After practice, the team had a meeting with the coaching staff and the GM, Geoff Greenberg. He laid out the goals the team had for the season and went over some 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 seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. It seemed 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 game. 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 game time.
“While I’ve got you here, we’ll go through the lineup for today’s game.” Mark said, pulling out his clipboard.
“Outfielders: Ryan Greene, Adrian Baddoo, Kris Carpenter. Infielders: Jose Baez, Samson Torkelson, Jaime 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 came time for the battery. There were two rookies who would be making their Major League debut in the opening game 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 some peace of mind.
After the meeting, the players returned to the locker room to freshen up and prepare for the game. It was already late in the afternoon and the game was meant to start in around an hour and a half.
“You better not mess up today, Ken.” Jake Foley, the same 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 game 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 game, it would be impossible to get a perfect game.”
Yet as he said that, he turned to Daichi and gave him a wink.
His words seemed 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 someone 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 game, not against the best batters in the world.” Daichi said seriously.
“You’re right.” Ken replied simply. “As I am now…”
“But what about me in 1 month time? 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 times 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.”
“Me, cocky? Never.” Ken poked his tongue out.
“What are ya guys talking about?” Rohan asked. He had sensed the atmosphere became 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 moment I’m your landlord.”
Rohan grumbled something in response, causing the two others to laugh.
Soon enough, they were told to move into the dugout for the festivities. Already, Comerica Park was filled with people for the first game 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 tournament in Japan.”
“You have this many fans at a High School tournament!?” 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 time 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 game 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”