On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 283

Kim Young-hoon gave a bitter smile.

*Feels like my arm is about to fall off.*

*I want to decide this quickly, win or lose, but it’s not working out.*

*I just want to settle this.*

[Song Seok-hyun is stepping up to the plate. It’s been a while.]

[He seems to be taking his time, playing defensively.]

As Song Seok-hyun stood at the plate, Kim Young-hoon immediately signaled for a pitch.

The pitch was already decided.

Circle changeup.

A changeup that starts outside for a right-handed batter and then drifts even further away. (A changeup is a type of pitch thrown with the same motion as a fastball, but much slower.)

It’s not used often, but when it works, it really works.

[Kim Young-hoon, pitching.]

The ball leaves his hand and flies towards the intended location.

Song Seok-hyun reacts.

The ball moves further and further outside.

The end of Song Seok-hyun’s bat barely touches the ball.

The ball flew quickly but straight towards the first baseman.

A weak ground ball.

Kyung-in crouched down, ready to field it.

Thwack!

[Huh? The ball popped up! It popped up!]

[It hit the base!]

The ball hit the base and bounced high.

Kyung-in stretched out his glove, but the ball had already passed him.

The first baseman and right fielder ran to chase the ball as it rolled towards the foul line.

Song Seok-hyun touched first base and ran towards second.

[First baseman! First baseman! He scoops it up and throws to second!]

As soon as Kyung-in caught the ball, he looked at the base.

Song Seok-hyun was already heading to second.

*He’s fast.*

*I forgot, but Song Seok-hyun is quite fast on the bases, even though he doesn’t steal often.*

Kyung-in urgently threw the ball towards second base.

[Shortstop catches it… he missed it! The ball hit the glove and bounced away! The second baseman is running! He grabs it and throws to third! Third! Third, safe! It’s safe! Song Seok-hyun makes it to third! A lucky hit turns into a triple! Is Lady Luck smiling on Goat?]

[The defense is really disappointing. So disappointing. If the first baseman’s throw had been better, they could have gotten him out at second. The throw was off, and the shortstop was too eager.]

[A lucky hit to third base. Goat only needs a sacrifice fly to tie the game.]

Kim Young-hoon tilted his head back.

Not getting angry was a thing of the past.

Now, I can’t even laugh.

There’s no time to get annoyed or sad.

He looked at the infielders watching him and tapped his chest twice.

“I’ll finish this, so don’t worry.”

Song Seok-hyun, who had reached third base, gasped for breath.

*Luck.*

*I was lucky.*

*Isn’t this the first time I’ve gotten to third base on a single?*

*Now, just one fly ball and we can tie it up…*

He clasped his hands together and hoped, but Kim Wook struck out, and Seol Jin-il and Choi Jae-wan hit ground balls.

Inning over.

It didn’t even take five minutes for Song Seok-hyun’s triple to lose its luster.

“Ah……”

Song Seok-hyun returned to the bench with a blank expression.

Bottom of the 12th, Phoenix’s at-bat.

Kim Young-hoon was icing his shoulder.

*I’ve done everything I can do now.*

*Win or lose, it’s out of my hands now.*

The batting order isn’t great.

The lead batter is shortstop Kim Hyun-woo.

Goat also replaced the pitcher with Oh Young-shik.

His condition has declined recently, but he’s a good pitcher with a fastball and slider.

He’s not an easy opponent for Phoenix batters, who struggle against fastballs.

As expected, Kim Hyun-woo flew out on the first pitch.

The Phoenix bench was enveloped in silence.

There’s a prevailing feeling that it won’t be easy.

The next batter is Jang Se-wan.

To put it nicely, he’s a bad-ball hitter; to put it bluntly, he’s Jang the Blind.

Phoenix signaled for Jang Se-wan to focus on getting on base rather than swinging for the fences, and to watch the ball carefully, hoping to get on base for Kim Jin-pil, who had a home run earlier today.

As soon as the bench’s signal came out, the first pitch arrived.

Jang Se-wan swung wildly.

Bang!

Instantly, Daejeon Stadium became quiet.

The ball, flying neither too high nor too low, headed towards left-center field.

The center fielder called out and ran back.

Back, back, the ball flew further back.

The ball barely cleared the fence.

“…Huh?”

Even the batter was bewildered.

It was a home run he didn’t expect because it was a ball he just tapped without realizing it.

He was stunned for a moment, but soon he realized what he had done.

A walk-off home run.

“Uwaaaaa!”

“Waaaaa!”

At the same time, the Phoenix players poured out of the dugout.

The Phoenix fans also cheered.

The Goat players lowered their heads with blank faces.

Third place.

From 1st to 3rd.

*I can’t even sigh.*

*My throat is choked.*

The Goat players left the field one by one.

As they were packing their bags listlessly, the cheers of the Phoenix players subsided.

Soon, it turned into sighs and screams.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Even the Goat players thought it was strange, and then the commentators spoke urgently.

[The Scorpions have tied their game. An extra-inning tie. This is an unexpected result.]

[Doesn’t this lock the Scorpions into 4th place?]

[Yes, that’s right. Regardless of today’s game, the Scorpions maintain 4th place. There was some debate about ties this season before it started, but things have turned out this way in the end.]

