3rd Base Fourth
3rd Base 4th (4番サード Yoban Sādo) is a one-volume shōnen sports manga by Gosho Aoyama. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday Special Edition between 1991-1993, lasting a total of six chapters. The premise revolves around the final tournament of high school baseball, the Koushien, which is played every year at the Hanshin Koushien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Japan.
Contents
Story
Shigeo Nagashima is third baseman on Kohnan High School's baseball team. However, he isn't a very good player until he happens to purchase a baseball bat from a strange little store. As he discovers, the bat is magical, whenever he steps up to the plate with money in his back pocket, the money vanishes and he always hits the ball. The more money he pays in this manner to the mysterious shopkeeper who sold him the bat, the farther the ball flies. A friend, Yutaka Enatsu, gives Shigeo a part-time job at her father's café to earn money for the baseball bat.
Kohnan manages to reach the Koushien, where they face Ougane High School for the championship title. On the opposing team is pitcher Kazuhisa Inao, whose baseball glove is also magical and can throw extremely powerful fastballs. He must also pay for this ability, but as the son of a wealthy business family, he can easily afford the cost. How can Shigeo, who must work hard at his part-time job for every yen, hope to compete?
Characters
Main
| Picture | Name | Role |
|---|---|---|
 |
Shigeo Nagashima | Main character of the story. Wields "The Bat of God". |
 |
Kazuhisa Inao | Shigeo's baseball rival. Wields "The Glove of God". |
 |
Yutaka Enatsu | Shigeo's best friend. Daughter of the owner of Café Kagetora. |
 |
Mr. Enatsu | Father of Yutaka. Owner of Café Kagetora. |
Supporting
| Picture | Name | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 60px | Mysterious Sports Equipment Shopkeeper | Owner of the sports equipment shop "Nazono". |
| 60px | Arito | Captain of Kohnan High's baseball team. Wears jersey #1. |
| 60px | Tsuchida | Player in Kohnan High's baseball team. Wears jersey #2. |
 |
Eiichi Yamagishi | Player in Kohnan High's baseball team. Wears jersey #4. |
| 60px | Kohnan High Baseball Coach | Coach of Kohnan High's baseball team. |
| 60px | Yanagida | Player in Kohnan High's baseball team. Wears jersey #5. |
Chapters
| Vol. | Chapters | Japanese | English | Plot | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | ISBN | Release date | ISBN | |||
| 01 | 1-6 | March 18, 1993 December 10, 1999 (Collected Short Stories)[1] September 13, 2003 (Collected Short Stories reissue)[2] |
ISBN 4-09-123171-3 ISBN 4-09-121846-6 (Collected Short Stories) ISBN 4-09-193481-1 (Collected Short Stories reissue) |
  
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Trivia
Cameos
- One of the assistants of Gosho Aoyama, Eiichi Yamagishi, appears as a team member of Shigeo Nagashima in the Kohnan High School baseball club.
Crossover
Shigeo and Kazuhisa cameo in Detective Conan in Miracle at Koshien Ball Park! The Defiants Face the Dark Demon (2 Hour Special), the adaptation of manga files 445-449, the Koshien Bomber Case. Kohnan and Ohgane are the two teams facing off for the Koshien title during the case. There is more time spent showing the baseball game and the players in the anime special than the manga arc.
The final match from 3rd Base 4th is also referenced as being "one year ago". The commentator calls Kohnan "last year's champions", while Ohgane is "having a chance of winning consecutive Spring-Summer championship", implying that Kohnan won the previous Summer Koshien, while Ohgane got their revenge in the following Spring Koshien off-screen, and at the same time, making the result in 3rd Base 4th canon.
Café Kagetora in this series is named after Yaiba Kurogane's pet tiger Kagetora from Yaiba. The real Shigeo Nagashima, who is jokingly mentioned several times in comparison with Shigeo from this series, also appeared together with his son in chapter 11 of Magic Kaito.
Origins
The two main characters' names are from Shigeo Nagashima (長嶋 茂雄) and Kazuhisa Inao (稲尾 和久), both of whom are well-known Japanese baseball players in real life. Please note that there are some differences in kanji, though in both cases the pronunciation is the same. The real Shigeo Nagashima and his son Kazushige Nagashima appear in the Magic Kaito chapter The Boy Who Bet On the Ball collected in volume 2.
Collected Short Stories of Gosho Aoyama 3rd Base 4th
This book contains 3rd Base 4th chapters along with other Gosho Aoyama's short stories, including Nonchalant Lupin. It was released on December 10, 1999 under Shonen Sunday Books imprint, and later rereleased on September 13, 2003 under Shogakukan Bunko imprint.
In other countries
See also
References
| 3rd Base 4th | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main Characters | Shigeo Nagashima • Kazuhisa Inao • Yutaka Enatsu • Mr. Enatsu | |
| Secondary Characters | Kohnan High Baseball Team Coach • Ekoda High Baseball Team Captain • Nazo Sports Equipment Shopkeeper • Mrs. Nagashima • List of minor 3rd Base 4th characters | |
| Manga | Volume 1 (Chapters) • In other countries | |
| Crossovers | Miracle at Koshien Ball Park! The Defiants Face the Dark Demon • List of crossovers | |
| Related Articles | Kohnan High School • Ekoda High School • Excalibur | |
