9 Experiments

Afterward, Su Qing threw every type of pitch he had. Tada indeed failed to catch Su Qing's Sinker. However, he managed to catch the other pitches, like the breaking balls with different variations and speed changes, as well as the Knuckle Curve and Curve Slider, which Su Qing considered the most difficult to catch, albeit with a flustered demeanor.

Even so, he's incredibly talented! Su Qing couldn't help but drag Yamagami out for comparison again.

"Last pitch, Two-Seam Fastball."

Su Qing had quite an attachment to the Two-Seam Fastball. In high school, his Two-Seam Fastball was quite famous. However, in college, he switched to shortstop to improve his draft prospects, and when he returned to pitching as a professional, the Two-Seam Fastball had fallen out of favor. The fly ball revolution had led to the abandonment of this pitch, once the favorite of ground ball pitchers.

At first, Su Qing didn't believe it, but after getting hit too many times, he gradually gave up on this pitch. Eventually, it became a surprise pitch that catchers would only use when they couldn't get the batter out, but once it was discovered, it was completely abandoned.

It's been a long time since I've thrown it, I wonder if I can find that feeling again.

Tadano Itsuki, who had been quite disappointed to hear that it was the last pitch, perked up because he felt that Su Qing on the mound had completely changed. He had only seen this kind of aura on Narumiya Mei before. At that time, he was sitting in the stands watching Inajitsu's game, and it was precisely because of Narumiya Mei's unparalleled aura that he ultimately chose to join Inajitsu. He wanted to catch the pitches of such a pitcher!

Su Qing, on the other hand, had always given him a very calm feeling, with very few emotional fluctuations. Catching his pitches was like catching for a pitching machine, and you could only feel his power from the ball.

Su Jun is finally getting serious? Well, let me see, a Two-Seam Fastball? He's never seen that before.

This stride was a very normal stride. Tada felt that Su Qing was putting all his strength into it, and his whole body became excited.

The moment he saw the ball fly out of Su Qing's hand, Tada's only feeling was: So fast, even faster than a Four-Seam Fastball!

Tada placed his mitt in the position he thought was most likely, based on his experience catching Four-Seam Fastballs. Like all of Su Qing's pitches, the first half of this ball's trajectory was almost the same as a Four-Seam Fastball, but as it approached his hand, it suddenly changed. Tada quickly moved his mitt to follow the ball.

But this time, the ball changed even more rapidly and dramatically, as if driven by an invisible force, it suddenly slid away.

"Thud."

Tada ultimately failed to catch it, and the ball hit the ground and bounced to the side.

Tada didn't look at the baseball that had bounced to the side, but instead looked at Su Qing. As a catcher, Tada's eyesight was naturally excellent. He clearly saw the complex emotions in Su Qing's eyes, which were difficult to describe. Tada was very puzzled, was it because he didn't catch the ball?

But soon Su Qing's expression changed, and a bright smile bloomed on his face.

"Let's go, it's time to go back and rest."

Su Qing helped Tada take off his protective gear. While taking off his gear, Tada looked at Su Qing, hesitant to speak, but ultimately didn't say anything.

The two said goodbye in the dormitory hallway. Today, Inajitsu's bathhouse was still only occupied by Su Qing. Su Qing had once asked Tada why he didn't go to take a bath immediately after returning to the dormitory. Tada explained that he still had to lift dumbbells and practice.

Su Qing was speechless. These young kids are too hardworking, aren't they afraid of their bodies not being able to handle it? You have to know that sports competition is all about the body. If the body is not good, then it's all over. Training is good, but it must be in moderation. Before going to college, Su Qing wouldn't do weight training, but would focus on gradual progress.

But now he has a sign-in system, which gives him a big surprise every other day, but most of them are more advanced equipment from his previous life, such as helmets, gloves, leg guards, and the digital balls that Su Qing is most interested in at the moment. This thing is very suitable for training dynamic vision. Originally, Su Qing was planning to buy a batch from the mall, after all, customization is too troublesome. Now that the sign-in system has given it to him, he is naturally very happy.

He plans to start working on Inajitsu's batting lineup after he has trained Narumiya Mei well. The most important aspects of hitting are nothing more than two things: one, power, and two, a good eye for the ball.

A hitter who has both can basically go to the Major League.

But these two things seem to be all talent, which is innate. In Su Qing's view, this is indeed the case for their generation of players. They relied on their excellent talent to make it to the Major League.

But will Su Qing let his children compete with those who may be even more talented, relying solely on talent like he did? Of course not.

He will definitely not let his children repeat his mistakes. He will train them little by little from a young age, training their dynamic vision, their pitching methods, and even their strength.

These advantages, accumulated from a young age, can allow his children to achieve the same results as him, even if they don't have his former talent. This is the importance of nurture.

Changing girlfriends one after another, Su Qing wanted to cry when he thought about children. He was already in his thirties in his previous life, but he didn't even have a child and was still a wanderer. Every time his teammates invited him to guide their children in pitching, he was very envious, but he still continued to be a wanderer.

