Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 524 - 112: The Perfect Script

"Good evening to all the professional baseball fans out there, welcome to this episode’s climax match preview special program, I’m your host..."

"As we enter September, the official matches of the 2014 professional baseball season have also reached the exciting conclusion stage. Each team is still making their final efforts for the league championship and a precious spot in the climax match."

"Let’s first look at the Central League—"

"After a shaky start, the Central League’s dominant Yomiuri Giants have shown considerable resilience and have now surpassed the Hanshin Tigers and Hiroshima Toyo Carp, who once held the top spot, reclaiming their throne and maintaining a 4-game lead. If they can keep this lead until the end of the season, the Giants will achieve the impressive feat of three consecutive championships."

"As for the climax match spot, aside from the Chunichi Dragons currently ranked fourth with some possibility, the remaining teams, whether it be the Yokohama BayStars or Yakult, only have theoretical chances left..."

"Turning our gaze to the Pacific League—"

"Since regaining the top spot before the All-Star break, the heavily reinforced SoftBank Team has not relinquished this position. Especially in August, not only did they secure an impressive 10-game winning streak at the beginning of the month, but they also dominated their direct rivals Orix in several series, successfully lighting up their magic number!"

"Let’s take a look at the current situation and the upcoming schedule: The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, in first place, with 73 wins, 42 losses, and 5 ties; in second place is Orix with 67 wins, 48 losses, and 1 tie. From SoftBank’s remaining schedule, there are still 6 direct confrontations with their direct competitor—specifically, the 2 games today and tomorrow night, a three-game series at the Kyocera Dome after 9 games, and one last makeup game after 8 more games."

"For the two teams aiming for the championship, every direct confrontation is a crucial battle that can influence the league ranking landscape; the results of matches against these two teams by other Pacific League teams will also greatly impact this year’s championship."

"After analyzing the championship race, let’s turn our gaze to the climax match spots..."

The special program aired in the afternoon, with some time left before the pre-match warm-up training, and many players had yet to arrive at the stadium; meanwhile, in the Yahoo Dome’s office, Akiyama Koji was engrossed in his work:

He carefully examined the report submitted by the data team staff not long ago, which provided detailed analysis and interpretations of the Pacific League rankings in various scenarios for this final month.

August’s strong performance has almost cemented SoftBank Team’s lead, making their task for the upcoming month very straightforward:

In matches against the other 4 teams in the Pacific League, they need to maintain over a 50% win rate, securing at least one victory in each series; then, in direct confrontations with Orix, they must win as many games as possible—each direct confrontation victory equates to a 2-game lead advantage.

Akiyama Koji doesn’t understand those mathematical models and complex strategies, but as the team’s manager, he clearly knows what his team needs to do in the upcoming matches—regardless of the opponent’s approach, treat each game seriously, and secure every victory that should be theirs; the championship will naturally follow.

September 3, 2014, 18:00, Fukuoka Yahoo Dome.

SoftBank VS Orix, second game of the series.

Evidently, Orix also has a comprehensive understanding of the current championship race situation—for a team nearly 10 games behind, to still retain any hope of winning the championship, they must not only hope for SoftBank to make mistakes in subsequent matches but also seize as many victories as possible in direct confrontations.

Therefore, Orix’s manager Moriwaki Koji is deploying their strongest lineup in this match:

On the pitcher’s mound, ace pitcher Kaneko Chiharu will lead, having already secured 12 wins this season, with an impressive ERA as low as 1.99; in the batting lineup, Yoshio Itoi, Pena, and T-Okada form the core, contributing nearly 70 home runs combined for Orix.

Sitting on their home field, SoftBank is not willing to be outdone and also fields their main players.

The choice for starting pitcher in this match is naturally the outstanding Lin Guanglai this season—last season’s best rookie, Lin Guanglai’s performance on the pitcher’s mound this season is unmatched:

So far this season, he has alone achieved 16 wins, matching last season’s final statistics while leading the Pacific League. Considering there are still over 20 games left, he has a good chance to push this number into the 20s.

Regarding ERA, Kaneko Chiharu’s 1.99 is indeed intimidating, but it pales in comparison to Lin Guanglai’s 1.87; especially after mastering the shocking forkball across Japan, Lin Guanglai has achieved a remarkable performance of not allowing a single earned run for an entire month.

While other high school graduates struggle to establish themselves in their second season at the top level, Lin Guanglai has already become recognized throughout Japan as the strongest active pitcher in Nihon Professional Baseball—though some Hanshin fans might disagree.