Miyuki Kazura/Narumiya Mei battery **^** 

^ I'd agree that Narumiya and Miyuki is best battery but I think this topic is for another thread.

Now for Seido, from what I've seen, I'd go with Furuya / Miyuki battery (Furuya obviously works best with Miyuki as the latter can bring out the best in Furuya and knows how to handle Furuya's changing moods) and Sawamura / Takigawa Battery (Well, I only wish this battery lasted- Sawamura learned tons from Chris and I believe he would've grown faster with Chris as his partner).

MuraMura is proving itself on par with Chisawa battery. Much more balanced and greater chemistry than Miyusawa. Eijun and Koushuu's characters shines more now that they are together. They are worth the wait and all the hype.

(HERE WE GO!) I think the best/most notable Seidou battery (including their relationship both on and off the field) is:

1. Miyuki/Sawamura: This battery definitely has the most chemistry and partnership (not to mention the obvious fact that they, along with Furuya, are the main trio of the story). This battery, much like Sawamura himself, is always growing and changing, most notable fact is that they're currently working together to develop Sawamura's pitch numbers. While they're on the field, they went from Miyuki leading Sawamura with the pitch calls, calming him down when the latter is panicking, to them making evil smirks and laughing together, showing that they share the same mindset in how they want to mess with the opponent's batter. At first, it is true that Sawamura is, in essence, just mindlessly throwing into Miyuki's mitt, but that's due to the former's lack of knowledge. However, even then, Miyuki seems to show understanding for Sawamura's condition. When they went up against Umemiya, Miyuki could have called for an outside pitch, but despite the risky play and despite Coach Kataoka telling him to do so, he ultimately decide to call for an inside pitch in respect to Sawamura's fighting spirit. And, later, after learning more about pitching thanks to borrowing Miyuki's books and attending his mini classes, their partnership became even more apparent in their games, showing their ability to "read" each other's minds while on the field.

Many characters, time and time again, mentioned that this battery is quite aggressive, showing complete faith in each other's abilities. Narumiya, while watching Seidou's final against Yakushi, mentioned that Miyuki's pitch calls would have made even him flinch, but yet there's no hesitation between the battery. While watching Seidou's game against Hakuryu, Takashima mentions that Miyuki's calls are "more aggressive than usual". Mima himself compliments the battery's ability to take out runners on base and wonders if Miyuki specifically taught Sawamura to do so. Adding to this is how comfortable they are in trying out different things. In their match against Eigen (Chapter 13 Act 2), Miyuki asks if Sawamura wants to use only fastballs in this match. And the following match against Kasugaichi, they just up and tested out Sawamura's new pitch numbers simply because it seems like Sawamura's pitches are in good shape that day (even their teammates are impressed by it).

Off the fields, they seem to treat each other more like buddies. Despite Miyuki being Sawamura's senpai, the latter doesn't treat him with that kind of respect, easily telling him to shut up or grabbing his shirt and shaking him in a comical way. Miyuki often picks on Sawamura by calling him loud or stupid, but seems acknowledge that he's doing his best to improve.

2. Chris/Sawamura: It's unfortunate that we don't really get to see more of this battery due to Chris' injury while at Seido. While they do have quite a potential and do get along on and off the field, but ultimately, I see this more like a teacher-student battery. Chris has always been Sawamura's foundation and this battery is no exception. Yes, he brought out Sawamura's potential, but that's what a catcher is suppose to do. Keep in mind that Sawamura is just starting to learn baseball, so Chris does most of the leading, guiding Sawamura to pitch right into the mitt and comes up with a plan for their attack. So while they do have chemistry, it's not exactly a partnership. Off the field, they have more of a senpai (or teacher) and kohai (or student) relationship where Sawamura is always seeking Chris' approval.

3. Okumura/Sawamura: I see this battery as a way for Sawamura to show is growth, especially in Chapter 123 Act 2. Yes, they get along on the field but, Okumura ends up becoming overly eager to make pitch calls like the Cutter Custom when it's way too early into the game, thus showing that he still doesn't have full understanding Sawamura's overall pitching capabilities. Sawamura ends up telling Okumura that it's better to save certain pitches for when they really need it, showing Sawamura's growth and ability to remain calm even against a national school like Seiho. Adding to that is the fact that Okumura is still not used to Sawamura's (and Furuya's) pitches so he has to brace himself everytime he catches. And as for their off the field relationship, Okumura has a more admiration-like kind of attitude towards Sawamura where he's trying to catch up to his senpai by doing his best to get into the first string team and doing what he can to bring out Sawamura's potential.

