19 - Declared for Assignment

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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:01] bon
    Tohko-san is DFA?!
[00:03] shi
    Yeah. Voluntary retirement, they said.
[00:05] bon
    Voluntary retirement?
[00:07] shi
    Apparently, the club dangled
    a front-office job as bait.
[00:16] bon
    Is Tohko-san finally hanging up his glove?
[00:20] bon
    Tohko Junji-san was our fourth catcher,
[00:23] bon
    always bouncing between
    the majors and the minors.
[00:26] bon
    He joined out of college ten years ago,
    and he's now thirty-two.
[00:29] ---
    His contract: 5 million.
[00:33] bon
    He hit for the cycle in a game this season,
[00:35] bon
    but he was never quite able
    to secure a spot in the majors.
[00:40] bon
    Seems to me he has a lot of
    good playing years left in him.
[00:44] bon
    But to get a front-office job with
    no real achievements to your name...
[00:48] bon
    I gotta say, that's a pretty awesome deal!
SIGN    "Declared for Assignment"
[00:54] kita
    Wh-What did you say?!
[00:56] kita
    You refused to take
    the voluntary retirement?!
[00:59] kita
    And you asked them to make you a free agent?
[01:03] kita
    Yeah, I don't want to retire yet.
[01:05] kita
    A free agent could still
    get picked up somewhere else.
[01:10] kita
    Is someone offering to pick you up?
[01:13] toh
    Not yet.
[01:15] toh
    I'll bet it all on the tryouts.
[02:50] toh
    Tryouts?
[02:52] bon
    Tryouts are held in November,
    jointly, by the twelve ball clubs.
[02:57] bon
    They're basically a test
    for the free agent players.
[03:01] bon
    Are you stupid?
[03:03] bon
    Don't you know how generous they're being
    by offering you a spot in the front office?
[03:07] toh
    They asked me to start as a scout.
[03:11] kita
    No, it's more than generosity.
[03:14] kita
    They might think you have the chops
    to be management some day.
[03:19] kita
    You were team captain in college, remember?
[03:22] kita
    It's possible.
[03:24] kita
    However, I'm not ready to
    hang up my glove just yet.
[03:29] kita
    But you know how tryouts are.
[03:31] kita
    It's a fixed race from the start.
[03:35] kita
    Even if you do great there,
    no club's going to pick you up.
[03:40] toh
    Yeah, tryouts are pretty much
    a formality these days...
[03:46] kita
    If you think you can take the job
    should the tryouts not work out,
[03:49] kita
    it's not going to be so easy.
[03:52] toh
    I know that.
[03:54] toh
    But, Kita...
[03:56] toh
    Even though I had less than a
    month in the majors this season,
[04:01] toh
    I got nineteen hits in forty-nine
    at bats, two home runs,
[04:04] toh
    and batted .388.
[04:07] toh
    It's just team circumstances
    that kept me in the minors.
[04:11] toh
    If I get a real go, I think I could
    put up real numbers on the board.
[04:16] kita
    But, Junji,
[04:18] kita
    the pro baseball world gets flooded
    with new, younger players every year.
[04:22] kita
    You'll be thirty-three years old next year.
[04:24] kita
    It's the perfect time to pack it up!
[04:29] toh
    I appreciate the warning.
[04:34] tan
    Nishigouchi is going free agent?
SIGN    38 years old, 115 wins
SIGN    Doyo Sports Nishigouchi Contract 150,000,000
SIGN    Purple Shadows Free Agent!
[04:38] sign
    So it's come to that...
[04:40] sign
    You took Nishigouchi under
    your wing, didn't you?
[04:43] sign
    Back when you were manager
    of the Kobe Oxen...
[04:47] koz
    "Due to injury, he only had two
    appearances this season," it says.
[04:54] tan
    Can't we bring Nishigouchi onboard?
[04:58] koz
    As a left-handed starter?
[05:00] tan
    Yes.
[05:01] tan
    We need a left-handed starter, don't we?
[05:05] sako
    Nishigouchi, eh?
[05:06] sako
    I'm not sure...
[05:08] sako
    If his injury's totally healed, maybe...
[05:12] tan
    Why don't we give him a test, then?
[05:15] tan
    I think he's got plenty of fight left in him.
