Yokohama, Japan — Johnny Reed, who has reached the peak of softball and is preparing to make his Olympic debut, was in the training field at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in West Japan.
Another important family was first deployed in Miami, across the Pacific Ocean 7,452 miles away. Her husband, Jake Reed, was about to step into the Major League Baseball mound for the first time.
“Fortunately, the staff was looking at the box scores,” she said. “And when he came in, they slid me for a moment so I could see it.”
They have a unique coastal marriage.
Johnny is a left fielder and second-placed batter in the United States as Americans try to recover the gold medal lost to Japan in 2008. -Inning Bunt set up Amandachi Destar’s RBI single with a 1-0 victory over Canada on Thursday.
Side-arming right-handed Jake recorded 3.38 ERA in six rescue appearances at the Los Angeles Dodgers from July 6th to 18th, then returned to Oklahoma City to open Billy’s roster spot two days later. Specified for assignment. McKinney. If unbilled, the lead may be fully assigned to Triple-A.
Their work paths intersect at soft toss, which is not easy given the release point of his submarine.
“He’s much better,” she said with a laugh. “We have to give him a target behind the plate.”
Jake Reed and Janny Takeda met at the University of Oregon in 2011 and arrived early before the first semester.
“Fresh athletes are like being drawn to each other,” he said. “So, as baseball players and softball players, we started dating some of their teams. We are young freshmen and we know each other by not really knowing others on campus. I think I was able to know a little. “
They ended up together with Business 101 and a family and human service referral course. Six years later, on November 18, 2017, at a ceremony in Somis, California, they became reeds.
She can remember when he first saw her play: March 13, 2012, her first home game. Jackie Trainer in Alabama hit her three times.
“It was a bit embarrassing because it was the first time I saw all my new friends playing,” said Janny.
She was on the US roster at the 2016 and 2018 World Championships with the aim of reviving softball at the Tokyo Olympics.
Jake was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of 2014, spent seven seasons with minors and was released by the Twins and the Los Angeles Angels before his call.
“The good thing about playing in different positions is that we both know that most of the time we stay in our lane,” Jake said. “When it comes to spiritual aspects, such as the ups and downs of sports, it’s clear that we’re dealing with a lot of things, and sometimes we think we’re completely different athletes.
“I think I’m like a natural athlete. I haven’t paid much attention to mechanics and so on. And she’s kind of the opposite. Her dad has been her batting coach since she was a child. They have been very trapped in her swing and her mechanics throughout her life, so we are working really well to balance each other. “
She is convinced that she has a more difficult training plan.
“I would say a fielder, and he would agree,” continued Janny. “We need to participate in every practice, every game. Pitchers relax by sitting in the bullpen or getting to work.”
Their table talk can be directed to the seam head.
“Janny and I were talking after the ball game. She tells me,’Coach, that’s exactly what Jake and I talked to,'” said Ken, a US softball manager for the past decade. Eriksen said. “So he’s a really good guy for her. So when they knew, oh, that’s what Jake says, it’s not just the coach, it’s what’s happening to the guys in Major League Baseball, that’s me Justify what we all do, the aspects of baseball and softball. “
The moment of Jake’s call remains vivid in her mind. She was in Japan when the Dodgers moved him from Oklahoma City to their taxi corps. She had already loaded the MLB At-Bat app on her mobile phone.
“I told him before going to bed. If you need to call me late at night, do so,” she said. “So I woke up at 3:45 in the morning when the phone was vibrating, and I soon knew it was happening.”
At the end of the Olympics, she flies to Los Angeles to meet where Jake is assigned. They are absent from their breakfast routine.
“Let others take the lead,” she said. “And often we ask each other,’How are you feeling?’ It’s more important than softball or baseball. We have a good rhythm of how to report together. We really value each other’s views on performance. “
For now, they are rooting each other from afar.
“Of course, I don’t have a place I want to go to more than I’m here, so I wish I could be in two places at once, but I wish I were there again,” she said. Told. “But at the same time, it’s really cool that we reached the pinnacle of sport at the same time during the eight to ten years we knew each other. It’s a bit crazy to line up here. I don’t really believe in chance. I think that’s how the story should have ended. “
Ronald Bloom