2011-04-30, 18:08 | Link #121 |
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I actually kind of like the no balls/no bunt strategy.
At the high school level anyway, as I have strong doubts it would work at the professional level where hitters are very good and often need to be fooled in order to get them out. The way I see it is that it's a good strategy if both of the following applies to your high school team: 1. You have an awesome ace starting pitcher, but your relievers/closers are horrible. 2. You have defensively superb in-fielders. I think that Episode 1 of this suggests that the starting pitcher for this team is excellent, but his relievers are not that good. So keeping the starting pitcher on the mound for an inning or two longer than normal can really help this team. Now this team's in-fielders aren't that good defensively, but they're getting better. And they're getting better because this strategy is forcing them too, which is a nice side effect of it. On the bunting side of things, I was never a big fan of bunting to begin with. I mean, if you have a guy on 1st or 2nd, and you have the weakest part of your rotation up to bat, then it's probably wise to bunt. But if you have a good hitter up there, let him try to get on base (or swing for the fences) himself, imo. All of the above being said, I'll now comment on the anime as a whole, lol. I really like the female lead Minami. Very likable character. Her appearance, aptitudes, style, and personality makes me think ""Daughter of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon", lol. I love all of the interpersonal relationships and conflicts in this. Nice blend of friendship dynamics, team-based camaraderie, and even slight hints of romance simmering underneath the surface. The drama in this also feels very realistic and heartfelt. Whenever a character in this has a serious moment, or a tense moment, it feels real and believable to me. The drama is powerful, but not overdone. The plot pacing is superb. I have no complaints at all here. The art style is very solid, and probably ideal for an anime that's very grounded in reality like this one is. This anime has light touches of amusing conventional anime quirkiness, but nothing over the top. This would make a great gateway anime for a lot of people, I think. All in all, I find this to be a very pleasant and enjoyable slice of life drama. Definitely looking forward to the second half. 8.5/10 for the first 5 episodes rated as a group.
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2011-04-30, 18:39 | Link #122 | |
I disagree with you all.
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2011-04-30, 18:42 | Link #123 | |
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2011-04-30, 18:44 | Link #124 | |
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That's why I think this strategy can work at the high school baseball level depending on the caliber of your starting pitcher.
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2011-04-30, 19:44 | Link #126 | |
Crossdressing Menmatic
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The need for a no-ball strategy arose from the problem of Asano tiring out after pitching 100 times in a row. In professional baseball, you'll usually have a closer to take over, and the closer is really good for one or two innings. But Asano is far and away the best pitcher - the team should focus on it's strengths rather than it's weaknesses. And Asano is one hell of a beast at throwing strikes. So let's throw away the traditional model and be extremely predictable by throwing only strikes. This way, Asano doesn't have to waste 2 or 3 balls with every batter.
The strategy seems bad, yes - the high school lost 32-2. But do you think the team could have won if they kept their original strategy? I doubt it - they might lose by less, but they would still lose. And I'd wager they'd lose 99 out of 100 times by relying solely upon Asano to dominate the game. You can't beat a superior, stronger, and better team by following the same strategy as them. You need to focus upon your own strengths to neutralize your own weaknesses - and this requires a radical change in preconceived tactics. Sure, coach Makoto's strategy backfires horribly. But the objective of this exhibition game was not to win. It was to experiment with something never, ever seen before in the history of high school baseball. And there was a glimmer of success - two runs in the final inning. Those two runs give me hope. Honestly, I've never seen a team so happy to lose. If any strategy can do that, then maybe it's worth something after all. Quote:
I'm surprised no one has commented on the sexist implications of Moshidora - women can't grow up to be professional baseball players. No, women are subjugated to the role of managers, doing all the paperwork and picking up the man's baseballs. Sheesh. No wonder Minami is so sad whenever someone talks about her past baseball experiences. |
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2011-05-01, 06:16 | Link #130 |
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For the no ball tactics to work, the catcher must be more wise with all the opponent batter's statistics in his head and be able to control where the ball heads towards to coincide with the fielder's position related if there are any base runners.