[05:18] sako
    But, Manager, we can't
    approach players until tryouts.
[05:23] koz
    And the GM's doing his thing now, too.
[05:26] koz
    He's trying to secure that
    foreign southpaw pitcher.
[05:28] tan
    Oh, is he? That's right, I recall...
[05:32] tan
    Nishigouchi's contract this year
    was 150 million, eh?
[05:37] tan
    It's sad, but after tryouts,
    it'll go down to 20 million.
[05:41] tan
    A newbie foreigner will cost
    at least 50 million.
[05:45] tan
    Then we should go with Nishigouchi,
    who's already well established in Japan.
[05:49] tan
    It'll be a bargain.
[05:52] koz
    But...
SIGN    38 years old, 115 wins
SIGN    Doyo Sports Nishigouchi Contract 150,000,000
SIGN    Purple Shadows Free Agent!
SIGN    Sapporo
SIGN    Purple Shadows
    Pitcher: Nishigouchi Hiroshi
[06:12] sign
    I think I can still do this.
[06:15] sign
    I'm going to bet it all on tryouts.
[06:17] wife
    You can do it, dear! I know that you can!
[06:21] nishi
    Yeah!
[06:23] bon
    The first round of tryouts would
    be held at Jingu Stadium,
SIGN    Meiji Jingu Stadium
[06:27] bon
    and the second at the Fukuoka Dome.
[06:39] toh
    Natsunosuke!
[06:41] bon
    You're really gonna go for tryouts, huh?
[06:44] toh
    Yeah.
[06:45] toh
    You came at the perfect time.
[06:47] toh
    Pitch to me.
[06:49] bon
    Pitch to you?
[06:50] toh
    A major league pitch.
    I haven't seen one in a while.
[06:55] bon
    A major league pitch?
[06:58] toh
    I just need to see them.
[07:01] toh
    I'll imagine you're Nishigouchi, the Purple
    Shadows' southpaw who'll be at the tryouts.
[07:06] bon
    I'm not sure how much help I'll be, then.
[07:10] toh
    You're doing fall training.
[07:13] toh
    You'll probably be able
    to throw a decent pitch.
[07:16] bon
    Let's start off light.
[07:27] toh
    No wonder you're in the majors.
[07:29] toh
    Throw me more!
[07:30] toh
    Sure.
[07:37] bon
    By the way,
[07:39] bon
    the Spiders' negotiations to land
    the foreign southpaw had hit a rough patch,
[07:42] bon
    and by November, it still
    hadn't been resolved.
[07:48] nishi
    Do your best, dear.
[07:50] nishi
    Yes, I will.
[08:01] nishi
    When I think about it rationally,
[08:03] nishi
    there's probably not a single
    club that will sign me.
[08:07] nishi
    But...
[08:09] tan
    What'd you say?
SIGN    Tanabe
[08:11] tan
    You still haven't worked things out
    with the foreign southpaw?
[08:16] man
    Tomorrow! He'll be signed tomorrow!
[08:18] tan
    Tomorrow's tryouts!
[08:20] tan
    Just forget it! You've hit the time limit.
[08:23] tan
    Let's pick up Nishigouchi.
[08:24] man
    Really, we're down to the last little details.
[08:28] man
    We're set to have it worked out
    during tryouts tomorrow.
[08:32] tan
    Jeez. He's not even a
    major player in the MLB.
[08:36] tan
    He thinks he's so hot...
[08:38] tan
    Here's what we'll do:
[08:39] tan
    The end of tryouts tomorrow
    will be your hard limit.
[08:44] tan
    If you don't call me by then,
    we're going with Nishigouchi!
SIGN    Business Hotel Maru
[08:48] nishi
    If there's one thing that might
    turn this around for me,
[08:51] nishi
    it's Manager Tanabe.
[08:53] nishi
    He really took care of me in the past.
[08:58] nishi
    I'll have to bet it all on that.
SIGN    Meiji Jingu Stadium
SIGN    Nippon Professional Baseball 12 Club Joint Tryouts
[09:01] bon
    In total, sixty-three pitchers and fielders
    participated in that year's tryouts.
[09:08] shin
    Well, let's do some fielding
    practice with a runner on second.
