Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 161

The resounding crack echoed across the field.

The catcher, having thrown a solid punch, continued to charge at Lee Jung-woo despite the umpire’s attempts to restrain him. The Braves’ bench and first-base runner Derek also reacted instantly. However, Lee Jung-woo, now out of the catcher’s reach, quickly raised his hands to stop them.

‘If this escalates into a bench-clearing brawl… it’ll be a real war. It has to stop here.’

Lee Jung-woo’s immediate halt caused the players who were about to rush out—some were practically out of the dugout—to freeze. Meanwhile, the umpire, having barely managed to calm the catcher, roared his call.

“Ejection!”

“You son of a bitch, I’ll knock your teeth out later, just you wait.”

“You’re ejected, so stop yapping and get out of here.”

“Yeah, yeah, have a good one. I’ll see you later, you dirty bastard.”

The starting catcher being ejected before the first inning even ended was hardly ideal for the team. Yet, as he confidently strode into the dugout, the home crowd greeted him with thunderous applause.

“You beautiful bastard! Don’t worry about the fine! I’ll sell my damn car to pay it for you! Got it? You fucking gorgeous son of a bitch!”

“Good job! That’s the Phillies spirit! That son of a bitch deserved to get punched! Well done!”

“Fuck, that’s so refreshing! This is the Phillies’ punch! Get it now? You try to be cocky again, and you’re dead!”

In their eyes, the catcher was a conquering hero.

Yesterday and today, or rather, every time they met, he had properly smacked the disgusting face of that cocky little punk. Even if it meant getting ejected, they firmly believed it was a worthwhile action.

The sight of them cheering wildly for the Phillies’ punch, for a righteous blow, was filled with a strange fervor. At times, they resembled the fanatical Braves fans who glared at Lee Jung-woo.

‘Phillies’ punch, huh… It’s as weak as their team’s batting lineup.’

Seeing that, Lee Jung-woo felt a sudden urge to sneer, but he quickly suppressed it. He had barely managed to calm things down by sacrificing his cheek; provoking them again would really screw things up. Thinking that, Lee Jung-woo suppressed the rising dark emotions and soon noticed the umpire staring intently at him.

“…”

‘I’m not getting ejected too… am I? I’ve only done my best.’

In any case, as one of the causes of the incident, he worried that the umpire might punish him as well. Fortunately, the umpire let out a long sigh and earnestly pleaded with Lee Jung-woo.

“Lee, of course, I’m not going to eject you. You were just hit; you didn’t push, strike, or ‘subdue’ anyone like last time. Thanks to you, there wasn’t a bench-clearing. But… please, let’s try to keep things smooth.”

“It was just a home run.”

“Yes, exactly. That home run was justified and deserved. It was perfect. I’ll bet my entire career on it, there wasn’t a single thing wrong with that home run! But I’m just saying this in case something happens.”

Lee Jung-woo nodded at the umpire’s earnest words. The umpire, giving him a look as if to say he was watching, then resumed the game. With the sudden ejection of the starting catcher, the Phillies’ backup catcher was brought in. Afterward, Lee Jung-woo was a bit slow on his base running.

‘Did the inside of my cheek tear? It doesn’t hurt, but I’m bleeding a bit.’

From being hit, the inside of his mouth must have been cut by his teeth, as his mouth was filled with a mixture of saliva and blood.

Lightly touching his cheek, Lee Jung-woo finished his base running, ignoring the unpleasant glares directed at him, and high-fived his teammates, lightly spitting out the blood in his mouth.

“What, are you bleeding? Is there bleeding? Is your tongue okay?”

“You son of a bitch, what should we do? Should we rush them right now? How dare they lay a hand on our precious Lee.”

“It’s okay, it’s just a small cut. Mostly saliva.”

“Tsk, those Phillies’ ignorant bastards always resort to fists first.”

It wasn’t something Peterson, who had been the first to jump up and charge out like a tackling football player until Lee Jung-woo stopped him, should have said, but Lee Jung-woo didn’t say anything.

Firstly, his expression was very serious, and secondly, the sight of him jumping up and running out earlier was somewhat reassuring.