4. Miyuki/Furuya: Quite frankly, due to Furuya's style of pitching, he doesn't exactly have a lot of variety of pitches let alone good control. It seems like Miyuki ends up being a target to catch Furuya's throws and Furuya's just a pitch machine for Miyuki. Furuya just seems content as long as he can pitch in general and, while Miyuki does praise him for how hard he works, their battery doesn't seem to have much more depth. Their interaction off the field reflects this as well where it's mainly Miyuki that tells Furuya what to do and, usually, the latter just ignores him. (Everytime I watched their battery, it just doesn't seem like there's much to dig into. I just see two individuals playing baseball rather than two working as one.)

In a sense, I see Miyuki/Sawamura's battery is similar to Harada/Narumiya while Okumura/Sawamura is more like Itsuki/Narumiya. As for other batteries involving Kawakami, Yui, Ono and so on, there's just not enough for me to talk about.

These are just something I've noticed while rewatch and reread both the anime and manga... and, if you made it this far, well, you have my appreciation and thanks. :D

beware: spoilers from the recent chapters

As of now, imo, Sawa/Miyu battery is on its way to outdo Sawa/Chris and Mura/Mura is foreshadowed as the future main battery of Seidou.

Chris helped creating what kind of pitcher Sawa he's becoming, he basically taught him baseball and the joy of forming a battery with someone Sawa admires and who could catch his "weird" pitch just like Miyuki. It took an eternity but after koushien Sawa finally understood every single lesson Chris told him and now he seems dedicated to uphold to his teaching.

Okumura reminds to a lot of people Chris (although an immature version) for good reasons: he's cold in apparence, he's intelligent, he sees Sawa's potential right away, he's got a soft touch while catching (I suspect even Furuya prefers him as a catcher over Yui) and he's headstrong. It's pretty obvious Okumura is more drawn to Sawa than Furuya because their pitching styles are the opposite and Sawa's style is more tactical. 

From the very first chapter the battery with Miyuki is what's the story is about. Sawa said it himself: Miyuki is the reason why he enrolled in seidou. Miyuki is also the reason why Furuya enrolled there btw. Both thought he was the only catcher who could catch their pitches but while Furuya chose him based on an article that praised the genius catcher, Sawa met him in person and Miyuki volonteered to be his partner. That's the gap, I think, between Sawa and Furuya: Sawa wants to reach Miyuki's level, he wants to form a partnership with the promise of creating a work of art together as equals, because that's what Miyuki told him at that time: don't play baseball by yourself, I'm your partner. Furuya wants to reach Hongou's level by himself, he admires Miyuki for sure but he doesn't think their battery as more than an efficient tool to get to the point of being the best in Japan (he doesn't know that Hongou, regardless of how selfish he is, has been with the same catcher since middle school). Miyuki has grown too, he's done mistakes and, same as Kataoka, has probably never thought Sawa could be the ace until recently. That's over now, the ace race is over. Furuya got several chances to understand what both the coach and Miyuki told him about the team, he's too obsessed with Hongou at the moment and he knows it (see his convo with Okumura about and what happened in his last game after the Ono incident), he'll get back on his feet to help win koshien but before that Sawa will become the undisputed ace.

So, the numbers. They are the "work of art" Miyuki and Sawa created together, the more time they'll spend together honing them, the more their partnership will become balanced. The golden age.

Miyuki is already thinking Sawa's evolving faster than he thought was possible, it's implied he doesn't want to be left behind. And while he thought the same about Furuya after senbatsu, right now Furuya has lost his mojo and Sawa continue his growth. Also, during the semi between Teitou and Inashiro, Miyuki told Furuya that he probably won't learn much from Mukai or Mei because their styles is opposite to his, but Sawa has leaned from them and he's the one seeking Miyuki and his knowledge because of what he saw (it should be said Teitou's battery in one the best ever shown in this manga so that might count too). Miyuki is also preparing for after his retirement, and again he was spot on seeing the potential in muramura.

It's seems a lot of fans were frustated with Miyuki since in act I he somehow shuned Sawa a lot, compared to Furuya, and while that's on the mangaka for staling Sawa's progression at times, in retropect it makes sense. Furuya exploded as a first year, he and Miyuki were the only stellar performances at senbatsu, and as Ochiai said Kataoka is only human: the whole team and staff craved for an ace who could make them a koushien powerhouse again and Furuya is flashy. Sawa's growth was also very up and down. Another thing I see a lot is that Chris is THE best catcher for Sawa, a lot better than Miyuki etc... while it's true they clicked well together, people forget something : Miyuki and Sawa formed a battery in official games, they partnered during high stakes battles, Miyuki was the one on the field with a lot of pressure on his own. People shouldn't expect him to be also the perfect teacher like Chris was outside of the field, that's unrealistic and bad characterization. Miyuki is a teen too, with a flawed personality, not just a genius at baseball. Not to mention, by his own admission, Sawa didn't realize the stakes at senbatsu, he misses the point of the here and now. 

