Dual pitching and hitting

Chapter 104 - 3: Across the Ocean

Chapter 104: Chapter 3: Across the Ocean

After a flight of over ten hours, most of the players traveling abroad for the first time peered through the windows: Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States, and the most prosperous city in the western U.S., was drawing nearer to them.

Putting aside its affluent economy, sunny California is also a Holy Land for sports—within the four major North American sports leagues, there are a total of 14 teams based in California:

Under the NBA, the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers all call California home;

In the NHL, the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks are all California teams;

Even in the case of football, America’s national sport, California has the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers;

Of course, as the birthplace of modern baseball, California naturally has its fair share of baseball teams:

The Los Angeles Angels, who won the World Series in 2002, currently feature Japan’s baseball icon "Godzilla" Matsui Hideki;

The San Diego Padres, though never having won a World Series, are a formidable team in the National League’s Western Division;

The San Francisco Giants are having a strong season, powered by the young superstar catcher Buster Posey and formidable pitchers "Mad Bum" Madison Bumgarner and "Young Master" Tim Lincecum, raising high hopes that this could be their first-ever World Series win in the team’s history;

And of course, there’s the Los Angeles Dodgers, famous throughout the United States and even worldwide: with five World Series championships, they have many fans, but just as many detractors;

The Dodgers also have a profound influence on Japanese and Asian baseball: fifteen years ago, it was Nomo Hideo who initiated the legendary journey of Asian players challenging the Major Leagues by signing a contract with the Dodgers after forcibly retiring from Japan.

As the plane landed smoothly, under the leadership of the coaches, the players disembarked one by one—the long journey left everyone somewhat fatigued, and their spirits were not particularly high.

In the terminal, the American personnel responsible for the exchange were already waiting—led by them, a bus full of players from across the ocean was driven from Los Angeles International Airport to the hotel near the competition site in Compton.

The plane arrived in Los Angeles in the morning—due to the need to adjust to the time difference, even though the players were very tired at this moment, they forced themselves to stay awake; it wasn’t until nightfall that everyone went back to their rooms and fell into a deep sleep.

A silent night.

The players arrived in Los Angeles on September 1st, with official games starting on the 4th, leaving plenty of time in between for the young players to adjust to the unfamiliar climate and geographical environment.

That afternoon, under the supervision of Wakayama Yu and Coach Monma Keiji, the team members began their restorative throwing, catching, and batting practice.

Due to the team bringing seven pitchers but only three catchers, Lin Guanglai took on the role of an observer outside the bullpen after finishing his warm-up—sometimes watching other excellent pitchers pitch could spark inspiration in oneself.

After observing, Lin Guanglai couldn’t help but sigh—those selected for this team were indeed the best pitchers of their age group in Japan, each showcasing their unique abilities.

Shimabukuro Hiroshi’s deep arsenal of pitches, Ichiyotai Shintaro’s fierce fastballs exceeding 150 km/h, Ikedada Jun’s special slider aimed at right-handers, Mukai Kenji’s highly variable signature curveball... Lin Guanglai, standing outside the bullpen, was nearly dazzled by what he saw.

Soon, after the first six pitchers finished their turns, it was Lin Guanglai’s time to pitch—Izumura Yasuhiko, having witnessed Lin Guanglai’s skills, volunteered eagerly to take on the role of catcher to experience partnering with him.

Outside the bullpen, besides the pitching coach responsible for recording the training status, the other six third-year pitchers stood around in twos and threes observing—not only was Lin Guanglai interested in their pitching; as senior pitchers themselves, they were also very interested in Lin Guanglai.

Standing on the mound in the bullpen, Lin Guanglai placed his fingers on the corresponding seam, then raised his hand, showing his grip to Izumura Yasuhiko squatting at the baseline:

"Senior, this pitch is a fastball, aimed at the inside corner for right-handed batters."

"Understood!" Izumura Yasuhiko raised his gloved left hand and positioned it accordingly.

Lin Guanglai nodded, then raised his front foot high and stepped forward, his lower limbs and waist working together in an instant, sending the ball out as his arm swung.

"Bang!!!" The baseball flew straight into Izumura Yasuhiko’s mitt with a loud pop, startling the onlookers around the field—usually, such a loud sound requires the catcher to deliberately cooperate when catching, yet Izumura Yasuhiko hadn’t moved his hand at all.

This could only indicate one thing: not only was Lin Guanglai’s pitch fast, but it also hit the ideal spot in the catcher’s mitt with precision.

Subsequently, with Izumura Yasuhiko’s full cooperation, Lin Guanglai demonstrated the pitches he mastered one by one: primarily focusing on four-seam fastballs and their variants, occasionally mixing in breaking balls like sliders and forkballs, earning continuous nods of approval from the pitching coach on the sidelines, whose eyes revealed unreserved appreciation.

The pitching coach sent by the Japan Baseball Association this time was a veteran who had previously worked in professional baseball teams—Lin Guanglai, with his tall stature, fastball-dominated repertoire, and mastery of practical breaking balls like sliders and forkballs, was just the type of starting pitcher most favored in Japan.

Having watched Lin Guanglai’s performance, this veteran didn’t hesitate to write an A Level rating on the player’s potential evaluation form—with Lin Guanglai’s current skill level, as long as he continues to grow steadily and avoids major injuries, within three years, he will undoubtedly be sought after by multiple professional baseball teams in the draft.

In this veteran’s view, considering Lin Guanglai’s exhibited potential, even Yu Darvish of the same age group might not necessarily surpass him.

"After returning to the association, I must write a related report—Lin Guanglai’s naturalization priority must be raised higher!" As he wrote on the form, this veteran calculated in his heart.

Receiving the last pitch thrown by Lin Guanglai, Izumura Yasuhiko stood up excitedly and ran to the nearby mound, grabbing Lin Guanglai:

"Guanglai, your level is just too strong—sigh, if only you were a player for our Chukyo University; with you, Hayato could just focus on shortstop, and maybe there wouldn’t be much left for Konan this year."

As he said this, Izumura Yasuhiko feigned a look of regret and glanced towards Shimabukuro Hiroshi in the distance—as a catcher, constantly receiving high-quality pitches from a pitcher is quite a thrill, and his manner clearly showed he was thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Just then, the pitching coach outside the bullpen interrupted Izumura Yasuhiko’s compliments: "Alright, enough chit-chat—pitching training is over for now, next those who need to learn batting should go, and catchers should follow me to find the coach responsible for defense training."

As the official match day neared, Lin Guanglai felt as if he had returned to the time preparing for the Summer甲 regional tournament—he took a deep breath, suddenly wanting to shout out loud on the spot:

"It’s been a while, my exciting and thrilling baseball days!"