Original subtitles

You guys weren't able to reverse the scores but did enough.

You all pass the tryout.

We did it!

We really did it!

Yeah.

Oh, however,

there's an exception for one of you.

Goro Shigeno.

You'll be joining the Majors group on the main field next door.

WHAT!?

This is the locker room.

So this is a Major League locker room!

Your locker is...

that one over on the left at the end.

Cool!

You've already written my name!

And even a uniform!

My number is 56!

This is great! Great!

Number 56 is Goro!

It sort of looks like my name!

You've arranged a good number for me.

Very thank you!

Old man!

We also got a glove and cleats for you, since you lost your own through theft.

Please use these.

Glove?

Cleats?

I can have these too?

Just what you'd expect from the Majors; you're really generous!

Anyway,

when you've changed, go to the main field.

I should go to the main field?

Okay, okay!

However...

To put such a rookie in the Major League camp right off the bat...

What was the Assistant General Manager and the scout thinking?

What?

A Japanese pitcher who just passed the tryouts

is going to join the Major League camp?

Yes, Coach.

I got a call from the Assistant General Manager about it.

He told me that he completely shut out the Red Rox.

I see. For now, I'll leave it to you.

Pursue this matter and keep me updated.

I understand.

A Japanese pitcher?

Don't tell me that guy...

Hey, what's the matter, Bolton?

Sorry.

From a testee to competing for a spot on the Major League roster right away?

It's true that you pitch well...

But...

Like usual, you send it flying far.

Yo!

I've come to get my revenge without delay, Bolton-chan.

I thought I proved to you that it's still too early for you to come here,

boy.

Welcome!

You are Shigeno, right?

I'm Zimmerman, the pitching coach!

Coach Gary has put me in charge of your training.

Are you okay?

Hey, Fox!

Come over here for a second!

You wanted something?

If I remember correctly, you know some Japanese, right?

Can you translate for me?

Yeah, no problem.

Who is that Asian?

Dunno.

This is the pitching coach, Zimmerman.

He says that he has heard that you're a

rookie who just passed the tryout yesterday.

You can speak Japanese?

Yeah.

Because of my father's work, I spent five years in Japan when I was a kid.

Whenever you don't understand something or want advice,

you can ask him, through me, he says.

Okay, I'll leave you to it.

Okay.

He'll notify you about who's taking the mound

for a game up until the day before the game.

And also,

unlike in Japan, we don't have a regimen of obligatory activities here.

The people who come here know how to regulate their training themselves.

Do as you wish, rookie.

Well, that's how it is.

H-Hey! Wait a minute!

Is that all!?

You're abandoning the newcomer?

Just kidding.

I see.

Just what you'd expect from the land of the free, America.

Well,

it's just what I had hoped for.

I didn't come this far...

thinking I would try to get advice from others.

They're at it! They're at it!

Just what you'd expect from the Majors, right?

They're throwing well.

Oh? Wow!

You're a catcher?

Yeah.

A bullpen catcher who jumps between the Majors and Minors though.

Have you warmed up?

Y-Yeah.

In that case, I'll catch for you.

Thank you!

Your face looks like Frankenstein's, but...

you're a good person.

Let's get along!

Uh...

Fox.

Okay!

Okay!

It's okay.

I pitched quite a lot yesterday.

Also, today is my first day too.

I'll just cruise around...

carefully!

I see.

He's got speed. Dang!

It's not flying fast.

I guess my shoulder really is heavy today.

Hey, Norton.

Catch for me.

Okay.

Sanchez.

Move.

Huh?

This is my reserved spot.

Huh?

What?

You don't understand English?

Look,

I'm telling you to hurry up and move, boy.

I don't know what you're saying, but...

I was throwing here first.

You, wait, understand?

That idiot!

You!

Don't take me lightly, damn fish!

Do you lack the manners to hand over the mound to your team's ace?

Oh my, he made him angry.

Hey, let's go, Norton!

Y-Yeah.

It seems that rookie doesn't know about our untamable horse, Sanchez.

