Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 206

Pitcher Done, Batter Up – 205

“How are you feeling today?”

“Great. Really great.”

Before the game, the players doing their final preparations momentarily turned their heads to look at Jungwoo and Derek’s conversation. It was like a scene from a movie, but at least within the Braves, it was something that warranted a reaction.

If it wasn’t just an empty compliment for a nervous pitcher, Jungwoo saying he felt good meant the same as him saying he was going to cause a ruckus this game.

“Oh? Does that mean we’ll win today?”

“Wow~ If Lee’s in good condition, it’s over~”

Christensen, who was scheduled to start as the pitcher today, was practically grinning from ear to ear. He subtly asked,

“So, how good are you feeling? Compared to usual. Roughly?”

“Let’s go for the sweep!”

“Destroy the Braves!”

The moment Jungwoo was about to answer his question, some of the shouts from the crowd flowed into the dugout along with the air. Some, feeling deflated, chuckled.

“They’re excited, so excited.”

“Of course they’re excited. They know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.”

“Well, when else would the Marlins get a chance to beat us? Especially a sweep. They have every reason to be happy.”

Just two days ago, they were sighing like they were dead, facing the reality that their opponent was the Braves, but now they were confidently talking about a sweep. It felt quite comical.

However, Christensen, who always became sensitive on the day he pitched, furrowed his brow slightly. He didn’t like the opposing team being so arrogant when he was pitching.

But soon, Jungwoo answered, and he, like the other players, chuckled.

“I’ll make sure they swallow those words. Christensen, just pitch without any pressure. I’ll take care of most of it without Derek even needing to get involved. 5 feet, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll just make sure to aim within 5 feet above your head, so catch them all.”

5 feet above the head. Recalling what had now become a sacred prayer, Christensen nodded. Jungwoo, giving one last smile, listened to the noise outside and thought.

‘Yeah, I’ll make them swallow those words. And I’ll make our fans scream instead.’

####

[The third game between the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves. The final game of the series is finally starting.]

[This series has been full of surprises. Many expected the Braves to win easily, but they were proven wrong.]

[Yes, this series has highlighted the fatigue of the starting players. Whether this is a short-term issue or a long-term problem, it’s clear that the Braves aren’t at their best right now.]

The game started. The commentators added their own opinions as the curtain rose. The Braves, the visiting team, were up to bat first. As a team with powerful hitters, their offense was usually a burden for opposing teams. But right now, it was a little different.

They hadn’t scored a single point in two games, and their total hits were only five, showing how severely their offense had deteriorated.

[Number 1 hitter, Derek Hunt, seems to be the only one on the team with some batting sense. Let’s see if he can get off to a good start.]

However, Derek had been performing decently, recording a hit and an on-base appearance in each game, so the crowd, who had been shouting loudly, quieted down when he stepped up to the plate and took his stance.

And the showdown began. Sure enough, something unpleasant happened from the start.

The battle dragged on to the 9th pitch, and eventually, the pitcher couldn’t get him out, allowing the leadoff hitter to get on base with a walk on the 10th pitch.

As he got on base, some of the crowd, which filled the stadium a bit, sent worried glances. The next batter was the problem.

“Tsk… this isn’t good.”

“What are you worried about?”

“The next one is that guy. Lee.”

“Hey, he’s gone off the boil [performing poorly], what are you so worried about?”

“That’s what it looks like, but who knows when he’ll explode. He’s definitely got class, even if he’s not in good shape.”

“Class only comes out when the stamina supports it. He’s gone off the boil. No need to be so scared.”

However, despite such concerns, most of them only believed what they saw with their own eyes. A player who was exceptionally good. A monster who was insanely talented. Despite such evaluations, Jungwoo had been disappointing to the point of being laughable during this series.

It was questionable whether he was really a player who didn’t get many strikeouts. He had recorded a called strikeout, a swinging strikeout, and a looking strikeout, all in equal measure. And the batted balls he did manage to hit were at a level where it would be shameful to expect a hit.

“Strike him out!”

“It’s nothing, just do it normally, normally.”

