[Pro Baseball Spirits A] Just before the season starts! Interviews with Orix Buffaloes players [eBASEBALL]

My name is Fujisawa and I am in charge of public relations and recruitment

The season for the professional baseball e-sports league has arrived again this year!

The 2021 season will be held as eBASEBALL Pro Spirits A League (Spi League) will continue to sponsor the Orix Buffaloes,

▲Photo taken from the " Team Representative Player Training Session Report ." The Beyond logo is on the right shoulder.

The tournament will be held using " Professional Baseball Spirits A (hereinafter referred to as Prospi A

So this time, we interviewed three Orix Buffaloes players who were "amazingly" selected as representative players in Pro Baseball Spirits A, which has a large player population!

eBASEBALL Pro Spirits A League Orix Buffaloes representative players

• Yusuke Morita (Melissa)
• Teruo Kusano (small purple)
• Yuta Kasai (Usa)

interviewer

• Server-side engineers: Fukui and Nishihara
• Public Relations and Recruitment: Fujisawa

Why did you become a professional Pro Baseball Spirits A player?

———First of all, please tell us how you all became players for the Orix Buffaloes

Kusano:

The reason I started playing Pro Baseball Spirits A was because I originally loved watching baseball, and I've been playing it since it was first released. I started playing when I was in high school, so it's been about 5 or 6 years. At first, I just played to kill time, but real-time battle tournaments started being held about 3 years ago, and after seeing them, I had a strong desire to become like them, so I've been working hard at it ever since

The reason I decided to participate in this team representative tournament was because I originally liked the Orix Buffaloes players and had been collecting them on the app, so I thought, "I think I can win with this lineup," and so I decided to participate. The top players were all people who had been playing for a while, so the level was high

Kasai:

The reason I chose the Orix Buffaloes is because Ichiro is a big star in my hometown and I like the team, and like Kusano-san, I have several core players from the Orix Buffaloes in the app, so I thought this team would be able to advance through the preliminaries, and that's why I chose the Orix Buffaloes. I was also incredibly happy when the Orix Buffaloes won the Pacific League this year

Morita:

I was a member of the baseball club until junior high school, but I quit in high school and discovered Pro Baseball Spirits A. I'd always loved baseball, but I also loved games, so when I played games during the off-season in my free time, I got more absorbed in it than I expected. Now I'm attending university and playing Pro Baseball Spirits A. Back then, I couldn't have imagined becoming a professional in an app game, but I think the reason I was able to continue was because I played with friends after school in high school and we all had fun playing together, so I think I was also blessed with good friends around me

———By the way, do you, Mr. Kasai and Mr. Kusano, have any actual experience playing baseball?

Kasai:

I have no experience playing baseball in real life. I've always played soccer

Kusano:

Similarly, I have only ever played baseball in school classes and have always played tennis, so I have no experience playing baseball. However, I really love watching baseball

———How much time do you spend playing Pro Baseball Spirits A per day?

Kusano:

There was a time when I used to practice for about six hours a day, and it was so much fun that I would lose track of time. Recently, I've been busy with my personal life, so I've only been practicing for about two to three hours a day

Kasai:

I still have university, so I usually practice for about an hour and a half to two hours. University classes are in person, so it takes time to commute, and I also have assignments to do, so I practice in short, focused sessions. However, when the state of emergency was declared, I practiced for about five to six hours every day. I've received a lot of positive feedback from people at university about my participation in the pro league, and although I'm not particularly outspoken about going pro, when I tell my close friends they seem to support me, so I want to do my best in this tournament for them as well

Morita:

The amount of time I play varies from day to day, and to be honest there are more days when I don't play. In terms of a month, I think it's close to 100 hours. I try to balance it out, and there are game tournaments that last about a week, so I've decided to work hard during that week, sometimes playing for about eight hours a day, and I sometimes invite friends over to practice. Since I was in middle school, I've been playing other games for six hours a day, so I think I've always liked to get into things. I like PvP games where you can immediately tell who's winning or losing, so I think I might be a bit competitive

———Do you, Kasai and Kusano, play any games other than Pro Baseball Spirits A?

Kasai:

I would download and delete various smartphone games over and over, but I'd always loved sports, so in the end, the two games I was left with were "Prospi A" and "Winning Eleven" by Konami. And it was Prospi A that I got totally hooked on. I started playing Prospi A a little after online battles were implemented, so there was a tournament going on, and when I tried it, I found it really fun and got hooked

Kusano:

I've always loved games, and I've played all the popular smartphone games that everyone else is playing. Among them, Pro Spirits is just more fun than the others. I'm hooked. I also like PC games, so I try my hand at playing a variety of genres

Professionals talk about what's fun about Pro Baseball Spirits A!

———What is the fun thing about Pro Baseball Spirits A that you can't find in other games?

Kusano:

I guess it's because there are PvP matches and tournaments are held frequently, so you can find out your current level. I've played a lot of different games, but I think Pro Baseball Spirits A is the best for me

Kasai:

I love the excitement of wondering "What kind of players will be selected?" and I also really enjoy watching videos of YouTubers predicting the players. My playing style involves analyzing my opponents and playing accordingly, so being able to think about it while I'm playing is what I like. During the team representative match, I also paid close attention to the batting behavior of my opponents. I think I'll study my pitching strategies by watching past videos of the opening game against the Saitama Seibu Lions

Morita:

I think it's interesting how the abilities of the players are linked to real-life professional baseball. I've always been drawn to the excitement of watching the players who have been doing well this year on TV and being able to use those same players in the game

Feelings towards the eBASEBALL Prospi A League

———What exactly are you looking forward to about this year's tournament?

