Magic Pitch ――Started an image shiritori (#171)

(#170) Wrapped in bandages → "maki" → Magic Pitch

Super ultra hyper golden
special galactica gorgeous
due to the latest scientific power of dramatic strobe slow-motion footage

The reason why Major League Ball No. 3 doesn't hit the bat has been revealed

To think that the ball itself had a will of its own and was avoiding the bat on its own...
(￣∀￣)♪

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The "Major League Ball No. 3" is a special magic pitch thrown by the protagonist, Hyuma Hoshi, who appears in the manga "Star of the Giants" which was also adapted into an anime.

Since it's called "No. 3," naturally there was a No. 1 and a No. 2.
And I remember that all of them were cases with plenty of points to nitpick for someone like me who was reasonably interested in baseball at the time.

The anime "Star of the Giants" was broadcast for three years from 1968 to 1971.
I wasn't such a precocious monster that I would be obsessed with baseball manga as a nursing infant, so the first time I saw "Star of the Giants" was during reruns when I was a high school student.

Or perhaps, if I had encountered this anime at the right time in my early childhood, I might have watched it with more excitement and anticipation for the fantastic magic pitch called "Major League Ball." Just like how I looked forward to "Kamen Rider" or "Ultraman" every week.

However, unfortunately, for a cynical 17-year-old high school student who had just started to understand the good and bad of the world to some extent, and who had also just reached the position of having to work and earn money on his own to survive, "Major League Ball" was nothing more than a "Give me a break (lol)."

"Star of the Giants" itself is such a famous manga and anime that explaining "Major League Ball" might be superfluous, but for people who are not interested in baseball, let alone baseball anime, it would be "What on earth is that? (・_・)", so I would like to add a simple explanation while also touching on the parts where I felt like saying "Give me a break✋💢."

" Major League Ball No. 1 " is a magic pitch that strikes out a batter by maximizing concentration and predicting the batter's movements to make the ball hit the bat.

If you felt something strange about this explanation, your knowledge of baseball rules is perfect (o^-')b♪

If the ball hits the bat, it's just going to be hit normally, right? (・_・)

That's right. But that doesn't happen. Why?
It's because, regardless of predicting the batter's movements, it's thrown right at the bat the batter is holding, or in other words, throwing the ball near the batter's head. Naturally, the batter is doing their best just to dodge it, so there's no way they can hit it.

Regarding this "magic pitch," Mitsuru Hanagata, Hyuma Hoshi's lifelong rival, said,

Isn't throwing at the batter's head a beanball (*1)?

he protested. Naturally.
As expected of the heir to Hanagata Motors, logical and stylish (*´∇｀*)♪

However, incredibly, the umpire

Since he was aiming for the bat, which is the only thing the batter is wearing that doesn't count as a hit-by-pitch even if the ball hits it, it's safe.

That was the mysterious ruling handed down, and Hanagata's protest was dismissed (・_・).

No, no, no, no, no ✋

Aiming for the batter and aiming for the batter's bat are the same thing anyway. Moreover, according to Hyuma Hoshi himself, he says this ball requires a high level of concentration and won't succeed if that concentration lapses, so that just makes it even more dangerous 💢
Don't you dare underestimate the world-famous Hanagata Motors 👎💢 I'll have you demotedbanished!

However, Hanagata, enraged by this incomprehensibleimifu development, begins a bizarre special training regimen to defeat the League Ball No. 1 by hitting a giant iron ball with an iron bat.

The theory is a bit mysterious—that you should hit the ball far away "before it rolls weakly onto the fair ground the moment it hits the bat from the League Ball No. 1—but thanks to this special training, he successfully hits a home run and conquers this impregnable dangerous pitch...or rather, the League Ball No. 1 (o^-')b♪

However, immediately after hitting this home run, the excessive special training takes its toll on Hanagata, and every muscle in his body screams, forcing him to withdraw from the front lines... (・_・).

No, no ✋ If he has to withdraw every time he hits a home run, it's a nuisance to the team considering the long pennant race 💦
In that case, I'd rather he didn't conquer it at all (￣∀￣) — if I were a proper manager, that's what I'd think.

Next is the "League Ball No. 2."
Known as the "Vanishing Magic Pitch," this pitch is synonymous with "Star of the Giants," boasting enough recognition to even be included in the competitive baseball game "Yakyu-ban."

If the ball vanishes when the batter tries to hit it, then it's impossible to hit (*´Д｀).
Such a cheat-like existence is the strongest and most dangerous magic pitch that could potentially break the game balance.

The problem is the theory behind how this magic pitch is thrown.
Because in the world of fiction, there is nothing more boring than an invincible technique with a broken theoretical foundation.

