9 - Teacher or Cautionary Tale?

Source: Crunchyroll
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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.)
SIGN    Teacher or Cautionary Tale?
[01:32] bon
    On days when the Spiders
    are playing at Jingu,
[01:34] bon
    you'll see a staff member in a three-digit
    jersey running around the park grounds.
[01:41] bon
    Then, when the players show up,
    he withdraws into the clubhouse.
[01:41] kur
    Heya!
[01:47] bon
    Batting practice pitcher
    and scorer, Kuriki Satoshi.
[01:51] bon
    He's four years older than me,
    Bonda Natsunosuke.
[01:57] bon
    Back when I was a rookie,
[02:00] bon
    Kuriki-san taught me a heck of a lot
    down in the farm.
SIGN    For a two-seam fastball,
SIGN    you just grip it down the seams like this, and it'll break toward the arm.
[02:11] bon
    Stuff like this, too.
SIGN    Listen up, Natsunosuke! Don't move that glove one millimeter!
SIGN    Okay!
SIGN    Dead on!
SIGN    Now, move it two balls higher.
SIGN    Dead on again!
SIGN    Now, two balls higher and one ball in.
SIGN    Perfect accuracy!
SIGN    Pro pitchers are incredible!
SIGN    Being a pro is all about control!
SIGN    Control is what separates us from the amateurs!
SIGN    And if you want to improve your control, you gotta work out your lower body!
SIGN    Obviously, you gotta run, run, run, run, run, and run!
SIGN    Right!
[02:57] bon
    Before long, Kuriki-san was
    called up to the majors,
[03:02] bon
    while I got left behind with a leg injury
    from all that running he made me do.
[03:08] bon
    Kuriki-san was, like I am now,
    a left-handed middle reliever.
[03:12] bon
    However,
[03:16] bon
    he'd get hammered.
[03:19] bon
    And so, he came back to the farm.
SIGN    My speed is just crummy, you know?
SIGN    It takes me all I've got  just to hit 141 or 142.
SIGN    If you want more speed, you gotta work out your upper body!
SIGN    Natsunosuke, do weight training with me!
SIGN    Okay!
SIGN    143.
SIGN    Not as effective as I'd hoped...
SIGN    133.
SIGN    What's with you, Natsunosuke?
SIGN    Your speed's really been dropping lately.
SIGN    I'm sorry...
SIGN    Natsunosuke, have you been  slacking on your weights?
[04:15] bon
    No, I don't think that's it.
[04:17] bon
    It's clearly been dropping since
    I started the weight training.
[04:21] bon
    I don't think weights are for me!
[04:25] bon
    As expected, when I cut
    back on the weight training,
[04:28] bon
    my speed came back to me.
[04:31] bon
    But instinctively, pitchers can't help
    but be attracted to speed.
SIGN    In games, I try so hard to pitch faster
SIGN    that I lose my control  and start giving up hits.
SIGN    Natsunosuke, that's how it goes for me, too.
SIGN    Maybe we shouldn't be so obsessed with speed.
[04:55] bon
    Kuriki-san seemed to be on the fence, too.
[04:59] bon
    But I guess that goes for everyone.
[05:03] bon
    Once, Kawasaki-san,
    who was thirty at the time,
[05:06] bon
    came to practice in the minors park,
    and I saw him up close.
[05:10] bon
    At that time, I believe he'd
    racked up ninety wins as a pro.
[05:15] bon
    The pitches of a man with ninety wins
    packed a punch that ours didn't.
[05:20] bon
    But what surprised me was...
[05:23] bon
    Unlike us, he didn't really practice
    keeping control in mind.
[05:30] bon
    He aimed for the center,
[05:31] bon
    and his pitches were just spraying around.
[05:34] bon
    People like him are confident they won't
    get hit even if they pitch over the plate.
[05:38] bon
    They're a whole different breed of pitcher!
[05:41] bon
    Being attracted to speed
    won't get us anywhere.
[05:44] bon
    Kuriki-san was probably right.
[05:47] bon
    That's what I thought.
[05:49] bon
    He was also the first one
    who said those words to me.
SIGN    Natsunosuke.
