“My first name is Shigehito. My American friends call me Shiggy. When we’re outside the dojo, I would appreciate if you’d either call me Shiggy or Coach.”
“Yes, sir. I like the name Shiggy.”
“To start, I’d like you to just pitch,” Shiggy told me.
“I haven’t pitched since spring, so I’ll be a little rusty.”
He was fine with it. The other guys stopped pitching so they could see Shiggy work with me. Tim volunteered to catch. I was taking it easy so I could focus on my technique. After about twenty pitches, he had me stop.
“In America, you’re taught to use your whole body when pitching. The pitching motion is one fluid motion. American pitchers are generally taller than Japanese pitchers, which helps you whip the ball. Where you rely on power, we rely on deception and the lower body. Your legs are powerful muscles. In both countries, success depends on a consistent and repeatable release point.
“Let me show you an example of a Japanese pitching motion,” Shiggy said.
He moved slowly back into his balance point and then dropped his hands while coming forward. He had begun his windup, or pitching motion, and it seemed to be drastically different because the Japanese trained with an emphasis to set up the lower half of your body to create power. He showed me how the standard US delivery featured a smooth tempo throughout. The entire body was involved to generate power. Many Japanese windups featured a change of tempo, with a deliberate initial phase and sometimes a pause in order to focus on loading their lower half.
“In the US everything is about power, how hard you can throw or how many home runs you can hit. In high school ball, you’re not going to throw hundred-mile-an-hour fastballs. If you try, you’ll hurt yourself. I can teach you to throw harder, but safer, by using your legs to do the majority of the work.
“I can also show you how to incorporate deception into your pitching. If everyone throws the baseball with the same motion, it’s easy for the hitter,” Shiggy continued. “Hitters are usually sitting on the same tempo and rhythm. Pitchers need to change their timing to put the hitters off balance. Pitchers in Japan are encouraged to find pitching motions which create troublesome elements in the timing and appearance of their deliveries to the batter. You’ll see them slowly rock back to their balance points before exploding to the plate.
“The glove is also used for distraction. So, too, is making a concerted effort to bring the ball behind the back to hide it from opponents. I often teach that it’s good to keep the ball hidden behind your body. The goal is to make batters guess where the ball is for as long as possible.”
The new throwing motion felt awkward. What I did find was my arm didn’t seem tired when I was done. Japanese pitchers tended to throw a lot more pitches than we did here in the States. I think part of it was because they weren’t putting as much pressure on their arms while pitching.
When I was done, I was also surprised to find Bert was getting training from Shiggy. If he could learn some control, it would really help his game. I went over to the batting cage. Coach Fog just wanted to watch my swing today. When I was done, Bert went into the cage.
Mike and Justin also talked with Shiggy. Neither one of them wanted to change their pitching motion, so he helped them improve what they were comfortable with throwing. When they were done, they both seemed happy.
Coach Fog and Shiggy agreed to work with us after school Monday through Thursday and Saturday. Everyone committed to being here. I was glad that we’d be starting at seven each evening. That gave me time to work out at school and then head to the dojo with Cassidy. I also committed to lifting before school. I’d just have to get up earlier to run.
I GOT HOME IN TIME to watch the Duke vs. North Carolina basketball game. Then we watched the Patriots beat the Ravens 35–31. Dad and Greg had kicked back while Mom and Angie caught up in the kitchen. I made myself a salad with poached chicken and boiled eggs for lunch. Kyle, Mac and Duke went down for naps. I spent the afternoon hanging out with my family.
My coding team showed up after the basketball game. Alan had some bad news: he’d found existing software which did ninety-five percent of what we wanted. It incorporated both video and the playbook. One of the cool additional features it had was you could pull out video of an individual player. Gina showed me how you could put together a highlight video we could send to recruiters.
We put together a plan so we could use the software next year. I would talk to Coach Hope about using it. Lily came up with the idea of loading all the video from last year for all our upcoming opponents. Gina and Alan would work with the coaching staff to do that. This was the one piece where someone with football knowledge needed to be involved. The data going in would determine how much value we could get out of it.
Jeff suggested the managers learn to do the input of videos, once the basics were set up.
TRACY SENT ME A TEXT to let me know Mona planned to have a party tonight. I decided it sounded like I’d have more fun there than just sitting at home. Cassidy hadn’t needed me to double-date with her since she started to date Jeff. They’d been going out with Alan and Stacy. I hadn’t had a chance to be with Pam since I got back, so I sent her a text to see if she wanted to go with me. She sent me a text saying I wasn’t allowed to bring a date. I got a little worried.
I flipped through the paper and saw Granny’s had an ad for a prime rib special tonight. I pointed it out to Mom and it was decided we’d all go there for dinner. When it got close to time, I was surprised when Sun showed up at our front door.
“Is it Girl Scout cookie time?” I teased her.
“I wish. I could use a Thin Mint. I’m here to babysit.”
“Come in and I’ll introduce you to the baby,” I said, and led her to Duke’s crate. “Now don’t feed him people food, and you need to let him out every couple of hours. Also, don’t let him on the couch. I don’t need a lapdog when he’s eighty pounds or more.”
Angie strolled in.
“Are you done being a comedian?” she asked me.
“What? Duke’s my baby,” I told her.
“Do I get paid extra for putting up with David?” Sun asked.
I took Duke outside before they could abuse me any longer. Since the weather had turned cold, Duke had learned to do his business and come right back in. I swear I looked away for just a second but turned back just in time to see a blur dash for the back of the garage. Then I heard two cats start fighting. I ran around the corner to see Precious trying to kill an orange tabby. Duke was dancing around and looking to see how he could help his buddy.
“Stop them!” Brit cried.
“There’s no way I’m sticking my hand anywhere near that,” I informed her.
I was proud to see Duke was smart enough to not get involved. Brit started to cry, so I was trying to decide if I should help when my dumbass dog decided to jump into the middle of things. I think he learned his lesson when both cats turned on him. This time I was smart enough to grab the cats by the napes of their necks. When Duke was free of their clutches, he hid behind me.
“You’re hurting her!” wailed Brit.
Neither cat liked being held, but they calmed down. I handed Precious to her.
“Did the bad man hurt you?” she asked.
I swear Precious gave me a dirty look. I set the orange tabby down and he made a run for it. Duke pranced around like he had done something. I sent him towards the back door and let him in, then I went and changed clothes.
WHEN WE GOT TO GRANNY’S, the place was packed. Granny loved me, so Dad sent me up to get us a table. She saw me and had a big smile.
“David! It’s so good to see you,” she said as she gave me a hug. She saw who all was with me. “I can seat your family right now if you don’t mind sitting with someone else.”