So, regarding this "principle of the vanishing magic pitch," it's quite a stretch 💦

The dirt on the right foot that was kicked high above the head for the pitching motion also flies up, and that dirt gets caught in the seams of the released ball.

I wonder how many people are already tiltingkashige their heads by this point.
Well, I mostly understand what you're trying to say, but let's go to the end for now.

So, the ball with "dirt stuck in the seams" thrown from Hyuma's left hand descends to just above the ground when it nears home plate. Well, it's the same movement as breaking balls like forkballs or SFFSplit-Finger Fastballs, so there's no problem up to this point.

HoweverDaga shikashi! The problem starts here.

The ball, which once descended to just above the ground, rises again while kicking up the dirt below it.
It's quite a stretch to say it kicks up the dirt below, but above all, the movement of a ball that once descended rising again is something even a science-illiterate guy like me, who escaped from physics to biology for elective science, knows is impossible ✋. Don't underestimate Bernoulli 💢 (meaning unclear)

Furthermore, the climax of the "vanishing magic pitch theory" is from here on.
At the moment the ball, which descended to just above the ground, rises again,
the dirt clinging to the seams of the ball covers the entire ball, and it vanishes due to protective coloration with the dirt near home plate is what they say.

Now, let's take a deep breath to calm down.
Ready? OK.
Then, I'm going to retort with all the volume I've got.

As if that's possible!!! (￣∀￣)

Now, for the final one, the "League Ball No. 3."
This is also a pretty wild magic pitch. This ball is a super slow pitch delivered from an underhand motion, and at first glance, it's completely unremarkable, save for the background music that sounds a bit like a horror movie.

However, when the batter tries to hit it and swings, the ball automatically avoids the bat. Well, it's a creepy ball that you could say is somewhat horror-like.

And the principle behind this magic pitch is also quite a stretch ^m^

The ball, thrown as if pushed by the thumb and index finger, loses almost all its momentum near home plate, and easily floats or sinks due to the wind pressure from the bat.—or so they say.

Even if the ball thrown was a ping-pong ball, that's impossible (in the tone of Chidori's Nobu).

Moreover, the ball Hyuma Hoshi is throwing is an official Nippon Professional Baseball hardball. It's a baseball with a circumference of 22.9cm to 23.5cm and a weight of 141.7g to 148.8g, made by wrapping thread around a cork and rubber core and covering it with cowhide.

Even if you swing an Aodamo wooden bat, which weighs at most 1kg, with the swing speed of a Yuki Yanagita-class player (160km/h),

it's impossible for the ball to avoid the bat.
It's just too impossible (^^ゞ💦

By the way, this League Ball No. 3 seems to put a considerable physical burden on the pitcher, and in fact, Hyuma Hoshi ends up hearing the "sound of destruction" from throwing this magic pitch too much, and ends up leaving the baseball world.

This extreme hedonism was also a mystery at the time.
Why do you have to throw that difficult ball, which puts such a high burden on you even for one pitch, every single time? (・_・)?
You could just do it after getting two strikes.

In the first place, whether it's League Ball No. 1 or No. 2, he gets shocked like it's the end of the world just from being hit once, and ends up leaving the front lines on his own to develop a new magic pitch.

Do that in the off-season, in the off-season!

And really, why not just mix and use No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3?
Why not just throw a normal fastball too?

Why does every single pitch have to be a finishing pitch!

......What happened to his sense of responsibility as a professional baseball player, this guy? (・_・)?

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Today's closing song is Pink Lady with Southpaw.

The magic pitch that appears in this song is the Hurricane. I don't know what kind of magic pitch it is, though ^m^

Back then, all the girls looked up to Pink Lady☆ They were on a different level than today's idols, like AKB or the Sakamichi idols (・_・)

As you might expect, my younger sister was a huge Pink Lady fan, and she worked so hard to memorize everything about this song, including the choreography... (*´∇｀*)♪.

I was even dragged into playing the role of Kei-chan and forced to learn the choreography. It was like, 'Why me?' ^m^💦, but watching this video now, I feel like I still vaguely remember the move where they strike a pose like a Kabuki actor... haha. I watched it feeling nostalgic (￣∀￣)

Oops, it's already this late tonight.
My left foot, which I tripped on during the day, has started to hurt at this hour, so I'd like to take a break from shoveling snow tomorrow if possible, but well—what will the Winter General bring tomorrow?

With that said,
I hope tomorrow will be a normal, happy day for as many people as possible, without having to be retorted with a 'Why me?' ✋ by those around them✨

■ Bonus

　This is the car before the current one in the image shiritori train (171st car). If anyone felt curious about the title 'Wrapped in Bandages' and the joke image below, please take a look when you have some time.