3rd Base Fourth

The cover of the first volume of 3rd Base 4th.

3rd Base 4th (4番サード, Yonban Sādo?) is a shōnen sports manga by Gosho Aoyama. 3rd Base 4th was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1993. It is one volume long.

Story

Shigeo Nagashima (長嶋茂雄, Nagashima Shigeo?) plays for his school, Kohnan's, baseball team. However, he isn't a very good player. One day, he walks into a mysterious store where he buys a baseball bat. Little does he know that the bat is in fact magical. It enables him to hit every pitch, but on one condition: every time he uses it, he has to pay money to the mysterious store.

Kohnan's team reaches the championship game, where they face another school, Ougane. On the opposing team is Kazuhisa Inao (稲尾 和久, Inao Kazuhisa?), who has a baseball glove that is also magical and can throw the fastest pitches. Like Shigeo, he must pay for this ability, but unlike Shigeo (who has to work very hard for every yen), Kazuhisa can afford this cost.

Characters

Picture	Name	Role
	Shigeo Nagashima	Main character of the story.
	Kazuhisa Inao	Shigeo's baseball rival.

Appearances in Other Media

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 43.10-44.3 (chapters 445-449) in the manga. Kohnan and Ougane are the two teams facing off for the Koshien title during the episode.

Influences

Both Shigeo Nagashima and Kazuhisa Inao are well-known Japanese baseball players in real life.