Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 496 - 98: Responding to Doubts (Part 2)

"Guanglai, your recent performance hasn’t been great... You know, there are quite a few people online saying you’re just a flash in the pan, don’t you plan to respond to them?"

Looking at Yanagida Yuuki in front of him grinning cheekily, Lin Guanglai laughed—those pseudo-fans online don’t understand, but doesn’t his teammate Yanagida Yuuki understand?

Clearly, he was deliberately coming over to tease him.

"Brother Yuuki, if I remember correctly, Kohkubo-senpai came to the locker room last season and set a standard for you, right?" Being teased by Yanagida Yuuki, Lin Guanglai was not angry but rather smiled and asked him a question, "If I haven’t forgotten, this season you have to hit 15 home runs to inherit Kohkubo-senpai’s No. 9 jersey, right?"

Upon hearing this, Yanagida Yuuki’s expression suddenly froze—no other reason, just that as the team’s main six batter, even though his hitting has been good this season, he still hasn’t recorded a home run.

Although the jersey number doesn’t affect his status on the team much, it involves a man’s promise and honor, something Yanagida Yuuki values deeply even if he doesn’t say it.

Seeing his friend with a deflated expression, Lin Guanglai’s face finally showed a satisfying smile.

A moment later, his expression gradually turned serious, and he extended a fist toward Yanagida Yuuki: "Brother Yuuki, let’s have a good game today?"

Yanagida Yuuki was initially stunned, but after realizing it, he also smiled, "Yeah, let’s have a good game in front of Kaneko-senpai!"

The two fists collided with a muffled sound.

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Regarding this focus match that could potentially decide the Pacific League’s top position, Orix had early on adjusted their rotation for this game, putting their ace pitcher Kaneko Chiharu on the field, showing a determination to end SoftBank’s winning streak and claim the top of the Pacific League;

Recently being in excellent form, SoftBank Team decided to stick to their original plan, showcasing their composure as the frontrunner: according to their scheduled rotation, the experienced veteran pitcher Okajima Hideki, signed during the offseason, would play in this game.

The clash between these two outstandingly performing teams in the new season not only attracted a large audience to watch live at Yahoo Dome, but the media section was also teeming with people—various newspapers, including Yomiuri and Mainichi, as well as online platforms, sent their ace reporters to capture the event, a rare occurrence for most teams.

After a simple entrance ceremony, the match between SoftBank and Orix started promptly at 6 P.M. that evening.

Following last season’s disaster, Orix’s management team reflected deeply during the offseason and precisely strengthened the weak batting lineup:

They spent salaries of 100 million and 120 million respectively to sign Geman and Pena from Seibu and SoftBank, supplementing the lineup with foreign firepower; additionally, they invested heavily to retain key hitters, including Yoshio Itoi and T-Okada.

This operation was proven effective in today’s game: 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

In the first inning, Orix’s offense began. Okajima Hideki’s control was unstable at the start, walking Geman, the first batter, to first base; the following batter, Keichi Hirano, strictly adhered to the tactics, using a bunt towards the pitcher to advance Geman to second base.

After struggling to eliminate Yoshio Itoi, Pena, who was released by SoftBank last season due to poor performance, showed no mercy to his old team with a single towards right field, resulting in a situation with two out and runners on first and third bases.

Facing a scoring opportunity, T-Okada, the fifth batter, showed no mercy either; with a 1-ball 1-strike count, he pierced SoftBank’s shortstop area defense successfully, opening the game for Orix with the first score.

However, this single score did not impact SoftBank much: even when trailing at the start, SoftBank’s batters firmly believed they could catch up one point at a time; a 1-point deficit was hardly considered trailing by them, even with one of Nippon Professional Baseball’s top pitchers, Kaneko Chiharu, across the field.

This is the boundless confidence brought by successive victories.

With flawless coordination among SoftBank’s infield defense players, they quickly secured the third out needed to end the top half of the inning; as the bottom half began, Lin Guanglai, fully geared, walked briskly into the batter’s box.

Slightly nodding to the umpire behind him, his focus shifted to Kaneko Chiharu on the pitcher’s mound.

Last season, Kaneko Chiharu was one of the best pitchers in the entire Pacific League and even all of Japan: 15 victories, third in the Pacific League, only behind Tanaka and Lin Guanglai; a 2.01 ERA, tied for second with Lin Guanglai; 200 strikeouts, also second to Lin Guanglai’s 220; and the lowest walk rate in the league.

The pitching rotation around him, making up the Orix pitchers, was the most defensively efficient lineup in the Pacific League, even more stable than Rakuten’s championship-winning "Three Pillars."

If it weren’t for the batting lineup dragging them down, failing to provide effective support, Orix wouldn’t have ended up not even making it to the climax playoffs.

In predictions for the new season by various professional baseball media, both Kaneko Chiharu and Lin Guanglai are considered the most likely contenders for the Sawamura Award.

In other words, every hit Lin Guanglai gets off Kaneko Chiharu today actually lays the groundwork for his Sawamura path.

Facing such a level of top pitcher, the longer the delay, the less favorable for the batter—hence, Lin Guanglai’s batting strategy for this inning was very simple: swing at the first strike, seize the chance to catch the opponent off guard, and never let Kaneko Chiharu adjust.

As Kaneko Chiharu on the pitcher’s mound made his signature motion of placing both hands on the edges of his cap, Lin Guanglai’s expression became serious—this motion when facing the first batter of every inning had become Kaneko Chiharu’s trademark routine.

In the blink of an eye, the baseball shot out from Kaneko Chiharu’s fingertips, coming fiercely toward Lin Guanglai’s outer corner, the straight, almost linear trajectory highlighting Kaneko Chiharu’s powerful control.

Meanwhile, Lin Guanglai in the batter’s box responded—

His front foot slightly lifted backward, then decisively step forward; while stepping, he firmly pressed his body weight onto the thigh and hip of his rear leg axis foot; during the step, his shoulders and arms began rotating backward, pulling the bat back to form a strong torque.

At this moment, Lin Guanglai’s body was like a fully drawn bow, ready to explode once the ball entered the hitting range.

The lower body was the first to move: the core aggressively rotated forward, driving the entire trunk to provide explosive energy for the swing; the core muscles tightened instantly, smoothly transmitting the lower body’s power to the upper body, with the bat fiercely following.

"Thud—!"

A crisp, resonant explosive sound rang through the Yahoo Dome, as the baseball was precisely hit by Lin Guanglai’s bat’s sweet spot, the solid feel in his arms letting him know what would happen at the moment of impact.

The launched baseball flew with astonishing initial speed toward the home run wall of the dome, and watched by tens of thousands present, it flew beyond the fence.

Watching the white ball fly out of the park, Lin Guanglai gently put down his bat, smiling as he ran around the bases, enjoying the cheers from the entire audience.