The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 52

52. Words to Texas, People to New York (1)

Even with the graduating third-year students gone, August of 2025 was a busy time for high school baseball.

First, there was the Bonghwangdaegi Tournament [a prestigious national high school baseball tournament, also known as the Phoenix Flag National High School Baseball Championship], one of the four major national tournaments, and the 2026 draft, which would determine if the third-year students could continue playing baseball professionally.

And one more thing.

WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup.

There was also the U-18 Baseball World Cup hosted by the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

“What’s the plan for the Ohtani rule [a rule allowing a player to both pitch and bat in a game] this time?”

“They say it won’t be applied in this tournament.”

“Really? Tsk, WBSC is really something. What good is it to be at odds with MLB [Major League Baseball]?”

WBSC.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation is like FIFA [Fédération Internationale de Football Association] in soccer. But while FIFA is an organization that wields absolute power in the soccer world, WBSC is smaller in scale than MLB, or even NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball] or KBO [Korea Baseball Organization]. After all, power comes from money.

While the world’s largest soccer tournament is the World Cup, in baseball, the financial scale of the Premier12, an international tournament hosted by WBSC, is insignificant compared to MLB, NPB, or KBO. Even the WBC [World Baseball Classic], an international tournament hosted by MLB, is several times larger than Premier12.

“Who knows what they’re thinking. That’s why they’re developing strange sports like Baseball5 [a street version of baseball]. Anyway, what should we do about Choi Su-won?”

“What do you mean, what should we do? We’re in a situation where we have to figure out how to adjust the entire team to him.”

“Still, he’s only a second-year student, so to that extent…”

“Second-year? Hey, Coach Kim. What second-year student in the world is playing like Barry Bonds [a famous baseball player known for his exceptional hitting ability] in the league? He’s a player who shouldn’t even be in the high school league right now. If there was a kid like that in the rookie league? I guarantee that unless it’s the Yankees, they’d skip Single-A and test him directly in Double-A [levels in the minor league baseball system]. And that’s based on seeing him play in the weekend league, not just this King of Kings tournament.”

“Do you see it to that extent?”

“It would be strange not to see it to that extent now. He’s a no-hitter as a pitcher and a home run king as a batter.”

“But as a pitcher, he only showed that in one game. Before that game, he wasn’t quite at that level… His control is still a bit of an issue.”

“He’s a seventeen-year-old who throws 156 km/h [approximately 97 mph]. His profile says he’s 190cm [approximately 6’3″] and 83kg [approximately 183 lbs], right?”

“I heard he’s gained a bit of weight recently.”

“Really?”

Coach Kwon Gyu-jong picked up his tablet and reviewed Choi Su-won’s recent game footage again.

“That’s right. He’s definitely gotten a bit sturdier. But even so, I still think he’s under 90kg [approximately 198 lbs]. I guarantee that if he gains just 20kg [approximately 44 lbs], he’ll easily hit 160 [km/h, approximately 99 mph]. And control? What’s the problem with location when you’re throwing 100 miles [approximately 161 km/h]? Even if he just throws it right down the middle, most hitters won’t be able to hit it properly.”

“So, are you considering Choi Su-won as an ace?”

“No, that’s not it. I’m only talking about when Choi Su-won gains 20kg and throws 160. Right now, Baek Ha-min and Jo Gyu-chan are much better in terms of pitching completion. Well, fortunately, they’re a left-hander and a right-hander, so let’s use them according to the opposing team.”

“Yes, I understand.”

A moment of silence.

-Typing sounds filled the office.

“The infielders are a bit ambiguous.”

“The infielders? Kyung-ho, Park Jin-kyung, Choi Young-jae, Kang Jung-gu from Cheonnam High, and Han Ju-kyung from Gwangil High. Weren’t you thinking of these four?”

“I was. But Jo Gyu-hyuk is a bit ambiguous.”

“Jo Gyu-hyuk from Joongang High… He’s shown some prominence recently, but wouldn’t he still be a bit lacking?”

“This is Choi Su-won’s first time on the national team, right?”

“Yes, during middle school, there was the issue of physique…”

“Physique, my foot… Looking at the records, he was good enough to go, but he just got pushed out due to regional distribution.”

“Haha…”

Coach Kwon Gyu-jong clicked his tongue with a displeased expression.

It’s common knowledge that archery is the only sport in Korea with an association that functions properly, but it’s clearly crossing the line to prevent such a talented player from showing his potential early on and forcing him to go to a dilapidated school like Joongang High because of such petty tricks.

“Let’s put Jo Gyu-hyuk in instead of Choi Young-jae.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“But Young-jae has been a key player for Kyung-ho High since last year…”

“What about Kyung-ho High? Yes, I know Kyung-ho High has been doing well last year and this year. That’s why we’re picking four from Kyung-ho High this time. Why? Are you worried about Kyung-ho High’s coach? Because he’s going to be the head coach of a professional team this time?”

“No, what are you saying, Coach? I’m just telling you based on performance. Performance. Besides, the Kyung-ho High kids have been together since middle school and have good teamwork.”

Strictly speaking, even if you only consider performance, it would be natural to pick Choi Young-jae, who has consistently shown results for two years, over Jo Gyu-hyuk, who has only shined briefly. But is this world only about performance?

“Yes, teamwork. That’s why I’m saying let’s put Jo Gyu-hyuk in. Kyung-ho High still has four even if Choi Young-jae is out. But Su-won has never been on the national team in middle school, and he doesn’t know anyone here. Besides, everyone around him will be older. We need to put in at least one familiar face.”

