Ace goalball player Eiko Kakehata's father is a former pitcher for the Yokohama Taiyo Whales, and although the 28-year-old member of Japan's Paralympic team is not familiar with her father's acclaimed "disappearing" forkball, she throws an equivalent pitch.
Her father, Mitsunori, 58, retired the year after Eiko was born.
The Taiyo Whales is an old name of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
When watching an old-timer's game at Yokohama Stadium four years ago, Eiko heard the crowd roar when her father entered the stadium and realized how great a player he was.
Eiko has congenital albinism and a visual impairment, and spent much of her childhood drawing at home.
She came across goalball in a high school for the blind, and the para sport helped her build self-confidence as she realized she could move better than she expected.
When Eiko was chosen as a candidate for the national Paralympic team, Mitsunori took her to a park and taught her how to pitch and use her body.
"Throw a magic pitch if you're serious about becoming a goalballer," he told her.
"It's not as easy as you say," she retorted, but he kept giving her tougher challenges.
Goalball athletes wear eye masks and rely on the sound of bells embedded in the ball to block shots on defense.
However, Mitsunori taught her to throw a "silent" ball.
Eiko uses the physical gifts she inherited from her father to improve her skills. For the Tokyo Games, she learned to rotate her body 360 degrees and then deliver a pitch, something no one else on her team can do. Eiko's "magic pitch" uses centrifugal force to make it difficult to hear the bells.
Mitsunori now works as a baseball scout, going to corporate league games and looking for talent. He checks the results of Eiko's games when taking a break, and upon returning home, he watches matches that have been recorded.
"I want her to believe her pitch is a weapon and fight using it," Mitsunori said. "I also want to see Eiko smile from the bottom of her heart after games."
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