SIGN    No pitcher wants to fall behind in the count and give up a walk, right?
SIGN    But guys like us can't be afraid of the base on balls.
SIGN    We need to have the courage to throw balls.
SIGN    You're saying that if we refine our control,
SIGN    we can gain the courage to throw balls?
SIGN    That's right!
[06:16] bon
    That's what he said, but in practice...
SIGN    Let's see some speed!
[06:23] bon
    This guy couldn't fully throw out
    his obsession with speed.
[06:27] bon
    And then last year, after eleven years
    as a pro, he retired for good.
[06:32] bon
    He'd even had a season
    where he pitched fifty games,
[06:36] bon
    but his total record was
    one win, seven losses, and two saves,
SIGN    Contract: 15 Million
[06:39] bon
    with a career-high contract of 15 million yen.
[06:44] bon
    If he hadn't been so obsessed with speed,
    I think he could have gone a lot further.
[06:49] bon
    And I saw him as both a teacher
    and a cautionary tale.
[06:54] bon
    Then, this season,
[06:55] bon
    even as lots of pros have to quit baseball
    every year, Kuriki-san got lucky.
[07:00] bon
    As a pitcher who is a lefty,
    has good control,
[07:02] bon
    and is decently fast,
[07:05] bon
    the club wanted him to stick around
    as a batting practice pitcher and scorer.
[07:13] bon
    When his job as a batting
    practice pitcher is done...
[07:23] kuri
    Heya!
[07:26] bon
    ...his job as a scorer awaits him.
[07:29] bon
    Thirty years old this year,
    with a salary of 6 million yen.
[07:32] bon
    In his last year as a pitcher,
    he was earning 6.5 million,
[07:35] bon
    so it wasn't too big of a step down.
[07:55] bon
    Huh? Kuriki-san!
[07:57] kuri
    Hey, Natsunosuke.
[07:59] kuri
    I'm organizing the data I got down today.
[08:02] bon
    Used to the job yet?
[08:04] kuri
    Not at all. How could I be?
[08:07] kuri
    I'm aching all over.
[08:09] kuri
    I didn't think being a batting practice
    pitcher would be as draining as it is.
[08:14] kuri
    So I'm still running every day...
[08:16] bon
    You're running more than
    you did as a player, I bet.
[08:20] kuri
    Maybe I am.
[08:22] kuri
    It'll take a long time before I get
    really used to my scorer work, too.
[08:31] kuri
    Natsunosuke.
[08:32] kuri
    I'm still a newbie scorer, so I won't
    get too high-and-mighty about it.
[08:37] kuri
    But there is something I've realized.
[08:42] kuri
    I spent eleven years as a pro,
    bouncing between the minors and the majors.
[08:46] kuri
    I really was second-rate.
[08:48] bon
    What are you talking about?
[08:50] bon
    You had a season with
    fifty games on the mound!
[08:53] kuri
    That was just one year.
[08:56] kuri
    But even I can tell.
[08:59] kuri
    Pro baseball pitchers are
    speeding up every year.
[09:04] kuri
    Since I joined the pros eleven years ago,
[09:06] kuri
    the average speed has gone up
    by two or three kilometers per hour.
[09:11] kuri
    But I think batting technique
    is advancing even faster.
[09:16] kuri
    So, how do pitchers compensate?
[09:19] kuri
    Obviously, with junk balls!
[09:23] kuri
    Those are pitches that move just a little bit.
[09:26] kuri
    But to cope with those junk balls,
[09:30] kuri
    the batters do a lot of studying
    and refine their art even more!
[09:35] kuri
    The game of escalation between
    pro pitchers and batters is incredible.
[09:39] kuri
    And lackluster players
    who can't keep up with it
[09:42] kuri
    will find their careers cut short
    around the age of thirty.
[09:46] kuri
    Just like me, you know?
[09:49] kuri
    Natsunosuke, you've been seeing
    a lot of action this season, huh?
[09:54] kuri
    Not just games pitched.
    You're getting a lot of innings in, too.
[09:59] kuri
    You can probably expect a fat raise
    when you re-sign in the off-season.
[10:03] bon
    Well, we don't know that yet.
