Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 392

Genius Pitcher Hides 170km – Episode 391 (392/412)

#391. A Catfish in a School of Loaches

└ 0.458, 0.589, 1.105, 45 Home Runs, 88 RBIs, ERA 0.31, 12 Wins, 0 Losses, WHIP 0.45. Hmm, what’s this? Lower than I expected? The KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] level is quite high.

└ I agree. I thought the league would be completely devastated by now.

└ Damn it, how is the broadcasting rights negotiation only finished now? That means we missed almost 70 games. And no replays either.

└ Calm down, it’s better that it’s resolved now rather than never. Let’s contain our excitement and watch our god play again.

The KBO was also among those who benefited from Han Su-hyeok’s return to the Korean league.

The sudden announcement of Han Su-hyeok’s return to Korea.

The American baseball world was thrown into a panic by this unexpected news, especially the broadcasting industry, which had been enjoying considerable success with Han Su-hyeok’s games, was the first to react.

[Major Overseas OTTs [Over-the-top media services] and Sports Channels Begin Negotiations with KBO for Broadcasting Rights to All Professional Baseball Games]

[The God of Baseball Leaves the Major League, His Followers Say in Unison, “It Feels Like the Sky is Falling, but We Want to Keep Watching His Play Through Broadcasts.”]

[KBO Calls Emergency Meeting Over Unexpected Fortune, What is the Appropriate Broadcasting Rights Fee?]

World baseball fans loved Han Su-hyeok not because he played in the Major League.

He was already a master who had elevated baseball to an art form, making competition with other players meaningless.

Baseball fans who wanted to keep watching Han Su-hyeok’s perfect plays and every move bombarded sports channels in each country, and OTTs smelling money rushed to Korea to negotiate broadcasting rights.

The only downside was that the KBO was completely unprepared to deal with such a global issue. They had never imagined that Korean professional baseball would be broadcast overseas.

An emergency meeting was called, and a tug-of-war began between the KBO, trying to get as much as possible, and overseas operators, trying to cut costs.

And now, with the first half of the 2040 season nearing its end, the negotiations were finally completed, and Han Su-hyeok’s play began to be broadcast around the world.

This incident led to a sudden growth in the market size of Korean professional baseball.

This is because there was a huge increase in broadcasting rights fees, which are the biggest source of income for the KBO and each team.

The income of each team, which had been receiving broadcasting rights fees uniformly from the KBO, increased significantly, and some teams even managed to escape deficits and turn a profit.

It was one of the positive effects of baseball player Han Su-hyeok’s return to the KBO.

└ Hmm, I think that team’s pitcher played in Chicago until last year?

└ That’s right. He came up to the Major League, pitched as a mop-up man [Relief pitcher who enters the game, typically when the score is lopsided], a few times, and then went back down to the minors.

└ He’s pitching pretty well, isn’t he? For a guy who got kicked out to the minors.

└ I think his skills have improved quite a bit. He must have grown while in Korea.

└ Oh! Did everyone see that bat flip? Amazing! Truly the land of Han Su-hyeok! Amazing!

└ That’s basic. Search for KBO bat flip compilations on YouTube. You’ll see an amazing sight that you can’t even imagine in the Major League.

As Han Su-hyeok’s play was delivered to baseball fans around the world via the internet and broadcasts, the Warriors began their three-game series against the Seoul Fighters.

* * *

“…Damn it, I feel intimidated every time I come here. How can there be such a difference when they’re both domes?”

“They’re not the same dome. The construction cost was more than five times higher.”

“I’m most amazed by this. The vending machine in the clubhouse dispenses drinks without needing coins. Hey, Clark. Let’s each grab one. We don’t want to look too poor.”

The Seoul Fighters, who have been running the baseball team with only sponsor fees and team revenue, without a parent company, have stubbornly survived for 32 years, as if mocking the public’s concerns that they would soon go bankrupt.

The team’s players joked around as they entered the visiting team’s locker room.

As of 2040, there are two dome stadiums in Korea.

The Gocheok Sky Dome, owned by the city of Seoul, with a maximum capacity of 16,000 people, is one of the worst dome stadiums in the world in terms of size and facilities.

And Warriors Field, built with Warriors’ own capital on land leased from the city of Seoul, with a maximum capacity of 45,000 people, is one of the most expensive stadiums in the world.

“…The grass looks better.”

“Yeah, I heard they re-laid it recently.”

“Using natural grass in a dome stadium is a scam. That retractable roof, I’m really jealous. We’re using only mid-level artificial turf.”

“The risk of injury would be much lower if we played in a place like this. I’m really jealous, seriously.”

One of the biggest advantages of Warriors Field is that it uses natural grass, not artificial turf, even though it is a dome stadium. It is also the highest quality product, tailored to Major League standards, or more precisely, to Han Su-hyeok’s preferences.

This was possible because the ceiling of Warriors Field was made retractable, not fixed.

Warriors Field is always operated with the roof open, except on days when it rains or snows, or when there are strong winds that could interfere with the game.

It was an environment that the Fighters players, who were always at risk of injury due to the rough artificial turf, and who had no choice but to play passively, were very envious of.

“Still, now that we have additional income, won’t they at least replace the turf?”

“That cheapskate owner? I doubt it……”

“Yeah, he’s always complaining in interviews that he doesn’t have money, that he’s short on money, that the team can’t operate because of the deficit……”

The additional broadcasting rights fees allocated to each team due to Han Su-hyeok amount to approximately 8 billion won [approximately $6 million USD]. This is a large sum, close to the amount received from existing domestic broadcasters.