[09:24] bon
    It really is a showdown between
    Tohko-san and Nishigouchi-san...
[09:30] toh
    Okay, let's put that practice
    with Natsunosuke to good use.
[09:34] nishi
    Just as long as Manager Tanabe
    is watching me...
[09:38] tan
    As expected, the call still hasn't come.
[09:42] toh
    I'll get a hit off this 115-win
    pitcher and prove I've still got it.
[09:48] bon
    Tohko-san, I know you'll be
    able to hit off of Nishigouchi-san!
[09:53] bon
    You've prepared so much!
[09:56] nishi
    If Manager Tanabe doesn't
    pick me up for next season,
[10:03] nishi
    I'll be in serious trouble!
[10:19] toh
    It's fast!
[10:21] ump
    Strike!
[10:24] toh
    Wh-What's someone like this doing in tryouts?
[10:29] shi
    That's a hell of a swing.
[10:31] shi
    Yeah...
[10:33] kita
    He's tense.
[10:36] sako
    Kozato-san, do you think we'll get the call?
[10:39] koz
    I don't know...
[10:42] ton
    We won't.
[10:44] ton
    They won't work that contract out
    before tryouts are over.
[10:48] ton
    That American southpaw probably
    doesn't want to come to Japan.
[10:53] ton
    There must be an MLB club or two
    interested in signing him.
[10:58] ton
    But they're not closing the deal,
[11:01] ton
    so he's stringing us along as well.
[11:03] ton
    I'm sure that's what it is.
[11:08] tan
    Did you see that pitch from Nishigouchi?
[11:12] tan
    He's still got it, right?
[11:18] tan
    Second pitch!
[11:22] toh
    This 115-win pitcher is desperate, too.
[11:27] tan
    He's racked up 115 wins
    since coming out of college.
[11:30] tan
    He's gotten wins at a good pace.
[11:33] tan
    But he had a rough rookie season
    with the Kobe Oxen.
[11:38] tan
    When you're recruited out of college,
    you're expected to contribute immediately,
[11:42] tan
    but his body was wimpy,
    and so were his pitches.
[11:46] tan
    We couldn't make use of him right away.
[11:50] tan
    But one thing he did have
    was amazing control.
[11:54] tan
    What's with this guy?
[11:56] tan
    If he could throw 5 kmph faster,
    he'd be a hell of a player.
[11:59] tan
    Anyway, I had him run and eat to bulk up a bit,
[12:04] tan
    and worked him into a pitching form
    that let him throw 5 kmph faster.
[12:08] tan
    I took good care of him and
    kept giving him chances.
[12:13] tan
    And gradually, he began to show results.
[12:18] tan
    By the end of the second season,
    he'd achieved a speed of 145 kmph.
[12:25] koz
    I can tell that the manager made
    a star out of Nishigouchi.
[12:31] koz
    But as the team's pitching coach,
    picking up a 38-year-old feels so...
[12:38] sako
    The proof is the fact that we're
    the only ones showing interest.
[12:47] toh
    Got a piece of it!
[12:52] kita
    Nishigouchi's pitches really are sharp.
[12:55] kita
    But Junji needs to be able
    to hit these things
[12:58] kita
    or there's no way he'll pass tryouts.
[13:01] kita
    The fact that you can be released
    even when you can pitch so well
[13:04] kita
    shows how hard life is for a pro.
[13:07] kita
    But this season, I hit many, much sharper
    pitches from Central League pitchers.
[13:14] kita
    There's no way I can't hit these.
[13:17] kita
    But... so far, he hasn't
    thrown a single breaking ball.
[13:20] kita
    If he does throw me a curve,
    will I be able to deal with it?
[13:24] tan
    Still, I can't believe he's up
    against Tohko, of all people.
[13:29] koz
    How's this matchup going to work out?
[13:31] tan
    To be honest, I thought Tohko
    would do fine as a free agent.
[13:36] tan
    But the club wanted to nail him down.
[13:40] tan
    So they recommended he retire and
    take up a job in the front office.
[13:44] tan
    He was captain of his college team.
[13:45] [SONG] sign
    Waseda
[13:48] tan
    He's a smart fellow with a
    real sense of responsibility.
[13:52] tan
    And in his life as a pro,
[13:56] tan
    he had the talent to be on the
    major league bench,
[13:59] tan
    but team circumstances
    had him stuck in the minors.