[10:06] kuri
    Natsunosuke.
[10:07] kuri
    The season I pitched fifty games
[10:10] kuri
    was when I was twenty-six years old.
    The same age you are now.
[10:15] kuri
    Three years later, I was cut.
[10:20] kuri
    A man who pitched fifty games, you know?
[10:24] kuri
    Natsunosuke, the way things are now,
    can you imagine being fired in three years?
[10:29] bon
    I certainly don't want to think about it!
[10:33] kuri
    I felt the same way three years ago.
[10:36] kuri
    Anyway, if you want to have
    a long pitching career,
[10:40] kuri
    you need to reinvent your game every year.
[10:44] bon
    Maybe so, but...
[10:45] kuri
    I couldn't do that because
    I didn't have enough up here.
[10:51] kuri
    Becoming a scorer has changed
    the way I look at the game.
[10:55] kuri
    I've learned a lot, too.
[10:57] kuri
    So...
[11:02] kuri
    I have an idea!
[11:04] kuri
    Want to hear it?
[11:06] bon
    An idea?
[11:07] kuri
    Maybe you'll want to try it out!
[11:09] kuri
    I bet it'll show results!
[11:12] kuri
    It's on this video. Watch it for a minute.
[11:16] bon
    Here?!
[11:18] kuri
    Just a minute. I'll have it in a sec.
[11:21] bon
    To me, he's both a teacher
    and a cautionary tale.
[11:37] bon
    Wh-What kind of idea is this?
[11:39] kuri
    Well, it's not a flash of
    inspiration or anything...
[11:44] kuri
    I'm taking video every day,
    so sometimes I notice a thing or two.
[11:49] kuri
    Well, it's up to you whether
    you want to try it out or not...
[11:54] kuri
    I mean, you're an active player and I'm
    just a batting practice pitcher and scorer.
[11:59] bon
    Given our history...
[12:01] bon
    Should I listen to his advice?
    Or should I ignore it?
[12:05] bon
    If I listen to it, it'll be hard
    to just forget it later.
[12:09] bon
    He's been both a teacher and
    a cautionary tale in the past,
[12:13] bon
    but it's not impossible he could
    give me good advice, too...
[12:18] kuri
    Natsunosuke, look! Here it is!
[12:20] bon
    And while I was thinking about it,
    he's gone and turned it on!
[12:26] kuri
    This is footage of Tejima
    with the Makuhari Savage.
[12:30] bon
    R-Right. I think I might
    know what you're getting at!
[12:34] kuri
    This was taken from the third base side.
[12:37] kuri
    I'll pause it.
[12:38] kuri
    That right elbow. The angle of the right wrist.
[12:42] kuri
    They're bent really sharp, huh?
[12:44] kuri
    Like this.
[12:46] bon
    Yes, that's true.
[12:47] bon
    He's trying to hide his release point, right?
[12:50] kuri
    Oh, you know it already?
[12:53] bon
    Yeah...
[12:54] kuri
    More and more pro pitchers nowadays are
    using a more compact cocking position.
[13:02] kuri
    Small in the back,
    big in the front, they call it.
[13:06] kuri
    If you do it right, it becomes
    seriously hard for the batter to read.
[13:10] kuri
    It becomes a lot more obvious when
    you're watching from behind the backstop.
[13:14] kuri
    That feeling of an arm hidden behind
    the body that lashes out all at once!
[13:18] bon
    Fujimura of the Kyushu Sharp Hawks
    does something similar, right?
[13:24] kur
    C-Come on, Natsunosuke...
[13:26] kur
    Don't look at me like
    I'm preaching to the choir.
[13:29] bon
    I-I wasn't trying to!
[13:32] bon
    It's called stuff like Maneki-Neko Pitching
    and Telephone Box Pitching, right?
[13:38] kuri
    What's with you?
[13:40] kuri
    You even know all the crazy
    names they give it, huh?
[13:44] bon
    Maneki-Neko and Telephone Box
    both refer to a cramped up form.
[13:49] kuri
    Yeah, "cramped" is the keyword.
[13:52] kuri
    But this is what I call it!
[13:55] kuri
    Dart Pitching!
