Even if it reaches the climax, it will stand firmly. Rakuten lost a goodbye to Lotte on the 10th, and was on the verge of losing its own victory on the 11th. However, Kazuhisa Ishii, GM and director, changed from a good victory on his 48th birthday on the 9th the day before, and even though he lost the painful goodbye, “(2nd) Sakai also came to the end because of the severe scene from the cleanup. I mean, I used to think that the ball was different from what I thought. Well, I can’t help the pitcher throwing in the 9th inning today. “

Yamaba is still ahead. The commander reconciles the current situation with the forecast one month ago. “At the beginning of August, I thought that the second and third weeks of September would be very important, but when I say that I’m in that area now, it feels more like that. Isn’t there much? “

After digesting more than 100 games for each team, headlines such as “self-help ●● disappeared” have come to the fore. Even so, “The game difference is invisible. If you say 2 games, it’s 2 games, but you can’t help chasing the invisible numbers. It’s not a team that calculates the previous 5 games and 10 games. So, I want to concentrate on what comes in front of me. ” He regularly explains the importance of avoiding large consecutive losses and keeping a close margin with the top players. The stance from before the season does not seem to shake.

The people around me look at the standings every day, repeat the process for skin calculation, and repeat each race with joy and melancholy. But at the very end, even the difference in Hana should be cut off. The commander’s immovable attitude removes the impatience of the team and leads to the final step.[Mikihisa Kuwahara]