Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 63

Lee Jung-woo’s popularity exploded beyond control.

He was the best player on the team right now, a homegrown talent from their own farm system.

It was a shame he wasn’t a local, and some even grumbled that it was a pity he was Asian and not white.

But the overwhelming skill he had demonstrated so far was enough to overshadow those prejudices.

The Braves’ operations team had no choice but to kick into high gear.

“The marketing team has requested an additional budget.”

“It doesn’t matter how much. Tell them to take whatever they need. Focus on promoting him by any means possible.”

“People are asking online and in stores when the additional jerseys will arrive. What should we do?”

“Tell them we’re pumping them out as fast as we can. Tell them to hold on for three days. Send a few people to thoroughly inspect them for quality.”

For the first time in a long time, General Manager Pratt felt like he was really earning his keep.

He had become quite accustomed to the nerve-wracking mind games and psychological warfare with other teams, and the unpleasant negotiations that made him want to feed lead bullets to those con artists; he even enjoyed it to some extent.

But he was most satisfied when he was busy because of his own team and his own players, like now.

He could vividly feel the money flowing directly into the team’s coffers.

Therefore, with a bright face, he issued instructions like a machine gun and worked without rest.

The source of this work explosion was, of course, Lee.

That remarkable player was constantly creating buzz.

He hit seven home runs in a month, and his defense was damn good too.

His popularity exploded in earnest thanks to his amazing inside-the-park home run.

And this splash hit [a home run that lands in McCovey Cove outside Oracle Park in San Francisco] added even more fuel to the fire.

The feeling shifted from a cannonball impact to a strategic bombing campaign.

‘He’s already risen to the level of a franchise star, or just below, even though it hasn’t been a month yet.’

It might be a fleeting bubble.

But right now, Lee’s popularity was at a level that even Joey couldn’t approach.

He was threatening the status of Captain Derek.

In fact, Lee was already overwhelmingly in first place in jersey sales this month.

Unless Derek suddenly retired or hit four consecutive home runs, it seemed impossible to catch up.

Even many of the current major league superstars didn’t receive this much attention when they were first called up.

He thought that maybe an opportunity had come to create a new franchise star.

‘Even if not, I have to make it that way. He is already the core of our Braves.’

####

Lee Jung-woo played in all the remaining games of the series.

Clarkson, who had a stomachache, hadn’t recovered yet, and Lee was gaining momentum.

The team was pushing him too.

[The hero of this series, Lee, comes to the plate.]

[It can be said that his one swing decided the series because he destroyed the strongest weapon that the Giants could deploy. Baseball is a very statistical and calculated sport, but you can’t ignore the mental aspect either, can you?]

[The team’s morale often has a big impact.]

As the commentators said, this four-game series against the Giants was virtually Lee Jung-woo’s series.

He was able to solidify his position as an individual, and thanks to his performance, the Braves were able to benefit greatly.

“Hello, you son of a bitch.”

“Yeah, that’s more like it,” Lee Jung-woo smiled as if he liked the catcher’s vulgar greeting.

You can tell how the opposing team views a player by how the catcher reacts.

Seeing him act so sensitively just by Lee coming to the plate, it seemed that the Giants were very annoyed.

‘I need to upgrade him from son of a bitch to bastard.’

With that in mind, Lee Jung-woo focused on the game and assessed the opposing pitcher.

He was the number two starter until last year, but he was promoted to replace Mason, who transferred as a free agent.

The skills of the player who became the new number two in the Giants’ starting lineup were definitely good.

He was obviously inferior to Mason, who would be an ace on a mid-to-upper-tier team, but he had adequate skills to be the second of the one-two punch, and his fastball was pretty good too.

However, Lee Jung-woo had hit a multi-homerun, including a splash hit, against the great pitcher Ilya Danilov in the previous game.

He looked relatively weak, and thanks to that, Lee was full of confidence.

‘Fastball, slider, curve. The slider is a bit tricky, but I can hit the fastball.’

Even though he hadn’t faced him directly, perhaps because he remembered seeing him mercilessly crush the league’s best curveball from the bench the day before, or perhaps because the club had repeatedly told him, he knew this pitcher would never throw a curve.