It seemed like there was definitely something wrong, so people continued to give the pitcher burdensome orders without feeling any sense of crisis. The pitcher wanted to say to the home fans.

‘If you’re so confident, why don’t you come down here yourself!’

Watching Jungwoo trudging to the plate, the pitcher thought. Why does he have to be like this when I’m pitching? The perspective from the bench and the mound are different, but it’s definitely different. It was clearly different from the previous day and the day before.

You could tell just by the way he was glaring at him like he was about to devour him.

Unlike before, when he seemed to have lost his strength, he now knew that he was a monster.

‘Tsk- It would be beneficial for me if they let their guard down. I guess pitchers have good instincts?’

Jungwoo was a little disappointed by the pitcher’s confident yet wary demeanor, but he didn’t show it outwardly. As weakly as possible. As comically as possible. He tried to hide himself, hoping the opponent would see him as easy. He was confident in his skills even without resorting to such tricks, but it was better to go easy.

‘Let’s test the waters first. Let’s throw out a little bait.’

The real showdown began. Jungwoo watched the ball quietly. Refraining from observing as he usually did. As if he couldn’t swing.

The first strike went up like that. He even endured the ball that the pitcher threw next, which was in an ambiguous course. But unfortunately, he didn’t get the desired effect.

‘It’s not working. He’s even more wary. Was my acting a little clumsy?’

Seeing him standing still, the pitcher sent an even more wary look. Jungwoo, clicking his tongue slightly, readily threw away the method that wasn’t very effective.

Even if the opposing team all slightly ignored him, it wouldn’t matter if only the pitcher was fine. There was no reason to go in with a disadvantage.

“Ball.”

“Strike.”

“Foul.”

“Foul.”

[Ah, the showdown is progressing at a tremendous speed. Lee, in a two-strike situation, is hitting consecutive foul balls. He’s just cutting them off slightly, right?]

[Yes, he’s just erasing the ambiguous courses. No matter how disappointing he may have been in previous games, throwing the same course to a top-class hitter like Jungwoo Lee is a big risk, so the pitcher has fewer and fewer options.]

[He must be feeling the pressure. It’s just a cut, but Jungwoo Lee seems to be in good shape today! Will he be able to deliver the results that fans have been hoping for today? We’ll have to wait and see for now.]

Gradually. One by one. As he began to put pressure on the pitcher, the atmosphere on the ground changed. The fielders, who had been smiling with a pleasant two-game winning streak, now had serious eyes again.

The fielders concentrating was not a welcome thing for a batter, but it didn’t matter anyway. His goal was a home run that no fielder could catch.

‘I think I only need to see two more… The problem is, I haven’t seen the changeup yet.’

Jungwoo adjusted his swing timing. He was fully prepared to go out at any time. The power from his good condition was enough to turn most courses into long hits, but he needed a little more certainty.

First of all, the biggest variable was the changeup. The curveball could be a trigger, so it would definitely be sealed, no matter how bad his batting sense was. He had checked the fastball, two-seam fastball, and slider. He had also seen one cutter that he occasionally threw. All that was left was the changeup.

Jungwoo briefly made eye contact with the pitcher, but he immediately avoided it, so he didn’t really engage in a battle of nerves.

‘He said he uses off-speed pitches quite well. Let’s see.’

The pitcher’s windup. From the start of the showdown until now, the pitcher had not skipped the windup. Even though there was a fast runner on first base.

Rather than focusing on Derek, he was willing to give up second base and concentrate all his attention solely on the batter, Jungwoo.

The risk exploded now.

[He’s running! Derek Hunt!]

Derek’s steal. The pitcher faltered slightly at the last moment. Jungwoo stared intently at the incoming ball. The changeup he had been so eager to see. But perhaps because of the loss of concentration at the last moment, it didn’t look as good as he had heard.

He failed to properly reduce the power and instead gave it a little more. As a result, the speed of the changeup, which was usually 11.1 mph slower than the fastball, increased.

