Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 35

The head umpire held his hands parallel to his shoulders, signaling that the home run touch came before the out. Gyu-hak didn’t show any disappointment. He immediately checked 3rd and 2nd base to ensure the runners were secured.

After confirming their positions, he immediately called time and gestured a square towards our dugout, signaling for a video review.

“Was it early?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t see clearly from my position because the umpire was blocking my view. The timing looked like a bang-bang play [a very close play], so it was ambiguous. But if Gyu-hak said it was early, then it was.

As the video review was accepted, the umpires put on their headsets, connecting to the media center. Dramatic music began to play throughout the stadium.

In one corner of the electronic display board, the phrase “Video Review in Progress…” appeared. The center of the screen replayed the showdown at home plate.

“…I don’t know.”

“Pardon?”

“Is it just the camera angle?”

I wasn’t the only one who thought so. It took quite a while for the head umpire to remove his headset. The time remaining for the video review was counting down on the bottom right of the electronic display board, exceeding one minute.

If a conclusion isn’t reached within two minutes, the original call stands. If that happens, our team will give up a run, and my quest will fail.

As the clock passed 1 minute 30 seconds, then 1 minute 40 seconds, and approached 1 minute 50 seconds, the head umpire took off his headset, walked towards home plate, and clenched his fist.

“Yes!”

“Hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh!!”

Admiration for Sung-hyun, who made an assist from the outfield with his strong arm, and for Gyu-hak, who blocked the score with a great play!

Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh―!!

But this was an away stadium. Naturally, the home fans seemed displeased and poured out jeers. However, a call overturned by video review cannot be challenged again.

“Hey, what’s your velocity?”

“It’s been a while since I quit pitching, but I can still throw 145 kmph [approximately 90 mph].”

Son of a bitch.

After I showered praise on the great defense, all I got in return was mockery.

I cursed inwardly and sat in the bullpen, watching our team’s offense.

The batting order, starting with the 4th batter, tried to build momentum. After the leadoff hitter got on base with a hit, they replaced him with pinch runner Gi-beom. But the atmosphere shifted slightly due to a pickoff [when a baserunner is caught off base by the pitcher or catcher].

The disappointment grew when Seung-joo hit a single to center field but was then put out.

Sung-hoon hyung’s [hyung is a Korean term used by males to refer to older male friends or brothers] double play that followed was unfortunate. He battled through seven pitches, but the ball he tapped went straight to the pitcher.

It’s okay.

We may not have scored, but we also didn’t give up any runs. Two points. If we hold them for one more inning, it’s a save. We win.

I picked up my glove and headed to the mound.

How many times has it been?

The thought suddenly came to mind as I swept the pitcher’s plate with my foot, but I immediately pushed it aside.

I looked at the electronic display board. The inning starts with the 4th batter since it ended with a double play from the 3rd batter. The 4th batter is first baseman Bae Deok-hyun. Until two years ago, he was an extremely tough hitter for me.

No, well… it would be harder to find a hitter who *wasn’t* extremely tough against me, but he stood out in particular. His career batting average against me was probably… 60%, maybe 70%.

But last year it was 0%. From last year on, my performance declined, and my head-to-head record against Bae Deok-hyun also fell apart.

Ah, that’s a joke Myung-jin would like.

Play!

Although the hamstring injury has healed, the mental burden seems to remain. His already slow running speed has decreased even further. So, Gi-sung and the infielders all seem to have retreated as much as possible. Inducing a ground ball would be ideal, if possible.

“Strike!”

“Strike!”

Is it because the strategy has changed from when Kim Wook was managing? I threw sliders and fastballs from the first pitch, but he didn’t bite and took two strikes. But the problem starts here. It’s a 0-2 count, but I can’t decide what to throw.

Inside fastball, outside sinker, splitter bounce, changeup that barely catches.

I nodded at the fourth option.

Tick―

“Foul!”

It was a changeup that dropped a little more than I expected, but he managed to touch it, maintaining the count with a foul. I want to throw one more slow pitch. After shaking my head a few times, a sign came out that seemed okay: a low curveball.

Ttak―!

Waaaaa―!!

He pulled the low ball with force, and it zipped past Gi-sung like a bullet. It was a hit that even Park Hae-jin, known for his defensive skills, couldn’t have stopped, let alone Gi-sung, who lacks defense.

Fortunately, despite being a ball that went down the line, he stopped at 1st base due to his lack of speed.

Then, of course, Lee Jung-eun, a pinch runner specialist who had been waiting, took over at 1st base. The way he was loosening his hips after stepping on 1st base was a clear declaration of his intention to steal 2nd base no matter what.

The 5th batter appeared: Choi Joo-young. He’s a hitter with a similar feel to Bae Deok-hyun, but overall, he seems a notch below. If I focus on getting one out first, without being greedy for a double play, it’ll be easier.

