Every time Wladimir Balentien hits a home run, and he's hit quite a few since joining the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in 2011, he has to go back to the drawing board and recalibrate his approach.
Because he knows in the time it took to jog around the bases, return to the dugout and be congratulated by his teammates and Swallows mascot Tsubakuro, the opposing team has already cooked up some way to stop him the next time.
"They try everything," Balentien says with a laugh. "You know Japanese baseball, you get a home run and they've already figured out how to get you out in the next at-bat. That's why you have to be smart when you're up there hitting."
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