It would be great to have a child, who inherited his talent and had his experience. I don't know how fierce he would be in the Major League in the future!

Unfortunately, there were no 'what ifs'. In this life, Su Qing decided to settle down early. He couldn't keep running around and neglecting marriage and children like he did in his previous life.

Moving was just a part of changing teams, anyway. He had money, so he wasn't afraid!

He was getting ahead of himself. He didn't have any good methods for increasing his strength; that was something he had to train himself. It was a pity that Inajitsu had so few fitness machines. Perhaps he could donate some in the future. As a pitcher, he really needed strength. He couldn't rely on his natural talent forever, or he'd run out eventually.

However, he did have methods for training his dynamic vision. Like he said before, he just needed to train when the time came.

Back in the dorm, the atmosphere was as harmonious as ever. Harada was lifting dumbbells, Carlos was lifting a barbell, and Shirakawa and Narumiya Mei were reading manga. The latest issue of JUMP had just come out, and the two manga fans naturally couldn't miss it.

Actually, Su Qing was also a manga fan, but he realized he had already read all the manga in JUMP. Although this was a parallel world, it was similar enough that the manga were the same, except for one called Ace of Diamond.

Su Qing thought for a moment. The time the dorm lights went out likely depended on when the two manga fans finished reading. So, he asked Captain Harada about the upcoming match. How could Tada know about it, but he didn't?

"Oh, the Golden Week match? We're going out to play. It's not appropriate to play teams in the same district, as it's easy to reveal tactics. We're going to Miyagi to play Ikuei on Saturday."

"Where is Miyagi?"

"It's near Yamagata."

"Where is Yamagata?"

"..."

"There's a map of Japan on my desk, on the shelf. Take it down and look at it yourself."

"Oh~"

With Harada's hint, Su Qing finally found the simple map of Japan that had been gathering dust for a long time on Harada's desk.

Su Qing took it to his own desk and opened it.

"It's that far?!"

Su Qing quickly found the location of Miyagi; it was really too far.

"It's a three-hour Shinkansen ride."

!!!

"That fast? That's faster than going to Saitama!"

Su Qing clearly remembered that it took them almost three hours to return from Saitama.

"Going to Saitama is by bus, going to Miyagi is by Shinkansen, can they be the same?" Narumiya Mei couldn't help but interject.

Su Qing suddenly realized that the Shinkansen was similar to a high-speed train, which was indeed quite fast.

"When do we leave and when do we come back?"

"We leave at 10 in the morning, play the match in the afternoon, and come back in the evening."

"No overnight stay?"

"Overnight stays are too expensive. Our baseball club doesn't have that much funding! If we can make it to Koshien, the school will reimburse all expenses, whether it's accommodation or renting training fields. But for ordinary practice matches, the school will only cover the travel expenses, not accommodation."

As the captain, Harada wasn't the club president, but he had a certain understanding of the Inajitsu baseball club's finances.

Su Qing quite wanted to see the scenery of Japan. In his previous life, he had been playing baseball all the time and rarely traveled. In this life, Su Qing wanted to live freely and see the world. Moreover, he had heard that Japan had many delicious snacks, such as tempura and pork cutlet rice!

Thinking about it, Su Qing got hungry. He would get tired of eating nutritional meals all the time. Oh, right, he said last time that he would take Narumiya Mei out to celebrate, but they haven't celebrated yet! Tomorrow, he'll take his roommates and little Tada out for a big meal!

Thinking of this, Su Qing felt very happy.

With the thought of having a big meal, Su Qing went to bed. The two manga fans had already finished reading the new issue of JUMP, and Carlos and Harada didn't plan to continue training. As usual, Harada turned off the lights.

The next day, Su Qing was awakened by the check-in sound.

-

Ding! -

Daily check-in complete:

Obtained [Dirt-Free Perfect Protective Stealing Gloves] ×100 pairs

Item attributes: Can perfectly protect the hand you use to touch the base, shockproof and non-slip, and can also be used as batting gloves!

Only a ghost would use stealing gloves as batting gloves! Su Qing couldn't help but complain. However, he wasn't very interested in stealing bases. He didn't have the speed, he couldn't run fast, and stealing bases was really too difficult for him.

Might as well give it to Carlos. Carlos should be super good at stealing bases, after all, he is a fast runner.

After everyone woke up, Su Qing handed the stealing gloves to Carlos.

Carlos and the others looked at the gloves Su Qing handed over with great curiosity. They looked slippery, but they weren't slippery at all.

"What is this thing?"

"Stealing gloves."

"What is that?"

"Gloves used to protect your hands when stealing bases."

"I've never seen them before, are these things really useful?"

"Of course they are useful. The impact of the opponent is very strong when stealing bases. Batting requires gloves, and stealing bases naturally requires gloves."