“Oi, wake up.”
Ken felt a nudge on his side, snapping his consciousness back into place. Feeling a little disoriented, he raised his head only to see Daichi staring at him with a grin.
“What happened?” Ken asked with confusion.
“Lee touched you.”
“Please don’t say it like that…” Ken replied succinctly.
Daichi laughed, the sound echoing within the room. “Don’t worry, I was as confused as you when he gave me the first massage. He truly is the best in the business.”
Ken was silent for a while before nodding. His back muscles no longer felt stiff and he felt like a new man. There was no doubting the guy’s expertise.
“You should have told me about him way earlier in the season.” Ken grumbled, hopping off the massage bench. None of the other trainers were here anymore, it was just him and Daichi.
Daichi shrugged in response, “This was the first time I saw that you were sore, plus he’s only a new hire. Apparently Grandpa went and hired the guy himself.”
“I see… What is that accent though? Sometimes its hard to understand him.” Ken added.
At this, Daichi grinned, “He’s from Australia. Just wait till he has a few drinks, he becomes even more incoherent.”
Ken shook his head, letting out a laugh. His old batting coach Dave Johnson at Columbia was also from Australia, though he was much easier to understand.
“Those Aussies are an interesting bunch.”
“I’ll say, have you ever watched cricket?” Daichi asked.
“Cricket? Like the bug?”
Daichi shook his head, “No, it’s like baseball but completely different. There are two batters on the field at once and they have a much wider bat.”
“That sounds… Chaotic.”
“Yeah… I heard the games can even go on for days at a time.”
“Days!? What the hell kind of sport takes days to finish a game?” Ken balked, feeling incredulous.
“One of the biggest sports in the world mate.” Lee appeared in the room, wearing a smile. “It’s actually ranked 2nd in viewership, just beneath Soccer.”
“Eh? Really?” Ken felt that might be untrue, but after seeing the confident expression on the trainer’s face, he couldn’t exactly refute him outright.
“Yeah, I grew up watching the Aussies dominate world cricket in the 2000’s. Though I never played it as a kid… I played rugby.”
“Rugby?”
Lee laughed, “Think American Football without pads and a slightly different rule set. Anyway, we’re going off topic. The game will be starting in an hour, I came to put some tape on your back.”
“Oh, how long was I asleep for?” Ken asked quizzically.
“Long enough. Now stay still for a few minutes while I tape you up,” Lee said, fishing into his bag of goodies. “Good thing you don’t have any back hair, that would have been unfortunate for you.”
Some time later, Ken and Daichi left the trainers room and returned to the locker room. Ken felt amazing after his massage and the athletic tape that Lee used seemed to be working wonders.
‘I wonder what my swing will be like tonight?’ Ken thought, testing his movements.
“He’s pretty good right?” Daichi asked with a grin.
“Yeah… Maybe I can hire him to work on Ai, she’s been complaining about her feet lately.” Ken added thoughtfully.
“Just massage your own wife’s feet man…” Daichi said, shaking his head.
“Hey, I do… Apparently I just suck at it.” Ken replied, his tone sounding downcast.
“Alright guys, let’s go warm up on the field.” A voice called from the entrance of the locker room. “Remember, this is enemy territory, so expect some jeers.”
Ken made sure his things were put away properly before heading into the dugout and up towards the field. Seeing the well maintained ground, Ken felt his excitement grow.
Already the ballpark was filling up quickly, even with under an hour for the game to start. They went through some standard drills manned by the assistant coach’s.
Soon enough, it was time to head back to the dugout for the final talk before the game started. Mark was once again at the forefront, directing the team.
“Alright the lineups have been released, we’ll be facing Louis Garcia from the beginning. Keep an eye on his four-seam fastball and slider, he’ll use them both to set up for the changeup.” Mark said, giving his last minute instructions.
“Remember, weather the storm and we’ll be able to squeeze out a win. Victory on 3!” He exclaimed, raising his arm.
“1, 2, 3…”
“VICTORY!”
The rest of the team joined in and shouted before they were directed onto the field for the proceedings. After lining up for the National Anthem and the other festivities, they returned to the dugout.
As the announcer called out the names of the opposing players, it was finally time for the game to start.
“Batting first for the Ligers, Ryan Greene.” The announcer said lamely.
The atmosphere was much different to a home game, though Ken could still hear some cheers for the Ligers among the crowd. Of course they paled in comparison to the cheers for the Arrows.
“Play ball!”
Music played, followed by the crowd roaring, bringing a start to the 3rd game of the ALCS.
Ken’s eyes focused on the pitcher, Louis Garcia. The guy was 6’2 and looked to be close to 240 pounds, from a glance one could see how powerful he was.
WHOOOOSH
PAH
The first pitch came, a four-seam fastball that was thrown at 95mph. The clear sound of the ball smacking the glove echoed in the ballpark, followed by a cheer from the crowd.
He seemed to be throwing the ball comfortably, yet it was already this fast.
However, Ken believed in their batters.
WHOOOOSH
WHACK!
The next ball was a slider, but it was picked up by Ryan who sent it into the right outfield. It bounced in front of the right outfielder before landing in his glove.
Yet Ryan Greene already made it to first, getting the first hit of the game.