Baseball: A Two-Way Player

Chapter 689 29: Explosive Heat, Part 2

The last time a perfect game appeared in Major League Baseball was five years ago in the 2012 season; that season saw four no-hitters and three perfect games, but since then, no one has achieved this feat.

Five years later, on June 21, 2017, during his rookie season in the Major League, Lin Guanglai accomplished what numerous legendary pitchers could not, truly achieving a supreme accomplishment that will be etched in the history of world baseball development.

Tonight, the MLB programs are proceeding orderly, but the frenzy sparked by Lin Guanglai and his perfect game has already spread rapidly, reaching every corner of the United States faster than a virus.

The most direct consequence of achieving such a feat is the rapid rise in Lin Guanglai's ranking in the All-Star voting—

Before this perfect game, he ranked third in the American League's starting list, with a high probability of being selected as an American League starter, trailing only Aaron Judge and Mike Trout in votes, but there was still a considerable gap between him and the two.

On the overall league list, his ranking wasn't particularly high, roughly in a slightly above-average position, with stars like Buster Posey and Nolan Arenado ahead of him.

Of course, we must not forget Lin Guanglai's old friend, Bryce Harper:

This North American domestic super talent, hailed as the "savior of American baseball" before making his debut, quickly rose after joining the major leagues, becoming a starting mainstay for the Washington Nationals at 19 and gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated, winning the MVP title before 23.

Over the years, Harper's jersey sales have consistently ranked in the top five nationwide, and he single-handedly boosted the attendance of the Nationals multiple times, bringing substantial economic benefits to the previously lukewarm team.

This year's All-Star voting sees Harper leading with an overwhelming margin; the gap between him and the second place is larger than the votes of several other players combined.

Within 24 hours of the Yankees vs. Angels game ending, the fan votes supporting Lin Guanglai's selection as an All-Star starter surged at an abnormal speed, skyrocketing upwards as if on a space rocket:

When the Yankees returned to New York after their Midwest trip with an excellent record of 7 wins and 3 losses in 10 games, Lin Guanglai's votes had already surpassed the star players from numerous teams, positioning him right behind Bryce Harper—that is to say, one perfect game forcibly elevated Lin Guanglai to the vote king in the American League, showing its impressive impact.

The long-term road trip poses a tremendous challenge to both physical and mental stamina; despite a rocky start, the Yankees gradually adapted later in the schedule, easing the burden on Girardi considerably:

This year is the last year of Girardi's 4-year contract with the Yankees; even though he led the team to win the 2009 World Series Championship as a meritorious coach, the poor performance in previous years casts a shadow over his future—Girardi knows he needs better results this season to earn a new contract extension.

After flying back and forth across the United States for almost half a month, when the plane landed in New York, the Yankees players felt endless fatigue; they said goodbye individually after disembarking, ready to rest during the All-Star Game break.

But for Lin Guanglai, he has no such respite: In addition to heading to Miami next week for the All-Star Game, he needs to use this time to handle business matters well.

Thanks to Nomura Katsuhiko and his team's efforts, many related sponsorship contract negotiations have been finalized; naturally, Lin Guanglai needs to collaborate with the brand to begin promotions—especially given he just pitched a perfect game, not leveraging this massive buzz would be a disservice to the sponsorship fees paid by the brand.

In Nomura Katsuhiko's vision, the coming years will be Lin Guanglai's rising phase; he firmly believes Lin Guanglai has the potential and ability to become a world-class baseball superstar;

As an agent, he must utilize commercial partnerships to publicize Lin Guanglai, translating his outstanding on-field performance into tangible commercial value and fame—to achieve this, cooperation with domestic American brands is indispensable.

After deconstructing the competition and daily needs for equipment of Dual Swordsmanship players, Nomura Katsuhiko, after consulting with the player himself, made the following choices for Lin Guanglai:

For pitching/fielding gloves, they retained the partnership with Mizuno; Lin Guanglai will continue using top custom Mizuno gloves for games in the coming years, and Mizuno promised to create a new mold during the offseason, attempting to establish an independent product line.

As the player's value soars, the price for a glove sponsorship alone now rivals the all-inclusive price during Lin Guanglai's Nihon Professional Baseball period.