Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 161

Dudududu―

“…I want to drink *makgeolli* [Korean rice wine] with green onion pancakes.”

As I sat blankly in the dugout, staring at the falling rain, Seungju sat down next to me.

“I told you to drink *makgeolli* back then.”

“That was then, and this is now.”

The rainy season seems particularly heavy this year. The frequency is also a bit much. I can’t even remember when I last saw sunny weather in the past week.

I remember it rained a lot last year too, but the reason I didn’t have much trouble adjusting my condition was largely because we played as many games as possible.

Even though it was to 맞춰 [match] the Premier 12 tournament schedule, there were many games that were forced even when they probably should have been canceled.

But this year, there’s none of that, and even if there were, the rain is too heavy to force games, so many games are inevitably postponed.

I acknowledge it. I do.

“Ah… another suspension.”

But isn’t this a bit too much?

I wanted to flip off the sky pouring rain, but I didn’t because I was afraid it would be caught on camera.

I just glared at the sky, spitting out rainwater with a deeply frowned face.

Ah, damn it.

“Let’s have Taeung pitch up to here. He might get hurt if he goes up again.”

“Ah… I understand.”

Interpreting the words coming from the corner of the dugout, it seems Taeung will be taken off the mound now that the game is suspended.

5 innings, 2 runs allowed.

How much would a pitcher’s heart ache to come down with only 1 inning left until a quality start?

But how much more would it hurt if the reason for being taken off is something he can’t control?

“Sigh….”

I looked at Taeung with pity as he couldn’t hide his gloomy expression and went in for icing, then looked at the situation on the field again.

Dududududududu―

The behavior in the Jamsil Stadium’s third base dugout and the first base dugout was very similar in the face of the relentless rain.

Just staring blankly at the pouring rain.

The only difference is that the first base side hopes the game ends as it is, while the opposite side hopes the game will resume, no matter how long they have to wait.

Fortunately, the Wonha Challengers are using the first base dugout of these two directions.

Thanks to that, rather than the opposing dugout,

“Do you really want *makgeolli* today of all days?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Asking me to drink on a rainy day is like saying, ‘You didn’t cherish rainy days,’ you know.”

“But that’s true.”

“What is.”

“If you cherished rainy days, then of course you’d want green onion pancakes and *makgeolli*, you know.”

“You boozehound.”

We were chatting in a relatively light atmosphere.

Of course, it wasn’t just lighthearted.

Heonhee and Gibum were talking about defense in rainy conditions.

Seonghyun and Giseong were talking about how to follow the pitcher’s ball in the limited visibility due to the rain.

Seungjin and Senior Eungu were talking about how to manage the soggy mound.

The team members were making good use of the idle time to somehow maintain their position as the league’s top team.

“Not drinking green onion pancakes and *makgeolli* when it’s raining? That’s not polite.”

Except for this guy.

Seungju was making a fuss, rattling the batting helmet on his head.

“But even though I like the combination of green onion pancakes and *makgeolli* the most… I feel like I’m going crazy because it’s raining so much this year.”

“Is there any alcohol combination that you don’t like, teacher?”

“Nope.”

“Is he crazy?”

Filtering out most of Seungju’s nonsense,

“But it’s raining too much.”

“That’s right….”

The one thing that this year it rains too much was a solid statement.

“Aren’t you preparing for the rain?”

“Is there anything to prepare for?”

“Why not? You can’t see the ball because of the rain when you’re batting, and the ground is a mess because of the rain.”

“I just watch the ball and hit it, what’s there to prepare.”

If you know him, this guy is also a natural talent.

He’s a baseball player with a fatal left wrist injury and still maintains his position despite the wrist not fully functioning.

When someone asked him what the secret to continuing to perform well despite this handicap was, Seungju replied that he just watches the ball and hits it.

Watch the ball and hit it.

The dream of all hitters and a creature like a giraffe in imagination was right here.

“Hey, think about it.”

“What.”

“Look, I’m standing at the plate like this. If I go out to bat now, the ground will be a mess.”

Seungju 벌떡 [suddenly] stood up from his seat and began to explain his logic, even demonstrating his batting stance.

Like he’s waiting with the bat on his shoulder, he puts both hands on his left shoulder.

Like he’s waiting with more weight on his left leg, he bends his left leg a bit.

Like his head bobs once as he shifts his weight and briefly floats before sinking, he bobs his head once.

The only thing that was different from usual was that he showed a slight slip the moment his right foot, symbolizing the weight shift, touched the ground.

“If the ground is like that, I don’t like it because it’s like this.”

“Because it slides all the way.”

“That’s right. If that happens, the point is created from behind.”

What? Then the stride is longer than I thought? Because of that, it might seem like an unexpected benefit at first glance.

But not at all, as Seungju said, the increase in the unwanted stride causes the hitting point to be created from behind.

The upper body maintains its original form, but the leg ‘only’ goes out further? Stand still and send one foot as far as possible while keeping your head still.

Yeah, it’s the same thing as this. It’s definitely not a benefit.

“It’s awful.”

“I guess so. I honestly don’t want to go up to the mound in that state either. When was it, last year or the year before? I almost got hurt once when I slipped.”

딱! [Thwack!]

“That’s right, that’s it.”

