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Baseball ― One for All, All for One!

Kobe City College of Technology

M: Good morning, everyone.
K & Y: Good morning, Mr. Matsue.
M: Now, we will start our class. I'll call the roll. Mr. Hamada?
K: Here.
M: Mr. Murakami?
Y: Here.
M: Oh, is this everyone? There's a small attendance today. OK. This morning we're going to talk about baseball. Did you prepare this lesson?
K: Of course, perfectly!
Y: Me, too!
M: Excellent! First of all, I will explain baseball in a simple way. As you know, baseball can be played with a bat, a ball, and gloves. Baseball is one of the most popular sports in Japan. Especially, the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and high school baseball are very popular in Japan. The NPB consists of these 12 teams, and they are divided into the Central League and the Pacific League. This is the Hanshin Tigers' logo mark. It's cool, isn't it? By the way, have you ever seen some baseball games?
Y: I've seen them many times!
K: Only once…
M: Well, baseball is used as a theme of comics and video games. Do you know that?
Y: Yes!! I know all about that. For example, "Dokaben", "the Rising Star of the Giants", and so on.
M: Correct. You are quite familiar with comics. In this way, baseball is a very popular sport in Japan! What is your favorite professional baseball team? Do you like the Tigers?
K: No! I like the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Y: I like the Orix Buffaloes.
M: Oh, both of you like the Pacific League. OK. Next, who is your favorite baseball player, Mr. Hamada?
K: My favorite player is Takeshi Yamasaki. Although he is over 40 years old, he hits a lot of home runs.
M: Great! Mr. Murakami, who do you like best?
Y: When I was very young, I liked Ichiro. But he has gone to America. So now I like T-Okada best. He is just 23 years old, but he became the home-run king last season.
M: Really? Both of you like home run hitters. Then, who is the manager of the Golden Eagles?
K: Mr. Senichi Hoshino is.
M: Oh! He belongs to the Hanshin Tigers, doesn't he?
K: No, no, no. He is the manager of the Golden Eagles now.
M: Sorry. Mr. Murakami, who is the manager of the Buffaloes?
Y: Mr. Akinobu Okada is.
M: Oh! He belonged to the Hanshin Tigers, didn't he?
Y: Yes. But, he is the manager of the Orix Buffaloes now. Please keep it in mind, sir.
M: OK. Well, well, let's look at each team's results this season. Oh, neither the Golden Eagles nor the Buffaloes could win the pennant race. That's too bad.
Y: Mr. Matsue! The result of the Tigers is not so good, either!
M: But next season, the Hanshin Tigers will win the pennant race.
K: Mr. Matsue! Certainly, the Golden Eagles couldn't win this season. But they did their best. Today, I'd like to tell you about it.
M: That sounds nice. Please come here.
K: Yes, sir. Last year, unfortunately, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11. So the NPB organized a fund-raising campaign and charity auction for rehabilitation in the disaster area. The earthquake and tsunamis also damaged a number of nuclear power plants. As a result, it caused an electric power shortage in Japan. Last season, the NPB decided to limit the amount of time taken to play a game in order to save energy. This picture is an electric scoreboard in the Tokyo Dome. Please pay attention to this point. This shows the time limit for the substitution of players, and that of offense and of defense. In addition, this season the NPB turned off part of the lights and increased the number of day games to save electricity. Moreover, Mr. Shima, the representative player of the Golden Eagles, gave an impressive speech to his colleagues. He said, "Let's show the power of Tohoku, at any costs." This speech encouraged not only his colleagues but also many people in Tohoku. Actually, the Golden Eagles couldn't have a good result this season. But, I like their indomitable spirit. I believe they did a good job. Thank you.
M: Thank you for your moving story. Next, Mr. Murakami, please.
Y: Yes, sir. Well, in1995 Kobe was damaged by a huge earthquake called the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Many structures were destroyed and thousands of people died. In that year, however, the Orix Blue Wave, the predecessor of the Orix Buffaloes, united to fight under the slogan "Gambaro Kobe," or "Cheer Up, Kobe," in English, and they won the pennant of the Pacific League. In those days, Ichiro was a member of the Blue Wave, and he made a great contribution to the team's victory. The entire city of Kobe was affected and encouraged by the victory. The next year, the Blue Wave won the pennant of the Pacific League again. What's more, the team won the Japan Baseball Championship. The people in Kobe were delighted with this outstanding achievement. Then, under the slogan "Gambaro Kobe," they kept making progress toward the reconstruction of their lives and of the city. Thank you.
M: Thank you. This is also an impressive story. Now, let's turn our attention to the world. Unfortunately, baseball is not as popular as soccer, in the world. However, the USA established a new international baseball tournament, the World Baseball Classic (WBC), in 2005. It was created in order to promote baseball around the world. Japan won both the first and the second championships. During these tournaments, almost all of the Japanese people got excited and brightened up, like we did during the world cup soccer. I think it is wonderful that a great number of people can share their joy, and even sorrow, with one another through baseball in this way. I hope the WBC will be more and more active, and more and more people will enjoy baseball all over the world. After all, baseball is a very interesting and fantastic sport. Baseball can encourage us. Baseball can move us. But we can't play baseball alone.

M, K, & Y: One for all, all for one! Thank you for listening.