October 5, 2020: Okinawa — Thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and sixty five people saw the Lupin Cliff Hangers defeat the Naha Shisa to bring an end to the last regular season in Bright Blade group history. A year from now, heck … maybe a week from now, it is our bet that not a single one will remember that Yoshitora Koyama pitched 6 and a third solid innings to win his seventh game in his last ten decisions. Nor will they remember home runs by Shisa’s Rod Young or Lupin’s Shigekazu Munakata.

What they will remember is that in the top of the first inning, Hirotsugu Tenno strode to the plate with a runner at second base and proceeded to drill a laser beam into right field to register a single that scored the run.

These fans–Naha fans, mind you–and fans who are still somewhat torn at what the future may entail, stood up then, and they rewarded the man who stood calmly at first base with a wave of cheers that rained down on him like an audible torrent of appreciation.  Tenno is a fit man, a man who at 6’0″, 205 pounds, is hard to hide. He stood there and waved his hand to the crowd in the awkward manner of a man who does not completely comprehend what he has done, or a man who would just as soon have the spotlight move on.

Tenno, of course, has put numbers on the board all year.  He finished the season with a batting average of .340, 49 homers, and 154 RBI. It was a magical season. A triple crown year. The first and only such season in League of the Rising Sun history.  He hit 26 doubles. He walked a hundred times. His slash line of .340/.437/.631 is a thing of magic. But the number the fans in Naha were cheering was a new number, a strange number.

162.

“He came to work every day,” said shortstop Shiro Adachi. “He didn’t have to do that, but he’s a man.”

That’s right. Amid everything Hirotsugu Tenno accomplished, stands the fact that he is the only man in LRS history to have his name pencilled into the lineup a hundred and sixty two times.

Cliff Hanger Kinnosuke Iwasaki actually took some heat in the Lupin news services for this decision. The season had been decided two weeks prior, and Iwasaki was resting other starters to protect them from injury. On top of that, Tenno was in position to hold onto that elusive triple crown. If he went into a mini-slump he could lose out in the dangerous category of batting average. Why not rest Tenno? When asked, Iwasaki would just nod his head and say something like, “well, that’s an idea.” It was not an answer that endeared him to those fans.

What wasn’t known until this evening was that Tenno himself went into his manager’s office and told  him quietly that he would appreciate if Iwasaki would just let him play.

And play he did.  While many of his teammates accepted their manager’s desire to rotate them into and out of the lineup, Tenno finished the season on a 9-game hitting streak, going 16-41 (.390) during that span, hitting five homers and driving in 13 runs. It was a remarkable way to cap off one of the more mystical seasons in league history. The team had a small party for Tenno in the locker room after the game, complete with a cake with the number 162 done in red icing and Tenno’s #15 emblazoned in each corner. It was a reserved thing because the team is looking forward to the post-season, knowing it has something to prove after last season’s flame out. But each player took a moment to thank Hirotsugu Tenno for his gifts throughout this year.

“I just wanted to do it the right way,” Tenno said afterward. “It’s been a long season, but a great season. I wanted to play it all.”

And it is for that reason that thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and sixty five fans of the Naha Shisa came to their feet for several minutes tonight.

We’re betting that it was a moment that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.