What would you usually call a changeup that is in the middle of a changeup and a slow fastball in terms of speed? Therefore, it does not properly shake the timing of a batter who is accustomed to fastballs, and there is no great change because the focus is on off-speed, and the quality is naturally insufficient?

The answer is…

‘I’ll hit it.’

It’s a batting practice ball.

Bang-

Marlins Park froze.

The expression of freezing didn’t really suit the city of Miami, but there was no more accurate expression. In the top of the first inning, a two-run home run. The people who had been frozen solid by Jungwoo’s first home run in this series were thawed out again by the time Jungwoo passed second base.

“Ha- Well, one is nothing…”

“He got lucky, he got lucky. He got lucky because of the runner’s steal.”

“It’s okay to give up one. We’ve been getting bullied all series. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

The crowd, forcibly comforting each other and the players. Jungwoo glanced at them and twitched his eyebrows slightly.

‘One home run?’

As Jungwoo entered home, Derek, who had arrived earlier and was waiting, high-fived him and said, seeing the crowd who still seemed to be dreaming of a sweep.

“They still don’t seem to know their situation?”

“What can we do? We’ll have to let them know directly.”

Just one home run. Jungwoo wanted to say the sound that the home fans were shouting so hard a little differently.

The first home run.

####

The Highlander Pub in Atlanta is always filled with customers when the Braves have an evening game. It’s often the case even if it’s not an evening game.

Today was no different. Unemployed people with nothing to do, die-hard fans who couldn’t stand not watching the game, and others occupied the tables in a row.

“There aren’t many people here. It was moderately crowded during the first game.”

“They’ve given up now. How can they call themselves Braves fans with that attitude…”

Sanders and McClory, one of those people, also visited the pub as usual. He couldn’t stay cooped up at home, and his wife was giving him the stink eye because he couldn’t drink. He came out on the pretext of having an appointment with a friend.

In fact, his wife knew. That the appointment was just drinking and watching baseball. She just left him alone, thinking it was better than him doing it in front of her eyes.

“Tsk, that’s why they can’t do it. You always have to cheer and have expectations, no matter how slim the chances are.”

“You have too big of a dream, you idiot. You’re crazy to want 30-30 [30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season] with only four games left.”

McClory was upset at the sight of fewer people than the first day. It wasn’t just that he didn’t like the empty store. Rather, it was because he had lost the heated debate on the internet the day before.

There were still games left. And it was Lee, of all people. He was annoyed by the sight of people giving up hope, so he said a few words. He was hit with ruthless fact-bombing.

“I wondered where all the cowards were, and here you are. Can you even call yourself a Braves fan?”

“So, what you’re doing now is just pointless stubbornness, not courage. It’s natural to be difficult, okay? And Lee won’t be ignored just because he can’t do that.”

McClory, gulping down beer at his friend’s lukewarm words, frowned again at the sight of the stadium on the screen over there. Those lousy guys have lost 10 games to us this season, and they’re acting like that just because they’ve won two games.

“Lee, hit a cool home run! Crush their grinning faces!”

“Keep it down. Do you want to get reported for drinking during the day?”

McClory, cheering hard despite his friend’s grumbling, smiled contentedly when Derek got on base as the game started.

“Watch, Sanders. Lee’s going to show you something. You know? When the captain gets on base in the first inning, Lee always hits a home run right away. He’s so kind, he lets the captain come in comfortably so he doesn’t have to work hard-”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.”

McClory, who was watching the screen with expectant eyes even at Sanders’s appearance of answering roughly because he was too lazy to stop him now, and those with similar tendencies who occupied the store, shouted like a choir.

“He hit it! He hit it! F***, he hit it!”

“Huh?? Huh?? I didn’t see it- F***, what! He really hit it-”

Lee hit it. Sanders was sure that this lovely guy definitely knew his heart well.

The way he did everything he asked for made him feel like a god.

The home run came much earlier than expected. As Jungwoo’s figure, turning the base with an expression that it was nothing and slightly scanning the stands, appeared on the screen, the people in the pub, including McClory, nodded with a truly ecstatic expression.