But even so, he wasn’t an opponent he couldn’t beat.

Lee Jung-woo watched the ball lightly and made a decision.

Soon, he swung his bat accurately at the incoming fastball.

[Lee hits it! He brings in all the runners, and the score is 4-0!]

The atmosphere in the stadium, which was already gloomy, was clearly dampened by the batted ball that went over the center fielder and landed.

But Lee Jung-woo’s rampage didn’t end there.

As if to keep his promise, he worked hard to become a great bastard.

Top of the 3rd inning, runner on 2nd base.

Lee Jung-woo came to the plate again.

[Well, this is his second at-bat. Will he be able to hit it this time too?]

[His hitting feel is at its peak. I think it’s definitely possible.]

The Braves commentators, of course, always say good things for the fans who make up the majority of the viewers.

But this time, it didn’t end as just empty words.

Thwack-

Following his first at-bat, Lee Jung-woo hit the ball once again.

‘It’s a bit short, but it’s enough to get to second base.’

Unlike the hit in the top of the 1st inning, which went far over the right fielder, this time it was a bit short.

The right fielder, conscious of the previous at-bat’s long hit, was standing a little further back than before.

As a result, when the ball, which flew deep towards the first base line, suddenly fell a little short, his reaction was not quick.

Seeing that, Lee Jung-woo made a judgment that it was a bit ambiguous, but still worth a try.

He ran past first base.

“That bastard again?”

“Why do we keep getting hit by that guy! Catch him!”

“Fuuuuuck!”

Lee Jung-woo was closing the distance at an incredible speed.

The second baseman, who made eye contact with him, was sweating coldly.

Looking at the large, solid body rushing in quickly, it was like watching a charging horse wearing thick armor.

[Does he get to second base? It looks close… Safe! Lee’s feet were faster than the throw. Lee records another double. The Giants will have a hard time in this game too.]

The result of that daring base running was successful.

His feet touched the base before the throw arrived.

The commentator was speechless as he looked at the batter-runner, who was in the same position again despite bringing in the second base runner.

[I occasionally meet other players. Players who used to be fast in their active days always say similar things when they see Lee.]

[Similar things?]

[He’s so fast, why doesn’t he steal bases?]

[Ah, right. There’s actually a lot of talk about that.]

[I guess the club is holding him back. Stealing bases inevitably involves the risk of injury. They wouldn’t want to lose such a promising player in vain.]

In fact, there was constant talk about Lee Jung-woo and his stolen bases.

He’s clearly fast when he’s fielding or base running.

Unlike his clumsy appearance, his speed is top-tier, or even the best in the league.

Therefore, the consensus is that he can steal at least 20 bases every season.

But the player himself hasn’t even attempted to steal a base so far. Many people were wondering why.

Some people said that the club had put shackles on his legs, as the commentator said, but ironically, the club had never said anything.

Everything was purely Lee Jung-woo’s will.

‘If I steal bases, I can pad my personal stats, but my overall evaluation will only drop further.’

He had been consistently training to steal bases.

It’s good to be a good hitter, but if he can add speed to that, the unit of his salary will change [meaning his salary will increase significantly].

But the results were still poor.

The base running coach was so sorry for his feet that he had met the wrong owner.

He still couldn’t catch the timing to steal bases.

So, Lee Jung-woo would never think of running unless his stolen base success rate exceeded at least 60%, even in training.

Ordinary people wouldn’t know, but if they become a little more professional, like hardcore fans, they don’t just acknowledge him for having a lot of stolen bases.

Rather, he was likely to be evaluated as a selfish player who only cares about his own records without thinking about the team.

Therefore, Lee Jung-woo temporarily castrated the option of stealing bases himself.

But he didn’t hesitate to give off that impression, because there were many things he could get just by hinting at it.

‘Since there are no stolen base attempts, it won’t be too much pressure, but it’s perfect for annoying them. They can’t help but pay attention…’

As he said, the opposing battery didn’t take any big action against Lee Jung-woo, who was widening his lead and acting up.