“Foul!”

“Foul―”

“Ball.”

“Foul!”

I’ve gained a slight advantage in the count for now.

“Safe―”

I saw the sign and twisted my body as I went into the set position. I didn’t really intend to pick him off, and Gi-sung seemed to have a similar thought, as he didn’t even bother to tag and returned the ball to me.

I checked the sign again. Runner on 1st base with no outs and a fast runner. But he hasn’t shown any significant movement after throwing four balls earlier. Is he not running? If he’s thinking of running, he should be showing more urgency.

Toodak!

“Swing, swing!”

At the splitter sign, Gyu-hak buried the pitch in the dirt as intended, and the batter’s bat was ambiguously dragged out. The batter protested that he didn’t swing, but the head umpire came out and acknowledged the swing without even consulting the 1st base umpire.

Even though it was a bouncing ball, Gyu-hak blocked it cleanly, dropping the ball right in front of him, so there was no way the 1st base runner could advance to 2nd base.

He picked up the ball and postured as if he was going to throw to 2nd base, which looked cool.

I clapped and waited for the next batter. Han Chang-min appeared in the left batter’s box.

Ah, what’s with the annoying left-right-left [referring to alternating left-handed and right-handed batters] lineup.

I glanced behind me and saw the fielders busily adjusting their defensive positions. I fiddled with the rosin bag to buy some time and looked at the signs.

“Ball!”

“Foul!”

“Ball!”

“Strike!”

What is it?

A strange feeling came not from the batter but from the runner while throwing four balls.
The runner didn’t take any action while I threw four balls. Considering Choi Joo-young’s at-bat just before, it felt different from when he was making a fuss when he first came up.

I guess he doesn’t really intend to run. Let’s just focus on the batter.

“He’s running!!”

The ball that was thrown so carelessly,

“Ball!”

became a ball,

“Safe!”

and became a stepping stone for the runner to advance one more base for free.

I received the ball from Sung-moon and raised my palm as soon as I touched the plate, showing Gyu-hak that I was sorry.

This is my responsibility. I was too complacent.

The runner is the runner, and the batter is the batter.

Gi-sung’s scream, which reached me at the same time as the runner’s start, unconsciously made Gyu-hak throw the ball to a place where it was easy to throw to 2nd base: high and outside. It was a kind of pitch-out [an intentional ball thrown high and outside of the strike zone to allow the catcher to throw out a runner attempting to steal], and that point was a ball zone no matter what.

That’s how the count became 3-2. However, the current situation isn’t necessarily unconditionally disadvantageous. If necessary, I can throw it with the thought that I can load 1st base. Of course, if that really happens, it will be a headache.

Gyu-hak seems to have the same thought, as the sign that came out was a bouncing forkball.

There are a lot of forkballs today.

Whoosh―!

“Swing!”

It’s a splitter sent by that gentleman over there.

Han Chang-min responded with a wild swing at the bouncing ball, and Gyu-hak skillfully blocked it.

As soon as the bat missed, Han Chang-min threw the bat away and started running to 1st base.

Gyu-hak didn’t throw to 1st base right away, but checked the 2nd base runner once and then continued to check the 2nd base runner while deciding whether to throw to 1st base or not, and then quickly threw to 1st base.

“Three! [Out]”

The 2nd base runner, who confirmed that the ball had definitely left the catcher’s hand, started for 3rd base at the same time, and Gi-sung immediately threw the ball to 3rd base.

Bang―!

“Safe!”

It was safe, but it’s okay. Because it’s safe at 2nd base. It seemed that he was only thinking of timing it purely, as he only started and then immediately returned to 2nd base, and Sung-hoon hyung, who received the ball at 3rd base, threw it to 2nd base quickly, but it was a slightly late safe.

Our infielders, who are usually trained with fast rundowns, showed a scene of barely matching the timing even if they only started. Amazing!

I received the ball that Sung-moon threw and stood on the plate again. 7th batter Yoon Hyun-jung. It’s right to be careful up to the 7th batter because he knows how to swing the bat to some extent.

It’s okay for the 2nd base runner to score on a hit. I don’t want to tie the score with an unexpected home run. Either way, the quest failure is confirmed, but in the former case, I can block the next one, but in the latter case, I have to score and block the next one. The difficulty itself is different.

“Time!”

Time―!

“Why?”

Gyu-hak called time out of the blue and came up. It was so out of the blue that the word “why?” came out naturally.

“Um… how should I pitch him?”

“Do you do this to other pitchers too?”

“No. But I think I need to get confirmation from you and give a sign to hyung.”

“Did you outsource it? If you’re going to get confirmation, get it from the manager, why me?”

“Ah, hyung.”

