The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 36

36. The Great Challenge (5)

Early morning.

I dropped a bombshell on Jo Yu-jin, who couldn’t hide the smile on her face as she thought about our study session tonight.

“Jjoju, the study session is canceled, starting today.”

“Huh… What? What did you say?”

Was it because she wanted to deny the reality that had befallen her? Even though she clearly understood, Jo Yu-jin asked me again.

“I said the study session is canceled.”

“No, you’re joking, right? What on earth are you talking about? Why cancel the study session now?”

“Well… it just ended up that way. But you exchanged numbers with Seyeon when you walked her home yesterday, right? Even if it’s not a study session, you can just contact her personally and meet up.”

“Seriously, you crazy jerk!! Do you think exchanging numbers with a girl is that easy?!”

Ah, right. Yujin was a long-time solo [someone who has been single for a long time].

“Why are you suddenly doing this? Did you two fight or something yesterday? If that’s the case, you should talk it out face to face. Eun-jin probably just misunderstood. Suwon, you just come off as a bit of an ass when you keep your mouth shut.”

“It’s not like that. But come to think of it, why am I even explaining this? You already passed all the exams, so you don’t even need to study. You were just tagging along anyway.”

“Well… that’s true, but do you have to say it so harshly?”

“Ah, whatever. Just keep swinging that bat.”

– Whoosh!!

Jo Yu-jin. Her bat swing looks pretty clean.

That’s what made me even more annoyed.

“Seriously, why do you swing so properly when you’re practicing, but when you’re at the plate, you separate your upper and lower body? Hey, Jo Yu-jin, that’s just a lack of practice. The strong desire to get to first base is suppressing the form you’ve developed through practice. To overcome that, you either have to get rid of your impatience, or you have to engrave the form into your body so much that you can’t help it. From my experience, the latter is a bit more likely. You know what they say, if you’re not smart, your body has to suffer more.”

“Well… what is it? It strangely feels like you’re only saying correct things, but I don’t feel good about it.”

“That’s probably because you’re saying it with the impression of someone who’s a bit of an ass when they keep their mouth shut.”

“Were you holding that against me?”

“Ah, whatever, are you just going to keep nagging like that? Aren’t you going to swing that bat?”

“Okay, okay.”

***

“So, if we put Choi Su-won in as an outfielder first and then bring him up as a pitcher in between to put out fires, we can have some leeway in managing the pitchers and save Choi Su-won’s pitch count, which would be the most efficient way, I think.”

“Hmm… Coach Yang, I think I might have misheard something. What did you just say?”

Director Park frowned deeply.

Yang Se-jun, the pitching coach of Jungang High, wasn’t very quick-witted, but he wasn’t so stupid that he would mistake Director Park’s question as a genuine inquiry because he didn’t hear him properly.

Moreover, Yang Se-jun was an elite athlete who had even experienced the pros. Therefore, he knew from experience what he had to say first in such a situation.

“Ah… no. That’s… I mean. I’m sorry!!”

“Coach Yang, let’s think about this. Yes, there’s some truth to what you’re saying. Baemyeong High School won the President’s Cup that way last year. Thanks to that, they got the title of national tournament-winning high school. But? What about the results of winning? Let’s look at the results. The kids who were in their third year at Baemyeong High School at the time? Yes, they filled their records and went to good universities. But the coach and coaches were cursed, cursed. You know how much they heard. It even made the internet news that they burned out the shoulder of Lee Him-chan, a promising second-year player. Fortunately, Him-chan’s shoulder is strong, so he’s still pitching well. But if there’s a problem later in the pros? That story will definitely come up again. This story will only come up more as Him-chan becomes a better player.”

“…”

“Coach Yang. I understand that you want to send the kids to good universities. I want to do that too. But you have to look at the situation before you stick your foot out. Huh?”

In fact, sending the kids to university was more important to the director’s reputation than to coach Yang Se-jun.

Moreover, Yang Se-jun didn’t think his argument was that serious. In fact, Baemyeong High School had won the President’s Cup that way in August of last year, and every year, there are at least one or two, or as many as three or four, high schools that operate their players in that way.

