Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 98

Slider.

A breaking ball that flies at a speed similar to a fastball, with an angle that isn’t too large but has the sharpest break.

There’s a rumor that it starts moving 60cm in front of home plate, but that’s nonsense.

“Gyu-hak, do you remember?”

“Remember what?”

“You know… the slider you threw when you struck out Lee Won-woong.”

The main concept of a slider is ‘sharpness.’ The angle doesn’t need to be huge. The speed doesn’t need to be incredibly fast.

But one thing, it must break ‘sharply.’ If you can manage that one thing, you can go anywhere and be known for throwing a decent slider.

“Yes, I remember.”

“It was a bit different, right?”

“Hmm….”

The slider, which was so bad that I decided to seal it away, became somewhat decent after Hyun-jin taught me the knack.

And from there, I see a clue to take it one step further, a little more improvement.

“It… moved a lot to the side, didn’t it? More than usual.”

“Right?”

“I thought you threw it wrong, Hyung [older brother or respected male figure].”

“I did throw it wrong.”

“Ah, you’re not going to throw it like that later?”

“No, I’m going to throw it like that. I don’t remember the feeling very well.”

“Huh?”

Gyu-hak, with wide eyes, took off his mitt.

“Really? Is there any good in throwing a slider to the side?”

“Dropping it down is good, but that’s for pitchers who don’t have other breaking balls.”

Even if you throw the same breaking ball, a ball with vertical movement is better than horizontal movement.

Because eyes that are torn left and right are more vulnerable to up and down movements than left and right.

“Since I have a curve and a splitter, I don’t think there’s much need to drop the slider vertically.”

But to use that as an excuse, I already have several breaking balls with vertical movement.

A curve that drops from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. A splitter that aims for a straight vertical drop.

A changeup can be included here, but the movement to the right is obvious, and a sinker goes straight in that direction.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon the old slider. There’s no harm in having many breaking balls to throw, right?”

Here, I realized the power of a breaking ball that goes to the left.

“…Coming up with signs is going to be a headache again.”

“Consider it the fault of having a great brother.”

I can hear Gyu-hak complaining about a headache from here.

“So, let’s play catch. Just a little bit.”

“Yes… sure.”

There’s still some time left until Jun-hyuk’s session, who’s starting today. I wanted to use this spare time effectively.

Gyu-hak, who had put the catcher’s mitt aside, put it back on his left hand and moved away to a suitable distance. He started to loosen his shoulder by throwing a few fastballs lightly.

Thwack!

Pop!

A pleasant sound of the ball hitting the mitt echoed through Daegu Stadium. While leisurely playing catch, my rapidly beating heart began to calm down.

The cooling of my mental state greatly helped in recalling yesterday’s memory. Thinking slowly about what grip I had, how I threw it,

“Slider!”

I tried to imitate yesterday’s slider.

Thwack!

“How is it?”

“Not yet. It feels like the original one.”

“Again!”

Pop!

Thwack!

Bang!

The only advantage of throwing a ball at a person instead of a target is that you can get immediate feedback on the ball you threw.

“How is it?”

“Not yet?”

“Damn it.”

After receiving unsatisfactory feedback, the catch was temporarily stopped. I placed my hand near the release point and drew pictures, moving it this way and that.

Like this?

Pop!

“Oh, that’s good now!”

“How does it break?”

“Like this, this way.”

Gyu-hak drew the trajectory he had seen with the ball he hadn’t thrown to me yet. The movement clearly had a horizontal change added.

A very slight angle adjustment.

If even a slight deviation occurs in the long distance of flight, it will be a complete mess at the end.

Let’s use that mess.

Thwack!

“Okay, that’s enough.”

“What about your elbow? Does it hurt?”

“Well… I don’t think there’s any damage. It’s not like I’m throwing it with a big break.”

The twisting or bending of the wrist to throw a slider has been known to have a significant negative impact on the elbow.

Nevertheless, the reason why pitchers couldn’t give up the slider was because it had the power to throw despite all this damage.

The slider, which was thrown at the cost of the elbow’s lifespan, brought pitchers a price, whether it was a swing and a miss or a called strike.

But as time passed and new theories emerged, sliders that didn’t have a big impact on the elbow were developed, which was like giving pitchers new wings.

Gyu-hak, laboriously, finished the catch with me and immediately went to the bullpen to help Jun-hyuk’s session.

One look at Jun-hyuk’s pitching, and one look at the scoreboard.

Taking appropriate intervals, he grasped the structure of the ranking competition.

“Sangsoo won yesterday too.”

“Hmm….”

Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin, who was sitting next to me, added a word.

Annoying.

It seems like we’re about to catch up, but we can’t. The remaining opportunities are slowly dropping to the late 20s.

“…Ah, I suddenly had an uneasy thought.”

“Why?”

“Was it the year before last? The time we decided 4th place in the last game of the season.”

“You think it’ll be like that this year too?”

“I’m uneasy.”

“Don’t set up a flag [jinx it by talking about it].”

I should make a silly face when I see Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin making a fed-up expression.

The strong sense of unease that hit my head made me make a similar expression to Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin.

* * *

Week 1 of hellish away games. We took all 3 wins from Gaya, and got a winning series of 2 wins and 1 loss from KP.

And Week 2 of hellish away games. Similarly, 2 wins and 1 loss from Hanseong, and 2 wins and 1 loss from Seongun, who we invaded on the weekend.