As I said,

I-was-here-first kick!

A kick!?

Though he took off his cleats for the time being.

Wait for your turn, mustached old man!

A Japanese person...

waits in line to eat his ramen!

Damn kid...

It's been a while since a rookie...

who's worth beating up has come here!

Now you've done it!

You bastard!

What are you doing!?

You guys! Stop them!

Enough.

Let me go.

Damn it!

It hurts!

You were the one who attacked first!

Stop this foolishness, Shigeno!

The situation is that you're allowed to be at

this camp because of your Minor League contract.

Try to restrain yourself a little!

You're taking on our ace, Sanchez!

But...!

Let him go.

I like you.

What?

If a rookie wants to survive here, he must have some

pride and not just give up the mound to a stranger.

Well, the number of prideful rookies has increased a lot recently.

S-Sanchez...

I'm done already, so you can pitch here.

No.

I don't feel like pitching here anymore.

Norton!

Let's go to the indoor bullpen.

Wait.

Don't run away, old man.

Are you so afraid that if we pitch next to one another, your

dull old-fashioned pitch will hit the mitt later than a rookie's?

Well!?

Hey, Fox.

Translate what I just said.

Don't joke around! I won't translate something like that!

You don't have to translate it.

I understand that he's picking a fight by the look in his eyes.

It seems...

that for us to both enjoy our stay at this camp,

we need to make our positions clear.

This is a free fansub.

Not for sale or rent.

W-What's that?

That's a specially made iron frame that our pitchers use for practice.

Its inside is made to be just as big as an average batter's strike zone.

What's that?

It's a contest of who can throw the ball through that hole?

Ridiculous! That's easy.

He's saying that just throwing a ball through the middle of that frame is easy.

Are you stupid? With such a simple competition, we wouldn't know anything.

We're going to hit the frame itself.

We're both going to throw ten pitches at that frame and see who hits it the most.

Hey, Sanchez! You're being childish!

A veteran such as yourself shouldn't challenge a rookie like this!

Veteran or rookie, it doesn't matter, Mr. Zimmerman.

If his big mouth matches the skill of the Majors,

starting tomorrow, I won't ask him to give up the mound to me.

Okay.

Then I'll show you my skills right away.

H-Hey, how many times have you hit the frame?

I've only done this two or three times, but...

hitting it once every two pitches is lucky.

Let's do this!

He hit it!

You're gravely mistaken if you think I'm a

pitcher who's got just speed and no control!

O-Out of ten pitches, he hit it eight times!

T-This guy, even with that pitching skill, he's got control too!

How's that?

Come on, it's your turn next.

Are you satisfied with that?

You learn where your limits are, Minor Leaguer!?

W-What's that!?

W-What's that!?

Move.

Let's see...

In that case, I'll show you how it's done in the Majors.

You're showing off and then you miss right away!

This is too good!

Hey, Norton!

That iron frame is two centimeters too far to the left!

Which one of us is making poor excuses and is full of pride?

S-Sorry!

It really is off its position by one or two centimeters!

It seems like the iron frame really was off its position a bit.

I'll start with informing you:

by no means do I aim for that frame when I throw.

The place where my foot steps on the rubber...

The location and angle of my foot when I take a step forward,

and the 60 feet and 6 inches to the 17-inch wide white home plate.

My body knows them down to the inch.

It's so I can control whether my pitch hits the strike zone half a ball too far out or not at

will.

In other words, as long as that frame has been

set up in the same way as the strike zone...

it doesn't matter if it's a breaking ball...

or any kind of pitch;

they all inevitably hit.

And this is why...

my body remembers the feeling of steering the ball precisely into the corner.

However, it's not something even a Minor

Leaguer of your level can do by vaguely hitting.

Do you understand...

what the real thing is?

He...

He's steering them all to the outside of the frame!

Nine out of ten pitches...

Even if it's just a small one point difference, you lose, Señor.

Now that you know your place, you'll act accordingly, right?

It's a complete defeat.