When I shared my actual experience, Seungju suddenly snapped his fingers and his eyes lit up.

“What is it?”

“The conditions are the same anyway. If I’m in a shitty situation, the pitcher is also in a shitty situation.”

To put Seungju’s story in reverse, if I, as a pitcher, feel like I’m in a shitty situation, the batter facing me in the same place is also feeling shitty.

“I’m using that. This doesn’t always apply, but pitchers tend to be cautious when it rains.”

“Cautious… right, right.”

“First of all, the condition of the place where the front foot touches is awful. We just don’t hit it, but it’s different for pitchers, right?”

“It’s different. It’s a headache if the front foot shakes and they get hit.”

“That’s right. It’s already a game where the batter is much more advantageous, but if you fight while taking additional advantages here, your win rate will naturally increase.”

No matter how well a batter hits, it’s .300. No matter how successful a batter is, it’s .400.

Based on experience and data, Seungju always confidently emphasized content that many people would disagree with.

As I’ve known Seungju for a long time, I’ve realized that this is not an expression of Seungju’s confidence.

Rather, it’s closer to the source of Seungju’s confidence.

“I still can’t get used to it every time I hear it. That the batter is advantageous or whatever.”

“Ah, you. I’m telling you it’s true.”

Baseball is a game where the batter is advantageous.

Seungju’s claim is very simple yet surprisingly profound.

“I told you, we just don’t hit it and that’s it.”

“But if you think about it that way, we just give up a run and that’s it, too?”

“You lose the game if you give up a run.”

“Hey, it’s the same if you guys can’t score and lose the game.”

“No, we don’t lose.”

When we somehow managed to stop them but the lineup couldn’t score,

“It’s a tie.”

The extreme score becomes 0 to 0.

“And the only way a batter loses is by getting out. But the ways a pitcher loses are hits, walks, hit by pitches, errors, etc. There are so many more.”

How can the logic be so arbitrary?

“I don’t force this on other people, you know.”

“You’re doing it now.”

“Ah, you. I’m just telling you because it’s you.”

Is he crazy?

Even though he said he wouldn’t force it, Seungju continued to passionately present his theory.

Some people might listen and think, ‘Oh, is that so?’ while others might listen and point fingers, saying, ‘That’s nonsense!’

With my personality that usually respects other people’s opinions, I had a debate with Seungju and exchanged opinions.

I can’t just dismiss it as simple nonsense or ridiculous talk because Seungju is a guy who has done a lot of research and gone through a lot of thought experiments.

Above all,

“You must have thought about it too. ‘Ah, I’m so good because of this,’ something like that.”

The fact that I can express it as the source of confidence rather than the expression of confidence felt like a bigger merit than anything else.

Regardless of where that source originated, the fact that he is actually performing well with that confidence is a fact.

“I do have that kind of thought.”

“That’s it, you.”

Although the grain is very different, I also have a similar kind of confidence.

Control.

When evaluating me, they apply elite-level standards in many aspects, but I still think my foundation is in control.

Strong velocity, outsmarting the opponent, many breaking balls, they’re all important. They are important. But the foundation to actually execute these is, without a doubt, control.

“If you have just one thought like this, your mindset will change drastically when you go out there. ‘Ah, I’m not just dying without thinking.'”

As Seungju said, if I had just met the system and blindly increased my velocity and power, would I have been able to achieve my current results?

“You said it too, a pitcher without control is the most useless pitcher.”

The answer is ‘no’.

“So, look closely. I’ll show you how this *hyung-nim* [older brother/respected senior] uses this theory in practice.”

Thumbs up!

The guy showed his thumb once and then climbed up the dugout stairs.

Wow-!!

The umpires came out again, the tarpaulin was removed, and the opposing team’s defensive formation reappeared.

Fifth batter, Yoon!! Seung!! Ju!!

Seungju, who entered the left-handed batter’s box to resume the game that had been suspended for a long time in the bottom of the fifth inning, glared at the opposing pitcher with a physique that was quite small for an athlete.

The opposing pitcher, who had returned to the mound after a long break, kept refusing the signs as if trying to buy time in trivial ways.

The batter might be annoyed in a situation where the rain hasn’t completely stopped,

Go ahead.

Seungju’s profile had a unique, not unpleasant smirk.

Perhaps, according to Seungju’s logic, he thinks that the pitcher is the one who will be at a disadvantage no matter how much time he buys.

Here, Seungju,

“Time.”

“Time-!”

Punished the pitcher who was deliberately stalling for time by lightly raising his left hand towards the umpire on his left.

Punishment?

Giving more time than necessary to a pitcher who was trying to take the lead in his own way is like punishment. Because thoughts become excessive.

Since he had obtained a time-out, Seungju stepped out of the batter’s box and swung his bat a few times before returning to the batter’s box.

Whether the pitcher had finished preparing during that timing, the signs were quickly decided this time.

The pitcher’s expression couldn’t be seen properly because of the rain, and Seungju’s face couldn’t be seen properly because of the direction of the batter’s box and the dugout.

In the midst of that, the moment the pitcher’s right leg was raised, his right foot touched the ground, and his left hand stretched forward, it seemed like the event one second later was visible.

“…He’s gone.”

따악-! [Crack!]