The train operator, the largest commuter service in the country, carries about 210m passengers a year but its services were severely affected by flooded and storm-battered tracks.
But batters lose track when that ball zips into the shadows — an optical jolt akin to stepping from a bright day into a dark room.
For most of the first two innings, the pitcher's mound was wrapped in a corona of isolated sunlight peeking through the stadium's upper structure, which forced batters to track the ball's movement from light to shade over its course toward home plate.
The Joban train now does not run any further than Mito City; past this, the tsunami has battered train tracks and highways, making passage nearly impossible.
For example, it could make it more difficult for a batter to track a pitch, or for a pitcher to decide what to throw.
In the game of baseball, if a batter could track a curveball's entire flight, a good portion of the ball would be in his/her peripheral vision when the ball approaches home plate.
Curveballs move down and sideways, making them tricky for a batter to track and hit.
"Sad face," breathes Void on the title track, battered by subtly mounting acid squelches; "awkward".
Of all the positions in the major sports, perhaps only a hockey goalie requires the eyesight that a batter needs to track a ball at such high velocity.