“Even if you’re angry, how can you just start punching? Crazy bastard. With such an ignorant guy as a catcher, no wonder the team is failing. How shitty is the team that even the catcher is a blockhead? Stupid bastards.”

Lee Jung-woo chuckled at catcher Michael Lipton’s muttering and then sat down in his seat with his usual indifferent expression, as if nothing had happened.

“Well, it stings a bit, but let’s just consider it as taking a beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter] instead.”

The Braves players smiled at Lee Jung-woo’s cool words, but Derek shook his head, as if it was absolutely not the case.

“Well, Lee, you might think that way, but those barbarians won’t. They’ll probably think of it separately. That’s that, and this is this.”

As Derek, referring to the Phillies as barbarians, expressed his concern, the others around him also sent worried glances at Lee Jung-woo, but he simply shrugged again.

“Then I’ll just get hit one more time. They’ve already given up three home runs. It’s not that hard.”

“It goes without saying, Lee, you’re a great guy. And also, a stranger guy than I thought.”

“When he was first invited to spring camp, he was so cute, like a fluffy chick… He’s already become jaded by the major leagues.”

Lee Jung-woo also wore a subtle expression at his teammates, who were amazed by his manly side.

‘Did I really get tainted by the major leagues? Or was I always like this? Even I think I’ve changed.’

Lee Jung-woo looked back at himself. Was I originally this kind of character? I’m sure I wasn’t like this when I was a pitcher before the regression. Now, even he thought he was somewhat different.

‘Maybe I was just intimidated and suppressed before the regression. It’s better to live like this than to live intimidated. Let’s think positively.’

Lee Jung-woo, having brushed it off like that, suddenly looked at the scoreboard. Just like yesterday, the game started with the Braves in the lead.

####

In the second game, Lee Jung-woo earned one home run and two bruises. One was the cheek he was punched on by the catcher who threw a punch out of nowhere, and the other was the butt he dedicated to the beanball thrown by the starting pitcher in the very next at-bat.

“Hit by pitch!”

‘It stings. He squeezed out all his remaining strength to throw that.’

A beanball thrown with all his might. Lee Jung-woo thought it was the best pitch the opposing starter had thrown. Firstly, it hurt like hell, and the pitcher hadn’t thrown a better pitch than that throughout the game.

[At this point, it’s safe to call it a one-sided game.]

[The Phillies have already given up 5 points in just the 3rd inning.]

5 runs in 3 innings.

The pitcher with the miserable record was immediately ejected after the beanball. There was already a precedent, and it was too entangled to simply overlook as an unwritten rule. Rather, a firm ruling was made. But this was almost a forced substitution. Just looking at the pitcher who opened the bullpen door and appeared right away showed that.

The Phillies had essentially used him as a disposable card because he was already in too serious a condition to pitch further. The starting pitcher seemed to be moderately satisfied with having landed a blow on Lee Jung-woo, who had ruined his game. However, when he later saw the ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] that was precisely updated on the stats site, his thoughts would probably change.

‘It can’t be helped. The starting catcher he was working with was ejected from the 1st inning. And he also gave up a two-run homer. Unless he has a strong mentality, it would be difficult to pitch properly.’

Although it was a miserable record, there were enough excuses, so perhaps the pitcher was even more comfortable. Of course, it was certain that he was one of the main culprits who ruined this game.

Forcing himself to bear the expression that was being frowned upon, Lee Jung-woo brushed off his butt slightly and headed to first base. Before long, the Braves’ attack quickly ended, and he trudged back to the dugout. Manager Mancini, who had been waiting for Lee Jung-woo, opened his mouth.

“Lee, you’re being substituted.”

“I’m okay, though?”

“I’m not okay watching you.”

Notification of substitution. Lee Jung-woo moved his body here and there, saying he was okay, but Manager Mancini was more resolute than ever, as if he wouldn’t budge an inch.

“We have to give Clarkson a chance too. Be satisfied with just this much today and get some rest. A home run and a hit-by-pitch are enough, right? Lee, I know you love baseball, and I know you always work hard. But sometimes, you have to know how to protect yourself. You have to understand the team’s situation; we don’t want to lose a key player on a day like today.”

“If it’s the manager’s order, I’ll follow it for now.”

