On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 271

Kim In-hwan struck out swinging at a fastball.

“This is real…”

Kim In-hwan shook his head and returned to the batter’s box.

Before leaving the mound, Kim Young-hoon winked at Song Seok-hyun.

Back on the bench, Kim Young-hoon groaned.

Catcher Kim Chang-hyun brought water and handed it to Kim Young-hoon.

“Why are you pushing yourself so hard? You said you’d pace yourself.”

“I just don’t want to get hit hard. And I especially don’t want to give up any records.”

“You’ve been overdoing it lately. Take it easy. It’s okay to give up a point or two. We can score that much.”

Kim Young-hoon gulped down the water.

“It’s not about the score.”

“Then what is it about?”

“What else? Records.”

“Records? You’re worried about records?”

“The records left behind are eternal.”

“Why are you worrying about records with your skills? You set a new record every time you pitch.”

Kim Young-hoon grinned.

“Records are forev~er. If I retire first, my head-to-head record against them will remain forever.”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

The top of the 2nd inning ended quickly.

Kim Young-hoon grabbed his glove and went up to the mound.

“Shall we go meet Seok-hyun?”

Soaring as a Catcher

A New Wave, A New Wind

Bang!

-Strike!

Song Seok-hyun nodded once.

A fastball that perfectly caught the outside corner.

[Kim Young-hoon’s first pitch is a strike. No hitter can afford to swing at a pitch like that.]

[His control is truly amazing.]

Kim Young-hoon caught the ball thrown by the catcher.

He rotated his right arm once and then set his stance again.

Kyung Soo-in, who was watching Kim Young-hoon, had a dark expression.

“That punk, I told him to just throw with his left arm…”

Kim Young-hoon’s second pitch was an outside curveball.

Song Seok-hyun stopped his swing as the curveball, his signature pitch, sharply dropped.

-Ball. Low.

[He holds back. Song Seok-hyun holds back.]

[The angle of that curveball was truly artistic. I don’t know how he holds back on a pitch like that.]

[They say Kim Young-hoon’s curveball is a living creature. Just looking at this pitch, you can see why they say that.]

Kim Young-hoon smiled wryly and shook his head.

The next pitch was an outside changeup.

Song Seok-hyun fouled it off again.

“Hoo.”

Kim Young-hoon scratched his nose.

2-1.

[Now is the time to compete. If the pitcher throws another ball here, the count will become very unfavorable. He needs to throw a decisive pitch here.]

Kim Young-hoon exchanged signs with the catcher.

Song Seok-hyun took a slow breath.

The deciding pitch was a curveball.

A high-angle curveball that went high into the sky and then dropped sharply.

Whoosh!

-Strike.

[A swing and a miss! A swing and a miss. Kim Young-hoon’s curveball worked perfectly.]

[That’s it. That curveball is Kim Young-hoon’s best deciding pitch.]

Kim Young-hoon frowned slightly as he caught the catcher’s ball.

He turned around and picked up the rosin bag.

“Damn it…”

2-2 count.

Kim Young-hoon’s choice was a fastball inside.

Song Seok-hyun’s waist bent like a bow as he connected.

[A hit! A hit! Song Seok-hyun sends a huge hit to left-center field. A double! Song Seok-hyun steps on first base and aims for second. Song Seok-hyun slides in standing up. He successfully gets on base as the first batter.]

[That was a textbook example of an inside-out swing. It looked like the timing was a bit late, but the bat whipped out. It’s hard to implement with your body even if you understand it in your head. Seeing the ball and holding back until the end, that’s the difficult part. If you can do that, you can turn even inside pitches into hits.]

Kim Young-hoon smiled once.

The next batter was Yoo Sun-ho.

Kim Young-hoon sent a sign to the umpire and then switched to his left-handed glove.

“How petty.”

Kim Young-hoon, wearing a glove on his right hand, threw a ball exceeding 160 km/h [~99.4 mph] from the first pitch.