So yeah, this is it, Sawamura/Miyuki battery is going to wreak havoc with the numbers.

It's funny. I never once thought Sawamura was shunned by Coach Kataoka or Miyuki. After their loss in the summer tournament, Chris retired and Miyuki was made captain and his batting went from 6th to 4th, the cleanup. His responsibility went up by miles as both a player, taking care of at least 3 pitchers, and being the leader for the team. In all that, he still treated both Furuya and Sawamura rather fairly but now it's also more about his interactions with the new team and taking care of them in general, which is where his weaknesses lie (ex: Nabe arc) and where he has to learn to improve. Basically, his attention was spread all across the board. However, despite all that, he still made time for his pitchers. He made sure to tell Furuya to not over exert himself as he is their Ace. And when Miyuki figured that Sawamura got the yips, we see him steadily changing. While talking to Kuramochi, we realize that he's quite concerned for Sawamura but still got high expectations for him. He's conflicted because he doesn't know the right things to say to help Sawamura, he was so lost that he even went as far as to personally ask Chris to help Sawamura. This is extremely rare as Miyuki's the type to let his teammates solve things on their own.

As for Coach Kataoka, during the yips episodes, we see him pull Sawamura off to the side to run on his own. This is, by no means, shunning the kid. Coach figured that Sawamura's not getting better by plowing through his issues with his pitching and it's only frustrating him more by the day. Thus making him run, to take a break, let his mind settle down while also strengthening his legs, his balance (which is important to a pitcher). All the while, he moved him to play in the outfield, shifting his attention away from pitching so he can work on his OTHER weaknesses. Remember, Coach is the type to pull a player off the roster if they screw up even once (ex: Masuko and even Tanba for a short time). The fact that he still kept Sawamura on the roster, kept an eye out for him as he ran, voluntarily put himself in the batter box to figure out what's causing his pitching to go haywire, and the fact that he even put Sawamura in during the Teito match shows how much faith he still has in this kid and his will to overcome the yips. The Coach is strict but he cares (as reiterated by Rei and Jun). He's just trying to tackle two different issues (the team not meshing well and Sawamura's yips) at the same time.

Eijun x Chris easily... And I agree Miyuki only reaps what Chris sow. In fact, before the game with Komadai in Act 2, Miyuki never really regards Eijun as anything higher than a relief pitcher which he himself admitted. He only reaps the result which is ready time and time again. And btw, just because he indulged in the pitcher’s wishes doesn’t mean he supports the pitcher in particular. That’s just simply the way he plays. He treats all pitchers he catched for that way, and that includes Narumiya Mei. Chris on the other hand, obviously have a special bond with Sawamura that not even Miyuki had, showing by the proof that he had to personally ask Chris to talk to Sawamura to get off his yips because he cannot do it himself. And btw, that is not him being thoughtful of Sawamura. That’s practically his job as a captain. If he really is thoughtful of Eijun, he would have noticed the problem way beforehand when Eijun started to throw a bit wide which is unusual of Eijun. Instead, he worries about Kawakami but mentally pressured Sawamura for ‘throwing too wide’ without noticing how much that is unlike Eijun. That was in Season One. And that didn’t change up until now.

So yeah, Eijun x Miyuki is nowhere near surpassing the Chris x Eijun battery, which was formed waaay long ago and for such short period of time. Which btw tells a lot...

Eijun and Miyuki, not just for reasons of canon but because of what sakuhin actually means, and their growth over the course of the series. Also that Eijun has transmitted ideas about battery to Okumura that he got from Miyuki but not from Chris.

Not that I have anything against either Chris or even Okumura, but it's just a matter of what the manga says about their battery from day one. Key aspects of this are also not technical but personal. Eijun wants to form a battery with Miyuki, he goes to Seidou to do so, and now in current manga we've been told that this basically what a battery is, explicitly. Eijun's absolutely driven to make THIS summer happen as well.

There are a lot of points Miyuki recognises Eijun's ability long before they go to Koushien, though. This is really important when trying to claim Chris taught Eijun everything and is responsible for all of Eijun's growth (how did someone put it? Miyuki reaps what Chris sows?) This is a complete fallacy. If you go back to something like chapter 20, 21 of Act I, Chris is really abusive to Eijun. He tells him he will never be the ace, twice, and to go change schools as he can never compete with Furuya. In Chapter 22, Miyuki talks to him and points out that Eijun is the kind of pitcher that a catcher should most want to work with, or words to that effect.  Not only is this clear evidence of Miyuki recognising Eijun way before the Komadai game in Act II, it's also Miyuki recognising Eijun before Chris does, and prompting Chris to take action. We see his clear eyes first in that scene. Miyuki is the catalyst.