“…Let’s just not give up a home run. A triple is okay too.”

“Yes.”

Whether he understood the vague words perfectly, he went back to home and sat down after a short conversation. This time, he glanced at Yoon Hyun-jung’s batting stance, who was standing in the right batter’s box again, and the first sign that came out was a slider that fell to the outside from the first pitch.

It’s okay to load the bases.

The ball that was thrown with that in mind,

Ttak―!

was well hit and split the gap between 1st and 2nd base. A hit that went right through the middle of the widened gap between 1st and 2nd base to cover the 2nd base runner and Gi-sung, who was sticking to the line. I could see Sung-hyun running towards the rolling ball again.

Habits are really scary. Even while saying something inside, my body was already running behind home plate.

When I reached the backup area, the scene from the previous inning momentarily overlapped.

I think it was like this before too.

The way Sung-hyun throws the ball is exactly the same as before. Gyu-hak, who received the ball in the same way, blocks the runner in the same way.

Chwaak―!

Ttak―!

Unlike before, I could see it clearly this time because it wasn’t blocked by the head umpire: the sight of Gyu-hak’s mitt tagging the runner’s side.

“Awoo-ooh-oot!”

Ting―!

[The Dignity of the Bullpen Ace]

– Prevent a bases-loaded situation with no outs from scoring. (1/1)

– Reward ― Curve +2

Control ― Top

Power ― Medium

Stamina ― Low

Four-seam ― 57

Curve ― 46+2=48

Slider ― 34

Splitter ― 40

Changeup ― 45

Sinker ― 43

Characteristic

Detachment ― I’m okay with any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort ― Makes the opposing batter feel uncomfortable when looking at the pitcher in the batter’s box.

The head umpire expressed his joy at finally being able to go home with a confident posture. That’s the same with our team. Walk-off assist [an assist that ends the game]. I immediately ran to Gyu-hak and put him in a headlock, and high-fives between teammates followed.

“Ah, hyung, stop giving up so many hits.”

“Are you going to pitch?”

“Should I try?”

“Sorry.”

This guy is also a naturally talented baseball player, so if he decides to pitch, he’ll probably dominate again. When I showed a slight sense of caution, he smiled and held out his glove.

Clack!

And the gloves met in the air.

* * *

A lineup that doesn’t have great explosiveness but has its own cohesion, base running is league average or above, except for a few starting members. The defense is top-ranked in the league.

Anyone would think it’s a pretty good team. If you only look at the fielders. Then let’s take a look at the pitching staff of this team.

The 1st and 2nd starters are still 건재 [geonjae – in good shape/doing well], and the 3rd starter is gradually improving. The 4th starter still showed a somewhat erratic appearance, but he was somehow eating up the innings themselves.

What about the bullpen?

The player who can be said to be the best bullpen pitcher not only at the team level but also at the league level last year, after hitting the FA [free agent] jackpot, was satisfying the fans and the club by showing more than the value of his money.

But that’s all. That’s all.

The two bullpen pitchers brought in through external recruitment were not doing well. One’s batting average against him was rising sharply, and the other’s pitches weren’t even going into the strike zone. The remaining bullpen pitchers, who were originally there, were also showing the same 모습 [moseup – appearance/state] as last year.

About a month after the season opened: 10 wins and 20 losses. Last place in the league.

The team was failing despite the starting pitchers’ average ERA [earned run average] being 1st in the league, and the Mr. Zero bullpen ace who hasn’t allowed a single point since the season opened.

Ttak―!

“…Aish. It’s ruined.”

Hyuk-joon blocked it with 113 pitches for 7 innings and then went on the mound in the 8th, allowing a walk to the leadoff hitter, but after striking out all three batters, it seemed that the 4-point lead would be solidified as it was, but,

Ttak―!

Waaaaa―!!

No way.

There’s a famous saying: What falls has no wings. No, I dare to argue. We are different. There *are* wings. There are wings. The problem is that there are *only* wings.

Negligence, discord, insincerity, well, roughly those kinds of words. If the results were 점철된 [jeomcheoldwen – riddled/replete] with those words, wouldn’t it be more comfortable? Because I only have to 조지 [jojihada – to screw over/punish] that bastard.

But I couldn’t bring myself to do that because of the tears shed by the people involved in this result. Because it didn’t feel like someone else’s business. Because it was no different from my story two years ago. Because I know that feeling better than anyone else.

“It’s okay! It’s okay, you 새꺄 [saekkya – son of a bitch/jerk]! Why are you crying! You can give up a few hits!”

All the leader of the pitching group could do was cheer and encourage.

What falls may not have wings, but it may only have wings.

Even this thought was becoming a mess. Who is the wing and who is the main body? The sense of alienation between the head, where the subject and object were reversed, and the face that had to pretend to tell the truth was great.