Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 610 - 153: Battle for the Crown, Lin vs Ohtani!
"Aaaaaaahhh—Hiroshima Toyo Carp! We are the 2016 Central League champions!!! They did it!!!"
On the TV screen, there was a jubilant scene being broadcast from Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium Hiroshima: players from the Hiroshima Carp, wearing their home red and white jerseys, rushed onto the field and embraced each other, celebrating the hard-won championship; and in the stands all around, the crowd was cheering and joyful, with many elderly people shedding tears of excitement.
Soon, the camera switched back to the studio, where the male host and the knowledgeable and graceful female presenter first congratulated the Hiroshima Toyo Carp on winning the championship and then swiftly turned the discussion to the situation in the Pacific League—compared to the Central League, where the suspense ended early, the Pacific League's situation was much more complicated.
In early September, as the early-season advantage accumulated by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks was continually eaten away by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, many people felt that SoftBank might face a collapse and subsequently lose this year's championship.
However, after Supervisor Kodama Komei resolved internal rifts with players through a sincere apology, the reinvigorated SoftBank team unleashed their rightful combat power, gradually regaining the excellent form of consecutive victories from the start of the season.
Yet, the Fighters behind them were indeed formidable. As the young players within the team matured, the Fighters now possessed the strength and mentality to overthrow SoftBank's dominance—Ohtani Shohai, Kondo Kensuke, Nishikawa Haruki...presently, these core players of the Fighters are mostly in their early twenties, displaying unmistakable youthfulness and vigor.
Over the past month, the rankings on the standings between the two teams constantly changed, with the difference in winning games never exceeding more than one game.
As of the start of tonight's game, the SoftBank team's held onto their top position, still leading the second-place Fighters by 0.5 games; and these two direct competitors happen to have only two games left, both of which are head-to-head matches between the two teams.
If not for these two games being make-up games canceled due to weather, professional baseball fans might really think it was the product of intentional manipulation by the officials to maximize excitement.
But anyway, as the regular season is about to end, the final scenario of the Pacific League championship is gradually becoming clear:
Due to the nature of these upcoming head-to-head matches, the winner of each game can gain an entire 2-game lead—in such a scenario, the SoftBank team only needs to win 1 game or 2 draws to achieve their third consecutive championship; while the currently trailing Fighters need to win at least one game while preventing the SoftBank team from winning to achieve a come-from-behind super upset reversal.
Tonight's first makeup game will be held at the Fukuoka Yahoo Dome, which means the SoftBank team has a chance to clinch the championship at their home ground; if they fail to win this game, they must travel overnight to Hokkaido to battle the Fighters at the Sapporo Dome—clearly, Supervisor Kudo is not keen on the latter scenario. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"Tonight's game at Yahoo Dome is a must-win for both teams," the female presenter glanced at the prompter and gracefully spoke, "But aside from this year's championship, there's another thing worth our attention."
As she finished speaking, Lin Guanglai's season portrait appeared on the big screen behind her, along with his various statistics for the season.
"Supervisor Kudo of SoftBank has confirmed that Lin Guanglai will play in this game as a dual-position player, starting on the mound while also batting fourth, which raises the question: can he become the first player since pitcher Muraoka Minoru in 1970 to achieve a sub-1.00 ERA in a single season after 46 years?"
"Moreover, in games where Lin Guanglai has batted, he has hit a career-high 38 home runs—can he achieve his first 40-home run season with two games remaining?"
The female presenter's words truly astonished many viewers watching on their televisions—the intensity of the Pacific League championship race, in some measure, overshadowed the brilliance of Lin Guanglai's personal achievements. After three seasons of refining, Lin Guanglai, playing this season as a fully-fledged dual-position player, once again experienced a statistical explosion.
As a batter, a .322 batting average, second in the Pacific League; 38 home runs, tied for first; a slugging percentage of .532, leading the league; an on-base percentage of .422, second in the league—in his first season as the cleanup hitter, Lin Guanglai has already delivered top-tier stats.
But compared to his role as a batter, Lin Guanglai as a pitcher is evidently more terrifying—
As a pitcher, he started 24 games, securing an astonishing 22 wins, 297 strikeouts, with a quality start rate as high as 100%; he also achieved a landmark career milestone mid-season—he's the fastest and youngest pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts.
But all these stats pale in comparison to his ERA this season: with 24 starts, Lin Guanglai has allowed only 20 runs all season, bringing his ERA to 1.02, just a step away from the legendary sub-1.00 ERA miracle.
