When Lin Guanglai hit the baseball into the stands on his very first at-bat of the ga, the comntator from Fukuoka TV Station seed to go mad, jumping up from his seat and shouting in excitent:
"Lin Guanglai! Lin Guanglai!! Lin Guanglai!!! A ho run on the first at-bat, a ho run on the first at-bat! This is a genius, a genius way beyond his ti, defying logic, belonging to Fukuoka, belonging to our SoftBank Team’s genius! This ho run symbolizes our determination to win, I have reason to believe—the 2014 Pacific League victory will ultimately belong to our Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks!"
As a dedicated comntator, these words really shouldn’t have co from him; even if they were ant to be said, they should have been reserved for when everything is settled.
But as a local Kyushu man, the comntator from Fukuoka TV Station couldn’t care less about the rules—he simply wanted to vent the frustration accumulated over the past few years as a fan, to express the words he’s long suppressed in his heart.
And when Lin Guanglai, before returning to ho plate, pointed to Manager Akiyama Koji outside the players’ area and then perford that classic sidehand flip backward sorsault, the comntator’s expression froze instantly.
In front of the away stands at the Kyocera Do, Masao Otake, who was cheering enthusiastically, also froze; besides him, those watching on TV who had lived through Japan’s baseball golden era of the 80s and 90s similarly showed a similar expression of shock.
Such a celebration move imprinted in the minds of the old fans brought them back for a mont to the youthful tis:
In that era, Japanese baseball was ruled by a dynasty team nad Seibu Lions, even super aces like Hideki Awano or Iribu Hideki had to bow before Seibu Team’s near-invincible "AK Cannon"—
Among them, K referred to "Boss" Kiyohara Kazuhiko, and the Mr. A who would always perform a backward sorsault after hitting a ga-winning ho run is none other than Akiyama Koji, currently standing outside Softbank Team’s players’ area.
Just like Lin Guanglai ntioned in an interview before the ga, Manager Akiyama Koji is his guide on his professional career path, and thanks to his wholehearted support, Lin Guanglai could take on the Dual Swordsmanship challenge in pro baseball; whether during training or matches, he always strictly demanded himself and ensured protection.
If Lin Guanglai truly achieves so remarkable feats, even ones to be etched in the history of baseball in the future, then Manager Akiyama Koji would definitely appear many tis in his career retrospectives.
Actually, ever since Manager Akiyama announced his retirent at the start of the season, Lin Guanglai had been thinking of how to express his gratitude towards the manager—winning the championship, which should be theirs, seed far from enough, Manager Akiyama deserves more respect.
And now, using this classic celebratory move from Manager Akiyama’s player days, in tribute after hitting the ho run, is a plan Lin Guanglai had pondered over for a long ti.
After completing the backward sorsault and returning to the players’ area, receiving warm greetings from his teammates, Lin Guanglai stepped out again to face Manager Akiyama, and in front of the cara, gave his ntor a big hug.
"Manager, this ho run is dedicated to you. Today’s victory in the Pacific League is just an appetizer—I promise, we will advance to the Japan Series and bid you farewell with a double crown!"
"You brat, do you know how dangerous that was just now? What if you lost your footing and fell? Haven’t I always told you, if you want to be the best player, protecting your body is your top priority?"
Although tears in his eyes were about to fall, Manager Akiyama Koji still reprimanded him relentlessly, "I’ll let you off this ti, but don’t do such celebratory moves again, you hear —even if you don’t get injured, do you think that move won’t provoke the opposing pitcher to hit you?"
Feeling the care and affection in the manager’s words, Lin Guanglai naturally nodded in agreent.
The cara focused on the top VIP seats at Kyocera Do, where, including SoftBank Group’s chairman and the SoftBank Team’s owner Sun Zhengyi, and honorary chairman Wang Zhenzhi, the guests leapt from their seats, raised their arms, and embraced in celebration; below them, the stands for away team fans had already turned chaotic.
With this heartfelt scene of deep ntor and disciple affection ending, everyone’s attention finally returned to the ongoing ga: marked by Lin Guanglai’s solo ho run, SoftBank Team received a splendid start in this crown-winning battle—they almost carried a 1:0 lead into the ga!
However, perhaps due to overexcitent, the other mbers of the SoftBank lineup didn’t capitalize on the great opportunities of this half-inning, with subsequent appearances by Imamiya Kenta and Nakagawa Seiichi hitting consecutive fly balls caught in the outfield, and fourth batter Lee Dae-ho swung and missed after a full count duel, striking out, failing to further widen the lead.
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