PHONE OUTS!
Kojima Hiromichi, the star batter of the fictional Lycaons in Japan's Pacific League, heads to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meet Tokuchi Toua, a 134-kmph (83 miles per hour) pitcher and the undisputed king of a ******** form of baseball called One Out. At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons under an unusual contract: he gets 5,000,000 yen (about US$ 46,000) for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen (US$ 460,000) for every point he gives up.