Yoo Sun-ho also swung with all his might, but all he could manage was a foul that hit the end of the bat.

-Strike! Out!

Consecutive strikeouts of Yoo Sun-ho and Kim Wook.

The hit came during Choi Jae-wan’s at-bat.

[Center fielder! Missed the ball! Song Seok-hyun goes straight to 3rd base and home, all the way home! Safe!]

[The ball went high, but he should have handled a ball like that. The wind wasn’t blowing that hard either.]

[The Phoenix has reduced defensive errors a lot recently, but I guess they can’t help but make these occasional errors.]

1-0.

Kim Young-hoon struck out the next batter and returned to the bench.

“Why are you pushing yourself so hard? Just try to match the pitches appropriately.”

At Kyung Soo-in’s words, Kim Young-hoon pointed to his right shoulder.

“This thing doesn’t have much shelf life left.”

“Hey, if it’s hard, you should take it easier. Why are you speeding up your pitches?”

“That’s just me. That’s how I won the championship while wearing out my shoulder.”

“Hoo, you can play longer if you take care of your body. Or you can do more rehab next year and play. With your skills, you’ll be able to play even when you’re over forty, you idiot.”

Kim Young-hoon shook his head.

“If I had your skills, I could probably play until I’m forty, barely making it. And my stats would probably be decent too.”

“That’s right. You’ll do well. So-”

“But I don’t want to do that.”

Kyung Soo-in frowned.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have that much passion anymore.”

“What’s with the passion talk? If baseball is what you’re best at, you should play baseball.”

Kim Young-hoon smiled.

“I hate anything meaningless the most in the world. If there’s no passion, there’s no meaning. And it’s not just my shoulder that’s expiring, but my passion for baseball is also expiring this year.”

“You punk.”

“And hey, look at them.”

Kim Young-hoon pointed to the Gote bench.

“There are players who are so skilled and work so hard, I don’t want to just fill the games. The kind of baseball where you wear out your shoulders and arms like me should end here. It’s cool for me to step down here.”

Kim Young-hoon winked.

“The end of the old era and the beginning of the new era. Isn’t that cool?”

“That’s bullshit. What old era are you talking about when you’re so much younger than me.”

“Oh, are you included in the old era too?”

“Are you lumping me in with them?”

Kim Young-hoon chuckled.

“Anyway. It’s cool to step down here. If I mess around, I’ll get eaten by them. I need to go down before I get uglier. While this arm is still somewhat normal.”

Kyung Soo-in stroked Kim Young-hoon’s left arm.

“Is the pain bad?”

“It would be a lie if I said no, right?”

“…Hoo. I told you to get proper rehab.”

“Hey, if I were that rational, I wouldn’t have won the championship by wearing out my shoulder. This is me. A stubborn fool.”

Kyung Soo-in didn’t say anything more.

Top of the 5th inning, Phoenix’s attack.

With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 3rd, the batter is Kyung Soo-in.

Kyung Soo-in stepped into the batter’s box and spoke to Song Seok-hyun.

“How was it catching Young-hoon’s pitches?”

“It was an honor.”

“Young-hoon is pitching well today. Take it easy on me.”

“I was lucky. It’s thanks to playing on the same team as you, senior.”

“If everyone hit pitchers’ pitches well just because they played on the same team for a few games, wouldn’t all the catchers be Barry Bonds?” [A famous baseball player known for his hitting ability].

Kyung Soo-in spread his legs wide and twisted his waist.

“Give me a good pitch.”

Ace Fish went to a full count against Kyung Soo-in.

Kyung Soo-in hit consecutive fouls, and the match went to the 11th pitch.

‘Curveball.’

Song Seok-hyun pointed to the ground and lowered his mitt.

The curveball thrown by Fish dropped sharply from high to low.

Kyung Soo-in’s body swayed, and he swung while leaning back.

A no-stride hitting method that turns the waist.

It is commonly said that the accuracy is high but the long hit power is insufficient, but it was a different story for Kyung Soo-in.

