The original intention of the diamond ace

Oda has always felt that he is very lucky. After all, it is not someone who can embark on the road of professional baseball after missing high school...

Not everyone who is born with the talent of a good pitcher will be able to go to the day job and then go to the major leagues...

Not everyone can get through this time...

St. Louis, USA

The night is already very deep, and the moonlight is shining down softly, on the roofs of small houses and the tops of street trees...

A figure on the bed in the room was turning over uneasily.

Oda frowned, muttered in his mouth, and turned over again...

The last day of high school.

The still immature Oda raised the corners of his mouth and chatted with his close friends about the future, walking side by side across the stadium.

The best friend beside him stopped, and Oda stopped after him, looking back at him.

He didn't look at Oda, but stared blankly at the field. If Oda felt something, he turned sideways and looked at the quiet land full of potholes...

After a while, Oda said softly, "Will you play baseball again after you get to college?"

...It was very quiet, and he didn't reply.

Oda looked back at his best friend's face, strangely, he didn't have any expression, but looked very confused.

"I still can't..." He looked over and raised the corners of his mouth, "Anyway, I don't have much talent."

He said the last few words very firmly, as if he was convincing himself.

Looking at his face, Oda whispered back: "Is that so..."

Oda couldn't help thinking that his best friend dragged him here back then, and after that game, it was also his best friend who ignited the only blood in his youth, and his face...

Three years ago, the last competition for the seniors.

Everyone said that they just wanted to have fun. After playing for three years, they must play a happy game in the end, and invited each other to have dinner together after the end.

The competition was indeed as expected. After all, the opponent was a strong school in the county. Everyone knew that the competition would be one-sided...

But Oda in the bench area and his close friends can see that the seniors are still desperately trying to change something like the previous games, but the reality is still the same as before.After all, the opponents are really much stronger than them, and most of them are also the last time, no one wants to lose.

The game ended soon, with a similar ending, similar scores, and the same seniors who lowered their heads silently and shed tears.

The two of them stood up at a loss, and stayed where they were, opening and closing their mouths, not knowing what to say...

After that, the seniors didn't talk about the dinner again, and went back in silence.

It was also that afternoon, my best friend cried and told Oda that he would definitely become the ace of the team and lead the team to Koshien...

Oda has always felt that he is lucky. He looked at the signing contract given by the team and a group of reporters below who were snapping pictures, thinking so in his heart.

A few years later, he received an invitation from that place across the sea.

After discussing with the coach, with everyone's support, I went across the ocean to a new place.

Unfamiliar but friendly teammates and coaches, a smooth start, and the cheers of tens of thousands of people, Oda quickly adapted to this place.

Two months later, when it was his turn to start again, he calmly climbed onto the mound...

"The pitcher headed the ball!!"

"Oda caught it!"

"Oh! What's going on?!"

Oda arched his waist and covered his little finger in pain. The coach ran up nervously. After checking the injury, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked someone to send Oda to the medical room.After that, I started to discuss with the referee in an orderly manner the judgment of the ball just now, and arranged relay...

A few months later, Oda's injury was completely healed, and he was back in the starting roster...

The first time he started, Oda and many people soon discovered that his injury did not seem to be fully healed.

"Another four bads! The third base runner went home and scored!"

"Since the first game, Oda's condition has not been very good. Could it be that the injury has not healed yet?..."

Afterwards, the coach replaced Oda. He stared at the court closely, and did not look back at Oda who was walking back.

The surrounding team members kowtowed melon seeds and chewed gum. Occasionally, a few newcomers frowned and gave him a slightly angry look.

Oda didn't chat with anyone else either, he pursed his lips and sat in a corner.

At this time, his mind was almost blank, only he knew that his hand was actually fine, not painful, sore, nor very tired, but it just couldn't be thrown in, no matter what...

"Why did you let him vote in the third game? Everyone can see that he is not in a good state at this time!"

"Yeah! Just add up that inning and the half of the fourth inning. He lost three points by himself. If we didn't have those three points, we would have won!!"

"Tsk, do you think the coach can't see that he's not in good shape? Anyone who doesn't know baseball can see it. Isn't it because he played the first game against the Athletic, and there are two games left. If you burn the bullpen now, It’s over after that.”

"I guess the coach also expects him to adjust himself, who knows the result. Hmph~ I didn't expect him to be so useless, he couldn't survive four rounds."

This kind of conversation, almost everyone is talking about it, even if Oda is flustered now, he still hears it.

The second time it was launched, it was a similar plot, this time many people knew about it...

... "OMG!! You mean... yips."

"No way! How could he have such a terrible thing, you should stay away from him in the future, be careful and you will get involved too."

"Is this still contagious?!"

"I don't know about this, but I have heard of such things before. It is said that a second baseman also suffered from this disease. One of his friends was very anxious to comfort him. He found many doctors and asked him a lot. People. After a race, I don’t know if it was because I was too tired and stunned for a while or something, but my foot was stepped on by the runner. The foot was cured, and he also got yips. And this disease is very strange, no one knows how Those who can get it, those who get better don’t know how to get better, and the doctors don’t know how to treat it at all, so let’s be careful...”

Needless to say, it is difficult for the team to keep someone like Oda, and Oda has been transferred to 3A.

Although he was recuperating from illness, no one was willing to pay attention to him. Whether it was a team member or a coach, everyone respected him at a respectful distance...

At the beginning, Oda would look for people and check information everywhere, but after a long time he tried almost all the methods, and continued to train aimlessly every day according to his previous habits. Every four nights, he faced the ball net, throwing the ball desperately towards a point...

In this way, I have been in the United States for a year.

After a catcher hesitated to discuss with the coach, Oda once again boarded the long-lost pitcher's mound.

Very strange, he miraculously recovered...

Years later, when the news came that Oda Kazuo might be elected to the Hall of Fame, he looked at the excited faces surrounding him and responded with a smile.Thinking faintly in his heart, he is still quite lucky.

Oda has always felt that he is lucky, but he is not as happy as others say.

... The person on the bed turned over again, with dense sweat on his forehead.

Oda opened his eyes, blinked, stared at the ceiling for a while, sighed softly, and got up.

Sigh, I didn't sleep well again. I'll see a psychiatrist tomorrow. What's going on? I can't sleep well...

<Lucky Oda end>