The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 137

137. Mr. Marines (3)

[Wow… It’s huge!!]

At the moment of impact, everyone in the stadium knew.

It’s going over. Very, very far.

The Phoenix outfielders stopped in their tracks. The batted ball soared as if it would become a star, passing the 112-meter mark in left-center field at a dizzying height. The spectators who stretched out their arms in hope were also far away. Thus, the ball, which didn’t seem to want to fall even after flying 126 meters to the end of the left-center field of Daejeon Baseball Stadium, eventually went completely out of the stadium.

[Out of the park… It’s an out-of-the-park home run! Monster, no, the rookie Choi Soo-won, a term that is not enough to describe him, records a 7-consecutive-home-run with an out-of-the-park home run!! Ah, Lim Gwang-hyung is briefly caught on the screen right now. He seems to be smiling slightly. Is it just my imagination?]

[No, frankly, in that situation, all you can do is laugh in disbelief. He utilizes the outside and inside borderline like that, and even that last ball was a perfectly controlled slider that only Lim Gwang-hyung could throw. But to hit it like he was waiting for it and send it over the fence like that… Well. I think I would laugh too because it’s so absurd.]

Lim Gwang-hyung wasn’t the only one who let out an absurd laugh.

Right after Choi Soo-won.

Noh Hyung-wook, who was waiting for his turn, also couldn’t help but chuckle. Already double-digit home runs in just fifteen games.

21 home runs the year before last. And 29 home runs last year.

Noh Hyung-wook’s record was not a small number. In fact, he was the hitter who hit the most home runs in the Marines in both the year before last and last year. But the level is different. With that last home run added, Choi Soo-won’s home run competition is now against ‘teams’ rather than ‘players.’ Already, there are 3 teams that have hit fewer home runs than him.

The score is now 3:5.

But somehow, after seeing that huge out-of-the-park home run, it doesn’t feel like they are losing the game. Is it because the Phoenix home fans felt the same way? They were a little quieter than when they cheered for the new record of 6 consecutive home runs.

In that strange atmosphere, Choi Soo-won, who had rounded the bases, stepped on home plate with his unique, subtly arrogant expression. Perhaps it was because they had already exhausted their celebratory gestures in the dugout when he set the great records of 5 consecutive home runs and 6 consecutive home runs.

No, maybe up to the previous 6 consecutive home runs, it felt like the emergence of a great player writing a new record, but now the 7 consecutive home runs feel like seeing a monster of a different kind from us.

“Good job.”

“Good job? It’s just the beginning.”

As expected, he’s arrogant. Choi Soo-won’s eyes, who said those arrogant words, turned to the numbers 3:5 engraved on the electronic scoreboard.

Yes, despite setting such a great record, the score was still 3:5.

Noh Hyung-wook’s reason understood that it was just a pure desire for victory, but his emotions interpreted Choi Soo-won’s gaze as a rebuke for being a useless bum who couldn’t contribute.

Noh Hyung-wook, holding his bat, stepped up to the plate.

Could it be the experience of a pitcher who was once close to the top in the big leagues?

Even after being hit with 3 consecutive home runs in one game by one hitter, the pitcher on the mound was still formidable.

An inscrutable expression.

The pitcher on the mound wound up.

I still don’t know.

When viewed from the dugout, the angle of his arm was clearly slightly lowered. It must have been a side effect of trying to put less force into the changeup.

But it wasn’t visible from home plate.

The pitcher’s hidden left arm snapped out in an instant.

The perfectly located ball flew in.

– Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

A two-seam fastball.

Noh Hyung-wook’s bat swung through the air, aiming for the changeup.

Yes, like when Noh Hyung-wook was still close to being a rookie.

At the time, Lim Gwang-hyung was the strongest pitcher in the league.

Only a very few hitters could touch him. Of course, Noh Hyung-wook was not among them.

And 7 years.

Time was not fair to humans.

The young and inexperienced hitter gained enough experience to reach his prime, and the pitcher, who boasted untouchable skills in his prime, gained more experience but aged as much as that experience.

Noh Hyung-wook waited for the second ball.

He erased his lingering thoughts about the invisible elbow. It is said that the more you try not to think about something, the more you think about it, but the movements and routines that a first-class hitter has ingrained in his body millions of times since he first picked up a bat go beyond that.

