YMMV / Big Windup!

• Anticlimax Boss: A match between Musashino and Nishiura is foreshadowed early on, but when the two teams finally face each other Tajima hits Haruna's pitch without even trying, and Hanai tops it off with a homerun.
• Creator's Pet: Haruna, and the rest of Musashino High School. To the extent that Higuchi has been giving them 50:50 attention with Nishiura since 2008. Just when the fandom thought it was over, the fall tournament began and guess who Nishiura's first opponent is. It gets even worse when you realize Higuchi went into loving detail about the Kasugabe and ARC matches, and then completely glossed over Nishiura's three newcomer's tournament matches so she could throw them into a match against Musashino
• Cult Classic: The anime didn't sell very well in North America, but it still has a dedicated fanbase there.
• Designated Villain: Mihashi's old teammates, Mihoshi High and to a lesser extent, Tosei.
  • For Mihoshi, It's Personal between all of them and Ren, including a Kick the Dog moment from their captain. Kano is weird about it, since Ren was forced off for his benefit and with his approval, because he's serious about being the top pitcher. However, while the rest of the team hate Ren, he apparently still wants to be friends because he knew Ren from before the team. He also believed Ren had actual talent and they had misjudged him — which just makes him even more determined to win their pitcher's duel.^note And still be friends.
  • For Musashino, It's Personal between Haruna and Abe.
  • On the whole, between everyone but these four guys and everyone else, there are no evil rival teams. Even Mihoshi and Tosei are very gracious in defeat.
• Die for Our Ship: The backlash among Japanese yaoi fangirls when Shinooka was revealed to have a crush on Abe was incredible. They have taken to writing her name as 死の岡 and 死のーか, using the character for "death." The fact, that the poor girl decided to keep it for herself and not pursue her feelings, didn't stop anyone.
• Estrogen Brigade: While the series is technically aimed at an adult male audience since the manga runs in a seinen magazine, it still has an overwhelming number of female fans thanks to the cute male characters and the rampant Ho Yay between them.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Chiyo has a crush on Abe but most fans are more interested with him and Ren.
• Moe: Mihashi is an example of the rarer male version.