Chapter 2 Chapter One

——Showa sixty-three years (1988) summer—— "Cheers! Congratulations, you finally succeeded." "thanks." Zhongshan raised his beer glass to eye level.Across from the amber-colored transparent beer, Toto Sports Shimbun's Fujisaki-senpai was smiling. Down the wine in one breath, you can clearly feel the cold beer flowing down your throat. "Ah, it's so comfortable." At the same time, the two forcefully put the lightened beer glass back on the counter table, looked at each other and laughed naturally. "Is there anything good today?" the store owner asked from the counter.

After the long meeting, Nakayama and Fujisaki sat side by side at the counter of a frequented sushi restaurant in front of Shimbashi station near the newspaper office. "This guy worked very hard at today's meeting! You know that too? Our newspaper publishes a special edition of Koshien every year, and this guy's plan was approved." "Hey! That's not easy, congratulations!" The boss looked at Zhongshan and shook his head in admiration. "No!" Zhongshan didn't know how to answer, and after responding, he stretched his chopsticks towards the sashimi.

"Ha, ha, ha, he is actually embarrassed! Boss, you need to prepare more wine." Fujisaki was obviously very happy. "I didn't expect the director to be overwhelmed by your eloquence today." "What's the matter! I just try to describe what I think." "This is enough. You just can't play tricks on people like the director. However, when I listened to your speech, I can fully feel your enthusiasm! The newspaper is full of guys who really love baseball, so I don't know it. I have been infected by you all the time, and even I am planning to write an interesting report on this topic... The director is very sensitive to this kind of atmosphere, and this is entirely your strength." Fujisaki finished speaking in one breath, and slapped Zhongshan hard Shoulder.

Usually, only when he is a little bit drunk, his speech speed will speed up. Zhongshan nodded slightly, bringing the wine glass to his mouth. —Long meeting indeed!He couldn't help sighing.What a long meeting... The clock showed past eight o'clock in the evening.The cramped conference room was filled with smoke, and even the reporters, who were always known for their energy, couldn't hide their tiredness. Dongdu Sports News, where Zhongshan works, publishes a Koshien special every year after the summer Koshien competition, and the theme of this day's meeting is to determine the planning content of this special.

"The only appropriate thing is to focus on Tachibana of Kagawa Industry, and follow up and report on the Koshien athletes who are still struggling to make progress despite adversity." Nakayama's predecessor, Sakakita, said. Two or three people agreed. In the finals of the regional trials, the parents of Tachibana from Kagawa Kogyo died in a car accident on the way to cheer for their son, which won the sympathy of the world. If you compete for the championship in the Koshien National Competition, once you win the championship, you will definitely be portrayed as a "champion dedicated to your parents" and will be famous for a while. Therefore, Sakakita hopes to make an album of "Athletes who strive to be the best in adversity" centered on Tachibana .

However, Zhongshan has another opinion. "The theme should be the intense conflict between the three schools of Shinko, Narashino, and Toride Gakuen." Director Mukai of Narashino Nishi Gakuen representing Chiba Prefecture was the ace pitcher of Shinko Park in the summer of 1956, and became the champion pitcher in Koshien; : head coach) is Sanada Toshiyuki, he and Mukai were shooting partners and friends in high school.In other words, Narashino Nishi and Toride Gakuen are duels between friends, while the two schools and Shinko Gakuen are duels between teachers and students. No, rather than saying that Mukai and Sanada are duels between friends, it is more appropriate to say that they are duels of grudges.Because since "that incident", the two people who entered S University from Shinko Park and walked in the famous baseball school together have run in opposite directions. The two pursue completely different baseball goals...

Zhongshan Kangqiang made a speech: "These three schools have attracted the attention of the world because of the teacher-student duel and the grudge duel. However, the reason why I want to report the fierce conflicts between these three schools is not only for this reason. I find it interesting that these three schools The difference in the playing styles of the two teams is due to the different ideas of the team supervisors on baseball." Zhongshan stopped here, looked around everyone's faces, and then said again: "Xinguang Park is a famous baseball school in colleges and universities. , more than 100 baseball players, divided into three armies (annotation: three teams), the implementation of the training is not inferior to professional teams. The characteristic of Shinko is that it attaches great importance to each player with more than 100 players, and implements training according to the talent and ability of each player I think this is one of the reasons why the school can produce not only outstanding players who are active in the professional world, but also famous players in college and amateur teams, and even outstanding coaches.”

