The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 2

2. The Darkest Chapter of My Life (1)

Do you know about regression?

I’m talking about that thing where your mind is thirty, forty, or fifty, but your body returns to eighteen or nineteen.

Damn it. Yes, I am that regressor. What? If you regressed, shouldn’t you be happy and jumping for joy?

Let’s think about it. How would you feel if you were discharged from the army and stepped out of the guardhouse, only to regress back to the entrance of the training camp?

Wouldn’t that be awful? Oh, are you saying I regressed to the boot camp at the same time as my discharge?

That’s not the case. I’m just using an analogy.

From the start, I was exempt from military service with a gold medal, so I only had to do a month of training.

Anyway, I worked my butt off, and just when I thought I could finally live a little, I have to start all over again?

To be honest, I really did my best.

I was also lucky. If I were to do it again, could I do it again? I don’t know. Of course, I don’t think I would fail easily, but if I think about whether I can produce that much output again, it’s hard to answer easily.

No, the regression itself is a bit strange.

Usually, you regret and lament the past, drink alcohol and fall into the Han River, get hit by an isekai [a genre of Japanese fantasy where a person is transported into or reborn in another world] reincarnation truck, or at least eat a red pill given by a bald black man wearing sunglasses before returning, right?

Eating well, lying in bed, falling asleep, and waking up as an eighteen-year-old youth? Where else in the world could there be such an unfair thing?

Oh, you’re saying how could I have regressed without anything happening? You’re asking if there’s anything I can guess? Well, if I had to pick one…

***

“Today, we have a very special guest.”

“A special guest? Who is it?”

“Who else could it be? It’s the person Baek Dong-hui likes the most.”

“No way? Come on, that’s a lie. No way. Our program doesn’t even get 8% viewership these days.”

“Oh? Is Baek Dong-hui disparaging our program right now?”

“No, that’s not it. If it’s the person I like the most, they should be filming the *Tonight Show* or *Conan*, *Jimmy Kimmel*. They’re not even in Korea in the first place. And frankly, if they come to Korea, they should go to that 13% viewership show on M station, not ours. Seriously, what ability does our PD [Production Director] Choi have to cast Choi Su-won? What, did he go to a clan association meeting to cast him since they have the same last name?”

“That’s what I’m saying. I’m wondering about that too. Did he really cast him at a clan association meeting? Now, the hottest sports star in Korea!! Choi Su-won!”

“Really? Really, really?”

Choi Su-won.

Debuted in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] in 2027. Played full-time from his debut. In 2029, his third year, he finally exploded in the KBO and dominated the league for four years.

Entered the MLB [Major League Baseball] at the age of 25. Won the MLB batting Triple Crown in his debut year of 2034.

Since then, he has been the home run king five times in eight seasons. His cumulative home run count for nine seasons is a whopping 437.

So far, the only players who have hit 500 home runs and not been inducted into the Hall of Fame are drug users, and considering that he is only thirty-three years old. Above all, he hit 61 home runs this season, achieving 60+ home runs in a single season for the third time in history as a clean hitter since Ruth in 1927 and Roger Maris in 1961, so it is evaluated that induction into the Hall of Fame is as good as guaranteed.

Choi Su-won is by no means an exaggeration to say that he is currently the best hitter in Major League Baseball.

“Oh, the introduction is too grand, I’m embarrassed.”

“Good heavens!! The real Choi Su-won? What is this? You were clearly in the United States until yesterday. I heard you announcing the MVP…”

“……”

A moment of silence filled the studio.

Just yesterday, in the Major League MVP announcement, Choi Su-won came in second place for MVP by just 5 points. It was his fourth time finishing second for MVP in his career.

“Hahaha, it’s okay. Honestly, Brian did a good job this time. I have to admit what I have to admit. It’s a home run record in 81 years, but as a pitcher, he had 151 innings with a 2.93 ERA [Earned Run Average] and 231 strikeouts. How can I beat a guy who had 49 home runs and won the batting title as a hitter? And that’s just a designated hitter.”

“Just a designated hitter? Choi Su-won’s WAR [Wins Above Replacement, a comprehensive baseball statistic] this season is a whopping 7.7. His batting average was a bit lacking, but who looks at batting average these days? Even if you only look at batting production, he was much better than Brian.”

“Brian, who won the MVP this time, had a WAR of 7.6, right?”

“Yes, Choi Su-won’s WAR is higher. Moreover, Brian’s pitcher WAR is 3.3. Even if you look at WPA [Win Probability Added], the difference is even greater.”

Baek Dong-hui raised his voice to the host’s question.

“Do you like baseball?”

It was the host, not Baek Dong-hui, who answered Su-won’s question.