The clock engraved on his body moved.

That precise clock, moving in units of 0.01 seconds, was set to that two-seam that was perfectly located a moment ago.

– Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!”

It was a changeup.

The hitter moved his body according to the set routine. Sufficient experience and a thirty-one-year-old body that is more suited to the word prime than the word aging.

Ball count 0-2.

– Bang!!

He fouled one ball away.

– Clang!!!

He cut another ball.

And

– Clang!!!

A perfectly located, exquisitely sinking two-seam fastball.

It wasn’t the sweet spot. But at least the timing was perfect. Chae Gwang-min on first base reached out, but it wasn’t enough. The batted ball slightly passed over his head.

Noh Hyung-wook reached first base.

“Safe!!!”

[Noh Hyung-wook!! A hit!! Noh Hyung-wook of the Marines records the first hit of the game today!!]

[Top of the 7th inning. The current score is 3:5. Surprisingly, this is the fourth time the Marines have gotten on base. Lim Gwang-hyung has only allowed 4 hits in today’s game. Among them, 3 were home runs by Choi Soo-won.]

[Now Lee Gyu-man is coming to the plate. He announced his retirement at the end of last season. His current record is 0.207/0.258/0.207, which is a bit disappointing.]

[Originally, he was a bit slow-footed, so his slugging percentage wasn’t good compared to the quality of his batted balls, but this year it feels a bit more severe. Before, he would turn a double into a single, but recently, it feels like even a triple is becoming a single.]

[That’s right. In fact, Lee Joo-hyuk, who came up as a pinch runner in the series against the Dolphins, failed to reach second base while running from first to home.]

Runner on first with no outs.

Four years ago, no, even three years ago, the Marines fans would have had great expectations for Lee Gyu-man coming up in this situation.

Of course, even last year, Lee Gyu-man showed the fifth-best hitting on the team, hitting 0.222/0.296/0.418. But at the same time, he recorded a whopping 21 double plays, ranking second in the league in double plays.

“Soo-won turned the atmosphere around, and Noh Hyung-wook continued it, but here it’s still Lee Gyu-man?”

“No, even if Manager Dae-cheol trusts him, shouldn’t he use a pinch hitter here to take advantage of the momentum? Isn’t that what the manager is there for?”

“That’s right. I’ve been watching, and Jung Ji-woon’s hitting feel has been improving lately.”

“Hey, no matter what, Jung Ji-woon is not the answer. Maybe Jo Yu-jin would be better.”

“Forget it. Jo Yu-jin is recognized as a defensive fairy, but her batting form itself is messed up.”

“Are you all stupid? No matter how bad Gyu-man’s batting is, it’s not right to compare him to those weak hitters. Maybe Kwon Hyuk-joo would be better.”

“Yeah, the next strikeout king.”

“That’s right. Still, Jo Yu-jin or Jung Ji-woon at least touch the ball. Kwon Hyuk-joo just swings wildly.”

The old hitter, who even the fans who used to cheer for him no longer expect much from, stood at the plate.

He built his body with the belief that this year would be different, and he burned the winter with the will to gloriously ignite his last season before retirement.

But the result was an even more miserable performance than last year, even though he spent his time focusing only on his own performance without paying attention to the internal noise of the team.

The old hitter looked at the pitcher on the mound.

When that pitcher debuted, he was already the best hitter in the league. Of course, he also became one of the best pitchers in the league at the same time as his debut.

And 17 years have passed.

Where did things go wrong?

The best hitter in the league became a washed-up hitter who just piled up cumulative stats in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] without leaving anything properly behind. On the other hand, the rookie pitcher, full of ambition, proved himself in the major leagues, which can be said to be the dream of all baseball players beyond the KBO.

In the past, the eyes of the young pitcher, full of ambition, were filled with the emotion of ‘competitive spirit’.

And today, the old hitter could no longer read that emotion in the eyes of the no-longer-young pitcher. But unfortunately, that emotion was not directed at him.

That emotion was directed at the nineteen-year-old rookie who had just debuted.

If he had ignored things like loyalty to the team during the first FA [Free Agency], or the offer amount that was not much different from staying in the KBO, and advanced to the big leagues, would things have been different?

If he had ignored the rumors that the league might not open due to a global pandemic during the second FA and advanced, would things have been different again?

