The winter morning air is always so crisp, and occasionally a gust of cold wind slips down his neck, causing Lin Guanglai to involuntarily shiver. Those tall trees along the main road, which were lush and green in the sumr, have now been ravaged beyond recognition, leaving only bare trunks.
Jogging along this familiar yet unfamiliar path, after battling through nearly 10 months of professional baseball, Lin Guanglai once again stepped into Waseda Jitsugyo’s campus—a winter morning as always, a warm-up jog as always, on the way to the baseball training field as always, as if nothing had changed.
As the most popular breakout star of this season’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Lin Guanglai spent almost the entire December traveling back and forth across Japan: TV shows, magazine interviews, comrcial shoots, PR promotions... one schedule after another filled his ti to the brim, leaving almost no free ti except for sleep.
Such a schedule continued for over a week until it finally ca to an end not long ago—not because there were no more invitations, but because Nomura Katsuhiko had intentionally adjusted Lin Guanglai’s itinerary.
After all, with the arrival of 2014, a brand-new professional baseball season is about to comnce, and Lin Guanglai must find a good balance between training and promotion—
Ultimately, a professional player’s value still depends on their performance on the field.
As usual, the team’s unified spring training will be held in February; the period in January is usually left for players to organize their own training.
In Japan’s baseball culture, self-organized training is an important component:
Before the official spring training camp starts, players spontaneously organize, gather to conduct concentrated training focused on physical reserve and technical refinent, which has beco an unwritten rule and a reflection of professionalism in Japan.
Normally, most people opt to call on three or five friends to join them, living and training together in warm climates and well-equipped areas like Okinawa or Miyazaki, where they encourage each other and progress together;
So choose to participate in training camps held by senior trainers or Major League players during this ti, to refine their skills more profoundly under professional guidance.
According to professional baseball’s customary arrangents, as a rookie who just entered the league last year, Lin Guanglai was supposed to report to Miyazaki by the end of the third week after the formal season ended, to participate in the autumn training camp provided by the team for so young first-team and second-team players.
But clearly, Lin Guanglai can’t be viewed through the lens of a typical potential rookie anymore: at least in the eyes of the SoftBank Team, he is already a star player whose value rivals that of pillars like Shetsu Shou and Nakagawa Seiichi.
After a round of discussion and consideration, Lin Guanglai simply stayed in Tokyo and began his self-organized practice.
As for the venue issue... is there anywhere more perfect than Waseda Jitsugyo’s baseball training field?
Lin Guanglai moved forward, passing through the Wang Zhenzhi baseball training field and entering the building he knew all too well, where the baseball club was located; in the sowhat dim corridor, he found the superintendent’s office.
Standing outside the door, he slightly adjusted his breathing and gently knocked—according to Mr. Izumi’s usual habits, he should already be at the office, working at this point.
Sure enough, not long after, Mr. Izumi’s familiar voice ca from inside:
"Co in."
Lin Guanglai pushed the door open with a smile on his face, greeting him warmly, "Superintendent, long ti no see!"
When Lin Guanglai entered, Mr. Izumi was diligently working at his desk. Hearing the voice, he unhurriedly raised his head, a big smile blooming on his cheeks, teasing Lin Guanglai in a relaxed tone:
"Ah, isn’t this the Best Rookie of the Year, Lin Guanglai, Lin? Your presence in our humble establishnt truly makes us shine brightly!"
His words genuinely made Lin Guanglai a bit embarrassed, "Superintendent, please don’t flatter —I’ve only achieved a small, insignificant accomplishnt; save such praise for when I win the MVP or the Eiji Sawamura Award."
"Well, not bad." Mr. Izumi nodded, evidently satisfied with Lin’s response, "Although the dia and reporters haven’t stopped hyping it up, it seems you haven’t been affected; keep it up!"
Watching Lin, who was a bit embarrassed by his remarks, Mr. Izumi stood up, walked around the desk straight to Lin Guanglai, opened his arms, and gave him a hug, continuously patting his back:
"Your performance this season was fantastic, I watched a lot of gas live or on tape—especially the climax match against Rakuten, facing Tanaka’s triple hor and that Maddox ga, your performance was impeccable! As soone who has once guided you, Guanglai, both I and the school are very proud of you."
Mr. Izumi looked up at his disciple in front of him with such gratification, the burgeoning emotion in his words almost bursting out.
"You’re back to prepare for self-organized training, right? Rest assured, the place is ready for you—thanks to your batch, the school has once again increased its investnt in the baseball club, the gym equipnt, and venue, just recently updated, you’ve co at just the right ti."
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