"In the first ga against Softbank, although we eventually lost, everyone should know that this defeat was within our expectations..."
In the visiting team’s locker room at Yahoo Do, before today’s field training began, the manager of Japan Ham Team, Kuriyama Hideki, was giving a pep talk to the players. Losing yesterday’s ga brought the series score to 0-2, and at this mont, the mood of the Ham Team players was bound to be less than pleasant.
"I believe that before the ga started, none of you would have thought we could easily score 5 to 6 runs against Lin Guanglai, and swiftly sweep the opponent in four gas like a practice match, right?"
The locker room was silent, with so silently shaking their heads.
"No, right?" Kuriyama Hideki gently nodded, even his tone beca much more soothing, "We lost, that’s true, but actually our performance was quite outstanding, it’s just that our opponent played better than us - and if that’s the case, what’s there to be disappointed about?"
At this point, Kuriyama Hideki paused and scanned the players around with his eyes, speaking word by word, "Let’s not forget, our goal has never been Lin Guanglai -"
In front of all the Ham players, Kuriyama Hideki forcefully knocked on the tactical board in the middle of the locker room, gathering everyone’s attention towards him.
On the tactical board, a sheet featuring Shetsu Shou’s photo and various statistics glead under the locker room lights.
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"Hello, Softbank fans! Welco to the broadcast brought to you by West Japan Television of the 2014 season Pacific League climax series deciding round, Ga 3. I’m your old friend, Ohtani Shuhei."
"I’m Ikedada Shinko, very happy to et everyone again."
"As for today’s special guest, everyone probably isn’t a stranger..." Ohtani Shuhei let out a hearty laugh, introducing to the viewers in front of the television, "the head coach of Japan National Team, proud of Daei Softbank, and also our forr colleague, Kohkubo Yuuki!"
"Hello, viewers of West Japan Television, it’s been a while, I’m Kohkubo Yuuki."
After greeting the audience, the three people on the comntary desk quickly got into work mode. Thanks to Softbank’s win in the first ga, Ohtani Shuhei and Ikedada Shinko, the star comntators, appeared quite relaxed. After briefly reviewing last night’s ga with the viewers, they eagerly started discussing the second ga of today’s series between Softbank and Ham.
"The starting lineup for this ga is already out: in the pitcher position, the team’s backbone Shetsu Shou starts; in the batting lineup, apart from Lin Guanglai who is resting due to rotation, all other main players are playing - from this arrangent, I think Akiyama Koji, the manager, wants to take the opponent down in one go... What do you think, Kohkubo?"
Facing questions from his two forr colleagues, Kohkubo Yuuki pondered for a mont and expressed his understanding.
"If Softbank wins today’s ga, they will directly complete the series and reach the Japan Big Tournant after three years with just one more victory, however..."
"However what?" His neighbor, Ikedada Shinko, hurriedly asked.
"But judging from the first ga’s performance, Softbank might not find this ga as easy as we thought." Kohkubo Yuuki knew that the viewers liked to hear positive remarks, but as a mber of Softbank, he decided to throw so cold water on the team.
"Judging from the state of the first ga, without Lin Guanglai’s link and lubrication as a key point, Softbank’s batting lineup is sowhat disconnected - over 10 hits throughout the ga, yet only scoring 3 runs, which seems unsatisfactory to ."
"The seemingly easy win in the last ga was mainly due to Lin’s strong suppressive power on the mound, with a 9 innings 15K performance putting Ham’s hitters in a tough spot - but I need to ask everyone, is such success replicable?"
"Shetsu Shou’s performance this season is also excellent, performing well in the role of the second starter; but for fans following the team’s performance, they must have noticed, this season Ah Zheng has indeed declined significantly... Ham Team will surely fight hard in this ga, and we also need to match their attitude and performance."
Seeing that the atmosphere in the studio beca a bit heavy due to his words, Kohkubo Yuuki quickly added a few words: "Of course, I still have a lot of confidence in the team - after all, hard power and roster depth are evident, regardless of this ga’s outco, Softbank capturing the opponent within 5 gas and advancing to Japan’s Number One, in my view, won’t change much."
Seeing the comntators catching the opportunity to transition, the two television station comntators naturally shifted the topic back to discussing the ga; as ti approached 6 o’clock in the evening, the ga started on ti.
Whether in the current climax battle or the possible future Japan’s Number One, the interval between each ga is less than 24 hours, and such an intense schedule is a huge test for a team’s roster depth and the on-the-spot coordination ability of the managerial coaches.
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