"Here they co, here they co, the professional baseball players are entering!"
Seeing the professional players about to enter through the passageway, the local Fukushima fans leaning against the railings near the player entrance quickly turned around to notify others in the stands to get ready.
And when Lin Guanglai, chatting and laughing with Andrew Jones beside him, walked into the stadium, he saw this scene:
A huge TIFO was unfurled on the stands of Pancheng Green Stadium. Against a white background, two large lines of text in red conveyed gratitude for the strong support given by the professional baseball league and players to Fukushima Prefecture, a major disaster area, in the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Additionally, on the blank space above the red text, there were expressions of gratitude written by 2,013 local children with markers, thanking professional baseball for bringing the All-Star ga to Pancheng.
The ones responsible for these were the players from various little leagues and high school teams in Pancheng city, who were also invited by the league to watch the ga from the front rows of the outfield stands today, highlighting the cultural sensitivity.
While the players ward up on the field, the mascots of the 12 Nippon Professional Baseball teams made their appearances, each showcasing their abilities in various ways to heat up the already intense atmosphere; later on, they even raced in the outfield, leaving Yokohama BayStars’ mascot, the hamster-like D.B. head (first row, far right), far behind due to its short and heavy body.
As for the Seibu Lions’ mascot, Leo the Lion (back row, far left), designed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka, he didn’t fall behind. He perford his signature backflips in front of the whole audience—this mascot once broke the Guinness record by doing 31 consecutive backflips in 30 seconds—instantly igniting the entire venue.
With the performances brought by the mascots, the appetite of the audience was further whetted; seeing this, the MC in charge of warming up the crowd suitably brought four players from the player area and presented the appetizer before the main event—the Ho Run Derby!
According to Nippon Professional Baseball rules, players who had hit more than 15 ho runs in the 2012 season and more than 7 before July 1, 2013, were automatically nominated for the Ho Run Derby, and fans voted for the players competing in each ga;
For today’s Pancheng special, the players selected for the Ho Run Derby were:
Central League, Abe Shinjiro (Yomiuri Giants), Tony Blanco (Yokohama DeNa);
Pacific League, Andrew Jones (Tohoku Rakuten), and—
"Fukuoka SoftBank, Lin! Guang! Lai!"
With the enthusiastic introduction by the on-site MC and loud cheers from the stands, the final contestant for the Ho Run Derby was revealed: Lin Guanglai, who had already hit 10 ho runs in his rookie season, was naturally voted into the main event by his fans.
The Ho Run Derby in Nippon Professional Baseball adopts the swing-out system; if a player fails seven swings, they are automatically declared out.
Lin Guanglai’s first opponent was Abe Shinjiro of the Yomiuri Giants, a legendary catcher known for having one of the most formidable batting abilities among Japanese baseball catchers. Even with a ball of low elasticity coefficient, he could hit more than 20 ho runs, and his seven Best Nine titles were proof of his prowess.
"Guanglai, go for it—give Abe senior a little SoftBank shock!" In the Pacific League’s bench, Matsuda Naohiro, Nakagawa Seiichi, and others were unabashedly trying to stir things up with words; even the coaches and players from other teams joined in cheering for Lin Guanglai, smiling as they prepared to watch the upcoming competition.
Abe Shinjiro was the first to bat, possibly due to the decline in his strength as he approached 35 years old next year, and the fatigue from competing continuously over the past few days. His batting today was not in good form; after failing seven swings, although he sent the ball flying to the outfield stands three tis, none of them landed within bounds, resulting in no official hits being recorded in the data book—this outco ant that in the following competition, Lin Guanglai only needed to hit one ho run to ensure his advancent to the finals.
Given this situation, Lin Guanglai had to consider his strategy more carefully, recognizing that the Ho Run Derby is quite different from a formal match:
In the Ho Run Derby, a hitter needs to swing with maximum effort tens of tis within a limited number of chances—such swings demand imnse core strength and strain on the arms and back.
Similar to the difference between a 100-ter sprint and a marathon, the Ho Run Derby is more like a test of strength and endurance.
Since his opponent, Abe Shinjiro, didn’t hit a ho run, Lin Guanglai just needed to focus on success—he was aiming to preserve as much energy as possible under circumstances where he could still hit, preparing for the potential finals ahead.
For this, Lin Guanglai specifically brought in Chika Huangda from the player area to pitch for him. After swinging the bat a few tis for practice, he readied himself in the batter’s box—his self-set standard was to strive for a winning ho run within 10 pitches.
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