Manager Mancini was afraid.

He didn’t want to be tied down to just one player, but at least the Lee Jung-woo that he and the Braves saw was not someone to be treated as just a player.

Rather than having the team’s precious core suffer a possible mishap from the Phillies, who seemed to have completely lost their minds, he thought it would be better to make an early substitution. Lee Jung-woo readily accepted it in the still unextinguished atmosphere.

‘It feels like I’m causing trouble and getting out of here first.’

However, he didn’t feel very good.

Lee Jung-woo also fully agreed with the reason for the substitution. However, it felt like he was passing all the work he had caused onto his teammates and hiding behind the ground.

But Lee Jung-woo also knew exactly what would happen if he didn’t spare his body against crazy guys, and his butt was stinging little by little, so he sat in the special-class seat called the dugout bench without complaint and watched the game.

‘But we’ll probably win anyway. We’ve already scored 5 points, and the excited opposing hitters don’t seem like they’ll hit the ball well. And our morale isn’t bad either.’

He didn’t think about losing.

In Lee Jung-woo’s view, this game was already as good as decided.

“Lee’s watching, so we wouldn’t be so pathetic as to get reversed, right?”

“We scored 2 points first. If we get reversed, we’ll have to hang ourselves in the bathroom.”

“Lee, just watch comfortably. We’ll take care of them for you.”

Reliable teammates. In fact, the Braves were just as angry as the Phillies. As mentioned earlier, the value of the player Lee Jung-woo was almost absolute within the Braves. He had a good personality and got along well with his teammates.

Without acting arrogant as a genius, the club’s young franchise star, who was just proud, had his jaw punched by those dirty barbarians(?). There wasn’t a veteran player in the Braves who wouldn’t be angry about that.

‘It’s a relief that I stopped the bench-clearing. Thanks to that, our anger wasn’t fully vented.’

The Phillies at least punched him once and threw a beanball to feel relieved. The Braves had to watch the beating with their eyes open, so they expressed their anger through their play.

The procession of continuous hits. When the game approached the end, they even achieved the rare feat of having every hitter except the pitcher record a hit. Not only the hitters, but also the pitchers, who were even more grateful(?) to Lee Jung-woo, showed great pitching and thoroughly mocked the Phillies.

“They’re getting hit pretty hard for hitting twice. I didn’t even properly repay the value of the home run.”

10 to 0.

In a situation where the score difference had reached double digits, Mason, who was watching the game quietly with Lee Jung-woo, snorted as Lee Jung-woo pitied the Phillies.

“What can we do? They have to blame their lack of skill. Stupid bastards, how dare they lay their dirty hands on…”

‘Okay, these guys are starting to lose their minds too.’

Lee Jung-woo emptied his head as he watched Mason, who couldn’t control his emotions and was trembling. He was happy that they valued him so much, but it seemed a bit too much. It seemed like there was no one to talk to in this game.

So he just pitied the home fans, who were almost crying. They were being retaliated against somewhat severely compared to what they had done.

‘They’re really going to cry soon? They all have shit-eating expressions.’

The home fans, who had shouted Justice and cheered when Lee Jung-woo, who they thought had been beaten up(?), was substituted, gradually had their expressions rot, and eventually contorted their faces like they had seen something dirty.

As a result, they thought it was a gain to have exchanged the starting catcher and Lee Jung-woo in an equal trade, but there was a level difference that they couldn’t catch up with that level of gain. They were properly feeling that, so it would have been strange if their expressions were soft.

[Third batter Joey Fredman comes to the plate. He is recording an amazing record of 4 hits, 4 at-bats, and 5 RBIs [Runs Batted In, a measure of a batter’s ability to drive in runs] in this game.]

[If Lee Jung-woo was dazzling in the early part of the game for various reasons, then from then on, it’s definitely Fredman’s game.]

[In fact, not only Joey Fredman, but other players are also showing good performances – well, it seems like they’re ready now. They’re throwing the first pitch – ah! He hit it! The ball is stretching out! Left field fence! Left field fence! The left field fence – it went over! Joey Fredman’s 10th home run of the season!]

[It’s really thorough. It’s very thorough, Braves. They hit one more time until the end.]

