Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 510 - 105: Facing the Giants

"Tonight, we must show the Giants a thing or two!" Yanagida Yuuki clenched his fist and asked Lin Guanglai, "Guanglai, you’ll be with me, right?"

Lin Guanglai nodded, "Of course, especially since today’s game has my former teammates watching from the stands—we have to put on a good show!"

"That makes me feel relieved," Yanagida Yuuki nodded, "Today’s goal—defeat the Giants!!!"

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When the SoftBank players walked out of the locker room into the Tokyo Dome, a surging pressure immediately came upon them: looking out from the visitor’s player area, the entire stands were an endless sea of orange.

The Giants’ caps, jerseys, and support towels, with an almost absolute coverage, dominated nearly every corner of the Tokyo Dome; while the sporadic touches of yellow from SoftBank fans were like a lone boat amidst stormy seas, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

All around the stands, large jersey flags were hung, emblazoned with the numbers and surnames of legendary Giants players from the past: No. 1 Wang Zhenzhi, No. 3 Nagashima Shigeo, No. 14 Sawamura Eiji, No. 34 Kaneda Shoichi... These numbers, permanently retired by the Giants, were displayed like a silent protest; higher up in the stands, more than 20 Japan’s Number One pennants lined up, elevating this mental pressure to a new height.

Yet, even with such an extreme visual onslaught, it couldn’t compare to the auditory sensation: on the Tokyo Dome stands, which can hold over 55,000 spectators, countless human voices, footsteps, and trumpet sounds exploded instantly, making one’s scalp tingle—but even those sounds were just the opening bite.

When the starting players of the Giant Army were introduced one by one, the volume surged several degrees higher: each name announced triggered a thunderous cheer and applause from the corresponding area of the stands, with even the frequency of cheers and applause possessing a strong sense of order.

This is the support culture that the Giants pride themselves on: unlike the passionate, wild Hanshin-style support, the Giants’ cheering squad is like the team’s spirit itself, following a highly organized, professional support strategy—everywhere in the stands, there are dedicated cheering squad leaders who, through loudspeakers and precise commands, guide the rhythm of this orange sea.

Lin Guanglai stood in front of the railing in the visitor’s player area, and he felt as though he wasn’t standing inside a stadium, as the air around him constantly combusted.

And when an elderly face slowly emerged from the player’s tunnel, the tidal wave of fanaticism miraculously paused for about half a second before surging higher once more.

"Ladies and gentlemen, with our warmest applause and loudest cheers, please welcome today’s special guest for the opening pitch ceremony—"

"Nagashima—Shigeo—!!!"

Amidst the deafening cries of the on-site MC, Nagashima Shigeo, known as "Mr. Giants" and "Mr. Pro Baseball," dressed in a Giants jersey with the number 3, took slightly faltering steps, waving to the audience.

"Oh my!" In the SoftBank’s player area, Yanagida Yuuki was the first to react, "The Giants must be crazy, right? This is just an ordinary exhibition match, and they actually invited Mr. Nagashima? What on earth are they up to?"

Unexpectedly, no one responded to his words, as everyone on the SoftBank side, including Akiyama Koji, had fallen into a brief daze.

Even at the batting area, Lin Guanglai, the ceremonial representative for SoftBank, had a look of surprise on his face.

What does the name "Nagashima Shigeo" mean to the Japanese people?

Handsome, upright, humble, passionate, diligent, innately talented, with numerous friends, and repeatedly delivering decisive performances at critical moments... On Nagashima Shigeo’s shoulders gather all of Japan’s expectations for the perfect Japanese baseball player; he is precisely such a player.

He may not have been the strongest player of his generation, but he was indisputably the most popular and beloved baseball player of the entire 20th century; the Japanese people’s affection for Nagashima Shigeo has reached near-obsessive levels—

In 1965, the day after the legendary Nomura Katsuya achieved the first "Triple Crown" feat post-World War II, all the sports newspapers in Japan prominently reported "Nagashima Shigeo got married!" regardless of what other significant events were unfolding in the baseball world.

Nagashima Shigeo is like a sunflower, perpetually basked in sunlight, relishing in love from the people.

This baseball legend walked step by step onto the pitcher’s mound under the gaze of tens of thousands, gently flattening the soil beneath his feet with his foot; then, amidst the madly flashing shutters and cheers, he took the pristine new ball handed by the current Giants captain, Abe Shinjiro.

When Abe was ready in the catcher’s seat, Nagashima Shigeo lifted his head, looking at Lin Guanglai, poised at the batting area beside home plate: at that moment, the old murkiness in his eyes vanished, and his aura subtly brought people back to the 1960s, the era belonging to the Giants, belonging to the "ON Combination" dynasty.

The arm swung, and the baseball was pitched.

The pitch wasn’t very fast, and the trajectory wasn’t particularly tricky—in a formal game, Lin Guanglai would hit these balls out of the park one after another; but at this moment, he merely symbolically swung the bat in his hand.

With a "pop," the baseball landed securely in Abe Shinjiro’s catcher mitt; the next instant, the Tokyo Dome resounded with thunderous applause.

Abe Shinjiro securely caught the ball, then, as if carrying a cherished treasure, jogged to the pitcher’s mound to return the ball to Nagashima Shigeo; Lin Guanglai also stepped forward, paying homage to this baseball legend.

This was Lin Guanglai’s first meeting with Nagashima Shigeo, but he could clearly feel that the other seemed to always emit a radiant aura; before today, he had never sensed the same aura in anyone, not even in Wang Zhenzhi, the president whose playing career arguably exceeded Nagashima’s.

"Mr. Lin, I’ve been wanting to meet you for quite some time, and luckily there’s this opportunity today—as it turns out, my wife was right, you indeed look even more handsome in person than on TV, haha..." Nagashima Shigeo gently patted Lin Guanglai on the back, speaking in a warm tone.

Soon, he continued, "I’ve watched many of your games too, and your performance is truly remarkable, one might even say that in the past 10 or 20 years, no high school player has had the natural superstar quality that you have—very good, this is indeed very good..."

"But in my view, you are still one critical step away from becoming a true superstar—’Leading the team to a championship as the ace pitcher and the fourth batter is the primary condition for becoming a superstar; no superstar can emerge from a failed team.’" Nagashima Shigeo paused, "I believe, as the most successful Koshien star in almost a century, and as a holder of three Koshien championships, you should have such resolve, right?"

"Of course, Mr. Nagashima—I would like to ask you to stay and watch today’s game..." Lin Guanglai smiled and softly replied, "I will show you my resolve!"