However, from Director Park’s point of view, the current situation was not one in which he could afford to worry about sending the third-year kids to university.

In fact, he was even hesitant to use the standard high school baseball team ace pitcher operation rule, let alone the unconventional operation that coach Yang Se-jun was talking about. The 12-day starting pitcher routine of 75, 60, 60, 45, 45, 105 pitches.

That’s because interest in Choi Su-won was growing day by day, and now agencies from the majors were coming, beyond the domestic scouts, not to mention the media.

Good heavens, the majors. The majors, really.

Of course, just because a high school student signs a contract with a major league agency doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll go to the majors. In fact, recently, there have been more cases of signing with a major league agency and staying in Korea.

But in any case, signing a contract with a major league agency is nothing short of a declaration to KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] clubs.

– If things don’t go my way, I’ll just go to the majors. So please take care of me.

Thanks to this, the Marines paid Choi Min-hyuk, the overall second pick, 1.05 billion won [approximately $800,000 USD], renewing the highest contract amount ever. That was even more than the 1 billion won that Phoenix paid Seo Gyu-tak, the overall first pick.

According to the current agreement between professional and amateur baseball, professional clubs are required to provide support equivalent to 10% of the rookie’s contract money to the final school and middle school of origin, divided 7:3. If Suwon really gets a 1 billion won contract, it means that 70 million won worth of supplies will come in, which is enough to buy a used bus if you save a little on other expenses.

No, and even if he goes to the majors, that’s fine.

Of course, in that case, the support from the professional club will be completely cut off for the next five years, but it was customary to donate about 10% of the contract money to the alma mater instead.

In any case, Jungang High School is not a school that sends a lot of kids to the pros, and I heard that last year’s highest major league contract was about 2.5 billion won [approximately $1.9 million USD], so even if it’s not that much, even 1.5 billion won is still a huge amount.

And above all else,

Which is a bigger deal, producing a few more university graduates this year or producing a professional overall first rounder or a major leaguer? The answer is too easy.

“Coach Yang. We can’t just look at the results in the second half of the year. Let’s give Suwon’s pitching as much leeway as possible and adjust the batting order a bit. It’s good that he comes out as the first batter and shows himself often, but he only comes out when there are too few runners in front of him, so the impact is a bit lacking. And the opponents are too quick to walk him. So, let’s see if they can walk him even with the bases loaded.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Director Park patted Yang Se-jun on the shoulder and lowered his voice.

“Don’t forget. This is a great opportunity for you too, Coach Yang. You know that private high schools give the position of physical education teacher to the director regardless of employment, right? Don’t miss the opportunity by arguing with Coach Seo here. Huh? Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes, thank you for the advice.”

***

“Alright!! Brothers. Long time no see. Ah, what’s going on in the middle of the day on a weekday? There are still six hours left until our team’s game? Yes, of course. There are still six hours left until our team’s game!! But I have to give our brothers some hot news, right? Ta-da!! Where is this?”

─8888577: Huh? Isn’t that Mokdong [a district in Seoul known for its baseball stadium]?

─Choigang Dongwon: I see. It’s Mokdong. Did Bongmin stay up all night in Mokdong after drinking late last night?

─Geopo Lee Juhyuk: Lee Juhyuk is charging up for 4 at-bats, 4 hits, and 4 home runs today.

─again1984: Mokdong? Isn’t there a Blue Dragon flag there today?

─8888577: That’s right. Blue Dragon.

─again1984: Did Bongmin go to see Ma Suwon?

─Eyeglasses Ace: Ma Suwon?

─again1984: There’s a kid who’s completely crazy right now. In the weekend league, he has 9 hits, 6 home runs, and 10 walks in 21 at-bats over six games, with 1 sacrifice fly. A pitcher who throws 156 [kilometers per hour, approximately 97 mph] and has a batting average of 0.900/0.950/2.800.

─Eyeglasses Ace: Wait a minute. So, a pitcher who throws 156 gave up 9 hits, 6 home runs, and 10 walks against 21 batters in six games?

─again1984: LOL No, the pitcher came out as a batter and swung his bat like that.

