After practice, the team had a eting with the coaching staff and the GM, Geoff Greenberg. He laid out the goals the team had for the season and went over so core values of the organization.
This wasn't anything that Ken hadn't heard before, in fact, the speech was almost too generic. Ken found himself losing interest pretty quickly, but he still tried to be courteous.
When it was finally said and done, the whole room seed to let out a collective sigh of relief. It seed that he was not the only one who found the speech boring.
Once Geoff was done, Mark stood up and went through the schedule for the opening ga. Apparently the rookies would be the first players announced which included Rohan, Ken and Daichi.
They would walk onto the field after being introduced and then the National anthem would play once everyone was out, followed by the ceremonial pitch.
Once these things were done, it was ga ti.
"While I've got you here, we'll go through the lineup for today's ga." Mark said, pulling out his clipboard.
"Outfielders: Ryan Greene, Adrian Baddoo, Kris Carpenter. Infielders: Jose Baez, Samson Torkelson, Jai Schoop and Nate Maton. Catcher: Daichi Takagi. Starting pitcher… Ken Takagi. Any questions?"
"No coach."
The lineup itself didn't sound too outlandish, at least until it ca ti for the battery. There were two rookies who would be making their Major League debut in the opening ga of the season.
A few of the players looked towards Ken and Daichi who were sitting nearby. The two of them didn't seem surprised, nor nervous at all. This at least gave the others so peace of mind.
After the eting, the players returned to the locker room to freshen up and prepare for the ga. It was already late in the afternoon and the ga was ant to start in around an hour and a half.
"You better not ss up today, Ken." Jake Foley, the sa guy who he had made the bet with during Spring Training approached him. His words were filled with concern rather than anything else.
"Don't worry Jake." Ken said with a smile, "I'm not stupid enough to brag online and not back it up. I'm going for a perfect ga in my debut."
"WHAT!?"
It wasn't just Jake who overheard him, nearly the whole locker room turned to Ken as if he was speaking nonsense. One of the veterans stalked over, looking like he was about to blow his lid.
"Guys, it's a joke…" Ken said, raising both his hands to try and calm everyone down. "This is my first ga, it would be impossible to get a perfect ga."
Yet as he said that, he turned to Daichi and gave him a wink.
His words seed to defuse the situation thankfully. "Just as well… There's a limit to how cocky you can be. Don't underestimate the Major League."
"Yes sir."
When the other players returned to their spot, Daichi pat him on the shoulder, "You truly have a special talent Ken… You almost caused the entire Ligers team to turn on you with that bad joke."
"What if I wasn't joking?" Ken replied in Japanese.
Daichi shook his head and let out a laugh. "I never said this to you before Ken because you're my brother… Don't you think you're a little cocky?"
"Hmm?" Ken raised his eyebrow, not expecting such words from his brother of all people.
"As soone who has played at the highest level in Japan, I think you're underestimating the Major League. As you are now, I don't see you being able to pitch a perfect ga, not against the best batters in the world." Daichi said seriously.
"You're right." Ken replied simply. "As I am now…"
"But what about in 1 month ti? What about 3 months? No matter what, I'll keep striving to get better until I can achieve my goals." He added.
Daichi pat his shoulder a couple of tis before nodding, "Good, as long as you realize that it's not going to be easy, that's all I can ask for. For a while there, I thought you were just being cocky for no reason."
", cocky? Never." Ken poked his tongue out.
"What are ya guys talking about?" Rohan asked. He had sensed the atmosphere beca odd when Daichi first spoke.
"Nothing you need to be concerned about sitting on the bench today."
"Ouch…" Rohan clutched his heart, pretending to be offended. "Here I thought you were my friend."
Ken laughed, "Well at the mont I'm your landlord."
Rohan grumbled sothing in response, causing the two others to laugh.
Soon enough, they were told to move into the dugout for the festivities. Already, Corica Park was filled with people for the first ga of the season.
Ken's eyes moved through the crowd, seeing that majority of the seats were filled. With its over 40,000 seat capacity, the air was electric.
"I haven't seen this many fans since Koshien." Ken muttered.
"What's Koshien?" Rohan asked curiously beside him.
Ken sent him a glare, "Only the biggest High School baseball tournant in Japan."
"You have this many fans at a High School tournant!?" Rohan was gobsmacked, "They really must like baseball over there."
"Yeah, but in order to get to Koshien you need to win at least 6 single elimination matches. Only 49 teams in the country get to compete and once you lose, it's over." Ken explained.
"I see… How far did you guys go in this Koshien?" He asked conversationally.
"My team Yokohama won in my freshman year," Ken said, pointing to himself. "Daichi's team, Osaka Toin won the next two years back to back. It's only the 3rd ti in history that it happened."
Rohan's eyes sparkled as he looked at Daichi, "Wow you must be a legend back there."
However Daichi laughed, "Ken is more famous. He was the first pitcher ever to throw a perfect ga at Koshien."
"Huh!? Damn it, now I feel insignificant."
Everyone's attention was grabbed by the announcer who suddenly spoke up over the speakers.
"Introducing your Detroit Ligers 2022 roster… Starting off with our rookies, Number 13…"
"All the way from Yokohama Japan… Ken TAKAGIIIIIII"
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