Forgiving Summer

To Junior K, who stole our summer: 'I'm coming to see you now' (May 12, 2021)

It is said that 'yurusu' (許す) means to accept or acknowledge someone's wishes or offers, while 'yurusu' (赦す) means to decide not to blame someone for a crime or fault.

The meaning behind the title of this book, 'Forgiving Summer'—
it relates to the summer of 1989, when the Hannan University High School baseball team, led by Tsutomu Iwamoto (formerly of the Nippon-Ham Fighters), withdrew from the Osaka prefectural tournament, which would have been their path to Koshien. It wasn't that Iwamoto and his fellow third-year students had caused any trouble. In fact, they were the generation that put an end to the unreasonable violence and strict hierarchy that had plagued the team. Nevertheless, a second-year student named K broke into a nearby junior high school just before the tournament and assaulted the vice principal.

Even today, we occasionally hear news of teams withdrawing from tournaments due to misconduct. Being unable to play in the tournament is a major issue for the players, but after reading this book, I learned that the problems go much deeper.
Iwamoto's teammates tried out for university baseball teams, hoping to continue playing. However, no matter how well they performed, they were all rejected. This was because they had no competitive record, as they had withdrawn from their final high school tournament. As a result, many of his friends had to give up on baseball. Even though they were completely blameless, their lives were suddenly thrown into chaos by the misconduct of their junior, K.
K's parents were grilled at the parents' association meeting, forced to kneel before many other parents, and apologized over and over again, saying, 'I am so sorry.' It is said that they could no longer live in the same area and had to move away.
In high school baseball, a 'withdrawal from the tournament' doesn't just mean you can't play; it ruins the lives of many people.

This book is a non-fiction work by author Shoichi Hasegawa, who interviews Iwamoto's classmates about their high school days and what happened afterward. As the pages turn, the content shifts to 'I want to meet K himself.' The narrative then evolves into whether Hasegawa can deliver the message entrusted to him by Iwamoto and his classmates: 'We don't hold any grudges against you anymore.'

Starting with no information about K, by the end of the book, Hasegawa finally succeeds in tracking down K's home. He also succeeds in making contact with K's parents.
Was he able to deliver the message to K?
Was he able to talk to K!?
What does K think about having ruined the lives of so many people!?
What is the conclusion!?

This book was published in 2013. Despite grandly calling myself a 'Baseball Bookstore' owner, I was unaware of the existence of such an interesting book.
There are still many buried masterpieces and fascinating baseball books out there in the world.
It is the duty of a baseball bookstore to introduce them.

That is what I thought after reading this book.
If you are curious about the ending, please read it.