May 28, 2018
“KITA mesti menang... kita mesti menangggg...” The boys of Pilahdelphia (Pilah) chorus boisterously, their spirited demeanour in marked contrast to their opponent’s, who appear to be out of sorts on this moody Sunday morning at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) mud-sodden baseball field.
Playing against them is reigning champs, Team Raiders (Raiders), who’s conquered the likes of Korean team, KL Dragons, home team UPM, Selayang Stars, and International School KL, to get here. Today, they’re aspiring to add to their collection of League trophies for the third year running at the Grand Final of the Malaysian Baseball League Championship 2018. But, to the glee of the Pilah boys (the only team to beat Raiders in an earlier outing albeit by a narrow margin), their opponent appears to be lacking in synergy or strategy as they try hard to overcome the unfancied minnows of Negri Sembilan.
Out on the field in a blur of play where Pilah is fielding, a runner from Raiders appears indecisive, unable to make up his mind whether he’s coming or going; venturing back and forth from the second base to halfway to the third before retreating to second again as he tries to make sense of his team mates’ conflicting instructions from outside the field, all the while mindful that he could be tagged out.
His face sporting a grim frown, Raiders’ coach, David Hirofumi Sakamoto, and his equally less-than-ecstatic sidekick, Coach Ito Yusuke, take turns to bark out instructions from where they’re stationed; their urgent hollers, however, are lost at times in the din of the exultant chanting of the Pilah boys.
The sky, a moody canvas of grey, a stark contrast to last year’s bright sunny skies, is rather apt, echoing the sense of foreboding that seems to be permeating the air under the tent where some of the Raiders’ players are huddled. Hitherto the championship favourite, they’re finding it a monumental task to put a comfortable distance in score line between them and the more ebullient Pilah side.
Hours pass and the score reads 9-9. It’s a nail-biting tie-breaker. “Tiga jam setengah dah main ni, pinggang nak patah dah! (Already played for three hours now, my back’s going to break!)” mutters a senior Raiders player, his exasperation at his team’s inability to break the deadlock, palpable. ‘Let’s hold tight guys!” shouts Raiders’ catcher, Edwin Khong, as he crouches into position under the steely gaze of chief umpire, Winson Low, Raiders’ victorious captain last year.
Meanwhile, just by the side of the field watching his young team take their turn to bat, is Pilah’s coach Abdullah Omar, or Coolah (the name emblazoned proudly on the back of his T-shirt), rousing his troop in his heavy Negri accent. Only last year, his team concluded the 2017 Championship at the bottom of the League table; this year, no doubt galvanised by the inclusion of several former UPM senior players, the minnows are on track to becoming giant killers.
“It’ll take a miracle for us to win,” mumbles another Raiders’ player, his eyes never leaving the score sheet as he attempts to explain to me the ‘maths’. Well. the miracle never came. By the time the clouds parted and Mr Sun finally did come out to play, the score read 15-12.
On the mud-sodden field, the boys of Pilah are already doing their lap of honour, jubilance written all over their faces as they celebrate their unexpected victory. Just on the other side, Sakamoto and his team make their dejected walk back to their tent, as the players brace themselves for a fiery post-mortem on a game they should have won.
COMPLACENCY IS NOT KING
“I wasn’t expecting this result. But after the game and seeing how we played and how they played, I’d say it’s a reasonable result. In fact, I think it’s a blessing in disguise,” begins Sakamoto, beaming beneficently when I manage to corner him after the game.
“Err... what?” I couldn’t help exclaiming as I attempt to grapple with the idea that the Raiders’ coach is actually quite contented with the final outcome. He nods and again, he throws me that Mother Teresa-esque smile. “In a way, it’s a great wake-up call for us,” he continues sagely. “I think my players were feeling too comfortable. If we’d won, we’d continue to be complacent and our mentality will never change. We needed to lose before we can realise just how much homework we need to do!”
Resignation lacing his voice, Sakamoto shares that it wasn’t that their opponent had played so much better; it was more the case that his team made far too many unforced errors. “Base running errors, swinging errors, throwing errors, tactical errors... the lot. And it’s simple. The team that makes the most errors will lose the game.”
Age, he adds, also gave Pilah an advantage over his more seasoned players. “They’re a bunch of younger guys and obviously had the stamina to go the distance. Couple that with their spirit and belief that they could win today. It’s great to have competition; at least we’d be driven to improve.”
As the Malaysian Baseball Federation, supported by UPM, seeks to unearth players that can don the national colours and make the country proud on the international arena, Sakamoto believes that tournaments such as this (the League Championship) is a great hunting ground. “In fact, some of these young players that we’ve seen throughout the Championship might even be the future faces of our national team,” he adds.
MOVING FORWARD
It has been a year since I last caught up with the Raiders’ coach. Any notable developments with Malaysian baseball since then, I ask Sakamoto, a legend in his own right for his unceasing commitment to baseball. Although not directly connected to the Federation, he’s nonetheless doing much to nurture players who can one day be considered for international ‘assignments’ — in particular, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 where the game of baseball will once again be played.
“Things are definitely moving even though it may not seem obvious,” he replies, brows furrowing. “It’ll take some time. One of the things we need to do is develop a bigger pool of players, especially the younger ones. There are initiatives in place; for example, we had umpiring courses to elevate the standard of our umpires, and in turn, the games too. The Federation has also been running Teeball programmes (Teeball is similar to baseball and is used to introduce young children to the game through its simplified rules) in addition to other school programmes to create a culture of baseball, which I believe will yield positive results in the long run.”
The finale team, Pilahdelphia and Raiders, together with the umpiring crew who ensured the Championship was played out smoothly.
Continuing, he says: “In the meantime, we need to give our players the opportunity to participate in different levels of competitions so they’ll know how far they need to train. If they’re just happy playing within Malaysia and being, how do you say it, jaguh kampong (village champion), then they’ll not fare well competitively once they step out of the country.”
And what of our present standard? Again the brows furrow. “Based on my experience in the last SEA Games of 2011, Malaysia is still far behind the top three of Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines,” confides Sakamoto. “We can’t even catch up with Vietnam or Singapore yet. We’re very far down on the table because of lack of international games. Somehow, we seem to be quite contented just playing in our own back yard.
We’ve yet to get enough taste of how difficult it is to play outside.”
As his statement hangs ominously in the air, Pilah’s jubilant coach Abdullah Omar weaves his way towards us. Sakamoto is the first to offer a congratulatory handshake before excusing himself to join his team.
So coach, how did you do it, I ask the beaming Negri-native. “Well, it was a very tight game,” he begins, conceding that he had no idea how things were going to turn out. “Raiders is a very experienced team and we’re aware that some of the players have played at international level. My players are young and we don’t have as much experience. What we do have is boundless energy, something which came in handy as the game dragged on.”
Another thing that he was able to draw upon, confides Abdullah, was the experience of former senior UPM players who’d ‘migrated’ to his team this year. “Last year was a baptism of fire for us. The team comprised inexperienced boys that I cobbled together. This year, I was able to mix both novice and experience... and it worked for us. Personally, I think we won because of our strong sense of commitment and perseverance. The players controlled themselves well, emotionally and mentally. And of course, they did what they came here to do.”
That they certainly did. With this unexpected victory, the playing field, as far as local baseball is concerned, is wide open again. Team Raiders, for so long the team to beat, is no longer invincible. And that’s just perfect. Because what’s a competition without some competition!
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