Cuttlefish
Posts: 2454
Joined: 1/24/2007
From: Oregon, USA
Status: offline
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December 21, 1943
Location: Kwajalein
Course: None
Attached to: Disbanded in port
Mission: None
System Damage: 1
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475
Orders: Await further orders
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The second baseball game between the Tigers and the Dragons is played in the morning. The competition is keen; the players know that they are competing not only to win the ballgame but for a place on the team that will play Takao’s team in a few days.
Petty Officer Okubo avoids dirty tricks this time and concentrates on his pitching. He does this not out of sportsmanship but because he suspects he is being closely watched. He pitches well once again; he throws harder than Itokawa, the Dragon’s pitcher, but since he throws fewer breaking balls his arm has recovered faster than Itokawa’s has.
The first batter he faces in the second inning is Shun. This time Okubo tries to pitch the Chief inside and makes a mistake; his second pitch drills Shun right in the shoulder. Okubo looks so appalled when this happens it is clear it was not intentional. Shun simply laughs and trots down to first base. The second time Shun comes up he hits a monstrous home run to left field. Okubo just shakes his head angrily as Shun circles the bases. It is patently unfair, he thinks, that Shun possesses quick reflexes in addition to great strength. He has known many strong men who could not hit a good fastball.
That is one of the few mistakes Okubo makes, however. He gives up another run in the sixth, on a bloop single by Itokawa and a solid double by Hosogaya, but in the meantime his teammates have scored five runs.
In the top of the ninth Lieutenant Nakagawa surprises everyone, including himself, by hitting a deep fly ball down the line in left. It lands fifteen feet beyond the fence in foul territory, but it is clear to Taiki, who has carefully watched the flight of the ball, that it crossed the fence still in fair territory. Many of the Tigers disagree, and within seconds he is surrounded by half the team, all of them yelling at him in anger.
Shun isn’t one of them, but he doesn’t move out of his crouch or offer any help, either. Taiki is jostled and desperately wants to look to Ishii for assistance but realizes that this would be a fatal mistake. He needs to deal with this himself.
“Silence!” he bellows in his best parade-ground voice, and is startled when it works. He does not let the angry players recover but instead takes the offensive immediately. “My ruling is accurate, and it stands! Instead of squawking like a bunch of crows why don’t you return to playing baseball?” He threatens to toss anyone who continues to complain out of the game and the chastened players retreat to their positions. Over on the Tiger’s bench Ishii smiles slightly to himself.
This leaves the score 6 to 2 in favor of the Dragons as the bottom of the ninth inning begins. Okubo begins the inning by giving up a single. After Hosogaya pops out Shun comes to the plate and draws a walk. Okubo then walks Moshizuki to load the bases. As the next batter, Chief Petty Officer Shinoda, comes to the plate Okubo wipes his sleeve across his forehead. He is getting tired and his control is suffering as a result. Shinoda is a capable hitter and with the bases now loaded he could tie the game with one swing.
Okubo breathes a small prayer and throws the ball over the plate with all the strength he has left. Shinoda pounces on the pitch and hits a blazing line drive right at the third baseman, who catches it largely in self-defense and then alertly steps on the base before the runner can get back. It is an unassisted double play and the ballgame is over.
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After the crew returns to the ship there is a line at Paymaster Kataoka’s desk as those who bet on the Dragons collect their winnings. It is not a long line, as the Tigers were 3 to 1 favorites. Around the ship the main topic of conversation is speculation over who Lieutenant Sakati and Captain Ishii will select to face the team from Takao.
Conversation takes on a decidedly different tone in the afternoon, when the first reports begin to reach Kwajalein of a new enemy attack. At dawn a powerful enemy force began an assault on the Admiralty Islands, some 1600 miles to the west. Japanese air and naval forces based at Truk are said to be responding, but details are scanty and confused. The men listen to the rumors and wonder whether Hibiki will be called on to help defend against this latest threat.
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