Then, as the still-composed home crowd flashed across the screen, McClory pointed his finger at the screen, even though they couldn’t see him.

“Those, those, those, you X-sin bastards. They still don’t know their situation. They’ll have to taste one more to come to their senses?”

“This guy is subtly harboring selfish desires- Where’s one home run? Be satisfied with that much.”

“That’s why you can’t do it. You have to dream big. Look at Lee, how cool is he.”

“There’s no talking to you.”

Sanders, shaking his head, chuckled at the sight of the people around him, all showing similar reactions as if they had copied his longtime friend. Am I abnormal? Being among these abnormal guys, he even had such thoughts for a moment.

No, a home run isn’t just any dog’s name, it’s natural to be satisfied with just one. He himself was a heavy fan of the Braves, but these days there were many people who went beyond that-

[He hit it! Jungwoo Lee! It’s big! It’s flying straight!]

“He hit it again!”

“Solo home ruuuuun!”

“Huh? I didn’t see it this time either-”

“Yeeeeeeee!”

“A toast to Lee!”

“One more beer here! What’s with the measly 500cc? Give me two more glasses!”

Sanders, who had been digging into his food with his head down, raised his head again at the loud noise. Fortunately, he saw at least the replay this time. But he was annoyed by the fact that they were all excited and grinning among themselves.

“Why did you suddenly tell me to come to the pub, you bastard! If I had watched it alone at home, I would have seen both of them properly-”

“That’s all because you lack fandom, and you’ve been punished. You shouldn’t doubt Lee! You have to stick both eyes to the screen like me, even when you’re eating. Watch carefully from now on. One more will come out.”

Sanders was furious at his friend’s smug appearance, but he barely calmed down and fixed his gaze on the large TV screen. But honestly, he had doubts.

‘Even if it’s Lee. It’s hard to hit three, especially not in a home run stadium. But still, two might really be possible?’

As if his thoughts were correct, the people who had been shouting at Jungwoo, who was dismissed with a long hit that hit the fence in his third at-bat, sat quietly back in their seats as if they were embarrassed.

“You’re really going to get reported if you keep doing that. No, everyone’s doing it, so there’s no one to report it. And you said one more would definitely come out?”

“It’s because of the wind, because of the wind. The strong wind just happened to blow and the ball was pushed back.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.”

Sanders was convinced again by his friend’s nonsense. That he was normal and these guys were greedy.

It’s normal to be satisfied if you’ve seen two home runs in one game, not anything else. He himself was one of the Braves’ heavy fans, but these days there were many people who went beyond that-

[He hit it! Jungwoo Lee! It’s big! It’s flying straight!]

“He hit it again!”

“Solo home ruuuuun!”

“Huh? I didn’t see it this time either-”

“Yeeeeeeee!”

“A toast to Lee!”

“One more beer here! What’s with the measly 500cc? Give me two more glasses!”

Sanders, who had been digging into his food with his head down, raised his head again at the loud noise. Fortunately, he saw at least the replay this time. But he was annoyed by the fact that they were all excited and grinning among themselves.

“Why did you suddenly tell me to come to the pub, you bastard! If I had watched it alone at home, I would have seen both of them properly-”

“That’s all because you lack fandom, and you’ve been punished. You shouldn’t doubt Lee! You have to stick both eyes to the screen like me, even when you’re eating. Watch carefully from now on. One more will come out.”

Sanders was furious at his friend’s smug appearance, but he barely calmed down and fixed his gaze on the large TV screen. But honestly, he had doubts.

‘Even if it’s Lee. It’s hard to hit three, especially not in a home run stadium. But still, two might really be possible?’

As if his thoughts were correct, the people who had been shouting at Jungwoo, who was dismissed with a long hit that hit the fence in his third at-bat, sat quietly back in their seats as if they were embarrassed.

“You’re really going to get reported if you keep doing that. No, everyone’s doing it, so there’s no one to report it. And you said one more would definitely come out?”

“It’s because of the wind, because of the wind. The strong wind just happened to blow and the ball was pushed back.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.”

Sanders was convinced again by his friend’s nonsense. That he was normal and these guys were greedy.

