The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 369

World Series (5)

It was the best-case scenario imaginable.

The Division Series featured a clash between Boston and the Yankees, and now the World Series pits the Yankees against the Dodgers.

“42.31 million.”

It was like a scene from a movie. The moment the tense-looking employee announced the number, a roar of applause and cheers erupted. It didn’t stop there. Some people excitedly threw wads of paper into the air, while others slumped into their chairs, burying their faces in their hands and sobbing.

Rob Manfred was closest to the latter.

The overwhelming surge of emotion brought tears to the 70-year-old’s eyes.

Yes, it was a figure that was somewhat expected. The previous Division Series game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox had drawn a staggering 23.7 million viewers. The Championship Series had dropped to 18.7 million, but that was largely because the Yankees’ opponent, the Kansas City Royals, was an unpopular team with a clearly lacking roster. The LA Dodgers, on the other hand, are one of the most popular teams, and their roster is incredibly solid. Everyone who wanted the Yankees to lose, like Boston fans, had ample reason to watch the game.

Rob Manfred rubbed his reddened eyes.

And he tried to calmly assess the number: 42.31 million.

“A little short. How much were we off?”

“1.97 million short.”

The highest viewership for a World Series Game 1 to date was 44.28 million in 1978. That game, also a match between the LA Dodgers and the New York Yankees, was from a time when baseball was still America’s No. 1 sport, worthy of the title of national pastime.

Considering that last year’s World Series averaged around 16 million viewers, it was an unbelievably huge number. In fact, the number 42.31 million wasn’t just significant for baseball. Looking at the entire world of sports, only a few finals matches in soccer, including the World Cup, the NFL’s Championship Series and Super Bowl, and the Cricket Final or Wimbledon Final draw more viewers for a single game.

“Factors? Is there room to increase it further?”

“Yes, it seems that the game was decided a bit too quickly, leading to viewer drop-off at an early stage, which significantly hurt the average viewership.”

“When was the peak time?”

“The peak was when Yankees’ Mike Trout hit a home run in the bottom of the 5th.”

Right, if the Yankees are just beating them up, people will leave. It means the game has to be competitive, at least.

But is that even possible against the current Yankees?

Game 2.

Gerrit Cole took the mound at Yankee Stadium.

***

Looking back, it had been quite eventful.

From refusing to sign with the Yankees after being drafted 28th overall in the first round in 2008 and going to college, to being traded to a team at the center of a sign-stealing scandal. And the fact that the focus was on him when pine tar, which almost every pitcher in the league used openly, became a scandal was just plain bad luck.

Of course, some malicious Yankees fans say it’s all karma for rejecting the draft in 2008 and going to college. They say it’s karma for the pure boy who held a sign in 2001 proclaiming he would be a Yankees fan forever, only to reject the Yankees for a $2 million difference in signing bonus.

Well, there’s a lot to say, but in some ways, it seems right. If he had played for the Yankees initially, he wouldn’t have been traded to Houston, and if he had less of an unfavorable image, and if he had the strong support of Yankees fans, he wouldn’t have been singled out and targeted in the pine tar incident.

“Well, it’s all unavoidable.”

Yes, there’s regret, but since you can’t turn back time, it’s all unavoidable. The only thing you can do is to do your best now so that you don’t regret it in the future.

Yankee Stadium was packed.

Somewhere out there is probably a kid who, a few years ago, called himself his fan with sparkling eyes, pushing out his jersey and shouting for him to sign it.

For the record, he’s a jerk. Last year, I clearly saw him come to the stadium wearing Domingo’s signed jersey instead of Gerrit Cole’s own jersey. If he comes wearing Domingo’s jersey again today, I’ll make him regret that choice.

It was a petty little mindset, but that little mind completely removed the tension of the huge stage of the World Series Game 2.

With his right thumb, index finger, and middle finger, he grabbed the brim of his cap and lightly adjusted it.

Advanced science.

A transparent, invisible stickiness swirled around his hand. It was completely absorbed into the hat, but if you touched it with a saliva-covered hand, it would stick to your finger.

When the crackdown on pine tar was severe, he really stopped using it.

But originally, when you get older and try to compete with young kids, you need this little trick.

He snatched the ball with his sticky hand.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!”

It didn’t dramatically increase speed or power. It just made it easier to control because the ball didn’t slip out of his hand, and he didn’t need as much grip. And because he didn’t have to focus as much on control, he could throw the ball harder. Yeah, to be honest, just not focusing on control increases speed and power.

‘Anyone who doesn’t use this is an idiot.’

Second.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!!”

The cleanly executed slider drew a swing and a miss from Rocky Chavez. If I had known he would be fooled so perfectly, I should have used it as a finisher.

[The count is 0-2. Third pitch!!]

-Thwack!!!!