[It will be a day the Phillies want to cry.]

Top of the 9th, the final wedge. The ball that the changed pitcher swung at the first pitch went over the left fence. The scoreboard showed an incredible score of 12 to 0.

Seeing that, the Phillies were frustrated, but Lee Jung-woo smiled. It was a perfect game by his teammates, to the point where he didn’t think it had to be him.

‘Our team is strong, though.’

While realizing the gap between each other, the second game, which had many ups and downs, came to an end. Along with the birth of a new macho man who hit the major leagues.

####

[‘The one who laughs last’ Jung-woo Lee laughed, and the Phillies cried.]

[Braves ‘subdue’ the Phillies with overwhelming performance]

[‘Phillies realize the gap’ Don’t think of the Braves of the past, say several experts…]

When Lee Jung-woo, who had returned to his hotel room after the second game, was checking the bruises on his butt, the macro-like game result articles that had poured out first swept the media. The prelude to the full-scale story was raised. The second game was also so interesting that it was a game full of delicious meat chunks that the story flowed from.

[‘Straight punch that vents anger’ Did the Phillies show the best punching power in this game?]

[‘Insane barbaric act’ ‘Before finding a sense of camaraderie, the Phillies must first become civilized.’ Manager Mancini strongly criticizes the Phillies after the game!]

[‘Hit because he deserved it’ Phillies, still criticizing Lee today?]

[‘Manners = Judgment defeat, Game = Complete defeat’ Phillies, complete defeat against the Braves!]

A great straight punch.

The refreshing punch, to the point where a boxing expert expressed his opinion after the game, was divided into two opinions like Lee Jung-woo’s pre-announced home run the day before. Surprisingly, more people than expected supported the Phillies.

A hitter who hits a home run by taking advantage of a missed pitch at the beanball timing… Even to people, the punch itself was worth getting.

-Seriously, if I were the catcher, I would have thrown a high kick instead of a punch.

-Lee seems to have gotten a little weird since he hung out with Arthur Hunter. He’s becoming more and more of a madman.

-No, Lee originally had that kind of vibe.

-To put it nicely, he’s a superstar, and to put it badly, he’s a madman.

-Everyone, including the players and the audience, froze after getting hit by the home run. It was a bit strange to see that, Citizens Bank Park is so quiet. It’s not the Philadelphia I knew.

-Who would have imagined? I shouted that I was going to hit his head, but I didn’t know he would swing right away at that time…

It was definitely not bad manners. Instead of the beanball that should have been hit as a matter of course, he hit one more time with a home run. Even baseball fans who were not conservative gave the Phillies the hand for at least the catcher’s punch.

But that was it.

-Whether it’s right or wrong, honestly, it was cool. Very.

-When I spat out blood while entering the dugout, I thought I accidentally turned on a movie.

-I agree. That was really fucking cool.

-He didn’t even feel wronged about getting hit by the beanball later, and just dusted off his butt. That’s a man!

-Aside from the other things, the home run was really bold. Who would think of hitting a home run in that situation?

-Small Ball? Small Nuts? That’s ridiculous. As a 30-year baseball fan, I’ve never seen this much Big Ball.

-Did you see him stopping his teammates? He was just stopping them; he really looked like a mafia boss in a movie. In a good way.

-Where is the good side of the mafia…

First of all, like the several controversial ceremonies and performances that Lee Jung-woo had shown so far, this time again, it was quite cool.

From the appearance of being resilient in both the punch and the beanball, the fans felt a manly fortitude. In particular, the home run that caused the catcher’s punch, which was coolly swung without hesitation, was absurd but also refreshing.

In addition, the appearance of spitting out saliva mixed with blood like a ceremony was like a scene from a movie. Many people felt Lee Jung-woo’s charm regardless of the legitimacy of the punch.

[‘He Is Crazy Big Ball’ Jung-woo Lee teaches the Phillies guts!]

The media even published articles with titles like this, comparing that appearance to the Small Ball chant that the Phillies had shouted to Lee Jung-woo the day before. That’s all I need to say.

In that way, Lee Jung-woo once again informed people about his thick guts(?) and manliness through the second game of the series against the Phillies, following the first game.

Of course, he didn’t intend it at all.