Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 67

#66. Only When Facing These Guys…

Whether it was in the Big Leagues or now, I’m not the type to talk much during a game.

To be more precise, I think it’s a waste to expend my energy on anything other than playing.

I’ve exchanged trash talk and even punches quite a few times, but when I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever been the one to start it.

But there are exceptions sometimes.

Games where I want to completely crush the opponent.

When that happens, harsh words fly out of my mouth without me even realizing it.

The second game against the Magicians—maybe today is one of those days.

Seeing the catcher squatting down, my mouth just opens on its own.

“It’s a good day for baseball, Senior.”

“…….”

Park Su-gil, the Magicians’ catcher who kept talking about juniors when we first met, pretended not to hear me and didn’t say anything.

“Hmm.”

I cleared my throat once, but still, there was no response.

Honestly, it’s a bit boring.

In America, if you threw out a line like that, the Yankees would almost automatically start cursing.

They’d throw every kind of insult at you if you just made eye contact.

Of course, a bench-clearing brawl was always waiting at the end.

I fought a lot. With the Yankees.

Glance.

I pretended not to notice and subtly looked back.

Some catchers might be displeased if they thought you were stealing signs, and in severe cases, you might even get hit by a beanball [a pitch thrown deliberately at the batter’s head].

But Park Su-gil just kept a stiff expression and went through the motions of catching, as if he hadn’t seen anything.

He’s scared, this guy.

Whoosh.

“Ball!”

It seems Park Su-gil isn’t the only one scared of me. The Magicians’ second starter, Nathan Bennett, threw the first pitch, almost hitting me.

My mood soured rapidly.

I almost jumped onto the mound right away.

But I have to hold back—just this once. Didn’t Senior Jo Sung-oh ask me earnestly before the game?

He asked me to hold back from a bench-clearing brawl in this three-game series, even if it was for his sake, and that he had already talked to the Magicians’ veterans.

I know that senior is doing that for the sake of the younger players, and I know that he doesn’t want the Warriors’ rookies to be called bad guys wherever they go, so I said I understood.

Hmm.

Okay, well, just once. If they do it again the second time, then I can beat them up then.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to jump onto the mound.

Clang!

Unlike that Jimenez guy who only threw balls all day yesterday, Nathan Bennett, who came out as the starter today, went for the win right from the first at-bat.

I hit that pitch and easily got a hit, then I spoke to the Magicians’ foreign first baseman. Half because I was really curious, and half because I wanted to provoke him.

“Did the team owner kick you guys in the shins for cowardly running away yesterday?”

“What……?”

“Well, I like it. It’s okay to watch you guys running away in fear, but the best thing is hitting like this.”

“Damn it, you freaking punk. Don’t act up just because you’re doing well. You might get hurt.”

“You? Hurt me?”

“…Fuck.”

Did he suddenly remember the bench-clearing brawl from before? He closed his mouth and refused to talk anymore.

It’s definitely easier to deal with these big Yankees than the Korean players.

Aside from the fact that this is my home ground, Korea, these guys are the ones who are really used to the law of the jungle.

They know better than anyone that it’s their loss if they recklessly go up against a strong person and get punched, resulting in being sidelined.

If the number of games they miss increases, they fall into a slump, and then they have to pack their bags and go home.

Is it dirty?

That’s how hard it is to make money in another country.

I know that better than anyone.

“Hey, stop it. I’ll give you a warning if the atmosphere gets any weirder.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

The conversation was cut short when the umpire stepped in, just as I was about to stop.

Huh.

Even though that bastard Hwang Sung-min isn’t here, for some reason, my fighting spirit flares up whenever I see the Magicians’ uniform.

But I should stop talking now. It’s only my loss if I get ejected.

Let’s focus on baseball again.

“Strike!”

It was just a joke, but the Magicians’ pitcher’s ball distribution is really different from yesterday.

The Magicians’ owner, who watched the team’s defeat yesterday, might have given a special order.

Rather than just running away and losing, face them head-on.

Well, or maybe that pitcher is just particularly aggressive.

Anyway, if that’s the case…….

“Safe!”

In this case, there’s no need to try to steal.

Senior Jo Sung-oh’s pace is very good these days. Plus, he’s the team’s cleanup hitter [the batter who bats fourth in the lineup, typically a strong hitter who can drive in runs].

It’s much better to let Senior Jo Sung-oh focus on the game than to make the ball count unfavorable by trying to help with the steal.

“Safe!”

The Magicians’ pitcher keeps throwing check pitches, not knowing how I feel.

