Kenji Murakami, who came to the US in the hope to play in major leagues has been a relief pitcher for a Los Angeles based independent baseball league team, the Lynx for a couple of years. He has been working so hard even on day offs when other team mates are having fun. It is because Kenji wanted to respond to his father who let Kenji come to the US even though they have a family business. However, despite his all out effort, because of his age and his bad elbow, Kenji has been struggling recently getting bad stats against many batters in different teams. Kenji is especially a prey for an ex-major league batter, frank Johnson who is with a rival team, the Coyotes. Kenji really wants to improve stats aginst Frank Johnson to validate himself as a major level pitcher. When Kenji receives the devastating news that his father has died, along with the news of his younger Japanese teammate, Makoto, being inducted to a minor league team, Kenji realizes that he must retire and go back home to Japan.
Although his teammate tries to convince Kenji to pitch just one more time in the season final game against the Coyotes emphasizing that Kenji wins as a memoriam of his father. Kenji didn't feel to do so in a depression from the sad news. But when Kenji was packing his stuff. he looks at the old glove his father gave him when he was a child. Kenji remembers his father told him never give up baseball because his father had to give up against his will. Kenji is determined to pitch in the last game for him.
As the final game progresses, the Lynx lead the game by one run in a high scoring game with relief pitchers from both teams being replaced, repeatedly. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the manager of the Lynx brings in the “Closer” to pitch, but despite his efforts, a home run takes the game to extra innings. When the Closer becomes exhausted after five innings of unusually long relief pitching, and no other pitchers available, the team manager has no other choice but to have Kenji attempt to finish the game, and pitch one last time.
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