"Yes, this is also the reason why Xinguang's supervisor Shibata is currently recognized as the highest instructor in the college ball world." Fujisaki said in support of Zhongshan. Zhongshan nodded lightly, and continued: "As for Supervisor Shibata's subordinates, Supervisor Narashino Nishi's Mukai is a thorough elitist. Xishi Nonishi is a new school established eight years ago, and he has a strong desire to use baseball to make the school famous. , so hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in baseball equipment. There are two courts, indoor driving ranges, and batting machines, and they will never lose to professional teams. Under the strong will of the school, Mukai must train as soon as possible to win the championship in Koshien. Of course, the team that wins the championship cannot teach each player according to their aptitude like Xinguang. Instead, they have to select and train players with excellent qualifications from the first grade, which is the so-called accelerated training. However, this is also generally based on baseball Old school tricks."

"That's right. Judging from your description, although these two schools are both famous baseball schools, their styles of play are quite different." Director of the editorial department Ono said in a rare way. Fujisaki went on to say: "Yes, they are also excellent players selected from more than 100 players. The atmosphere of the first military teams of the two schools is very different. In terms of what Zhongshan just said, Xinguang's players have representatives. The sense of responsibility of more than a hundred companions participating in the competition is very resilient during the competition. Even when the defeat is extremely strong, he will persevere until the end, so he won the title of "Shinmitsu who reversed". But Narashi Nonishi is different. If it is messed up, it is unexpectedly vulnerable, so although the team that is considered to be the most champion this year, it was defeated in the first round of the regional preliminaries. This is the best example. I think this is entirely due to the players The reason why you compete on your own is that you lack a spiritual support and a sense of unity among your teammates."

"You can say that." Ono said, carefully putting out the cigarette in the ashtray. Other participants also seemed strongly moved by Nakayama and Fujisaki's comments. Zhongshan was encouraged and stood up again. "However, the Toride Academy led by Sanada is in sharp contrast to these two schools. It is one of the few schools in Ibaraki Prefecture. Before that, every time I participated in the regional preliminaries of the prefecture, at most I only entered the first place. Three rounds is great. Usually, they would step down and bow in the first round. However, after hiring Sanada as the supervisor, their strength has greatly improved. This year, they finally won the right to participate in the Koshien competition for the first time. However, the entire team has only 20 players. .