After Eijun has yips, too, Miyuki is the catalyst to get Chris involved. Chris tells Kanemaru that he doesn't want to make too big a deal out of it and something like he'll get over it because he's that kind of guy. It's only after Miyuki asks him to intervene that he starts teaching Eijun the outside pitch. Again, Miyuki is the catalyst. Without Miyuki, it's probable Chris wouldn't have done anything in either scenario. Not an ideal battery.

It's mysterious how often people pretend these things didn't happen, when it's so easy to read back and see that they did.

Moreover, Chris doesn't come into the second string game really to form a battery with Eijun so much as to save his ass. It's more a teacher showing the student, and showing Chris's talent for fixing the situation rather than Eijun really shining as his partner. A battery is a partnership - it was Miyuki, not Chris, who termed it that way first, though. That game is more about Chris's swan song in a way than Eijun, showing us what kind of a catcher he was/could have been, had he been fit. I never got the feel there was an actual 'battery' connection there. Teacher and student, yes, but that's not the same thing at all. Maybe it's because Chris had to be forced into dealing with Eijun initially.

Basically I support Eijun and Miyuki's battery because from my perspective, Miyuki's the catcher who never told Eijun he couldn't be ace, unlike Chris, and who has never tried to change Eijun's personality (unlike Okumura). Miyuki's accepted Eijun as he is, and hasn't capped his potential. Just because he doesn't squeal and hug him every time he gets a strike out doesn't make him unsupportive or disconnected. Miyuki's also the person who cares more about getting the pitchers to Koushien than his own health (Seikou game, tenth inning). In a sense he's far more engaged with the pitchers overall.

It's also Miyuki's lessons (Sakuhin and aibou/partner) that Eijun tries to pass on to Okumura, not Chris's. We never see Eijun mention Chris in front of either of the first years, yet we see him actively excited talking to Yui that he gets to practice with Miyuki in the bullpen.

As for the idea Chris taught Miyuki everything, the numbers are entirely Eijun and Miyuki's work, nothing to do with Chris at all (aside the 4seam). Ochiai taught the change up, but Miyuki worked through the winter on the numbers with Eijun. Miyuki also brought Chris to the game to see Eijun pitch against Ooya, because he wanted to show something Chris hadn't seen - evidencing Chris is completely detached from what Eijun is learning or doing except when someone else (Miyuki) brings him into the equation.

On the subject of other batteries, I like Ono and Kawakami as a battery, but that's partly because Nori is the most interesting Seidou pitcher to me, and Ono works really hard in Miyuki's shadow. Somehow both of them operate that relief position but they seem stable when they work together and I like that.

Miyuki and Furuya work well but not as well as Miyuki and Eijun, because Furuya like Miyuki tends to hide things like injuries and such. There have been a few mishaps there which make me think it's a less strong battery. If Ono could manage Furuya's pitches, he'd probably be a better partner for Furuya. Maybe Yui will be, I guess we'll see.

I'd love to see Toujou pitch more but anyway.

I personally think Furuya and Okumura work better as a battery in what we've seen thus far than Eijun and Okumura at the moment. It's funny that there's nothing on Koushuu's page for his interaction with Furuya. But I'm not sold on the Yui is already out of the race theory.

yui

Miyuki and Sawamura for me. since that battery is pretty much what the series's been all about. it's about sawamura trying to get fully recognized by miyuki (his goal), which is why the author takes time for Miyuki to truly recognize Sawamura, since it's one of his main goal. Also I can't with people being very biased, I also love Sawamura but in act 1 he was really raw, plus miyuki doesnt have to care only for sawamura. he's a catcher, he loves catching many kidns of different pitchers. in fact miyuki has too much on his plate, he's the captain of course he has to act fair to everyone. plus it's fun seeing sawamura somehow trying to chase miyuki's level. i do think they'll reach the golden age together, and be the best battery since it's foreshadowed. miyuki said at one point that they could be the best partners. 

I'm still contemplating the existence of okumura, i doubt the author will throw miyuki sawa battery away to replace with this new chara. Morelikely I think it's the author's way of saying that even after miyuki's retired, sawamura and seidou would still be in nice hands of the successor catcher, okumura. so it's not gonna be oh seido's doomed since their main pillar of the team miyuki is no longer here. if okumura's not here, i could see sawamura rumbling in the hands of an incompetent catcher. 

Also I notice the immense hate on furuya. As much as I dont like him in act 1 due to the bad writing and characterization, he;s more likeable in act 2, and actually, we need sawamura and furuya at their best to have the best shot at koshien. Chris to me is more like the first teacher sawamura respects, so in terms of partners, miyuki's better.