[14:02] tan
    We'd call him to the majors as a handyman,
[14:05] tan
    then send him back down immediately.
[14:08] tan
    He's been living that way for years,
[14:11] tan
    even though he was a star slugger
    at a prestigious university.
[14:16] tan
    Someone like him can see the big
    picture between the majors and minors.
[14:20] tan
    He'll understand how players feel, too.
[14:22] tan
    They probably saw his potential
    to help our team down the line.
[14:27] tan
    Perhaps they thought if they
    could get him in a suit at thirty-three,
[14:30] tan
    they could groom him for
    a future management position.
[14:36] tan
    If he'd chosen the voluntary retirement,
[14:39] tan
    he could have ensured himself a stable future.
[14:44] tan
    But it's hard for a player who's
    out there in the field every day
[14:47] tan
    to just accept a job like that.
[14:49] tan
    Especially a player with talent like Tohko's.
[14:52] tan
    Yes...
[14:54] koz
    Manager.
[14:56] koz
    You know that reporter,
    Kitamura with Doyo Sports?
[15:00] tan
    Oh, him?
[15:01] koz
    He went to college with Tohko.
[15:06] koz
    Perhaps because Tohko was
    in the same year as him,
[15:09] koz
    he spent four years stuck
    on the second-string team.
[15:13] koz
    But now, he's an ace reporter
    with Doyo Sports.
[15:19] sako
    It's usually the second-stringers
    who find their niche after graduation.
[15:25] sako
    Kitamura's the perfect example of that.
[15:28] tan
    Yes. And now, ironically, Tohko
    is being seen with that lens, too.
[15:34] tan
    Which means...
[15:36] kita
    Junji.
[15:37] kita
    If you're going to take it this far,
[15:40] kita
    then hit one of those 115-win pitches...
[15:43] nishi
    If Manager Tanabe doesn't
    pick me up at these tryouts,
[15:48] nishi
    I'll be in serious trouble.
[15:50] nishi
    I was born in Hokkaido.
[15:52] nishi
    When I was traded from the Kobe Oxen
    to my home team, the Purple Shadows,
[15:56] nishi
    I was really so happy.
[15:59] nishi
    I married my childhood sweetheart.
    We had two kids in Hokkaido.
[16:04] nishi
    We lived pretty close to my parents,
[16:07] nishi
    and it gave me the peace of mind
    to really throw myself into baseball.
[16:11] nishi
    Three years ago, we bought a luxury
    apartment in the center of Sapporo,
[16:16] nishi
    choosing a payment plan of
    100 million over three years.
[16:19] nishi
    But right after that...
SIGN    Nishigouchi Industries
[16:21] nishi
    The factory that my father left
    my older brother started failing.
[16:25] nishi
    I supported him financially as best I could.
[16:28] nishi
    But between the apartment payments and that,
[16:30] nishi
    we were left with almost no savings.
[16:36] nishi
    Sure, I paid off the apartment loan this year,
[16:39] nishi
    but if I can't sign with anyone for next year,
[16:44] nishi
    I won't be able to pay the massive
    taxes of my 150 million contract!
[16:52] bon
    Tohko-san, it's a breaker!
[16:54] koz
    I knew it!
[16:56] koz
    Curve!
[16:59] bon
    It's going!
[17:06] shi
    But the center fielder can get it.
[17:13] nishi
    I got him out, at least.
    That's a decent start.
[17:18] toh
    My first at bat was a fly out
    that advanced the runner.
[17:26] bon
    That day, Tohko-san
    had four at bats and no hits.
[17:33] bon
    Nishigouchi-san faced five batters.
[17:36] bon
    He gave up no hits and no runs,
    and he struck two men out.
[17:40] shi
    The second round of tryouts
    is at the Fukuoka Dome.
[17:44] bon
    What'll Tohko-san do?
[17:48] bon
    Fukuoka. I'll bet it all
    on the next round in Fukuoka!
[17:54] nishi
    Great. I had a great first day.
[17:58] nishi
    I think I made a good show to Manager Tanabe.
[18:02] sako
    Tohko choked a little,
[18:04] sako
    but Nishigouchi had quite a day, didn't he?
