Hello everyone, and welcome back to the site. Today I’m eager to return to Big Windup!, whose last episode ended with Abe at last agreeing to try Momoe’s practice methods. Is Abe actually capable of the humility necessary for genuine teamwork, or will this just reaffirm his belief that all his teammates are idiots?
Abe and Momoe have made for an interesting contrast over Windup!’s first two episodes. Rather than attempting to genuinely connect with his teammates as human beings, and cultivate their skills into well-rounded baseball players, Abe has essentially been trying to fool his players into winning in spite of themselves. He’s not bothered by the fact that Mihashi is skittish and unbalanced; those qualities make him easier to manipulate, so Abe considers them a plus. In contrast, Momoe wants her team to be well-rounded, confident, and resilient, with each player carrying their own weight, and knowing they can trust their teammates to support them. The two butted heads over Windup!’s first two episodes, but it’s already become clear that Mihashi is dedicated to genuinely improving, and that Abe is losing his grip on his pitcher. With Momoe having assigned Abe the task of actually speaking honestly with Mihashi, let’s see how our battery fare in episode three!