Nevertheless, the Fighters players’ faces showed no particular expectation.

It was as if they were listless children who had been accustomed to living in poverty for too long.

In that atmosphere, the game between the two teams began.

* * *

“You look like you’re in good condition, Jose.”

“Couldn’t be better. You can look forward to today’s game.”

“Good, I’ll trust you.”

Warriors’ starting pitcher, Jose Carlos, finished his conversation with the manager before his start and got up from his seat with a grin.

He chose to advance to the Korean league to choose stability over adventure.

His wife was pregnant with their third child, and his father’s condition was not improving.

The dream of being a big leaguer was good, but the thought of creating a more stable living environment for his family became bigger.

Jose Carlos flew to Korea without hesitation after receiving Han Su-hyeok’s offer.

That choice changed the lives of Jose and his family.

A salary that was not up to Major League standards, but still more than enough to feed his family, and a top-class mansion with the best options that he could not have imagined in the United States, and education and medical services for his children provided free of charge by the club.

Satisfied that his choice was right, Jose Carlos threw his first pitch with all his might.

Wham!

“Strike!”

A 160 km/h [~99.4 mph] hard sinker that came into the center of the zone and fell with backspin.

Someone said that it didn’t make sense for a pitcher like Jose Carlos to be the third starter, and that Han Su-hyeok was ruining Korean baseball.

Not only was the best player in the world playing in Korea, but he was also bringing in a bunch of Major League-level foreign players, messing up the balance of the entire league.

Of course, that’s nonsense.

The more the level of players in the league rises, the more the competitiveness of the league naturally strengthens. No, it must be strengthened.

What if you are reluctant to invest in a situation where additional broadcasting rights revenue is coming in due to Han Su-hyeok?

Such teams will naturally be eliminated and will soon disappear into history. And the surviving teams will compete fiercely again, raising the level of the league.

That’s how Major League Baseball, with over 100 years of history, has developed.

Whoosh

Wham!

“Swing!”

The Fighters’ leadoff hitter, who had been inexplicably slumped since before the game, made a weak swing at another 159 km/h [~98.8 mph] hard sinker, and the situation quickly became no balls and two strikes.

Now in the middle of the season, the Fighters, who were in sole last place due to the departure of FA [Free Agent] players and the failure of foreign player recruitment, could not attack Jose Carlos’s pitches at all.

And,

Pow!

“Strike! Out!”

The moment the leadoff hitter was struck out without even swinging at the 161 km/h [~100 mph] fastball coming into the center, the atmosphere in the Fighters’ dugout, which had already been slumped, turned into a funeral home.

Only half a year since Han Su-hyeok returned to Korea,

Some teams and players who had been stagnant for a long time and were complacent were now realizing that it was time for them to change as well.

They were realizing with their bodies that if they just went with the flow as before, trying to blend in with other teams and players and just go for the middle, they would be eliminated.

Pow!

“Strike! Out!”

Jose Carlos, who seemed to be in particularly good condition today, struck out the Fighters’ 1st, 2nd, and 3rd hitters in a row, and then it was the Warriors’ turn to attack.

[1st Hitter, Center Fielder, Derek Fleming]

With the announcer’s comment, the Warriors’ leadoff hitter, who boasts the highest price among KBO foreign players in history, with a pure salary of $5 million this season, stepped into the plate.

Crack!

The pulled ball made a cheerful sound as it stretched out to the outfield without hesitation.

No outs, runner on second base crisis.

The game had just begun, but thick sweat was dripping from the Fighters’ pitcher’s forehead.

Zhiing

Along with an intense bass riff that drastically lowered the enemy’s morale, Han Su-hyeok, who boasts the highest price in the world, but is simply serving the team for a symbolic 3.3 billion won [approximately $2.5 million USD] in Korea, appeared.

Of course, these were not the only high-paid players on the Warriors.

Starting pitcher Jose Carlos and closer Eric Barkley, who are each receiving salaries of $3 million, and veterans such as Lim Jun-yeong, Cheon Sang-jin, and Jang Deok-soo, who have been dedicated to this team for a long time, and pitcher Choi Ma-ru and hitter Ahn Chi-wook, who should be called the best in Korea except for Han Su-hyeok, were also high-paid players.

For the Fighters, who had frozen the salaries of the players to reduce the budget this season, and even ruined the foreign player recruitment by saving on foreign player salaries, it was a lineup that was daunting to even look at.

As with all professional sports, especially in baseball, where you have to run a long race of over 100 games in a season, building a solid team is the shortcut to winning, and the most important thing for that is abundant capital and active investment.

As someone said, such active investment and bold moves by the Warriors may seem to disrupt the balance of the league for now.

However, Korean baseball, which is still hopelessly behind Japan except for Han Su-hyeok, and cannot even guarantee absolute superiority over Taiwan, needed a catfish-like presence in this school of loaches [A catfish introduced into a group of smaller fish stirs them up and encourages growth and competition].

Crack!

The huge hit that Han Su-hyeok hit powerfully flew across the center of Warriors Field.

The spectators filling the stadium chanted Han Su-hyeok’s name with all their might, and fans around the world who were watching his play on the internet and TV applauded and rejoiced.

Korean baseball, which had been stagnant in one place for a very long time, was now finally ready to take a step forward thanks to Han Su-hyeok’s return.