WINNER OF THE 2007 KODANSHA AWARD! Voted the number one baseball manga of all time! It also won the Tezuka Cultural Award in May 2006 for showing new possibilities of expression in baseball manga.

The series, set in Saitama, follows the story of Mihashi Ren. Mihashi was the previous ace pitcher in his middle school's baseball team, but it seems that he only got the position because his grandfather was the owner of the school. His teammates (especially the team's catcher, Hatake) hated him, and they believe that he's the reason they lost all of their games. Mihashi is thoroughly convinced that he is a lousy baseball pitcher, and feels guilty because he believes that he is responsible for all the losses. Mihashi graduates through middle school with extremely low self-esteem. In truth, Mihashi is really a hardworking and skillful pitcher and the fault mainly lies with his former teammates. Mihashi then transfers to Nishiura high school with plans of quitting baseball because he thinks he isn't good enough, though he still loves the game deeply. However, he is dragged into Nishiura's baseball team by their coach, Momoe Maria, when she finds him staring at the field. Assisted by his new teammates (and especially the catcher, Abe Takaya), he grows in stature, confidence, and skill, helping his team excel with his own abilities.

I know that we already have a thread for the anime in the animation board, but I felt that there should also be a thread for the manga since it delves deeper than the anime and is still running.

This is honestly my all-time favourite series, and I was wondering if there are any other fans of the series here! :3