In this chapter, we learn that Umemiya's first pitch is a "low and outside corner" pitch, which means that it's outside and not a "strike" pitch. This means that the batter is going to have to hit the ball in the middle of the strike zone, which is a lot more difficult to do than it is to hit it in the lower part of the pitch. The pitch also means that if the batter hits a grounder, the pitcher will have to throw a "screwball" instead of a "inside low" pitch to get rid of it. This is a big deal, because a "true killer pitch" works regardless of whether a batter is a left-handed or a right-handed batter.