“But…”

“Besides, Jo Gyu-hyuk isn’t a completely unreasonable choice. He’s second in OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a sabermetric baseball statistic] in the Seoul B region, including Cheonnam High, in the second half of the season, and he’s the home run king with 3 home runs in this King of Kings tournament. His batting average is a bit so-so, but a high school baseball player who hits 4 home runs in just 2 months deserves to be picked.”

The final decision-making power for selecting U-18 players belongs to the coach. Of course, that’s only theoretically true, and in reality, you can’t have that decision-making power entirely on your own. Just like how the adult national team has to consider the unfulfilled military service of players from each professional team, the same goes for U-18.

Generally, the U-18 coach is a current high school baseball coach. Naturally, they tend to favor their own players. Of course, they can’t do that openly, so in the process, an appropriate number of players are assigned and coordinated for each school. But Coach Kwon Gyu-jong’s case was a bit different. He was not a current high school baseball coach but a free agent.

So why was that long-standing tradition broken? The reason was simple.

Since 2008, Korea has not won the U-18 tournament even once. Of course, if it had only been that, the practice of appointing a free agent as the U-18 national team coach instead of a current high school baseball coach would not have occurred. The U-18 national team had much less buzz than the adult national team.

The problem was that Korea had been steadily falling behind Japan, the United States, and even Taiwan in the WBSC rankings since 2022, and the poor performance in U-18 was cited as the reason and reported in the media.

“Coach Choi. I understand how you feel. I used to be the same way. But you know the public sentiment right now. If we don’t win here? It’s not going to be good. Honestly, I wouldn’t even say this if winning seemed difficult. But I think the way for us to win is simple. Just manage the kids well and let them all perform to their full potential. You understand what I mean, right?”

“Yes.”

***

Jo Gyu-hyuk packed his bags with a big smile.

“I guess I only need to bring four pairs of underwear? They’ll have a washing machine there, right?”

“Oh, right. And my passport. The photo was taken at the beginning of this year, but they say passport photos need to show your forehead and both ears. Do I need to take a new one?”

National team.

A player who wears the Taegeuk mark [the South Korean flag’s emblem] on their chest and plays representing the country. Although it’s not the real national team but the age-group team, just a few months ago, he was seriously considering quitting baseball, and even now, he’s still worried about whether he’ll be drafted into the pros. And now, he’s on the age-group team.

Yes, the draft. In fact, he wasn’t just smiling because he was selected for the age-group team. Being selected for the age-group team meant that he was at least in the top 20 players among high school students this season. Well, there might be allocations by position, so it could be more than 20. But it means he’s in the top 30, or at least the top 50. And that means he can definitely put his name on the draft list, which selects 100 players.

Jo Yu-jin, who was sitting next to him folding Jo Gyu-hyuk’s clothes, chimed in.

“But Senior, since you have a buzz cut, it seems like any photo you take will show your forehead and both ears.”

“Oh, is that so? Then I should just take the film and ask them to print it.”

“But Senior, can’t you get your passport online? There are a lot of those these days.”

“Oh, I looked into it, but it only works for reissuance. So, I’m going with Su-won tomorrow.”

“I’m so jealous. Being on the national team and getting a free trip abroad.”

“Hey, you work hard too. Then who knows? Maybe you’ll get a chance to go on a free trip abroad too?”

Jo Yu-jin’s face immediately turned gloomy.

“The U-18 tournament is only once every two years.”

“Is U-18 the only tournament? There’s also U-23… Besides, there’s the national team too.”

“T, the national team?”

“Why are you so surprised? It’s not impossible. Honestly, who would have thought I’d be picked for the U-18 team just three months ago? Right?”

“That’s because you had so much potential, Senior…”

“Potential, my foot. If it weren’t for Choi Su-won, I’d still be aiming for singles. Anyway, if you work hard for the rest of the time, you never know.”

Indeed, like he said, Jo Yu-jin wasn’t as good as Jo Gyu-hyuk, but his performance had subtly improved since he started practicing batting with Choi Su-won.

“Really?”

“Yeah, man. You’re lucky. I only practiced with Su-won for 3 months, but you’ll be doing it for another year.”

“I feel a bit hopeful after hearing what you said, Senior.”

“Yeah, then fight hard in the Bonghwangdaegi with that hope.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Jo Yu-jin remember.

That the returning Bonghwangdaegi would be without the third-year students and Choi Su-won.

***

The home of baseball, the United States.

But there aren’t many regions in the United States where baseball is the most popular. Even the LA Dodgers, which boasts the largest financial power in the western United States, was slightly behind the Lakers [Los Angeles Lakers, a professional basketball team] in terms of team popularity.

But New York was different.

The New York Yankees, the best team in the world, has never been pushed out of the top spot in New York’s team popularity rankings. It’s truly the city of baseball in name and reality.

And there was one more team in that city that was more popular than the New York Giants [a professional football team], an NFL team. Of course, that team was definitely not the Knicks [New York Knicks, a professional basketball team].

“Damn it… With 2 million dollars, I can’t get an estimate at all?”

“Is it that much? Still, 2 million dollars is the third-highest record for international prospects based on last year. Even Shohei Ohtani [a famous Japanese baseball player] only received 2.31 million dollars.”

“That was a special case. Besides, the other guys aren’t stupid either. With this kind of evaluation, he has at least Christian-level potential [referring to a player with similar potential to a player named Christian]. Of course, the position is a bit ambiguous…”

“Then what should we do? You’ve been putting in a lot of effort into Juan for a long time.”

“Let’s think about it a bit since there’s still quite a bit of time left.”

The second most popular sports team in New York.

The brow of Joshua, the general manager of the New York Mets, deepened.