The game got underway and the crowd was into it from the beginning. Both Ken and Daichi were sitting in the dugout, chatting to each other while it went on.
With Leo taking the starting catcher’s position, Daichi would not be playing unless he was taken out, or he came in as a designated hitter.
But he didn’t seem to care.
“Kenny boy! How you going man?” A voice called from nearby.
Ken resisted the urge to roll his eyes as a familiar figure came and sat down next to him. It was Alex Cole from the New York Yanks, Leo’s teammate and one of the first professional players he’d met.
While they didn’t have a bad relationship, Ken had gone through quite a bit after accepting VIP tickets from him back in college.
“Alex.” Ken nodded.
“Oh come on man, don’t be so cold. Are you still upset about paying back those VIP tickets? I’ll send you the money now if you really need it.” He said with a smile.
“Don’t worry about it.” Ken said, waving it off.
Alex took a seat next to him and held out his hand towards Daichi, “I’m Alex, nice to meet you Daichi.”
“Likewise.”
“You know, your brother has been my number 1 fan for a long time.” Alex added, sending Ken a wink.
At this, Daichi looked thoughtful. “I thought he liked Ma-kun?”
Alex’s smile froze on his face, “Well… Either way, I was lucky enough to see his talents back while he was just starting college. To think that we’d see each other in the All-star game so soon.”
The three were silent for a while before Alex spoke up again. “But Ken, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why did you say all those things in the media? You never struck me as someone overly arrogant.”
Ken really didn’t know what to say to such a claim.
“Is it arrogance or confidence?” Daichi interjected.
Alex made a face, “Well, there have only ever been 24 perfect games thrown in the history of the Majors. To say that you’d accomplish this in your very first season in the league sounds far more arrogant than confident.”
“Not to mention, you said that your team will qualify for the World Series. Do you know that you guys were a sub .500 team last season? Why do you think they were able to draft you so high?”
“What are you getting at, Alex?” Ken asked impatiently.
Hearing Ken’s tone, he raised his hands, backing off slightly. “I’m not trying to start anything, I’m just curious what made you say such a thing. You know if you don’t do either of those things and still stay in the league next season, no one will take you seriously.”
“I’m a man of my word.” Ken replied matter-of-factly.
“Right, right. Well if you don’t want to say its fine.” Alex said, standing up from the bench. “I wish you all the best man, I truly hope that you can achieve what you set out to do so we can keep playing against each other.”
“Just know that we won’t make it easy for you… Especially him.” Alex stated, gesturing to the field.
Ken knew he was talking about Leo. In order to qualify for the World Series, Detroit would likely have to face New York in the playoffs. They had already lost 4 out of the 5 games played against NY this season.
“I would expect nothing less.” Ken said, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.
After the discussion with Alex, the game continued while Ken waited on the bench. Daichi was brought onto the field in the 6th inning in place of Leo who was sent to the bench.
Many other positional players were rotated to ensure that they got some playing time on the night.
Ken was one of the only ones who was still waiting for his turn to step onto the field. Other times he might have been chomping at the bit to get onto the mound, but that wasn’t the case today.
Perhaps it was because the atmosphere was relaxed in the dugout, but Ken didn’t feel the competitive urge that he usually did. He was happy to see that Daichi smacked a big hit into the outfield in his first at-bat, sending a runner home.
It wasn’t until the top of the 8th that things finally began to get interesting.
With the score tied at 8-8, the National League team brought out Ryan Smith into the lineup for the first time. Only now did Ken start to pay attention to the game.
Getting up off his seat, he moved to the railing and watched on with interest.
Ryan lifted his leg and sent the first pitch of the inning out. It was a moving fastball. 100mph with ridiculous spin that would make most pitchers jealous.
Ken’s eyes narrowed as he watched it. Even he with the Lively Fastball skill was only slightly better than Ryan in this regard. Of course he could throw with much more velocity than Ryan, but sometimes speed wasn’t all that mattered.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
“Strike.”
The crowd cheered after seeing the 3 digits upon the jumbo screen. The arena shook as the game reached the crescendo.
PAH
“Strike.”
The next ball was a wicked slider that looked almost impossible. The rotational speed and the direction of the break was amazing, making it look more like a slurve instead.
This was Ryan’s trademark, the identity he’d built his pitching on. Every pitch he threw was almost impossible to predict, even for the catcher who sat behind the plate.
Over the past 2 years, the man had perfected his style with the unorthodox grips for each pitch. Ken felt the fire stir within him as he watched Ryan perform a masterclass.
WHOOOOOSH
PAH
“Strikeout!”
“Damn, we might have trouble scoring from now on.” Alex said gingerly.
Ken’s hands balled into fists, his competitive spirit returning.
‘I won’t lose.’