[18:08] tan
    I think we could pick up Nishigouchi.
[18:11] tan
    We never got the call, either.
[18:18] tan
    Hello? Tanabe here.
[18:21] tan
    I see... I see.
[18:24] tan
    Yes, I see.
[18:28] tan
    The foreigner's contract squeaked
    through at the last minute.
[18:32] tan
    It's a shame, but we won't be
    able to pick up Nishigouchi.
[18:36] tan
    I'll have to give up on him.
[18:39] tan
    That was the deal.
SIGN    Fukuoka
[18:45] bon
    And in the second round of tryouts...
[18:48] bon
    Tohko-san exploded with
    four hits in four at bats!
[18:52] bon
    And Nishigouchi-san kept
    pitching up a storm...
[18:57] bon
    But in the end,
[18:59] bon
    no club came forward to pick them up.
[19:02] bon
    The only ones recruited at tryouts
    were players in their twenties.
[19:07] bon
    It's common sense, I guess.
[19:09] bon
    Two men in their thirties were
    always going to be a hard sell.
[19:14] nishi
    I'm going to have to sell
    my apartment and my car.
[19:18] nishi
    It's the only way I can support our family
    next year, let alone pay our taxes...
[19:23] nishi
    I wish I didn't have to do this to my family,
[19:26] nishi
    but it's our only choice.
[19:29] nishi
    And then I...
[19:30] toh
    I've been looking for a job, Natsunosuke.
[19:33] toh
    I thought I could get a job as a bullpen
    catcher with one of the twelve clubs,
[19:39] toh
    but at this time of year,
    they're all filled up.
[19:42] bon
    Tohko-san...
[19:44] bon
    But...
[19:47] toh
    Yes? Tohko here.
[19:48] bon
    One league's trash...
[19:51] bon
    ...is another league's treasure.
[19:54] toh
    A-A Taiwanese club?
[19:57] bon
    Around the same time...
[19:59] nishi
    A-A Taiwanese club?
[20:02] nishi
    Yes... Yes.
[20:05] nishi
    Of course, I'd be happy to talk to them.
[20:12] bon
    It wasn't just the Japanese
    baseball world that came to tryouts.
[20:15] bon
    Scouts from other countries came, too.
[20:17] bon
    The same Taiwanese ball club
    had reached out to both of them.
[20:22] bon
    They'd happened to come to the second
    round of tryouts in the Fukuoka Dome.
[20:28] bon
    You could call it a miraculous turnaround,
[20:31] bon
    but it only happened because
    they both did so well at tryouts.
[20:36] bon
    Nishigouchi-san signed
    with the Taiwanese ball club,
[20:39] bon
    and left his family in Sapporo
    while he moved to Taiwan.
[20:42] nishi
    I won't have to give up the apartment yet.
SIGN    Menu
[20:45] toh
    I'm so glad I decided to hold on to my glove!
[20:48] toh
    I got myself another chance.
[20:51] toh
    Thank you! I owe it all to you guys!
[20:53] toh
    Congratulations!
[20:55] toh
    Let's have a toast!
[21:01] bon
    I sure am glad for you, Tohko-san!
[21:04] bon
    Give it your best!
[21:06] bon
    Yes, I'm going to make a name for myself there,
[21:09] bon
    and come back to Japanese baseball!
[21:12] bon
    They were the only two who got the call
    from foreign ball clubs at the tryouts.
[21:18] bon
    The path to success at
    tryouts is a narrow one.
[21:23] bon
    Junji...
[21:24] bon
    Do your best.
[23:01] bon
    Natsunosuke here.
[23:02] bon
    Boy, that was a shock!
[23:04] bon
    On fan appreciation day, Shibuya Akira and I
[23:06] bon
    put on costumes to infiltrate the stands,
[23:09] bon
    but we just happen to sit next
    to my crush, Yuki-chan!
[23:14] bon
    And then that jerk Akira
    starts hitting on her...
[23:17] bon
    Hey, cut it out, stupid!
[23:19] bon
    Don't get any closer to her!
[23:22] sign
    Next time: "Fan Appreciation Day."
[23:25] sign
    Seize tomorrow's success and today's money!
SIGN    Fan Appreciation Day
[23:27] sign
    Money Pitch!