I made eye contact for a moment, and his eyes were full of resentment.

What did I do? What did I do to deserve that look?

“Ball!”

Perhaps because he was paying more attention to me, who had no intention of stealing, than to the cleanup hitter at the plate.

In the end, the Magicians’ pitcher walked Senior Jo Sung-oh to first base.

Two outs, but runners on first and second.

Senior Jang Deok-su, one of the hitters with the best pace recently, stepped up to the plate.

* * *

“How are you doing?”

“…….”

Jang Deok-su, who has a huge build that seems to fill the batter’s box, spoke with a blunt expression.

But Park Su-gil still didn’t say anything.

No, he couldn’t.

He was injured when he ran into home, which this monster was guarding, trying to score a point.

In the meantime, the general manager recruited Hwang Sung-min.

It was a big deal that could have cost him his starting position to that guy.

No matter how much Park Su-gil was ahead in terms of skill, no one knows what will happen in the world.

Holding his trembling heart, he lay in the hospital room and watched the game on TV.

But then something unexpected happened.

Hwang Sung-min, who the general manager brought in, did something crazy, and that caused a bench-clearing brawl.

And Jang Deok-su started to go wild.

“Are you not feeling well, Senior?”

“…….”

It wasn’t caught on camera, so he avoided punishment, but several Magicians players witnessed the scene firsthand.

Song Gi-tae was grabbed and thrown into the back net like a radish being pulled out.

That wasn’t the problem.

Han Su-hyeok’s punch, which completely crushed Hwang Sung-min, a senior or whatever.

Park Su-gil, who was lying on the hospital bed injured and watching that scene, almost peed his pants without realizing it.

They were both crazy bastards.

‘I’m calling these guys seniors…….’

At that moment, he remembered acting high and mighty towards Jang Deok-su, calling him a senior. He remembered urging him to properly train Han Su-hyeok.

It was a crazy thing to do.

Choi Dong-seok and a few others approached Park Su-gil, who was playing in today’s game, and told him.

To show them what he’s made of as their high school senior.

That’s bullshit.

He decided to ignore it completely.

‘I don’t know anything. I can’t get hurt again. Let’s just think about our daughter’s pretty face.’

It’s only his loss if he clashes with guys who throw punches first when they get mad, regardless of whether they’re seniors or not.

When Jo Sung-oh, the oldest player on the Warriors, approached him first and suggested fair play, he couldn’t have been happier.

If he does well this season, he’ll get FA [Free Agency] qualification.

What if he gets hurt in this situation, trying to discipline the younger players from another team who aren’t even on his team?

And what if his FA qualification is delayed by a year?

‘No way!’

Park Su-gil, who screamed inwardly without realizing it, swallowed hard once and said to Jang Deok-su.

“Deok-su, do you go to high school reunions sometimes?”

“Huh? Yeah, sometimes.”

“Yeah, we should get along well with our alumni, don’t fight, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Park Su-gil, the Magicians’ starting catcher, looked at Jang Deok-su with an awkward smile.

* * *

“Fuck!”

– Ah! Warriors’ starting pitcher Brooks Parker’s pitch slipped out of his hand and hit Thomas Campbell in the back.

– An excited Thomas is heading to the mound……! Ah, but he’s stopping?

– Yes, it looks like Jang Deok-su said something to him……. Ah, in the meantime, Park Su-gil is running out of the Magicians’ bench to stop Thomas. As a veteran, that’s a really good thing to do!

The moment he was hit by the ball, Thomas knew right away.

That this wasn’t a beanball, but a mistake.

But perhaps because of his recent slump, Thomas, who was overwhelmed, threw down his bat and was about to run to the mound.

That’s when he heard a chilling voice from behind.

“Don’t get excited. You might get hit by a ball while playing the game. I don’t want to hit people again. Stop it.”

Thomas, who was about to knock the pitcher down, flinched without realizing it.

He couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, but he knew it was a threat.

At that moment, Han Su-hyeok, who was standing in the shortstop position far away, took a step forward.

It was just one step. But the moment he saw that, Thomas’s head cleared as if he had been splashed with ice water.

The afterimage of the punch that guy threw in the last three-game series is still vivid. If he thought that was coming at him, he had no confidence that he could avoid it.

Just then, the starting catcher of this team, who ran out of the dugout, grabbed his pants and clung to him.

“Come down! Hey! Let me get FA too! Thomas! I’m the head of one house, okay?”

The flames of anger that were left completely subsided the moment he saw the catcher’s desperate expression.