[Phoenix fought hard, but unfortunately, luck wasn’t on their side. It’s really unfortunate. I thought their advancement to the postseason was confirmed…]

[This means the Astro Boys will be 1st, the Bulls 2nd, Goat 3rd, and the Scorpions 4th in the postseason. Phoenix’s season ends in 5th place.]

[Today, both teams have become losers. There’s no one on the field who can smile.]

[Does this kind of thing even happen? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.]

[Isn’t this baseball, though?]

The Goat and Phoenix players couldn’t leave the field and just sat down.

Not all games are win-win games.

There are also lose-lose games.

Song Seok-hyun also couldn’t leave the bench, his eyes empty.

Then, Kim Young-hoon walked towards Song Seok-hyun.

“Good job.”

Kim Young-hoon held out his hand.

Song Seok-hyun got up and bowed his head.

“You did a great job.”

Kim Young-hoon grabbed Song Seok-hyun’s hand and pulled him in for a hug.

“Seok-hyun.”

*Success as a catcher*

*People leaving, people staying*

“I’m leaving.”

Kim Young-hoon’s words hit hard.

Song Seok-hyun bit his lip.

“…Yes.”

“You’re going to be the face of professional baseball. Do well. I’ll be cheering for you.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Young-hoon broke the hug.

“The world is wide. Even if you intend to play here for the rest of your life, you have to keep your eyes on the bigger picture. Do you know what I mean?”

“Are you talking about the majors? (Referring to Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada.)”

“Yeah. Simply watching games, analyzing, and studying isn’t enough. You have to think about how to beat them.”

Kim Young-hoon pointed to his arm.

“Baseball players have to have a competitive spirit. A competitive spirit that hates to lose no matter what. But if it’s excessive like me, it becomes poison. You have to be consumed by a competitive spirit without wearing out your body to have a long career. If you don’t look up, you fall into a rut.”

“Ah… I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I had to work harder because of my circumstances, so I didn’t even have time to fall into a rut, but you’re different. Goat is a good team, and you’re doing well… It wouldn’t be strange if Goat won the league three or five times in a row. You’re going to have a harder time than me in a different sense. It’s easy to fall into a rut if the team is doing well and you’re doing well.”

Kim Young-hoon held up one finger above Song Seok-hyun’s eyes.

“Set your goals high. Set them higher. You have to aim to dominate Major League Baseball.”

“Me…?”

Kim Young-hoon patted Song Seok-hyun’s shoulder and turned around.

“Take care. Goodbye.”

Kim Young-hoon walked straight across the field.

Song Seok-hyun stared at Kim Young-hoon’s back for a long time.

The number 23 lingered in his eyes and wouldn’t leave.

* * *

A few days later, Chungnam University Hospital.

Kim Young-hoon was lying in bed.

A large television in front of the bed was showing a baseball game.

Bang!

[It’s going, going, gone! Song Seok-hyun! A three-run homer! Another three-run homer! He’s hit his second three-run homer of the game!]

[Ah, the Bulls. Are they collapsing like this? It’s already 12-2. It’s going to be a tough game for them today.]

[Didn’t we expect the aftereffects of falling from 1st to 3rd place to be significant? But it’s different. Goat is different. Rather, they’re showing with their bats why they achieved 1st place in the league.]

[Game 1, 8-4, Game 2, 12-2. Judging from the current situation, it seems like Goat can easily score another 4-5 points.]

[It’s no exaggeration to say that they have the strongest lineup ever. They’re really powerful. Unbelievably powerful.]

[The best combo, KS, has scored 11 RBIs in the semi-playoffs and playoffs alone. Who can stop this combo?]

[Haha. It’s difficult unless Kim Young-hoon pitches in the postseason.]

[It’s a great relief for Goat that Phoenix didn’t make it to 4th place.]

Kim Young-hoon watched Song Seok-hyun returning to the bench.

He hit a home run, but he doesn’t look happy or excited.

He’s calm with a slight smile.

“He’s become the ultimate weapon, Song Seok-hyun. This year’s fall will be boring.”

At that moment, the hospital room door opened, and a meal was brought in.

Kim Young-hoon started to get up but stopped when he saw the person holding the tray.

“Why are you bringing that?”

“I heard it was the food here.”

Kim Si-yoon stood next to Kim Young-hoon with the tray.

“Here, eat.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Kim Young-hoon put the tray down and picked up the spoon.

“I heard you’re busy. What brings you here?”

“We’re friends. I thought I should see you at least once.”

“You’re coming pretty late. I’m being discharged tomorrow.”

“That’s why I came before you were discharged.”

“Okay. You’re right. Sit down first.”

Kim Young-hoon offered him a seat, and Kim Si-yoon brought a chair and sat next to the bed.

“But don’t you have a gift?”

“…I forgot. I was busy.”

“…Never mind.”

Kim Young-hoon groaned and picked up the spoon.

Kim Si-yoon glanced at Kim Young-hoon.

“Are you having a hard time?”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Should I help you?”

“No, thanks. Then I’ll really look like a patient.”

“You are a patient.”

“…I’m not a seriously ill patient.”

As Kim Young-hoon groaned again and picked up the spoon, Kim Si-yoon got up from his seat.

“Give it to me, give it to me.”

“No, I said I’m okay.”