The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 249

Korean Series (14)

What should I call this?

Annoyance?

No, frustration suits this feeling better than annoyance.

To be honest, I can accept a game ending without me even swinging the bat once. After all, that’s part of baseball, and forcing the opposing team to concede a walk is an absurd level of disadvantage for them. A 100% on-base percentage is essentially the same as an OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a common baseball statistic] of 1.0.

Right. An OPS of a whopping 1.0.

Frankly, only someone like me this season gets an OPS of 1.645. Usually, only the league MVP barely manages to get around 1.0. An OPS exceeding 1.1 is considered to have dominated the league, and over 1.2 means you’ve had a season that will go down in league history.

In fact, in the 156-year history of Major League Baseball since 1871, there have been fewer than 150 instances of an OPS exceeding 1.1, and only a little over 500 instances of 1.0.

Even 1.2? Only fifteen players in Major League history have achieved an OPS of 1.2 or higher. The number of occurrences is only 35.

Moreover, getting on base is more valuable than slugging. Even if we don’t give an 1.8 weighting to on-base percentage like GPA, an OPS of 1.0 solely from getting on base means the contribution to actual scoring is much higher than a regular OPS of 1.0. It goes without saying.

The problem was that despite how the baseball was played, we lost the last two games, the 3rd and 4th games.

[Yes, the 6th game of the Marlins versus Braves series. We are here at Sajik, Sajik Baseball Stadium.]

[Today’s starter is Choi Su-won. Choi Su-won is on the mound.]

[Choi Su-won, who walked in every at-bat since his first at-bat in the first game!! That streak ended in the last game, right?]

Yeah, to be honest, the biggest reason for this dirty mood is not just the losses in the 3rd and 4th games, but the fact that I finally got to swing the bat in the last game and struck out swinging.

[After not swinging the bat for 20 at-bats, his batting sense must have been greatly disrupted. The Braves dugout probably wouldn’t have signaled for a showdown if the score wasn’t 4:0 and there weren’t any runners on base.]

[The fact that the pitcher on the mound was ace Jo Chang-hyuk was also a very important factor. There was no reason to provoke the ace’s pride in a non-critical situation. Thanks to that, Jo Chang-hyuk finished his last showdown with Choi Su-won with a good result, a strikeout.]

[I think it would be more accurate to say that was the last showdown in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization].]

Yeah, I kind of had Jo Chang-hyuk on the ropes, but he’s still a solid third-starter level pitcher even in the Big Leagues [Major League Baseball]. It’s not strange that I, whose batting sense was disrupted by 20 consecutive walks, would strike out.

[Yesterday’s game was also a painful one for the Braves. If Go Seol-min, Tae Ji-wan, and Park Jae-hyuk had been there, they could have solidified the win without allowing a comeback and made the situation very favorable.]

[But conversely, if Choi Min-hyuk hadn’t been there in the 4th game, they might have had to play the game in a 3:1 situation. Of course, the Marlins’ bullpen might have collapsed before that, and they might have failed to win first place in the regular season. But what do those assumptions matter now? What matters now is that Choi Su-won, who led the Marlins to victory this season, is pitching once again here in Busan!! At Sajik Stadium.]

Game 6 of the series.

The score is 3:2. It would have been more dramatic if it was 3:3 in the 7th game, but let’s save that for the World Series.

Two games in Busan, three games in Seoul.

Despite starting and playing in every game without a day off, my physical condition was very good. Well, I went out every day with a bat and walked to first base without swinging it once, so my condition couldn’t have gotten worse.

My father, who was too busy with work to come down for the first two games, came down to watch today’s game in person. He was sitting in the table seats next to Alexander McDowell, whom I had dinner with twice in Seoul, and for some reason, he seems to like him quite a bit.

Eunjin said she couldn’t come because she had a broadcast today, and she was very disappointed. It’s already been over three years since I met her, and seeing her, who would have originally either not debuted properly or faded away as an unknown idol, making a living with my sharp advice makes me feel proud.

In addition, Jinwoo and several high school seniors and colleagues sent messages of support. Although they couldn’t come to the game because the tickets were too expensive, they said they would contribute to the viewership ratings. In my opinion, these people definitely don’t know how viewership ratings are calculated.

Kang Ho-chang came up to bat as the Braves’ first batter.

He was the 7th batter when the series started, but after his outstanding performance in yesterday’s game, he quickly took the leadoff spot.

[In fact, Braves manager Park Yu-sung’s player management, including the batting order, was based on trust. But this Korean Series is being approached very flexibly.]

[I think it’s because he gave the pitcher discretion in the first game based on trust and lost 1:0, but personally, I think it’s better to manage in that way in a short-term series. After all, ‘the good players will play well’ and ‘those who are meant to do it will do it,’ but unlike the regular season games that continue for a year, in this kind of tournament, the timing of their skills rising may be after the game is over.]

My body was itching.

In the games in Seoul, all I did was walk to first base and run a little, or stand around and come back. I was basically the first base cheering leader.

Besides, the result wasn’t good in the at-bat where I swung the bat as I pleased. Games become more desirable when you narrowly fail to clear them, and the MVP becomes more desperate when you’ve been in second place several times.

