Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Volume 6 Prologue

Seasonal Opening Ceremony One day in late September during the climax of the pennant race for professional baseball.
“Lin! What was ya doin'!?”
Someone shouted in Hakata dialect, his yell echoing in the baseball stadium in f.u.kuoka.
The owner of the voice was a regular player for the Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens gra.s.s-lot baseball team as the one protecting second-base – Zenji Banba.
“You got no reason to miss that!”
The person subjected to Banba's anger was his partner, Xianming Lin. “Shut up. Don't yell at me.” He replied back boldly.

 Today was one of their practice games. The opposing team was made of regular people, and the Tonkotsu Nine were struggling with a pitcher with an irregular form. They were unable to hit one and could not get any points. They were tantalizingly unable to make many hits.
The score was one to two once the eighth inning ended. They managed to keep the lead with Saitou's pitching strength. However, in the top of the ninth inning, they got two outs and there was trouble at third base. The batter had hit a ground ball. It was an easy catch, but the shortstop, Lin, had tried to catch it. The ball pa.s.sed between his legs. Two runners made it home. The score was now three to two. They had lost the advantage in the last moments of the game.
Saitou paled seeing Lin's fatal error. Even their coach Genzo Gouda gripped his head in shame.
Banba started yelling harsh words at him. “They came from behind because of you! How ‘bout you reflect on your mistake!”
“Haa?” Lin glared back and shouted. “I'm not the only one to blame! It was the pitcher who had allowed the ball to get hit!”
“Dontcha put the blame on others!”
“Ha! Says the guy who got out with three strikes so easily.”
“Whatcha say!?”
The middle-fielders began to argue between the first and second base.
“Hey, come on now,” the first baseman, José Martinez, quickly ran up to them to try and pacify them. “Calm down, you two.”
It was always his job to stand between them and break up the fight when they were worked up like this. Whenever a fight broke out, Martinez was the first to take action. He was a kind and dependable man for his friends.
“Don't nag at me for making a little error!”
“That ain't little! If we lose, it's your fault!”
“You shouldn't blame others either! You batted three times and never once got a hit!”
“Wh, why you...!”
“Hey, don't fight.” Banba and Lin had grabbed one other by the collar, and Martinez pulled them apart and stated, shrugging. “I'll make up the one point difference by hitting a homerun.”
The two reluctantly released their grip on each other and broke apart. After Martinez managed to calm them down, the match restarted. They were able to get an out with a fast ground ball, and the Tonkotsu Nine returned to the benches.
The Ramens would have their final turn at offence in the bottom of this inning. The batting order would start with Enokida.
“If one of you get out there, Mar's turn will come around. We gotta get the fourth batter in there.”
The nine players formed a circle in front of the benches. The speaker was their coach Genzo.
“We're gonna turn this game around in this inning!”
‘Yeah!” The nine of them shouted back in high spirits.
They broke up and went into positions. The first batter Enokida went into the batter's box. The second batter Yamato was getting ready in the next batter's circle. The third batter Banba began practicing his swing in front of the benches. Everyone was focused, determined to make sure the fourth batter – their slugger – would get to bat.
Lin was making a sullen face, watching them from the benches. He was the seventh to bat. His turn would not come for awhile. In fact, there was a high possibility he would not bat.
“Hey.”
Lin spoke to the coach Genzo beside him.
“The fourth batter is the best in the team, isn't it?”
He had dabbled with a sudden thought that came to him.
There was a tendency for the fourth batter to be the strongest hitter in the baseball sport. In professional baseball, usually foreign players brought from the Americas were resigned to be the fourth batter. The Ramens' fourth batter was also someone from the Dominican Republic – Martinez. He had a large muscular body, over two meters tall, and had thick arms. He had the physique to easily send a ball flying afar.
“Yeah, in a way,” Genzo nodded ambiguously.
“There are lots of ways to define a good batter, but the fourth batter is the one who becomes the team's pillar.”
“Then why isn't the fourth batter the first to go?”
Lin did not ask this to question his coach's choice on their batting order. He was just curious.
“If you have the best batter up first, he would get more turns to bat.”
Lin thought if it was arranged that way, the number of times the strongest batter would bat would increase, and they could get more points.
However, that was apparently not the case. Genzo shook his head and grinned. “The important role the fourth batter has to do is to make a chance for others and to rack up points.”
Genzo explained that no matter how much endurance the fourth player had, not all of their hits were going to be home runs. And it would be difficult for him to solely score points. Baseball was a sport where nine people were needed, and not just for defense; for offense as well. For the fourth batter to get their team the most points, they needed runners preceding him. If any of the three batters before him make it to a base, the fourth batter's turn would come around, giving them a chance. The batting order was arranged so the players with the highest chances of making hits and getting to bases were first to further increase the possibility of getting more points.
Genzo pointed to Enokida over in the batter's box. “The first batter has to make it to a base.”
Hence Enokida was the first to bat because of his high chance in getting on base.
“The second batter will make a bunt, and if the runner can get to the next base with a hit-and-run or with a steal that'd be even better.”
The second batter, Yamato, was a skilled player who specialized in making subtle maneuvers. And then connecting with the next batter, the third one up was Banba – a mid-distance batter. He was good batting on the right side and could hit far. He was fast, so there was little risk in attempting a double play.
“Each one of them play a role.”
Genzo explained to him that the three best batters in the Ramens were put first so they could have the best chance to get the fourth batter up to bat.
“So you're saying one person isn't enough for offense?”
“Correct,” Genzo nodded. “That's what baseball is.”
The other team's pitcher had finished practicing, and the Ramens' offense began. Enokida made it on base with a foul ball. Genzo did not make a sign, but Yamato went for a safety bunt. He ended up getting out, but Enokida made it to the next base.
“They know what their roles are.” Genzo stated while watching the player standing in the batter's box. “The fourth batter's role is to save the team out of a pinch.”
“Lin, don't worry about that error.”
Martinez had been practicing his swings in front of the benches and turned around to face Lin and placed his large palm on Lin's head.
“Leave the rest to me.”
After he gave him a smirk, he headed to the next batter's circle.
“...It's not like it was bothering me,” Lin replied back, casting his gaze downward.
The third batter, Banba, had hit the ball between the first and second base, but the ball was caught. Nonetheless, Enokida made it to third base.
They had two outs and one person on third. They had the chance to level out the points with this next hit.
And finally the fourth batter Martinez's turn had come. The opponent's pitcher looked exhausted as he had been pitching all the way until the ninth inning. The pitcher must have let his guard down as he made a careless pitch to Martinez. It was a fast strike in the dead center, and Martinez would not pa.s.s that up. He made a full swing with such force they could hear the fierce rush of the wind as the bat hit the ball back.
The white ball flew high into the refres.h.i.+ng autumn sky. The Tonkotsu Nine hung out of the benches, watching the trajectory of the ball. The ball made a large arch and disappeared beyond the grounds. It was a home run hit out of the park.
The pitcher hung his head on the mound. Martinez tossed aside his bat and pointed to the benches – to Lin. “Did you see that? I did it. Like I said I would.” He stated with a proud expression. He then made a fist and raised it in the air.
Martinez leisurely ran around the diamond.
Genzo smiled as he applauded his feats. “I reckon' you can say the fourth's batter's role is to also push the team through when the scores are close.”
Enokida had returned home from the third base. The Tonkotsu Nine gathered around the home plate and welcomed Martinez. They finished the game with two runs and a home run. The score was three to four. The singular swing from their slugger had saved their team.
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Translation: Kaede726
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Editor: Voissane
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