"The baseball team, the rugby team, and the soccer team share the same field, and the practice equipment is all difficult, which is no different from ordinary colleges. However, if you consider that you have to pass the difficult entrance exam, then it has created an excellent ball. The conditions of the team can be said to be extremely strict, but Sanada has brought out a team that can enter the Koshien competition in this environment. Moreover, he is not willing to be regarded as a "one-off" The existence of "Tie Coolant", openly declared that the reason why he founded this team was to criticize some semi-professional baseball schools, and clearly pointed out that Shinmitsu and Narashi Nonishi are representatives of full-fledged baseball and must be defeated." "It's good to have this kind of vigor, but it doesn't work against the team's batting rate of over 40% Xinguang and Nashino Nishi. After all, even in the regional trials, they narrowly win by one point in almost every game, let alone want to play in Jiazi. Sono defeats Shinmitsu, I think it is still a question of whether he can pass the first round." Sakakita retorted with a sarcastic smile on his face. "No, there is no such thing! That's right, their scoring ability is indeed weak, but the ace pitcher Miyamoto is quite a scary figure, he can be said to be the best pitcher in colleges and universities in the country, no, even including professional teams, He's also the greatest pitcher in the country right now." The statement elicited numerous exclamations, followed by laughter. --Oops! Zhongshan couldn't help biting his lower lip. He is convinced that Miyamoto is one of the few pitchers in the national baseball world!That’s right, Miyamoto’s ERA is normal from a numerical point of view, but the hit was due to some kind of attempt... Nakayama is so sure because he has actually seen Miyamoto pitching, but now even if he says This point will also be considered as an exaggeration in the hope that one's own plan will be approved, which may lead to counterproductive effects. Zhongshan changed the subject. "I think this year's Koshien Tournament will definitely trigger the high school baseball boom due to the fierce conflict between these three schools. Three teams with obviously different styles of play will fight each other fiercely. Which team will win? The result will be decided After that, it will have a major impact on the future of college baseball." After Zhongshan sat down, there were whispered conversations everywhere in the conference room. ——This is really the most tense moment!Zhongshan observed each attendee with expectant and restless eyes. His eyes met Fujisaki's.Fujisaki smiled and nodded slightly, as if saying: That's all right! At this moment, Sakakita spoke loudly. "If you analyze baseball in a narrow sense, the theme mentioned by Nakayama just now should be the best, but I hope everyone will think about it carefully! The readership of the summer Koshien special is very different from the readership of our sports news on weekdays. Buy The proportion of young women in the stratum is also quite large. Therefore, it is an extremely important strategy to use this special as a catalyst to let female readers also read the daily newspaper, and then expand the number of copies. Therefore, only by attracting professional fans It’s not good to have the theme, but we should adopt a project that can appeal to women’s hearts.” Zhongshan couldn't help standing up. “I think that’s a bit of a problem because women who buy Koshien specials usually buy based on which school’s players are cuter, or which head coach is handsome. Projects that have no direct relationship and only seek sympathy. Even if the content of the report is popular, it has nothing to do with expanding the newspaper's purchasing layer. Therefore, instead of catering to this type of readers, it is through this special feature that people who do not watch sports news on weekdays If more people can understand the true taste of baseball, can we really expand the new readership.” At this time, Ohno, who only occasionally interrupted to express his opinion, had been listening quietly, let go of his folded arms, which was the secret signal for him to speak next. The atmosphere in the conference room was tense for a moment.Zhongshan also sat down and straightened his back. "I have roughly understood everyone's opinions. From my personal point of view, I agree to take the positive approach of letting readers understand the true taste of baseball to determine the outcome. However, I believe that any newspaper office will use Shinkoen, Narashino Nishi, and Tode The school confrontation is the subject of the report, so the impact of the headline on the readers will be weakened, and at the same time, there is a high possibility that other companies will release special features first, what do you think about this?" Ohno's sharp eyes fixed on Zhongshan. Zhongshan looked back without fear. "Yes, there may be many magazines or newspapers competing to report, but we can't just sit back and watch this historic duel once in decades. The most important thing is not to lose any detailed and wonderful reports. I I think I can definitely do that with this theme.” Ohno nodded slightly. "Okay, let's make this a special feature this year." And so it was decided. Ohno is absolutely trusted by his subordinates, and no one will disagree with the decisions he makes. Now that a decision has been made, the next situation is simple.These people have flexible minds, and they immediately carry out the procedures and stages of