0.1 seconds? Or less.

This brief hesitation that the referee sometimes shows is proof that either a ball or a strike would not be strange. And when Gerrit Cole thinks about it, the referee’s decision at this moment is usually not just based on where the ball went. In a moment where anything can happen, the flow of the game and even the careers of the pitcher and batter are all weighed, and the appropriate result is derived.

“Strike!!!”

Yes, just like now.

[Gerrit Cole!! A clean three-pitch strikeout against leadoff hitter Rocky Chavez!!]

[It was a changeup that went in really exquisitely. Rocky Chavez. He’s leaving the plate without being able to do anything.]

It was a clean start.

He saw the Yankees fans cheering for him. Among them, there will probably be a child similar to Gerrit Cole himself 27 years ago.

The 2000 New York Yankees won the championship. And in 2001, Gerrit Cole begged his father to finally come to see the World Series in person. For the record, the Yankees won that day’s game by one point. It was thanks to the performance of Roger Clemens, the best pitcher of the time.

Of course, Roger Clemens is a drug cheat [referring to Clemens’ alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs]. But to the young Gerrit Cole at the time, he gave him a truly fantastic moment. So Gerrit Cole himself had a duty to give the best memory to the children like himself who are somewhere out there today.

The Dodgers’ lineup tried to be persistent, just like in Game 1. But Gerrit Cole on the mound today was reminiscent of his most powerful days.

-Thwack!!

“Strike!!! Out!!!”

[Amazing. Gerrit Cole!! 100.8 miles!! A speed of over 100 miles has come out. This player’s highest speed in the regular season this year was 99.8 miles. But on October 30th, today, when the high temperature is only 13 degrees, he breaks his season’s highest speed.]

[This is really amazing. Of course, Gerrit Cole, until last year, he threw over 100 miles like he was eating. But this player is 38 years old this year. At that age, every day is really different. Wow, this Dodgers won’t be easy today, will they?]

Gerrit Cole himself was surprised by the 100.8 mph fastball that came out in the top of the 3rd inning. He had completely abandoned the idea of ​​a shutout and was determined to block only 6 innings perfectly, but still, a speed of over 100 miles. Now that this has happened, should I try throwing up to 101 miles today?

Ah, of course, Gerrit Cole never threw a ball over 100 miles again until the end of the 6th inning. But that was enough. The Dodgers’ lineup was literally completely blocked by Gerrit Cole without even being able to show off their unique tenacity.

It was the moment when Gerrit Cole perfectly proved that baseball is ultimately a sport that starts with a 1:1 between the pitcher and the batter.

[6th inning, runner left on first base!! Another scoreless!! Gerrit Cole is coming down from the mound.]

[Gerrit Cole. He’s really great today. 6 innings, 1 run allowed. The Dodgers’ lineup today is really helpless. They couldn’t use any strength.]

[But it’s still too early for the Dodgers to give up hope. Gerrit Cole’s pitch count today was 109, so the possibility of him coming back to the mound in the 7th inning is very low. If you attack the changed pitcher, you can catch up enough with 8 points.]

The score is 9:1.

The commentator said that there was still hope for the Dodgers.

Of course, not many people agreed with that, which was proven by the fact that the number of viewers, which was 39 million at the start of the game, dropped to 31 million.

“Still, the 3rd game is back at the LA Dodgers’ home stadium. And Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to start, so it will be a little better. We’ve also distributed enough promotional materials.”

“Was the 3rd game’s starter Stan Owens? It’s a little disappointing. If Choi Soo-won had really started here, the highest record ever would have been possible.”

“After all, it would be much more profitable for the Yankees to send Choi Soo-won out as a hitter for all 7 games than to use him as a starter, so there’s no choice.”

“Yes, that’s right…”

Series Game 2.

Unlike the commentator’s hopeful story, the Dodgers gave up the 2nd game helplessly 14:1 without scoring a single point against the relief pitchers. The unique tenacity that was alive when facing Domingo Rodriguez in the first game also felt completely evaporated by Gerrit Cole, who threw the ball in super ace mode today.

A slightly depressed atmosphere.

Can they really make a come-from-behind victory against the Yankees?

Doubt began to sprout in the minds of the Dodgers players.

***

There are so many incidents and accidents in the long history of baseball.

For example, tearing your palm while cleaning up broken flower pots, tearing your finger by getting it caught in a car door, twisting your ankle by tripping on the stairs, or getting your hand bitten by a dog you raise.

So, in fact, this injury was not a rare injury.

“Ah… Achoo!!!”

Stan Owens.

Injured his back while twisting his body and sneezing because he was afraid that saliva would splash on his food while eating.

Only one day until World Series Game 3.

The Yankees urgently decided to put Dylan Lee, who was originally scheduled to start the 4th game, on the mound.