Yeah, I really wanted to play baseball right now.

***

It was a long-standing relationship.

Well, it wasn’t a pleasant one. Not for him, and not for Ahn Byeong-yeong himself.

“Damn, he’s really popular.”

No matter where I turned my head, all I could see was number 79, Choi Su-won.

It’s understandable. Maybe if Ahn Byeong-yeong himself could only see Choi Su-won on the screen, he might have bought and worn a number 79 uniform.

It’s not just because he’s a great player. There was something sparkling in his play.

Even after entering university.

Even after joining the pros.

The first thing people asked him was about Choi Su-won.

“Ah, yes. He’s my junior. He was amazing since he was a freshman. Senior treatment? Um… it wasn’t bad, but that ‘not bad’ was annoying. What I mean is…”

If Ahn Byeong-yeong had to pick the character he hated most in Slam Dunk [a popular manga and anime series about basketball], it would definitely be Seo Tae-woong. The reason is simple. He’s just annoying.

‘The reason I chose Buksan? It’s just the closest to my house.’

Right.

Choi Su-won was like that Seo Tae-woong.

‘The reason I came to Joongang High School? Um… the coach said I didn’t have to live in the dorm because it’s close to my house.’

For some, baseball, which someone would bet their life on, seemed like just a game. And he was sparklingly good at that game. It was so infuriating that it made my stomach twist.

I was jealous of the sparkling thing he had, and the things I had were so pathetic in comparison. I already knew that no matter how much I polished what I had, I couldn’t be like that. A petty fool who tried to smear dirt on that sparkling thing gritted his teeth and worked hard at baseball.

Well, maybe the reason Ahn Byeong-yeong himself was able to stay in the pros was thanks to Choi Su-won.

What I felt back then was true. A pebble can never become a jewel, no matter how much you polish it.

That was the difference between Ahn Byeong-yeong’s and Choi Su-won’s talents.

As befitting the Korean Series, the tickets were disgustingly expensive.

Some guy whose father is the president of a company might not know, but for ordinary people, a 274,000 won [approximately $200 USD] scalped ticket is a huge sum of money that you have to make up your mind to buy three times. Especially for a self-employed person with a contract fee of 70 million won [approximately $50,000 USD] and sales of 30 million won [approximately $22,000 USD].

But I had to come.

The protagonist of the sparkling talent might have gone so far that he wouldn’t even remember that petty villain, but even so, the petty villain had no choice but to come see the protagonist of the sparkling talent.

‘So, show me what you’ve got.’

Somewhere at the edge of the outfield.

A junior who used to throw the ball right in front of me was now a distant dot, and Ahn Byeong-yeong watched him.

Choi Su-won on the mound wound up greatly.

Just like the way Ahn Byeong-yeong remembered him.

No, maybe even more sparkling than that.

-Boom!!!

“Strike!!!”

160.7km/h

100 miles, which only the chosen ones can reach.

Choi Su-won’s ball began to ravage the Braves’ batters.

The leadoff hitter is Kang Ho-chang.

A center fielder who pulled in a whopping 4.5 billion won [approximately $3.3 million USD] as a free agent. Even if Ahn Byeong-yeong’s career went perfectly, it’s a level he might or might not be able to reach.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

Such a batter fell out like a useless pebble lying on the street.

Choi Su-won didn’t look at Kang Ho-chang returning to the dugout.

[The second batter is Jang Chan-min, who recorded a lead-off two-run home run in yesterday’s game.]

Jang Chan-min.

The third in the Braves’ golden shortstop lineage. He was not significantly lacking compared to the previous two shortstops. Considering that the previous two shortstops had proven to be Major League-caliber, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was also a talent outside the norm.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!!”

But the broken and wounded talent was lacking even after sealing the wound. Once broken, talent could never return to its original state.

-Clang!!!

[Straight to the pitcher!! A mis-hit ball!! Choi Su-won catches it and throws it to first!!]

“Out!!”

Two outs in an instant with five pitches.

Choi Su-won was still standing on the mound in the same posture. As if he hadn’t even warmed up. As if he was urging them to hurry up and come to the plate.

The third batter is at the plate.

Ian Sanchez came up.

Although it was only for one season, he was a designated hitter who had played in the majors.

Considering that designated hitters have a hard time surviving in the majors unless they have overwhelming hitting ability, Ian Sanchez’s hitting, purely in terms of hitting, might have been close to the major league average.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

A curveball that drops sharply.

I could tell because I learned from the same teacher. Even the perfection of that curve that he had practiced to death for two years was higher for Choi Su-won, who had only learned it for a couple of months and played in the pros.

Three up, three down.

Choi Su-won went down from the mound.

“He’s really good.”

Without Ahn Byeong-yeong himself knowing, the breath he had been holding in came out greatly.

When I saw it up close, I felt like I was going crazy with jealousy of that sparkling talent, but seeing it from this far away, I don’t even know where to be jealous.

But that wasn’t the end.

A hit, and another hit.

Choi Su-won, the 3rd batter, came to the plate.