collecting and interviewing.That is to say, quickly determine the results of each team in the regional trials, and the team adjustment method after winning the regional championship and before entering Koshien.The interview assignment of each team's history, style of play, head coach's personality, baseball view, coaching method, hostile awareness of the other two teams, etc. As Zhongshan hoped, he was responsible for interviewing the hostile consciousness of the two supervisors, Mukai and Sanada.Of course, this is not so much his own wish, but rather because he once confronted these two in the Battle of Koshien... "Even so, it's really not easy for you to be able to say the same detailed and wonderful reports as any one. However, you will be tired in the future!" Fujisaki said while stretching out his chopsticks to pick up the sushi. "You can't say you're tired, you should say you have to work hard." The two looked at each other and laughed out loud. The fatigue in Zhongshan's heart was finally relieved, and a little joy and satisfaction of victory began to surge. "Mukai and Sanada were your shooting partners in the championship and runner-up finals in 1956. Shouldn't it be easier to interview them?" Fujisaki said. Zhongshan suddenly returned with a serious expression, put down the beer glass, and said, "Actually, I'm a little concerned about the two of them!" "Is it on your mind?" "Yes. These two partnered for three years in high school, and then entered S University together. The reason why they went to the same university means that apart from being a pitcher and a catcher, they also have a relationship with each other. 'Friendship'." "Well, it should be like this." "However, since the accident, the two have broken up and are currently developing their own paths." "That's right, and criticize each other, as if they are deep enemies." "That's the problem! The world believes that the accident was the trigger, and the two hated each other, but I find it unnatural." "What you call unnatural is..." "I myself tried hard to enter the professional team for a period of time, so I can understand to some extent the blow to Mukai who had to give up on joining the professional team because of this accident. He may hate the cause of the accident. Sanada, however, that kind of accident is an irresistible coincidence, if the personality is a man who can't be lifted and let go, what can I say, a person with a bold and straightforward personality like Mukai will continue to hold grudges against Sanada, I don't understand." "Maybe! I only played baseball when I was young, so I don't know much about the state of mind of a person who wholeheartedly wants to enter a professional team. However, Mukai had to give up this path. For him, it can be said that he lost his life goal! As a result, It's not inconceivable that he would blame Sanada for ruining his life, but it's a bit unusual for a resentment to last as long as you said." "So, I can only imagine that his personality caused these results, but I don't think he is such a narrow-minded person." "His appearance is indeed bold and straightforward, but I heard that his temperament is indeed different from ordinary people..." "I used to beat up senior students, or escaped from the dormitory against the dormitory, and so on. For a period of time, I was regarded as a problem student, but such a situation often appeared in high school students who are energetic. I think that the relationship between the two The reason for the conflict between them is not here." "That's not the reason?" Fujisaki shook his head incomprehensibly. "Rather than a theory, it's more appropriate to say it's the sixth sense of someone who played baseball together. I've always suspected that there is some sort of secret between these two!" Although he was talking, Zhongshan was thinking in his heart: Fujisaki might not be able to understand, and it might not be. The final battle at Koshien—only a catcher and hitter fighting each other face to face in such a fierce confrontation can experience that feeling! "Ha, ha, I understand. You asked to be in charge of interviewing the relationship between the two just to find out the answer to this mystery! In other words, apart from the confrontation between these three teams, you also attempted to interview additional inside information According to the news, it seems that your ambition is really not small." "It all depends on the influence of the seniors." "You bastard, you have a sweet mouth." Fujisaki lightly touched Zhongshan's head. The strength of the wine is gradually exerted, and it tastes sweeter! Mukai, Sanada... ——What happened between these two people? In the distant summer of the championship finals, Zhongshan’s mind came to mind. After the game, when the two teams lined up in front of the home plate to confront each other, the expressions of the two wiping their tears with their dirty black uniform sleeves.Of course, at the same time, I seem to feel the heat of Koshien Stadium... The moment the door of the "Gannet" coffee shop was pushed open, a comfortable air-conditioning enveloped Oyagi Tsuyoshi's whole body. "Ah, I finally came back to life." Oyagi said exaggeratedly, and sat down on the chair in front of the counter. "Give me a glass of ice water first, then ice coffee, hurry up." "You are still so impatient." Boss Iguchi said while putting a cold towel and a glass of water filled with ice cubes on the counter. After Oyagi drank the ice water in one gulp, he yelled "I can't stand it", but he swung his face to the left and right two or three times like