“Oh, don’t even mention it. Dong-hui is a huge baseball fan and a huge fan of Choi Su-won. A baseball fanatic. He’s been saying since Choi Su-won was in Korea that he would definitely explode when he went to the United States. He’s been talking about it until his mouth is worn out.”

“Haha, thank you.”

Choi Su-won was a good player.

No, not just good. He is a player who, even if he retires after only 10 years in his career, it is said that his Hall of Fame is confirmed. That means he is a great hitter who will be remembered in history.

But surprisingly, Choi Su-won, such a great hitter, has never had a single MVP.

“No, well, since the topic came up, I’ll say it, but our Choi Su-won. Isn’t this racism at this point? People are even starting to say things like that. He’s already finished second for MVP four times. This time, it was only a 5-point difference. So, Choi Su-won got 14 first-place votes and 16 second-place votes. Brian got 16 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes. Honestly, Brian is great, but the MVP is basically an award for hitters, isn’t it.”

“Oh? Is the MVP an award for hitters in the United States? It seems a little different from Korea?”

“That’s because pitchers have the Cy Young Award, so the MVP is usually given to hitters as a matter of custom.”

“It was a custom?”

Choi Su-won answered the host in place of Baek Dong-hui.

“Yes, usually even pitchers who had legendary performances in a given year couldn’t win the MVP if there was a hitter who had a slightly lower record. It was customary to give the MVP to the hitter. But… a two-way player can’t just be seen as a pitcher. In fact, it’s like a designated hitter is playing as a starting pitcher about once a week.”

“But Choi Su-won, how many times is this now? Honestly, if you think about all the times Choi Su-won has been given second place for MVP, he should have received the MVP this time. Among designated hitters of all time, Jim Rice in 1978 is the only player who has had as much WAR as Choi Su-won this season. 61 home runs in 81 years. The highest WAR for a designated hitter in 64 years. These symbolic hitting records should be respected. Above all, two-way players have already received the MVP eight times in the last 23 years.”

Choi Su-won smiled awkwardly at Baek Dong-hui, who was more enthusiastic about his work than he was.

“Haha… it can’t be helped. If I really wanted to win the MVP, I should have hit one more home run and set a new home run record.”

“No!! That doesn’t make any sense!!!”

“Whoa, Baek Dong-hui. You know you’re getting angry at Choi Su-won for not receiving the MVP, right?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was too excited.”

After that, for about 50 minutes?

The story continued for quite a while.

The host of the TV show knew how to draw out the story quite appropriately. The reason Su-won chose this program, which had lower viewership, was precisely because of that. Viewership is guaranteed by Su-won’s appearance, but the quality of this kind of program depends on the ability of the host to run the show.

Besides, Baek Dong-hui was a much bigger baseball fanatic than expected. Although he was using slightly outdated public stats to tell the story, more detailed stats are created internally by each team. Rather, Baek Dong-hui’s knowledge is a bit too deep into the nerd range for the average person to hear.

“Thank you for a really informative time today. Oh, and finally, before you go back, please give our Dong-hui an autograph. I saw you telling your manager to do something in the middle.”

“No, I didn’t know Choi Su-won was coming in advance… I asked him to bring some of the goods I’ve collected at home.”

“Oh? Dong-hui, isn’t that you abusing your staff?”

“Oh, come on, last Christmas, my manager said he was a UKG [Unknown Kung-fu Ground, a Korean music genre] fan, so I begged them to get concert tickets and gave them to him. We’ve been working together for ten years, we’re family. Family. Where’s the abuse between family members?”

Whether the word fan was a lie or not, there were really a lot of various goods from when he was playing in the KBO to recently. Baek Dong-hui’s face is full of smiles after receiving a bunch of autographs.

“Ah, Choi Su-won. This is a gift.”

“Yes? This is?”

“You’ve always said that you respect Hank Aaron the most. This is a Hank Aaron ’74 autograph card that I got by chance.”

“Such a precious thing…”

“It’s a bribe to receive the energy of the home run king and break the record. So that these goods that I’ve received autographs on will be worth about a hundred times more after I die.”

It wasn’t that Hank Aaron’s autograph card was incredibly expensive.

But it was definitely a precious gift to receive for the first time.

Above all, Hank Aaron was the player Choi Su-won respected the most. It wasn’t just because of his amazing record. Even in the 2030s, racism against Asians still remained in Major League Baseball. The era when Hank Aaron played was before Luther King told his dream, and wasn’t it natural that blacks weren’t even given the right to vote?

“Then I will accept it without hesitation. Thank you.”

Su-won took the card and put it in his jacket pocket.

***

“So, it doesn’t seem like a dream for sure.”

This moment, too. And all those vivid things, too. It couldn’t be a dream.

And above all…

“Hank Aaron…”

The Hank Aaron autograph card with a bright smile that says NEW ALL-TIME HOME RUN KING. In the room where everything has changed, only that card is clearly boasting its existence.