Chapter One: The Home Run That Hadn't Happened

The Japanese announcer suddenly roared, “It's gone! Second deck in right! A three-run homer puts Luo Zheng and the Wildfires ahead!” Cheng stopped. On the field, Sato had only just stepped onto the rubber. The score was 4–2. Two runners were aboard, and Luo Zheng was still wiping his bat. The television feed showed the same thing. No pitch had been thrown. “Crossed signal?” Cheng pressed the earpiece tighter. The Japanese voice returned to normal. “Sato checks the runner at second and prepares the first pitch.” Ten seconds later, Sato lifted his leg. Luo swung through a high slider. No home run. Cheng exhaled. Fourteen hours of work had finally produced a hallucination.