied or slightly behind; the rest was left to the bullpen setup and closing pitchers. Considering various potential scenarios, Hoshino even brought Tanaka Masahiro over today.

Perhaps due to the situation, SoftBank’s batters appeared somewhat impatient today; especially realizing they faced Kaina Ryota, whose apparent strength wasn’t remarkable, their willingness to swing increased.

This outcome turned out to be beneficial for the Rakuten Team:

First bat Nakamura Akira, ground ball towards third base, out;

Second bat Imamiya Kenta, ground ball towards second base, out;

Third bat Hasegawa Yu, high fly ball towards central field, caught and out.

At the top of the first inning, SoftBank’s offensive faced huge resistance from Rakuten’s defense, going three up and three down.

Finishing bullpen warm-ups, soon to take the field, Lin Guanglai stood at the player area entrance, comforting his returning batters; then, he raised his head, glancing around the stands at Miyagi Stadium.

After witnessing their opponents going three up, three down in the first half-inning, Rakuten fans were very satisfied with their players’ performance, continuously applauding; even above SoftBank’s stands, one could faintly hear the home team’s fans’ taunting remarks.

Seeing their excited demeanor, most of them likely believe their home team already has the victory in hand and are even starting to plan for the Japan’s Number One travel.

"But unfortunately, tonight’s game is destined to disappoint you—because I will definitely win this match!"

With this thought brimming, Lin Guanglai stepped out from the player area, striding confidently onto the mound at the center of the field.