2010 Spring Koshien Chat

After the third game on Day 2, Ken D. and KaminaAyato had a brief analysis of the bizarre way that the last game of the day ended. That is, with the tying run at third base in the bottom of the 9th, Ritsumei's runner at first base broke for second and was thrown out trying to steal. Why?

Well, I must admit, I was scratching my head about that ending as well. But then I realized, this is Koshien! KaminaAyato-san pointed out that one of the 10 Commandments of Baseball is "Thou shalt not make the third out attempting to steal third," so surely there's a similar corollary about losing the game stealing second?

No. Koshien has a completely different set of Commandments. How can something so logical even be considered when the First Commandment of Koshien is "Thou shall show guts at all times"? To lose the game sliding into first head first is more important than making every out count. Diving for a ball and (most likely) letting it get past you is more important than playing it safe and allowing it to drop in unchallenged. Koshien refutes what many of us consider to be irrefutable logic.

So go ahead and try to figure out what was going through the minds of the manager and runner for Uji. Koshien will continue to confuse and confound any who try to unravel its mysterious code of conduct. Until you add in the "Guts Factor."

Applying the "Guts Factor" to the game ending steal attempt, it's obvious that Uji was going for the win, not the tie. All or nothing. Set up the winning run at second or go down trying.

Guts! It's another word for "Koshien."