Kasai:

Of course, it's about the team winning. It's said that the Orix Buffaloes match will be the fiercest in the team representative tournament, and since these three have made it through there, I feel like other users have high expectations of them. I think these three can win, so I'm most looking forward to them "winning and leaving a mark."

Morita:

Of course, as Kasai-san mentioned, winning is important, but personally, I want the entire Pro Spirits A League to be incredibly exciting this year. I think it's up to us whether this tournament will be exciting or not, so I want to do my best as a founding player so that lots of people will watch and the Pro Spirits A League will continue next year and beyond

Kusano:

Most of the official Pro Baseball Spirits A tournaments have been individual matches, but this is the first time we've had a team match, so I'm really looking forward to it. We discuss strategies as a team and decide who will go first, and even if the first person loses, the other two can cover for them, so I think it's appealing to be able to show team play

———By the way, are there any challenges you are currently facing?

Kusano:

Right now, I'm practicing to improve my batting. Professional players are at an incredibly high level, so you can't win unless you hit. I want to go into tournaments with the skills to hit in any situation

Morita:

I want to work hard on pitching. I'm confident in my hitting and have a high batting average, but at the same time, I have a low ERA and I'm the player who gets hit the most, so I want to make every pitch count in the tournament. Even if I pitch perfectly, the top players can easily hit it, so I think it's also a psychological battle to figure out what the other team is trying to do

Kasai:

I want to improve my batting. Right-handed batters are a particular issue, and when I play Pro Baseball Spirits A in real-time matches, I choose players from 12 teams, all of which are left-handed batters. However, when it comes to the Orix Buffaloes, I can't choose all left-handed batters, so I think that's an issue. Also, there are probably not many left-handed batters in the lineup of active players, so I want to further develop my right-handed batters

———When you normally play by yourself, do you have any particular team preferences?

Morita:

I arrange the players in a batting order that's easy to hit with for the 12 teams, but since there are only three special abilities that are decided, for example, if they have "Chance," I think it would be good to put them around 3rd, 4th, or 5th, and I try to alternate right-handed and left-handed batters as much as possible. I also simply think about whether the first batter is good because the special ability activation rate is high, or whether the first, second, or third batters are good because they have high batting power

Kusano:

The way I organize my team is not to arrange right-handed and left-handed batters in a zigzag pattern, but to arrange them consecutively. In real professional baseball, the first batter is usually a fast runner, but in my case, I line up all the batters from 1 to 9 as home run hitters

Kasai:

As I said earlier, I only line up left-handed batters, but I also place importance on defense as well as batting, so I only use players who can defend to a certain extent. I am particular about lining up Yoshio Itoi (Hanshin Tigers) as the first batter and Kazuo Matsui (formerly of the Saitama Seibu Lions) as the second batter

———Are there any players or teams you are keeping an eye on among this year's participants?

Kasai:

Personally, I consider the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to be a rival. They are the team with the highest combined batting average among their three players, and I was able to watch their team representative match. I got the impression that they were hitting quite well, and with a lineup of troublesome players, I think they will be a formidable opponent

Kusano:

I'm looking forward to facing the Saitama Seibu Lions in the opening game. The players in the game are so powerful that they're often called the "bandit batting lineup" in real life, and there are some amazing players I respect. So, using Saitama Seibu Lions players gives me the impression that they're unstoppable, like a tiger with iron clubs, so I'd like to find some way to counter them before then. The Orix Buffaloes have stronger pitchers than other teams, so I'd like to be careful with my pitching

Morita:

There are players with impressive batting averages on teams like the Saitama Seibu Lions and Chiba Lotte Marines, so if I can beat them when matched up, I think my chances of winning will increase dramatically. Numbers don't lie, so I want to beat players with a proven track record. Strong players may perform better than usual in tournaments, so I want to hold them back with my pitching

———Finally, please tell us your enthusiasm for the tournament!

Morita:

Although we only have a short period of five matches, we will do our best to not let anything slip away and will do our best to win all five matches. Since we are playing, there is no other way than to aim for the championship, so we want to play the matches without any regrets

Kasai:

For the sake of the team and everyone who has helped me practice so much up until now, I want to first win each game, and then hopefully achieve my goal of becoming the best in Japan

Kusano:

Of course, I always have the desire to come out on top when I play, so I want to win every match. This time, it's a team game, so I want to try to speak and act in a way that will raise the team's morale even outside of the game, and I want to do my best with the determination to "win together."

———Beyond will also support the Orix Buffaloes to make them even more popular! Thank you very much for today

The Pacific League opening game is on Sunday, December 5th!

The interview conveyed the passion of the three professional players, including the fun of Pro Baseball Spirits A and their enthusiasm for the tournament. We will continue to support not only the Orix Buffaloes games, but also the entire Spirits League tournament to make it even more exciting!

You can check the Orix Buffaloes' game schedule on their official website, so why not come and watch a game?

eBASEBALL Prospi A League Official Website

Orix Buffaloes team introduction page

This is Fujisawa, in charge of public relations and recruitment

 

© ORIX BUFFALOES

© NPB

© Konami Digital Entertainment