Gone With the Wind - Shimakaze Bids Farewell
NOTE: Very Long Read
“For the final time, Kure, welcome your Shimakaze starters!”
As Shimakaze starters began to take the field, Game 3 of the Ocean Star Series looked to have a great atmosphere. The crowd roared with applause. All of the lights shone down. The team’s rally song, “Senbonzakura,” began playing. But across the field, their scheduled opponent, the always formidable Fort Lauderdale Warriors, weren’t there. This wasn’t a matter of protest: the Warriors were merely absent, for they had swept Shimakaze at their home stadium earlier that day. So why was Kure still introducing their players with the impression of a playoff atmosphere?
Because for the fans of Kure, this was indeed the final time. Kure Shimakaze was folding after the season.
Earlier that evening, Kure introduced their team Hall of Fame. All were players from the franchise’s original iteration.
First, the old franchise face Isaias Casey, now 71, who spent nearly his entire time career manning third base for the then-Honolulu Island Winds, walked onto the field. While his legs were a bit slower than they used to be, he walked out with the same head and smile held high like he did forty years ago. Casey is still Shimakaze’s franchise home run champion, with a record 254 homers. He was the sole member of the Season 72 runner-up team to help win the Season 83 World Championship. Casey was well-loved by the Honolulu-Kure Community and received the largest applause.
“Thank you,” said Casey, a man who was famously not a man of words. The crowd erupted with laughter.
Behind him was the franchise’s runner up in homers, first baseman Videl Ballesteros. With 228 homers playing for Kure, the now 59-year-old was a fresh faced 22-year-old when Shimakaze won in Season 83, and, mirroring Casey, was the last fielder of that team that led the team to a World Series appearance in Season 90. The “Baller” did his famous eurostep celebration as he came and shook hands with his former teammate Casey.
“Ike used to think this was a dumb move.” Ballesteros said. “So I stopped and we started losing. When I did it again, we started winning again, so he just let me be.”
More members of the Season 83 championship team began to show up:
Left-fielder Jakob Mock, who led the team with 27 homers that season.
Outfielders Braiden Roe and Dawson Danielson, who both hit 20 homers that season and was possibly the greatest outfield the team had fielded.
Then the pitching. The franchise’s very first face Ethan Woo, who willingly took a step-back to allow the young fireballers of his time in Season 72’s run, then humbly led the team through frustration until he retired to become a pitching coach for the Season 83 team, was probably the most underrated pitcher of his time.
“It was an absolute blessing to be here,” Woo would later say. “My students are my legacy, especially my protégé that is up there now.”
Woo’s protégé, Alberto Cardenas, unfortunately died of a heart attack earlier in the season. His family shook hands and exchanged hugs with Woo. Cardenas, who would have been 69 this season, had one of the greatest seasons of all time in Season 73, where he went a perfect 13-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 0.709 WHIP. He is also the franchise’s all-time leader in wins with 99, where he famously attempted and failed in smiling disbelief to get the elusive 100th win.
Best friends Jonathan Gaddis and Ulysses Forrest were the only two pitchers who appeared in both Season 72 and Season 83’s runs. Gaddis pitched the final inning and clinched the championship for Shimakaze in the final game of the season.
Then came the pitchers who marked the golden age of Shimakaze’s pitching. The pantheon of Hall of Fame starters was as follows:
Conor Hoyle - Isaac Barkley - Johnny Staples - Jaquan Kerns - Ahmed Banner - Chaz Ellis
“Y’all could’ve used us earlier huh?” joked Barkley, after the team got swept by the Warriors that afternoon.
After a long round of applause that lasted ten minutes, the greying, balding members of the team Hall of walked off the field, each taking one final glance at a home that seemed to never forget their tracks, before returning to the sea of the crowd.
That brings us here when the final starting lineup of Kure was introduced. Noticeably, they were not balding men, but youthful young women, as the team brought in girls from various universes as the owner intended to make this season one to never forget.
First: Reimu Hakurei. The lazy yet hot-tempered shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine. .833 OPS, 22 HR, 43 RBI
Second: Marisa Kirisame. Human Magician with a devastating master spark and avid collector. .845 OPS, 17 HR, 37 RBI
"Guess I win this time huh Reimu?" Marisa teased.
Third: Nagatoro Hayase. High-school athlete with a burning desire to tease a certain someone. .999 OPS, 25 HR, 47 RBI
Fourth: Asuka Langley Souryuu. Gifted robot pilot that is always wanting to prove something. .970 OPS, 15 HR, 55 RBI
Fifth: Rei Ayanami. Gifted robot pilot but cold, calculating, and always speaks deadpan. .895 OPS, 14 HR, 44 RBI
Sixth: Hitori “Bocchi the Rock” Gotou. Introverted lead guitarist with a pink tracksuit. .801 OPS, 16 HR, 36 RBI
Bocchi seems to not want to come up right now...
Seventh: Konata “Kona-chan” Izumi. Short, blue-haired athlete who would rather spend time doing her otaku hobbies. .938 OPS, 22 HR, 55 RBI
"Can I go home now-"
Eighth: Sara Kujou. General and guardian spirit, loyal to the Raiden Shogun. 1.023 OPS, 28 HR, 54 RBI
Ninth: Ei, the Raiden Shogun. Resident Deity of the realm, but notably lacking in baseball instinct. .713 OPS, 6 HR, 28 RBI
“They all set out with a common goal. Win it all!” owner shouKatsu said. “I won’t share how I got them here, but they sure made an impression in their time spent.”
This odd mixture of talent helped the Kure team have their best offensive season after a decade of wandering through the abyss. Bocchi had initially been the hottest bat, crushing 10 homers in 12 games, who then was overtaken by Konata, who clubbed 8 in the next 9. But in the end, it was Sara’s 1.000 OPS that stole the show, with probably the greatest offensive season ever put up by Kure.
For pitchers, it was a bizarre mix of the OKC Thunder’s Big 3 of Durant, Harden, and Westbrook with 1980s pop icons Rich Astley, Daryl Hall, and John Oates. Westbrook alone had the greatest season in Kure since Cardenas’ Season 73, going a perfect 13-0 with a 1.46 ERA and .863 WHIP.
The lights dimmed. Attention was directed to the massive scoreboard in left. It played the game of the year: an improbable 8-7 comeback victory against the Denver Mustangs.
"Kure down by 3, Bocchi up to bat representing the tying run with 2 on, 2 out. She's homered in the past 3 games. The 1-2... is skyed into right-center, Dobbs at the wall, he leaps, its gone! Are you kidding me?! Bocchi the Rock has done it again! Tie game!"
"That was a mammoth home run by Outlaw to give Denver the lead again. Bottom of the order in the 9th here for Kure, down 1…. High fly ball, goodbye! Kujou Sara on the first pitch erases the lead and we are tied, AGAIN!"
"Ball 3, good take. What a battle here, Nagatoro hanging with Swope, it's a full count. The payoff- a high fly ball to left field! Get out! GET OUTTA HERE! A WALK-OFF HOME RUN! NAGATORO HAYASE!"
With the sound of applause, the mixed team took one final group handhold and bowed to the fans. All began waving caps as they began to exit the stadium. The lights were turned off.
Thank you everyone for coming to my final season. For the last time, Shimakaze retiring.
