*DING*
The moment the call was made, Ken heard the sound of the system notification ring out in his mind. But it was quickly overshadowed by the roar of the crowd and his teammates beside him after they heard the news.
In almost an instant, Daichi shot forward, taking him into a tight embrace and lifting him from the ground.
“YOU DID IT!” He shouted in Japanese, his joy evident.
After such a long wait, Ken had almost given up on his perfect game. All that work he’d put in had been taken from him with the final batter on Seattle’s lineup.
But now, carried by his brother, all of those negative feelings disappeared. Ken felt pure joy from his accomplishment run through him, taking him higher than he’d ever been before.
“We did it, brother.” Ken corrected Daichi, rubbing his head fondly.
The two shared a brief moment before the rest of the team surrounded Ken and hauled him on top of their shoulders, like a king among his servants. He was already tall, but on the shoulders of Samson, he was like a giant.
The crowd was still cheering loudly even after 2 minutes had passed and the dugout had been emptied onto the field. All of his teammates were celebrating with him, regardless of their feelings towards him as an individual.
Seeing such a sight made him remember his old teammates and friends back in Japan. While some of them had already quit baseball, they would forever be in his heart as a teammate who had shared the field with him.
His eyes moved to his grandfather, Mark Williams, the coach of the Ligers. He had been such a frail man when they first reunited during the U18 World Cup, yet now he seemed full of vigor.
He wiped at the corner of his eyes, unable to hide the emotion on his face. Even without words, Ken knew what the man was thinking.
Ken managed to rid himself of his makeshift chariot and head towards his grandfather. Without a word, he pulled him into an embrace, celebrating the moment he would never forget.
“I’m so proud of you Kenny…” Mark said, his voice muffled from talking into Ken’s shoulder. “You truly are amazing.”
“It runs in the family.” Ken replied, patting the older man on the back. He turned, locating Daichi not standing far away and waved him over.
Just like this, the 3 shared a heartwarming hug after their historic first game of the Division series.
“Hey, can someone grab my phone so we can get a picture?” Ken asked his teammates.
“Got it,” Rohan replied, running back towards the dugout.
A couple of minutes later, the 3 took a photo together, one that would sit on the wall for a long time coming.
“Ken, here’s the final ball of your perfect game. I thought you might want to keep it as a memento.” Samson Torkelson, the first baseman placed a ball inside Ken’s hand. The leather was a little dirty, but it did nothing to depreciate its monetary and sentimental value.
“Thank you, Sam.” Ken replied sincerely.
He already knew what he wanted to do with the ball. It would be a gift for his son and daughter when they were older. But as he thought of this, he realized that there was only 1 ball, but he would have 2 kids.
‘Maybe I can get the final ball from the World Series when we win?’ he mused inwardly.
If anyone knew what he was thinking at the moment, they might want to know if his brain was okay.
Ken returned to the dugout and stashed his game ball into his bag so he wouldn’t lose it. He then tasked Daichi with making sure that no one stole it, since he knew that there would be plenty of media interviews before he could make it out of the ballpark.
“Ken! Get over here quickly.” Coach Michaels, the pitching coach for the team was frantically looking for him.
“Alright, I’ll see you guys later.” Ken said to Rohan and Daichi with a laugh. He knew that he would be stuck answering questions for the next couple of hours.
Sure enough, he was plonked in front of a camera with a reporter next to him. It was Maddie Waters from ESPN, a woman he’d answered questions from in the past.
“I’m joined here by Ken Takagi who has become only the 2nd person in Major League history to throw a perfect game during the post season.” She said with excitement.
“Tell me Ken, how are you feeling after this enormous accomplishment?”
Ken smiled, “Look, it was a little scary there at the end with the review, but I’m just happy that I was able to clear the way for my teams victory tonight.”
“Well you did that, and more. Was there a particular pitch that was working well for you tonight?”
“I think most were doing their job, but I was seeing a lot of success with the cutter.”
“Yes, we did notice that. Is this a pitch you’ve been working on recently? From my understanding, you haven’t pitched it before tonight’s game right?”
Ken grinned, “Well, I’ve been working with Coach House for the past few months and my cutter was just a byproduct of this. Hiring him was truly the best professional decision I ever made.”
“That’s wonderful. How were you able to stay focused throughout the entire game? This is your first time in the post season, yet at no point did it look like the pressure affected you.” Maddie asked.
Ken raised his hand and pointed to the dugout, “That man right there, Daichi. This honor belongs to him as much as it does me.”
“Thank you for your time Ken, we’ll leave you to your celebrations. This was Maddie Waters reporting from Comerica Park after the Ligers dominating win over the Seattle Waves. Back to you in the studio Pat.” She said, pausing for a while until the light on the camera died.