The chapter opens with a flashback to the beginning of the previous chapter, where Hiroshi's first pitch is a "fork ball" . It's the same pitch that Hiroshi threw the previous day, and it's also the one he's throwing today. The flashback shows Hiroshi watching the action from a distance, and he sees that the batter on the left side of the plate is running ahead of the one on the right side. Hiroshi thinks that this is a sign that the opposing team is trying to hit the pitcher's fastball, and that the pitcher is nervous.