a horse. On thick shoulders like a rugby player, there is a red face with raised eyebrows.From the appearance, he looks like a hooligan, but to put it mildly, he is a "criminal". However, judging from the wrinkled jeans and white shirt, and the canvas bag on the side chair, it can be seen that he is of other occupations. "Long time no see, is it for work again today?" Iguchi handed out iced coffee from the counter. "I had something to go to the Red Ghost, but he got rid of me." "Red Ghost" is the nickname given to the editor-in-chief of "Opportunity" Publishing House on the fourth floor of the building where the "Gannet" is located. He was given this nickname because his face is always as red as if he had drunk wine.Oyagi often writes reports for this small publishing house that specializes in sports-related content. "By the way, it's Monday afternoon, and you have quite a few customers, all for college baseball!" Oyagi said while wiping the sweat off his neck with a towel, looking around the store. All the eight four-seater cabins were full, almost all of them were office workers who came in to take a breather to escape the heat, but many of them must have been posted on the door of the store that said "High school baseball Kanagawa tryout finals are being broadcast live on TV" Attracted by the note! "By the way, what do you want from the editor-in-chief?" Iguchi asked while operating the coffee brewer.The aroma of Blue Mountain coffee overflows the counter. "You want to know?" Perhaps because of being dumped by the red ghost, Oyagi couldn't wait to tell someone!Without waiting for Iguchi's answer, he immediately opened the canvas bag, took out the interview notes, and spread them out on the counter. "What is this? It's like a code!" Iguchi said, looking at the notes. The notes are densely filled with numbers and English letters. "I know that this is the score record of the Shinko Garden game, but what are the other numbers and marks?" "You don't understand?" Oyagi's eyes glowed like a child solving a puzzle. "Here are the scoring records for all matches between Osaka's Shinko-en and Chiba's Narashino Nishi in the regional preliminaries, as well as the individual results of the players of both teams." "It turns out that the name of the player is replaced by the back number of the jersey. In addition, items such as the number of at-bats and the number of hits are all represented by marks, so it looks like a code." "Exactly. So, what do you find out about this?" Iguchi flipped through the notes, pondered, and then seemed to give up. "I don't understand it at all. It seems to be no different from a code. Could it be that there is some interesting secret hidden in it?" Oyagi smiled contentedly. "That's right! Actually, it's no wonder. Just looking at these materials, after all, you can't see the name. Even if I just cut and paste the collected materials, I probably won't find it. But because I personally collected the collected materials Only when you write it down in your notes will you be inspired." Oyagi is more talkative than usual, probably happy to talk about it! "Don't hold your breath, tell me the secret." Iguchi is also very interested in college baseball. He must have heard about the secrets of Shinkoen, a college baseball super team that is trying to win two consecutive championships at Koshien in the summer. talk to each other. "Okay! Since you said that, let me tell you!" Oyagi said, pointing to the part on the note, and then said: "First of all, pay attention to the scoring records of Shinmitsu and Narashino Nishi here." "Well, here it is. Narashino Nishi started from 12-0 in the first round, and went 9-2, 16-0, 8-4 in a row, and it was also 8-2 in the championship final, all of which were overwhelming. As for Shinko, it was 2 to 0, 4 to 1, 4 to 1, 9 to 5, 9 to 3, all of which were also overwhelming. That is to say, both teams have super scoring ability." Oyagi smiled and nodded. "That's right, the batting averages of both teams are over 40%. According to my calculations, Narashino Nishi's is 427%, and Shinmitsu's is 418%." "Hey! Both teams are over 40%? That's amazing." "It's not that great. In the past, it wasn't that there were no teams with a batting average of over 40%. For example, when Mizuno was still on the team, Ikeda Academy had a batting rate of over 40%. areas, or areas with low baseball standards, Ikeda Academy is such a favorite. However, Shinko and Narashino Nishi belong to Osaka and Chiba respectively. The rate is close to a miracle." Oyagi said very excitedly. Seeing this situation, Iguchi asked a little disappointed: "I know it is indeed an incredible number, but your so-called secret is only to say that these two schools are aggressive teams that can be recorded in baseball history?" "How is it possible?" Oyagi said disdainfully. "If this is the case, anyone can understand it just by looking at the numbers. The problem is how to understand the meaning behind the numbers! Do you know? Look carefully at the scoring patterns of these two teams." Oyagi grabbed the notes back from Iguchi's hand, and marked 〇 marks with a ballpoint pen on several places on the score record. "There are two games for each team that won the game with a shutout, but don't worry about it for now, because the opponent is too weak and played strong from the first game, so it can't be used as a reference. The point is the score record of the games I marked 〇 .” Iguchi looked at the notes Oyagi handed him.The score records of games marked with a 〇 are as follows: Narashino West 〇〇2〇412〇〇|9 Team A·〇101〇〇〇〇|2 Narashino