─Choigang Dongwon: What the f*ck? If he swings his bat like that, why is he a pitcher?

─Sajik Yagada: What is it? It’s more realistic to say that he got hit like that as a pitcher than to say that he recorded those stats as a batter?

BJ [Broadcast Jockey, similar to a streamer] Bongmin has 40,000 subscribers. As a biased relay BJ who is still in the top ranks, quite a few people came in to the broadcast that was suddenly turned on during the day without notice.

“Oh, as expected of our brothers. You even know amateur baseball. Yes, that’s right. Today is the Blue Dragon flag [a prestigious high school baseball tournament]. And Eyeglasses Ace, don’t be too surprised. There’s a kid named Choi Su-won at Jungang High School who’s completely crazy. He has 9 hits and 6 home runs in 10 at-bats. And his batting average is 90%, and he goes over the fence with a 66% probability. People in the know already know. He’s unconditionally the overall first pick. Or he’ll go straight to the majors.”

[Eyeglasses Ace has sponsored 1,000 won.]

─But why is he Ma Suwon? Phoenix is the overall first pick this season. We were 9th last year.

“Oh, thank you for the sponsorship, brother. The great thing is that he’s swinging his bat like that, but he’s not a third-year, he’s a second-year. So he’s not eligible for the draft this year, but next year.”

─Eyeglasses Ace: ??

─Choigang Dongwon: ??

─Geopo Lee Juhyuk: Lee Juhyuk is charging up for 4 at-bats, 4 hits, and 4 home runs today.

─again1984: Did you old guys really not know? Didn’t you know that the league is in a Choi Su-won scramble these days? So the better Choi Su-won does, the fiercer the competition for last place becomes.

“Of course, the level of the weekend league drops a bit in the second half. After all, they rotate mainly with rotation members to take care of the kids’ entrance exams, and there’s nothing to lose, so they don’t do it too hard. But even so, 9 hits and 6 home runs in 10 at-bats is a bit too much, right? So, I came here to meet our team’s future cleanup hitter [a team’s best power hitter] in person. Whether or not it’s worth it for us to go all the way to the bottom of the season to recruit him. Shouldn’t we check that out?”

─Sajik Yagada: Anyone who hears it would think we’re doing it on purpose.

─Autumn Marines: Yes, if being last or 9th is the same as being a moron anyway, let’s be a valuable moron.

─Geopo Lee Juhyuk: Lee Juhyuk is charging up for 4 at-bats, 5 hits, and 5 home runs today.

─Eyeglasses Ace: Does Choi Su-won wear glasses? Is he a right-handed pitcher?

─Choigang Dongwon: Choi. Su. Won. Still, the name is sensible.

─17+1 Kkap Juhyuk: What the f*ck is 4 at-bats and 5 hits? Is it a typo of 5 home runs in 8 years?

“Oh, they’re practicing over there. It looks like they’re Jungang High School? Wait a minute. Let me get closer and take a picture. Oh, but there are so many people with cameras here? Choi Su-won must be a really hot prospect. Wow, there are foreigners too. Oh? Isn’t that Gwangcheol?”

─The Marines are Mathematics: Are the chicken bastards after our Suwon?

─Sajik Yagada: Don’t worry, there’s still a 2-game difference between them and us.

─Bom Bom Bom: Sh*t. Why do I feel like we’re winning when we’re in last place, losing 2 more games than 9th place?

─8888577: Well? If being last or 9th is the same as being a moron anyway, shouldn’t we be a valuable moron?

The stadium was quite crowded for the first day of the Blue Dragon flag King of Kings match.

It wasn’t that difficult to find Choi Su-won in the middle of it. He was a particularly noticeable presence on the ground. Above all, most of the cameras were only aimed at him.

“It says 190 and 83 on the profile [190cm tall and 83kg weight]. But hmm… he looks much bigger and sturdier than that?”

─Bom Bom Bom: Did Bongmin drool over a man just now? Suwon is screwed lol

─8888577: Suwon, run away!!

Blue Dragon flag King of Kings match.

Choi Su-won came up to the mound.