It’s normal to be satisfied if you’ve seen two home runs in one game, not anything else.

“Tsk. I think one more will come out…”

“Just drink your beer. I think we’ll win the game too. Lee hit two home runs. That’s enough. You’re too greedy when it comes to Lee.”

McClory thought that he still lacked faith at Sanders’s words. But in fact, he wasn’t wrong, so he kept quiet.

And the game continued. Unlike the previous 1st and 2nd games. The game, as well as Jungwoo’s home run, flowed smoothly according to the Braves’ rhythm.

Of course, a large number of runs did not come out as expected, but thanks to Christensen’s pitching, which actively used appropriate additional points and defense, the gap gradually widened.

It was a great game where everything he wanted was achieved. But if there was anything a little disappointing, it was that Jungwoo also recorded a valuable (?) fence hit in the fourth at-bat in the 7th inning.

The people who had been shouting for the third home run sat back in their seats in the exact same way as in the previous at-bat. The beer and food quickly ran out in the game that passed quickly.

“Tsk. Still, he hit two more, so there’s still a possibility.”

“That’s true. I was a little worried, but after watching today’s game, his batting sense looks good.”

And the top of the 9th inning. In fact, the last attack. It was already 6 to 0, so it was safe to say that there would be no extra innings.

That’s why people were preparing to leave and packing their bags, and there were also those who were just dawdling like McClory, as if they were disappointed that they hadn’t seen one more.

“Isn’t there a chance it’ll connect to Lee?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Lee will just hit a home run there. Right?”

McClory, who had not given up his expectations despite his friend’s sarcasm, soon became elated.

“Look at this!”

“Huh? Huh?”

Because it really connected.

The batting order started from number 7. The lower batting order, who had been working hard in the game even though they had already taken the lead, did the job. A series of consecutive hits. Number 9 was unfortunately struck out. Derek recorded a sacrifice hit, calling in the runner on second base. He scored 1 point. In the top of the 9th inning, two outs of 7 to 0 went up. But now, the score and out count didn’t really matter.

Because it connected to him, as everyone had hoped.

In the top of the 9th inning, with a runner on second base, when Jungwoo came to the plate, the people who had been preparing to leave just a moment ago stuck their butts back on their chairs.

“Can he do it? It’s nothing for Lee to hit one more, right?”

“Keep it down a little. Let’s focus.”

Excited voice. McClory filled his eyes with expectations despite his friend’s annoyed retort. He would be able to do it.

‘Let’s go one more! Lee!’

He clenched both fists and shouted inwardly with all his might. The face of the opposing pitcher, who had turned white, was caught on the screen. Even Lee, who was staring intensely at him.

The showdown continued. Harsh curses for the pitcher who was dragging on the situation, cheers for Lee who was cutting it off as if he was retaliating.

He kept repeating that and watching the precarious showdown, so he ordered another beer because his throat was burning even though he was going to leave soon when the game was over.

And the last 9th pitch.

McClory saw it.

A situation where the world seemed to slow down. The bat of Jungwoo on the screen slowly moving. The moment the hypnosis was released. The cool hitting sound that flowed out from beyond the speaker hit his ears.

“He hit itaaaaaaack!”

He thought.

That’s why I like Lee.

The slump in the 1st and 2nd games. The challenge that had virtually flown away. In such a situation, when the fans were about to give up their expectations and only accumulate regrets, he always grabs their shoulders again like now.

Saying, ‘It’s not over yet?’

“Let’s gooooooooo!”

“Mets, get ready! Get ready!”

“Two left, you X-bullshit bastards!”

“What? You’re saying it’s impossible now? That it’s hard even for Lee? That I shouldn’t put pressure on the player for no reason? Eat X! You morons!”

The roars of the people who were already drunk even though it was still midday echoed inside the store, but there was no one who was embarrassed because there were more than thousands of such people in this city anyway.

The citizens on the street who glanced at them as they passed by willingly understood when they realized the reason. Three games left until the end of the first half. Now, there are only two home runs left until everyone’s wish.