[13:56] bon
    D-Dart Pitching?
[14:04] kuri
    Hang on a minute!
[14:05] kuri
    Did he just want to tell me about
    the name he thought up for it?
[14:12] kuri
    I-If I tried it...
[14:17] kuri
    Would it look like that?
[14:19] kura
    Well... Sorta, maybe...
[14:22] bon
    Maybe I just can't do it...
[14:24] kuri
    Well, of course it's not gonna be easy.
[14:28] kuri
    So let's look at one more!
[14:31] bon
    One more?
[14:33] kuri
    Look at this one.
[14:35] kuri
    This is Gotohda of
    the Sapporo Purple Shadows.
[14:38] kuri
    They say he's the best
    pitcher in Japan right now.
[14:41] kuri
    There!
[14:45] kuri
    It's like there's a wall
    made from your right arm.
[14:48] kuri
    The wall has to hold solid.
[14:52] kuri
    This wall here.
[14:56] kuri
    Then right as you get to this point...
[15:00] kuri
    You fold your right arm.
[15:02] kuri
    Then suddenly, your left arm
    appears from out of nowhere...
[15:07] kuri
    Got it? One more time.
[15:09] kuri
    Fold your right arm.
[15:11] kuri
    There. You get it?
[15:13] bon
    Well, I think I get it, but...
[15:16] kuri
    What I'm saying is that Dart Pitching
    by itself won't give you much force.
[15:20] kuri
    It'll make the ball slower, right?
[15:23] kuri
    So try adding the "wall" method in there.
[15:28] kuri
    You'll keep the wall up until the last second
[15:30] kuri
    and then pull your right arm back
    in one quick motion.
[15:35] kuri
    To around here.
[15:37] kuri
    This way, even if you're cramped in the back,
[15:39] kuri
    your arm will swing big and fast.
[15:42] bon
    The best of both, huh?
[15:44] kuri
    This is really hard for batters to read.
[15:47] kuri
    It's hard to hold that wall, of course...
[15:50] kuri
    Then there's that feeling
    of pulling back swiftly.
[15:53] bon
    Well, just forming the wall in the first
    place is a hard technique to pick up.
[15:59] kuri
    I call this Breaststroke Pitching!
[16:06] bon
    Damn this guy!
[16:08] bon
    "Dart Pitching." "Breaststroke Pitching."
[16:10] bon
    He really just wanted to tell me
    about the names he thought up!
[16:18] kuri
    Of course, since I'm not a coach,
[16:20] kuri
    I'm not much of an authority
    when it comes to technique.
[16:24] bon
    But after all that, I can't just ignore it!
[16:28] kuri
    But, Natsunosuke,
    there's one thing I can say...
[16:32] kuri
    Reinventing your game
    might be going too far,
[16:35] kuri
    but being a pro ballplayer is
    all about constant minor changes!
[16:41] bon
    Well...
[16:42] bon
    He's not wrong.
[16:55] bon
    Huh?
[16:58] sako
    U-Uh, it says 146.
[17:01] bon
    I-I was just throwing it lightly.
[17:04] bon
    That's a couple of kilometers per hour
    higher than my usual max.
[17:08] sako
    But that form...
[17:12] ko
    Well, it increased his speed,
    so maybe it's all right.
[17:15] bon
    A-Are you sure,
    Pitching Coach Kozato?
[17:21] ko
    Well, we won't know until
    you test it in a real game.
[17:27] ko
    Kuriki-san's advice helped me
    speed up more than I expected.
[17:33] ko
    And today, I was going to
    try it out in a real game.
[17:38] ann
    With two outs, they bring in Bonda.
[17:40] ann
    Color Commentator Nishi Toshihisa-san?
[17:42] cc
    It was a surprise watching
    him at pitching practice.
[17:44] cc
    Did he change his form?
[17:46] bat
    Whoa! That's fast!
[17:47] bat
    It's a pop-up to second! Three outs!
[17:51] ko
    He got him out!
[17:53] kuri
    N-Natsunosuke!
[17:54] bon
    For now, I've shut them down.
[17:58] bon
    And then, the next day...