[Left field fence! It’s over! Kyung Soo-in’s three-run homer! A huge three-run homer is reported in Jamsil Stadium!]

[He aimed for the fastball, realized it was a curveball at the end, and twisted his waist to connect it to a home run. Wow, that’s amazing. Is this the experience of a veteran?]

Song Seok-hyun got up from his seat and licked his lips.

Kyung Soo-in touched home plate and returned to the bench.

“I’ll carry you today, hyung [older brother/senior].”

Kim Young-hoon gave a thumbs up.

“Are you in good condition today, hyung?”

“I’ll carry you in your games from now on, so don’t worry and pitch.”

“Oh, old man.”

“Hey, it’s not just young guys who are good at baseball. Old guys are even better.”

“Hehehe. What kind of aged kimchi are you, hyung?”

Kyung Soo-in ruffled Kim Young-hoon’s hair.

“Getting old in the baseball world doesn’t mean you’re washed up, you idiot.”

Kim Young-hoon paused for a moment and nodded.

“Okay, I understand what you’re saying.”

“So don’t just say you’re retiring or anything, think about it until the end of the season. I’ll show you that getting old doesn’t mean you’re washed up.”

“Okay, okay, Mr. Aged Kimchi.”

Bottom of the 9th inning.

The score on the scoreboard is 5-1.

Kim Young-hoon threw a high fastball against the last batter, Kim In-hwan.

-Strike! Out!

[A swing and a miss strikeout! The game is over! A swing and a miss strikeout with a high fastball! Kim In-hwan’s bat couldn’t keep up with the ball!]

[In the end, Kim Young-hoon pitched a complete game and ended the game. That was a really fast ball.]

[161km/h [~100 mph]. It seems amazing that they only scored 1 point against a pitcher who throws 160km/h in the 9th inning.]

[The league’s strongest KS duo was still a little, really a little, short of overcoming the mountain called Kim Young-hoon. Is Song Seok-hyun’s 3-hit game the only consolation for Gote today?]

After finishing the game, Kim Young-hoon shook his left arm repeatedly as he went down the mound.

Song Seok-hyun, who was in the waiting batter’s box, looked at Kim Young-hoon with his bat on his shoulder.

“…….”

Kim In-hwan passed by Song Seok-hyun with a dejected expression.

“Aren’t you going? What are you doing?”

“I’m going.”

Song Seok-hyun returned to the bench with Kim In-hwan.

Kim Young-hoon was waving to the cheers of the Phoenix fans.

Song Seok-hyun’s expression as he watched this was complex and subtle.

* * *

Gote gave up 1 loss to Phoenix, but then took the winning series with 2 consecutive wins.

The Phoenix mound without Kim Young-hoon could not stop KS.

As always, the two added one home run each.

The next game is an away game in Suwon.

Top of the 4th inning.

The score on the scoreboard is 8-2.

Gote had 8 points.

[Pegasus was one of the strong candidates for the championship at the beginning of the league, but Pegasus’ recent performance can really be called a nightmare. They are 8th in the league, last place.]

[Misfortunes continued to pile up. Injuries broke out, and even the manager resigned during the season. Pegasus has proven that even the strongest team is helpless when leadership collapses and misfortunes pile up.]

[They say foreign players are half of the team’s strength, but Pegasus’ foreign player scouting was also poor.]

[Looking at the individual players’ stats, they are still attractive. But the timing kept going off, and there was no synergy effect at all. As soon as one player returned, two got injured, so what could they do?]

The 3-game series with Pegasus attracted the attention of baseball fans in a different sense.

Kim In-hwan and Song Seok-hyun’s home run competition.

A race with the Korean professional baseball home run record at stake.

There were far more fans from other teams with butterfly nets and gloves in the Suwon outfield than Pegasus fans.

However, it didn’t take long for their expectations to turn into disappointment.

Pegasus had no intention of becoming a victim of the two players’ home run record.

They avoided competing with the two players altogether, and boos poured out.