“Go easy on us. We’re in a hurry too, you bastard.”

“Are you guys in a hurry? We’re in a hurry.”

After celebrating the victory in Sunday’s game, I had a chance to chat with Woo-suk for a while.

It seems that Seongun, who is chasing Dongseong in 3rd place after somewhat sorting out the 4th place fight, feels quite regretful about the record of 2 wins and 1 loss.

“Ah… why can’t we catch up.”

The Wonha Challengers’ record for the long period of 2 weeks is 9 wins and 3 losses. If you add a winning percentage of just over 60% to a record of 75%, you should definitely be over the 1st place line…….

“They’re strong. Sangsoo.”

“Haa… why didn’t you guys catch them? What, is it your fault?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Game difference remains at 1 game.

What are Sangsoo eating to play baseball so strongly?

“Catch them a bit.”

“We want to catch them so badly, too.”

After crushing the empty coffee can, I threw it into the can recycling bin.

Clang!

“Are you even a pitcher doing that?”

“Corner work, you bastard, corner work [referring to precise pitching].”

“You’re talking nonsense again.”

“Did you get struck out by corner work again today, teacher?”

“…….”

I got up from my seat and picked up the can that had been thrown on the floor again. After slamming a strong dunk shot that made the plastic container sway, I sat down.

“Did you change your slider?”

“How was it?”

The last process of Woo-suk getting struck out by me today was a backdoor slider coming in from far outside.

The stupid expression he makes when he expects it to drop instead of curve, and then sees it coming in at the end, is really,

“It was good.”

It’s incredibly satisfying.

“But that’s not enough.”

“I know.”

“No. Not your record or anything.”

“Then what?”

“Hae-jin.”

The name of Park Hae-jin popped out of nowhere. My teeth instinctively grinded.

“You didn’t forget your personal goal, did you?”

“I’ll never forget it. How can I forget that?”

“How can you forget that? What is this, a song lyric?”

“Do you see the talent of a songwriter?”

“Are you retiring?”

“Sorry.”

The banter between friends made both of them smile.

“Isn’t it hard?”

“What?”

“Your body.”

“…It hurts.”

“As you get older, your velocity is also increasing. You must be hurting more.”

“…….”

At the timing when I had to answer something, my eyes glanced slightly to the right.

“That’s how it is.”

“Yeah. That’s how it is.”

“Don’t say anything emotional without rhyme or reason.”

“Just. I’ve been having these thoughts lately. Should I retire after filling only 4 years?”

“Why?”

“It hurts.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere.”

The ankle that was broken by being hit by his own batted ball. The ribs that were broken while attempting a diving catch. And so on.

My friend, who has been rolling in the same field for 12 years like me, is also starting to creak.

“My thoughts might change again next year. Like other seniors, I might say, ‘Please accept me, even if I get the minimum salary.’ What about you?”

“I have to win the Korean Series at least once before I retire, right?”

“Are you going to be a baseball player until you die?”

“Are you crazy?”

I wanted to slap the back of his head, which was chuckling, but I barely held back.

“Ah, did you hear that Gyu-jin hyung [older brother or respected male figure] is getting married?”

“I heard.”

It’s time to finish the chat and go back to Seoul. I got up from my seat and dropped old information.

“What about you?”

“Me, well….”

Hehe.

“I have to do it too.”

I want to go up quickly and see Min-young.

“We were just friends for 2 years, but surprisingly, we might get married quickly?”

“I haven’t really talked about it, but… I’m thinking of doing it at the end of next year.”

“That’s good.”

He followed me to where the bus was and saw me off.

“So, what about you?”

“Me, what?”

“I’m asking if you have any news separately.”

“I don’t know.”

The ardent fan of MBS’s main announcer, announcer Gu Hyun-jung, gave an awkward smile.

“But there’s been some progress. I’m going to meet her for a meal soon.”

“Do well, you too.”

Clap!

The 15-year-old friends shook hands once and parted.

“What were you talking about for so long?”

“We were talking about this and that.”

Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin approached as I was sitting by the window and waving at Woo-suk. Then, like me, he waved his hand out the window.

When Woo-suk’s figure was no longer visible, Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin took out his J-pad as a habit.

He opened it familiarly and tapped, tapped, opened several windows and started writing things in his notebook.

“The season is already coming to an end.”

“How many games do we have left, 20 games?”

“19 games.”

If it was a normal flow, it would end in 16 games, but we had to include the games that were pushed back due to rain delays.

Tada, dak!

Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin, who hit the keypad refreshingly and opened several windows at the same time, held out the J-pad.

“Look.”

What Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] Gyu-jin showed me was our Wonha’s remaining schedule and Sangsoo Tigers’ schedule.

“I told you that before. Don’t set up a flag [jinx it by talking about it].”

“Oh… did you?”

“You said that in Daegu. Something about the last game with Sangsoo.”

“Ah, I did.”

“You, don’t go around talking carelessly. You’ll die.”

“…….”

All games are important to us, who are in the middle of a ranking fight, but the last 2 games seemed much more important than the previous 17 games.

Maintain.

First, what we have to aim for during the 17 games is to maintain the current winning percentage and the current game difference.

“But it’s cool.”

“What?”

“The one who laughs last.”

“Are you a pervert?”

“I guess.”

“Crazy bastard.”

And to finish coolly by winning all the last two games.

During the two hours going up to Seoul, everyone was asleep, but Hyung [older brother or respected male figure] and I were whispering and making plans for the future.