They kept glancing at him while competing with the batter.

They were thinking of him as annoying.

Satisfied with that, without much greed, a thought suddenly came to Lee Jung-woo’s mind, who was widening his lead and diligently making gestures that he was going to run.

‘It’s 5-0 now, and Rodrigo is in good condition, so I think we can win this game too… Then we can regain second place, right?’

The Braves are currently in 3rd place. The gap between them and the 2nd place New York Mets is 4 games.

The Braves had accumulated a few more wins since Lee Jung-woo was called up, so the 2nd place, which felt so far away, was closer than he thought.

‘And the next series is…’

“Oops.”

Lee Jung-woo suddenly turned around and slid back as the pitcher turned around. Even though he was a second base runner, the pitcher took a look at him because his lead was a bit long. Lee Jung-woo hurriedly returned to the base and soon focused on the game again.

####

The third game ended with the Braves winning again.

Lee Jung-woo also contributed to the team’s victory by recording 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 RBIs in 4 at-bats.

Although he was pushed out by Rodrigo Albelda, who showed scoreless pitching until the 7th inning, he was not selected as the MVP of the game.

As if he didn’t care about that, the fans praised Lee Jung-woo as they always had since his debut.

[Lee is definitely a god. The god of baseball. If not, there’s no way a rookie could be so good.]

[No, he’s not a god, he’s Jesus.]

[? Aren’t they the same thing?]

[It’s different. He’s not a god who came down directly, but a gift given to us, to the Braves. He kindly sent his son down for us who endured the long night.]

[That sounds plausible when I hear it?]

[What sounds plausible? Where did you sell the Trinity?]

[The blasphemy to Comrade Lee-nin! He is greater than God!]

[Manager Mancini whispered. The new era from the East will overthrow the Tsar and become the great leader of the Braves!]

[Hail Lee-nin.]

[Hail? A fascist pig! There’s a fascist here!]

Filling the shortstop position, which was the Braves’ sore spot, and making it a strength, it had become a daily routine to worship him. So they were naturally busy playing around, praising Lee Jung-woo as a god, a revolutionary, and a great leader(?).

Soon the topic changed.

There was something even more interesting, even exciting.

[Hey, but the gap between us and the Mets is 3 games now, right?]

[Huh? Already? Wasn’t it originally a 7.5 game difference?]

[Wow, we’ve won a lot recently. Looking at how close we are to 2nd place.]

That was the standings.

Originally, the standings were like this:

When they’re not doing well, they’re like a thick workbook. They don’t even want to look at it once.

When they’re doing moderately well, they’re like a textbook. They only look at it occasionally out of obligation.

When they’re doing well, they’re like a favorite novel. They go in and out every day.

Among them, the Braves fans were usually the second.

Until now, the Braves were in 3rd place by chance, in 3rd place when they remembered to check, and in 3rd place without fail when they expected to win a bit.

And there was a gap of at least 5 games before and after.

The Braves were like an isolated island in the National League East.

They couldn’t keep up with the Phillies and Mets’ chase for the lead for the division title, and unless they deliberately manipulated it, there was no sign that the Marlins and Nationals, who were happily failing together, would catch up.

That was the strange balance in the Eastern District.

Lee Jung-woo’s call-up became a kind of butterfly effect.

It eventually became a storm that shook the calm Eastern District.

[Wow, how many wins did we get this month?]

[Including this game, 12 wins and 7 losses. Originally, it would have been 10 wins and 9 losses, or 9 wins and 10 losses. So Lee has already earned about 2 wins.]

[Huh? Only 12 wins? We didn’t win as much as I thought? But why is it a 3 game difference?]

[The Mets lost like ghosts.]

[Wait, after we beat the Giants, we play the Mets next, right?]

[We’re doing a 3-game series at their home.]

[Then, assuming the Mets lose one more game, if we sweep the Giants this time, and sweep the Mets game too…]

The lead group, which seemed impossible to catch up with forever, and the post season and fall baseball, which they had given up early on, thinking it was a rebuilding season, began to flicker faintly.

[Are we going to be in 2nd place?]