Just when the fans of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters were hoping for a bit of surprise from their immovable cleanup hitter, the outcome of this at-bat was just as devoid of suspense as before:
Even after battling Lin Guanglai for a full six pitches, Nakata Shou ultimately succumbed to the opponent's strange forkball-slider—no matter that throughout the past season, professional teams had extensively studied this pitch, and the data had been shared among players, when it came to the actual game, the pitch simply remained un-hittable.
This kind of disparity can already be described as transcending levels in certain aspects; at least currently in Japan, there is no batter who can thwart him. The question now is, next season, when he crosses the Pacific Ocean, how much time will Major League hitters need to adapt to this revolutionary pitch?
