Baseball: A Two-Way Player

"My God, four homers in one game! Lin's bat is absolutely on fire—so this is what his full-power swing looks like?"

Golden liquor splashed as glass cups clinked together. The Yankees fans on site seemed to already see the team returning to the summit: after their captain made such a dazzling comeback, they were full of confidence.

When Lin Guanglai sent the ball over the fence for the third time in this game, the broadcast camera cut to the Astros' dugout: Joe Girardi's expression had shifted from stern at the start to a helpless shake of the head now;

Jose Altuve covered his face with a towel, not wanting anyone to see his expression—over so many years, Lin Guanglai had been like the final boss in a video game; every time the Astros, or he himself, were about to make a breakthrough in results or honors, this man would appear before them and then crush their dreams.

Adding in three postseason series losses and missing out on the 2017 MVP in the end, Altuve's historical standing has practically been knocked down an entire tier by Lin Guanglai, and his honors have basically been cut in half. You could say Lin is his "strictest father"—

Every time the Astros visit New York, Yankees fans jab at his lungs with chants like "Cheater" and "Who's your daddy," and he can't find any way to talk back.

Astros fans in the stands started filing out one after another. Those empty seats looked like ugly scars, ripping open this team's current miserable state for all to see;

Out on the field, though, the fired‑up Yankees players had no intention of easing off. Instead, they kept their focus sky‑high on both sides of the ball, constantly widening the gap between the two teams—only after the score ballooned into double digits did the visiting Yankees finally take their foot off the gas, so they wouldn't end up getting "warmly greeted" by the famously pugnacious Texas fans after the game.

Opening Day starter Zack Wheeler was absolutely dealing today, cruising through the required seven innings as a starter. He didn't allow a single run and struck out 10, fully showcasing his determination to chase the first Cy Young Award of his career.

For Wheeler, already 33 this year, even though he's earned widespread recognition around the league over the past few seasons, his career still lacks that one heavyweight individual honor. In this 2024 season—when Lin Guanglai won't be taking the mound and the next wave of prodigies hasn't broken out yet—this might be his best shot at claiming the Cy Young.

Only when the game truly entered its final stage and the Astros officially waved the white flag did Lin Guanglai, who had already gone deep three times in a row earlier, finally get another chance to bat.

He strolled into the batter's box and glanced at the mound not far away. Handling mop‑up duty was the Astros' young pitcher Shawn Dubin. Over the past few years he'd been shuttling back and forth between Triple‑A and the Major League, and at best his raw ability topped out at a "Quadruple‑A" level.

Unlike a typical reliever, Du Bin, who's spent most of his time as a starter in the minors, has six pitches in total. Besides a four‑seam fastball that he throws over 30% of the time and an occasional Cutter Ball, his slider with sweep, sinker, changeup, and curveball are all main weapons.

But at the same time, data shows that this right‑hander doesn't fare well against left‑handed hitters. Facing lefties he almost never throws the sweeping slider, and the usage of his sinker drops from 16% down to 6%—in other words, there are even fewer things Lin Guanglai has to worry about in this plate appearance.

Stepping into the box and setting his stance, just his mountain‑like frame and increasingly chiseled muscles were enough to put real pressure on the pitcher. Du Bin exchanged a glance with his catcher, gave a slight nod, and delivered the ball toward home.

As expected, the first pitch was the four‑seam fastball Shawn Dubin likes to use. Only, instead of challenging inside the way most classic power pitchers would, he opted to avoid the barrel and sent the ball toward the outside edge of the zone.

Obviously, Du Bin was still wary of Lin Guanglai's god‑mode performance today and didn't dare recklessly pound the inner half, afraid of giving up yet another homer. As the mop‑up man, his thinking was simple: just don't let this guy hit another one out.

With a crisp "pop," the four‑seamer dotted the outside edge of Lin Guanglai's strike zone, right on the black. The home plate umpire immediately raised his right hand and called strike.

"Clap, clap, clap—" a sprinkling of applause came from the stands behind him. The few remaining fans on site offered some encouraging claps for their own player.

After tasting success with the first pitch, Shawn Dubin stuck with the same approach, and soon he had the count in his favor at 1–2, just one strike away from fanning Lin Guanglai.

And it was this exact situation that nudged his mentality off its original axis. At first he'd taken the mound with a "screw it, whatever happens happens" mindset. Now that he saw a real chance to strike out Lin Guanglai, all sorts of messy thoughts began creeping into his head.

For a guy who's been stuck yo‑yoing between the Major League and the minors for years, what could be more of a "make‑your‑name" moment, more helpful for cementing his spot on the roster, than striking out Lin Guanglai once?

Especially considering that Lin Guanglai had been a one‑man wrecking crew today—if you K him in this moment, maybe it bumps you up a notch in Coach Girardi's mind… With that thought, Du Bin stared heavily toward the batter's box, his mind churning.

A moment later, he finally decided to go all‑in. The loss was already in the books for his team, and he had nothing to lose. Even if Lin Guanglai did take him deep, most people would just shrug and say that's how it's supposed to go anyway.

Seeing the signs from his catcher behind the plate, Du Bin kept shaking his head until he got what he wanted, then gave a slight nod: in this situation, he chose to trust his four‑seam fastball and go head‑to‑head with Lin Guanglai in a straight‑up duel!

With a smooth leg kick and arm swing, Du Bin fired the ball toward home. Just as he was brimming with confidence, thinking this pitch could fulfill his wish, that jet‑black bat in Lin Guanglai's hands appeared like an uninvited guest, suddenly blocking the ball's path to the catcher's mitt.

The crack of "THAAK—!!!" exploded over Minute Maid Park yet again, again, again. The moment they saw it, a number of broadcasters jumped up from their seats—some braced themselves on the desk, some grabbed their heads with both hands—staring at that figure on the field in utter disbelief.

Four home runs in a single game! Even across a full century of Major League history, only 19 players have ever pulled this off. Not even Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, or Aaron Judge—those absolute all‑time greats—have ever done it!

And if you narrow it down further to Opening Day, then Lin Guanglai just became the first hitter in history to hit four home runs in the very first game of a new season—without a doubt, a peak achievement with no precedent and probably no successor either.

Even the commentators who hate the Houston Astros the most had no choice but to look at the shell‑shocked, slack‑faced Astros players on the field with a trace of pity:

"Ever since Lin joined the Yankees, every time these two teams meet, Texans are basically the ones getting humiliated one‑sidedly—those poor Astros players, I almost feel bad for them…"