"This highly anticipated opening match of the new season is finally about to officially begin!"
As the home plate, infield, and outfield umpires signaled readiness, the first official game of the 2014 season officially commenced: Lotte Team's leadoff hitter, Ikuhiro Kiyota, walked into the batter's box, shouted loudly, and pointed his bat towards the outfield—this was his declaration of war against the pitcher, expressing his confidence in hitting the ball into the outfield.
The broadcast camera immediately focused on the pitcher's mound: seeing the opponent pitcher's behavior, which was akin to provocation, Lin Guanglai's face on the screen showed no joy or sorrow, as if he was indifferent; he merely focused intently on the signal Takeshima Shinya made, nodding lightly towards the opponent.
Behind him, SoftBank Team's infield and outfield players slightly lowered their body weight, ready at any moment to handle the baseball hit into the field.