West·〇〇1〇205〇|8 Team B·200101000|4 Team C·100000100|2 Narashino West 〇〇20411〇〇|8 Xinguang Park·〇〇〇〇11〇2〇|4 Team D·〇〇〇01〇〇〇|1 Xinguang Park 200150010|9 Team E·〇〇11〇2〇1〇|5 Shinko Park〇〇2〇142〇|9 Team F·〇〇〇2〇〇1〇|3 "How? Looking at it this way, you can find something interesting, right?" "Stop teasing me! You already knew I'm not as analytical as you are." Oyagi laughed happily. "Forget it, let me tell you! Of the six games you watched just now, except for the match between Shinko and Team E, the other five games are worth noting. That is to say, both Shinko and Narashino West were in the third game Scores are scored later, and those who score four or five points in one game must be after the fifth game, in other words, these games were fought hard in the first half, and won because of a large number of points in the second half." Iguchi nodded and looked at the notes carefully again. "Exactly what you said... yes, so I get it, it means that both teams are analyzing the pitching pattern of the opposing pitcher, that is, both teams are using computers and speed guns to quickly analyze the opposing pitcher's pitch behind the net in the infield zone Road, wait until the second half to use it to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop." "It's not simple! This view is interesting, but it's not the correct answer." "Really?" Iguchi asked a little dissatisfied. Oyagi glanced at him, laughed and said: "Think about it carefully! Leaving aside Nashino Nishi, who has super strong hitters, Shinmitsu's team this year is very inconspicuous no matter how you look at it. Until the tryouts this spring, They are all teams that only rely on pitching power to win on the field. However, in the regional trials in the summer, they suddenly showed their true nature of strong hitting, and it was not a flash in the pan. The team's batting average was 418%. Computer analysis of opposing pitchers became popular a decade ago, so it cannot be the reason why Shinko has suddenly become an attacking team." "Is this pattern of scoring from the third inning just this year, or was it a long time ago?" "That's a good question!" Oyagi triumphantly turned to another page of his notes. "Narashi Nonishi had this tendency from last year's autumn competition to this summer's regional preliminaries. However, Shinko did not suddenly appear in this pattern until this summer's preliminaries, so I found it incredible. I checked the earlier records and found Find……" "Found?" Iguchi had completely stopped working his hand. "It's very interesting that from Showa 54th to 57th, in the official competitions—of course including the Koshien Competition—this pattern appeared in almost every game. Do you understand the meaning?" Iguchi shook his head silently. Oyagi smiled. "Shibata was the supervisor of Shinko in the 51st year of the Showa era. During the four years of 51st, 52nd, 53rd, and 54th, he failed to lead the team into Koshien. In any case, it was a great humiliation, and it was obvious that his position would also be lost. However, starting the following year, this scoring pattern appeared, and as a result, the team played in Koshien, and Shibata's position was also preserved. In addition, in 1956 and 1957, he won the Koshien Summer Tournament for two consecutive years, so this period is called the second golden age of Shinko, and it also consolidated Shibata's status as a famous supervisor." "Wait a minute! Isn't Showa 56 the year when Mukai and Sanada won the championship together?" "That's right! During this period, Shibata's disciples used the same method as Master to bring the team into Koshien, so Shinmitsu had to revive this method, how? Interesting?" "Rather than interesting, it's scary! What kind of methods do these two teams use?" Oyagi stared at Iguchi mockingly for a long time, and suddenly said: "No, it will be a corporate secret if you go any further." He carefully put the notes back into the canvas bag. "Of course, I haven't solved the mystery 100 percent, but I can generally perceive that there must be some kind of inside story hidden between this unusually high team's batting average and a certain scoring pattern." Iguchi also laughed. "However, since you think there is a problem, you shouldn't be wrong. It seems that this matter will become more and more interesting!" "Maybe! The red ghost will definitely feel very sorry today, after all, I finally brought this interesting subject." Yagi drank the remaining iced coffee in the cup and stood up. "I will come again." "thanks for coming." "This man talks a lot, is he a journalist?" the old man who had been sitting in the corner of the counter listening to the conversation between the two asked Iguchi after Oyagi's figure disappeared outside the door. "No, he's a freelance reporter." "Really? Seems to be talking about the light, but it's better not to write something unsubstantiated. After all, college baseball is sacred, right? Whatever method is used, as long as it can achieve the goal. At the very least, no one should knowingly defile a holy thing." Iguchi nodded ambiguously at the man's words while putting away the cup. ——Is Jiashien sacred? Iguchi looked at the store door that Oyagi had walked out of.Oyagi has a dog-like sense of smell, and he will definitely be able to find out the secret of the fierce attack of the two teams of Nobumitsu and Narashino Nishi, but what is the secret? This kind of thing won't be directly related to Iguchi, so it shouldn't matter what the result is, but, for some reason, there is an indifferent uneasiness passing through his chest like a gust of wind.