It's not just a one point difference.

That old man...

Both his technique and accuracy are miles better than someone like me.

And unlike my pitches, which I desperately tried to locate to the place I wanted,

Sanchez exhibited perfect control in his pitching.

This is...

the Majors.

Shigeno, are you still here?

Y-Yeah.

Y-Yeah.

I bring word from the Coach.

In the exhibition game the day after tomorrow,

it seems you'll be the starting pitcher.

"Get ready," he said.

Okay! One more!

Six, four, three!

Six, four, three!

Six, four, three!

Okay, that's good! Continue like that!

Next:

Five, four, three!

Five, four, three!

Five, four, three!

Big sister!

Oh, Taiga?

You're still loafing around here?

I've been accepted to my university already, and

I've been buried in exams so I wanted some exercise.

You got a problem with that?

It's not a problem or anything, but...

I feel pity for my big sister, who doesn't even

have a single plan for a date on her day off.

W-What's that!?

W-What's that!?

It seems like Shigeno-senpai passed the test for some baseball team in America.

Huh?

Even though it's only been three days since he went to America.

That old man sure is great.

Honda.

It won't work like that.

I'm telling you your variety of pitches and

control are absolutely not Major League level.

It was a dream.

Can I sit here?

Fox.

What's the matter?

You seem awfully gloomy.

Are you nervous about being the starting pitcher tomorrow?

Well, I don't know about that.

Our opponent tomorrow is the Dallas Elephants.

It's a team that hits well, but...

at this time, they'll most likely not play their best players.

I've been told that I'll be one of the starting players tomorrow too.

If it's possible, I'd like to get through the game without

the opponent scoring any earned runs off the pitcher.

That's impossible.

You think so too, right?

No matter how much of a lead I get, someone at

my level isn't suited for being in the Majors.

Is that why you're gloomy? You're still thinking about your loss to Sanchez?

Don't worry about that.

Your opponent was one of the best in the Majors-

Please stop trying to comfort me.

Everyone watching noticed the evident difference in skill between me and Sanchez.

Then why am I participating in this fight for a roster spot?

Why did the guys at the top make me join the Majors camp?

I'm unsightly!

Bolton hitting my pitch was not a fluke!

If this is how it is, I can see with my own eyes that

they'll hit my pitches when I stand on the mound tomorrow.

If I know they'll hit my pitches, I can't start.

I'll think of a strategy to compensate for this,

so please translate to the coach to change the date

when I take the mound to a free game in the second half!

Please, Fox!

That's absurd.

Tell him through gestures yourself.

H-Hey, Fox!

Wait a minute!

Come on, it shouldn't be too much trouble to just translate for me!

Stop joking around!

What do you mean by "change the date when you'll take the mound"?

If you're so scared of having your pitches hit,

volunteer to drop down to the Minors yourself!

Listen!

Everyone here is fighting desperately to get a spot on the 25 man roster!

Also, the Minors is crawling with guys who haven't gotten an

opportunity as good as you, but they're still doing their best!

I'm like that too!

Without being patted on the shoulder, all we think about is

taking the chance we've been offered and producing results!

Most of the time during the season is taken

up by games and riding buses long distances.

Having a low salary and not being able to choose where to live.

Just eating hamburgers and hot dogs every day.

Everyone's experienced that Minor League lifestyle and finally made it here!

You're too naive!

Why is someone like you here?

That's what I want to know!

I-It's useless.

I-It's useless.

After all, with just one day of trying to throw at that spot...

I won't be able to match up to Sanchez's powerful control at all!

If you're so scared of having your pitches hit,

volunteer to drop down to the Minors yourself!

You're too naive!

Get hit and go to the Minors, huh?

If I don't have enough power, then it can't be helped, I guess.

A big stadium...

And this huge audience!

Too cool!

The Majors' mound is too cool!

I don't know how far my strength will carry me, but...

I'll go as far as I can!

Next time, on Major:

The Guidepost Towards the World!

Run to the stage of your dreams!