[18:11] bon
    And the day after that, I shut them down.
[18:14] kuri
    Natsunosuke...
[18:16] bon
    When I want to, I can get up
    to 145 or 146 on the mound.
[18:21] bon
    But this form... I think it's causing
    my accuracy to slip a bit, maybe?
[18:28] bon
    Natsunosuke. This is great.
[18:30] bon
    Yeah, great!
[18:32] bon
    Maybe this form is a better fit for you!
[18:36] bon
    When you're getting good results,
    all anyone around you says is "Great."
[18:41] kuri
    Natsunosuke!
[18:42] bon
    This man...
[18:44] bon
    Is he my teacher or my cautionary tale?
[18:48] [SONG] sign
    Speed
[18:48] bon
    Generally speaking, when a
    pitcher increases his speed,
SIGN    Control
[18:52] bon
    his control conversely declines.
[18:55] bon
    The question is where you strike the balance.
[18:57] bon
    Before I changed my form,
    it was maybe around here.
[19:01] bon
    Right now, I might be in this area.
[19:03] bon
    It's the eternal question
    for pitchers, you know?
[19:07] bon
    Incidentally, it was Kuriki-san's
    obsession with speed
[19:10] bon
    that kept him from making
    an impact in the pros.
[19:18] bon
    When you gain speed,
    it clearly jams the batters.
[19:23] bon
    Jamming the batters...
    It's a great feeling I'd almost forgotten.
[19:28] bon
    It honestly makes me happy
    to get guys out like this.
[19:31] bon
    Has Kuriki-san's advice reawakened
    the pitcher instincts I'd started to forget?
[19:38] bon
    However...
[19:43] ann
    Pitcher: Bonda.
[19:47] bon
    The one that shattered all my illusions
[19:51] bon
    was the man I'd shut down
    in a matchup two weeks ago.
[19:55] bon
    The Wild Ones player who makes 180 million,
    exactly ten times my salary.
SIGN    Salary 1 to 10
SIGN    Contract 180 million
[20:01] cc
    Last time, Bonda-san really
    got the better of him, huh?
[20:05] ann
    Sekiya hits it!
[20:06] ann
    This one's looking big!
[20:07] ann
    The right fielder goes back, back, back!
[20:11] bon
    That's Sekiya for you.
[20:13] bon
    He really crushed that one.
[20:14] bon
    It's true. Being a pro player
    means constant minor changes.
[20:18] bon
    You really were right.
[20:22] ann
    Sekiya turns it around with a grand slam!
[20:26] seki
    You really slacked in your control this time.
[20:29] seki
    Unlike last time.
[20:37] bon
    I got hit at the worst possible time.
[20:41] bon
    But if not for this,
    I would never have realized.
[20:45] bon
    Now I see! I really do!
[20:47] bon
    If I'd kept this up, my career
    would've ended before I turned thirty!
[20:52] bon
    Just like yours was!
[20:54] bon
    A teacher and a cautionary tale...
    We learn from them both.
[20:58] bon
    Senpai!
[21:03] bon
    I have to thank you so much!
[21:06] bon
    I can't do it out loud, though.
[21:10] bon
    I'm all about control.
[21:13] bon
    Control!
[21:15] kuri
    He went back to his old form.
[21:18] kuri
    Natsunosuke...
[21:20] bon
    I can't give in to the allure of speed!
[21:24] bon
    Control... Control... Control!
[21:28] bon
    Money Pitch!
[23:01] bon
    Natsunosuke here.
[23:02] bon
    Boy, I'm in trouble!
[23:04] bon
    I loaded the bases with no outs!
[23:06] bon
    I hate Koshien Stadium,
[23:08] bon
    with the Tempters' cheer squads
    getting inside my head!
[23:12] bon
    But next in the order are
    the golden rookie from college
[23:16] bon
    and the golden high school rookie
    of four years ago!
[23:18] bon
    I'm crazy strong against players
    with lower contracts than mine!
[23:23] bon
    Next time:
    "High School Recruit, College Recruit."
[23:25] bon
    Seize tomorrow's success and today's money!
SIGN    High School Recruit, College Recruit
[23:27] bon
    Money Pitch!