He looked around.

His teammates were looking at him with lifeless and listless expressions.

On the other hand, the Warriors players were glaring at him as if they were about to pounce on him, and there were even two monsters who were hard to believe were Asians.

‘Let’s play baseball.’

It was the moment when fear of the Warriors took root in the heart of the Magicians’ cleanup hitter.

* * *

– Following yesterday’s game, the Warriors are leading the Magicians by one point, 4 to 3, in the bottom of the 9th inning. Commissioner, Yang Gi-cheol is coming up to the mound again?

– Yes, Yang Gi-cheol, who recorded his first win in the last Incheon game and his first save yesterday, is coming to the mound again. It seems the Warriors have really decided on Yang Gi-cheol as their closer.

– The Magicians’ attack in the bottom of the 9th inning starts with Yang Seon-woo, the number one hitter. Considering that it’s a one-point difference, the match against the first hitter is more important than anything else.

– Of course. Yang Gi-cheol’s pitches are still unfamiliar, so hitters may have difficulty facing him, but isn’t Magicians’ Yang Seon-woo one of the candidates for the national team’s leadoff hitter? He won’t back down easily.

Senior Yang Gi-cheol, who saved his first career save yesterday by blocking a one-point lead of 2 to 1, walked onto the mound with that bewildered expression.

With his thick, frizzy hair sticking out from under his hat, his blurry eyes, thick lips, and long arms that almost touch the ground, to exaggerate a little.

Just looking at his appearance, you can’t say he’s handsome or charismatic, even as a joke.

As a rule, the closer of a team needs to have the force to overwhelm the opposing team.

Hmm, first of all, that frizzy hair…….

Later, when I have time, I should tell that senior how to make opposing hitters scared when the closer comes out.

“Play!”

The pitcher change was completed and the game resumed.

“Ahn Chi-wook, stay focused.”

“Okay.”

Ahn Chi-wook, who has really improved a lot in terms of defense compared to a month ago, lowered his waist as if responding to my voice.

Until recently, I couldn’t trust him, so I used to shift my center of gravity as close to third base as possible whenever he was defending.

As a result, second baseman Senior Lee Chang-mo and first baseman Senior Jo Sung-oh naturally had to pay more attention to the left side of the field.

This can’t be helped. It’s like a tax that you have to pay for a while after a rookie joins the team.

Fortunately, the good ones are good at baseball, and Ahn Chi-wook is quickly adapting to the pros. Thanks to that, I’m gradually getting rid of the defensive burden.

I took a defensive formation without any special changes according to the dugout’s signal.

Yang Seon-woo’s hitting mechanism itself is close to a spray hitter who sends batted balls all over the field, so it’s hard to shift to one side.

Whoosh.

“Ball!”

Yang Seon-woo endured Senior Yang Gi-cheol’s first pitch, which he threw almost falling over.

A 145km/h high-speed slider. Moreover, since it’s thrown with an extreme sidearm, the change in trajectory that the hitter feels will be no joke.

But he didn’t swing at that pitch?

Hmm, then maybe…….

The moment Senior Yang Gi-cheol wound up to throw the second pitch, I felt it.

I secretly sent a signal to Ahn Chi-wook. He swallowed hard and nodded, understanding it.

Whoosh.

This time it was a fastball. A 154km/h fastball with a trajectory that seemed to be flying from behind flew towards the catcher’s mitt.

At that moment.

Tap.

As if he had been waiting, Yang Seon-woo brought his bat to it.

A bunt that rolled towards third base.

Senior Yang Gi-cheol, who fell on the mound after throwing the ball, was completely unable to defend himself.

It’s a batted ball that the third baseman has to handle.

“Mine! Mine!”

At that moment, Ahn Chi-wook shouted loudly and ran forward, then snatched the ball with his bare hand and threw a lightning-fast throw to first base.

“Out!”

The out declaration fell from the first base umpire’s mouth, and Yang Seon-woo threw his helmet in frustration and looked at the sky.

I think I can really be sure now.

The Warriors’ fall baseball, which I thought was all nonsense until recently.

That it is gradually becoming a reality and is coming closer to my eyes.

“Hey, Han Su-hyeok, wasn’t I cool? Huh?”

“Yeah. You did well.”

“Oh, you’re admitting what I said so easily?”

The eight teammates standing on the ground are gradually feeling more reliable.

It’s such a great feeling to be able to trust and rely on someone.

I kicked Ahn Chi-wook in the butt without realizing it.

Thud.