For example if there is a base runner on first then the space between first baseman and second would become wider or second and short stop depending on formation. If the batter was a lefty and likes to pull the ball then the catcher needs to lead the pitcher so the batter hits the ball near the left line for the first baseman to be able to respond more easily. |
2011-05-01, 06:53 | Link #131 | |
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And consider this: despite the fact that her current job as manager seems to be an ungrateful one, without her the team is worthless. Minami is trying very hard to be the driving force behind the team's (inevitable) success, even if she only sees it as a temporary job right now. And her own success has gotten through to the other clubs, who can now perform better than before as well. I'll leave the technical jargon to the 'experts' here, so I'll just focus on the anime itself. I expect this show to take a darker tone near the end. I'm almost certain that Yuki will die (probably right before or after her team's first true big win), leaving Minami to become the true manager of the team (which would also mean she'd have to figure stuff out by herself, rather than have Yuki as back-up consultant). The prologue about Drucker's book annoys me, though. Couldn't care less about the OP and ED, either. Other than that, this is an entertaining show (for me, at least).
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2011-05-01, 07:51 | Link #132 | |
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As defense of the anime, I would like to point out, that contrary to so many other baseball stories out there, this one realistically exposes the fundamental problem of the strategy from the beginning : Batters getting hit which increases pitch count. If the series wants to aim at more realism, they would likely get the coach to slightly modify the strategy a little to let the pitcher throw at most 1 ball per batter, thus allowing the battery to play more diverse mind game with the batter without significantly increasing the pitch count. I noticed that they stopped 1 ep per day pace for today. Don't know whether the lull will be just 1-2 day for 5 ep per week, or we have to wait until late May for the next batch. For various reasons, it would be nice if the series hits 13+ episode mark before the end of 1st week of June. This is one of the shows I wish for its success in variety of ways, and hitting that episode mark by the time I mentioned will maximize its chance of success in certain events that will help it get some free publicity. |
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2011-05-01, 07:52 | Link #133 | |
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There's also a few scenes where her hair is down, and in those scenes, she looks a lot like Haruhi, imo. This is a big part of the reason why she makes me think of the hypothetical daughter of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kyon. On the sexism debate: I don't think that this anime is sexist so much as it's aiming for stark realism. With this in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if Lord of Fire is right in his speculations about Yuki.
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2011-05-01, 11:21 | Link #135 | |
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2011-05-01, 13:13 | Link #136 | |||
Crossdressing Menmatic
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2011-05-01, 22:50 | Link #137 | |
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Started this because of Hikasa Yoko. So far, it's a simple story and that it does not go too much into the jargon keeps me going. Even though the anime, on its own, skims on the background and a few other stuff, a decent story is enough for me to keep watching. |
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2011-05-02, 14:03 | Link #138 | |
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Anyway, nice little show here. I like the opening and ending songs. |
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2011-05-02, 14:59 | Link #139 |
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If you think kids can hit the ball as hard and far as adults - especially against a 90 MPH fastball - you need to study baseball a little more.
In 130+ years there's never been a female good enough to play in the major leagues. It isn't because of sexism - it's because of physical reality. It's a fact of nature that men, as a rule, can run faster, jump higher, and hit a baseball harder than women. Are there exceptionally talented women who are better at baseball than most men? Of course. But you have to understand that professionals are the top .01% of all men. Another fact is that girls are not allowed to play competitive HS baseball in boys competition in Japan. You could argue the merits of that, but it is a fact. Some schools have girls teams, just as there are professional women's leagues here and there. It's silly to portray this series as sexist when it's just depicting things as they actually are. The subject of female baseball players having to give up the game has come up in numerous series, such as Cross Game and Major. It's just a fact of life. It doesn't reflect any sexist value judgements on anything else - just baseball.
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baseball, drama, production i.g. |
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