
Each summer, there is an amateur baseball tournament near Osaka, which determines Japan’s national champion. This competition, which began last week, is rife with honor and pride; however, it appeared as if many teams would be unable to participate in this year’s tourney, since many teams no longer exist. Three high schools in this predicament – Tomioka High School, Soma Nogoyo High School, and Futaba Shoyo High School –banded together in rag-tag fashion to field enough players to enter the tournament, even if their chances of winning are slim to none. These young men, who are now members of the Soso Rengo team, have lost family and friends, their schools, and their homes. They may have all started out as strangers amidst unexplainable chaos, but it is their common love for baseball that brought them together. And now, as friends and teammates, they are trying to achieve the impossible, while inspiring the rest of the country in the process.

Even though their lives have been turned upside down, baseball has given the Soso Rengo players motivation, and in effect, it has given the entire country hope. Due to the improbable circumstances of fielding enough players, let alone players that are actually talented, the team has received heart-warming media attention and accolades throughout Japan. They have been praised for their selflessness, loyalty, and perseverance. Their story deserves recognition in the United States, too. Here, we are worried about things like steroids and Roger Clemens and attendance and Bud Selig and the trade deadline – all of which are meaningless when compared with the game itself. Our love and respect for baseball. Our ability to enjoy and play it freely, without constraint from Mother Nature or anything else. We take it for granted. And tonight, when I turn on the YES Network to watch the Yankees or rearrange my fantasy team or wash my softball uniform, I will remember how lucky I really am.