No, maybe if he had challenged during his 37-year-old season, when everyone said it was too late, something really might have been different.

Lee Gyu-man, holding his bat, looked at Lim Gwang-hyung on the mound.

An expressionless face.

Yes, that’s the expression.

The young pitcher, full of ambition and confidence, was beaten and learned to have a poker face as he got older.

Thus, at the time when he announced his advancement to the American land. Lim Gwang-hyung, who finally made that expression, eventually stood at the same level as Lee Gyu-man himself.

And 7 years have passed.

In those 6 years and 1 year of rehabilitation in that distant American land. During that time that he couldn’t see, Lee Gyu-man himself had aged so much, but that pitcher was still so healthy.

For a still immature hitter, 7 years was the time to reach his prime, and for a pitcher standing at the beginning of his prime, 7 years was the time to pass his peak and begin to decline.

But for a hitter passing the end of his prime, 7 years was enough time to be praised just for enduring without retiring.

The pitcher on the mound prepared the first ball.

First pitch.

A fastball.

– Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

143.7km/h [approximately 89 mph].

It was an average fastball, but the ball was full of the pitcher’s experience, which cannot be explained simply by speed, including location, deception, and tailing.

Second.

Similarly, a fastball.

It was a slider that curved slightly inward without a large angle.

But if a ball that seemed to be coming into the zone suddenly curved sharply and came deep inside, below the knee, it was no different from an unhittable magic ball. Yes, unless it was a monster like Choi Soo-won, who hit a home run a little while ago.

No, maybe not as much as that, but Lee Gyu-man, who was called the best hitter in the league, might have been able to hit it.

– Whoosh!!!

But it was impossible for the forty-two-year-old Lee Gyu-man.

– Hooo.

Lee Gyu-man, who temporarily stepped out of the plate, took a breath.

Elbow….

Third.

The ball floated up.

It was the curve that drew a swing and a miss from him in the first at-bat. But was Lim Gwang-hyung also tired? Unlike in the 2nd inning, he felt the ball floating up with a whoosh.

– Bang!!

The umpire’s hand did not go up.

1-2.

How many pitches has Gwang-hyung thrown so far?

90? 100?

Lee Gyu-man looked closely at Lim Gwang-hyung on the mound.

A slightly reddened face. Breathing came and went through his open mouth.

What was Lee Gyu-man like 6 years ago at the age of 36?

People still called him the best hitter in the league. Lee Gyu-man himself thought so too. But what about compared to Lee Gyu-man at the age of 33, just 3 years prior? That’s why he tried so hard to swing the bat as much as Lee Gyu-man at the age of 33.

Likewise, Lee Gyu-man’s own experience, which had already passed, made him understand Lim Gwang-hyung on the mound a little.

That he was also a pitcher passing the end of his prime.

Fourth.

He just let the ball of the pitcher, who would have come in ambitiously to strike him out in the past, pass by.

2-2.

Fifth.

Yes, it must mean that he just wants to end it now.

Lee Gyu-man was one of the hitters who hit the most double plays in the league, and Lim Gwang-hyung’s changeup was one of the pitches that could induce the most double plays in the league.

The pulled-out left arm was visible.

The sharp dynamic visual acuity that made it possible to see even the flapping of a passing fly’s wings with a lot of exaggeration was no longer there. No, his eyesight itself had deteriorated a bit. When the sun went down like now, he felt that his eyesight deteriorated no matter how brightly the lighting tower was turned on.

But even with those blurry eyes, it was clear.

Because the position of that elbow was definitely different from all the other balls that had been as accurate as if they had been measured with a ruler until now.

– Clang!!!

Mr. Marines lofted the ball high.

With a swing that was quite different from his prime, but most suitable for hitting this slow ball far now.

It was far from a huge home run that would go beyond the stadium itself like someone else.

113 meters [approximately 371 feet].

A small home run that barely, very barely, went over the fence.

But since it was also a home run, the steps of this old hitter, who threw his bat away coolly and ran towards first base with a slow trot, were truly dignified.

Top of the 7th inning.

5:5 with no outs.

The Phoenix ace finally went down from the mound.

The Marines’ bullpen was not very good except for Han Myung-hoon. But the Phoenix bullpen was not good either.

That was what would determine the victory or defeat of their first game of the series.

The Marines took the first game of the series against the Phoenix.