Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 162

As the new inning began, Seung-ju scored a run and circled the bases leisurely with a smile that looked like the Korean letter ‘ㅎ’ [similar to a wide grin].

“Oh… looking good.”

The way he raised his right hand towards the pouring rain, celebrating, was quite impressive.

I eagerly stood up to welcome him back to the dugout. Not just me, but our teammates also stood up to greet Seung-ju at the dugout entrance.

Yeeeey!

Kill it, just kill it!

Seung-ju hyung [older brother/respected senior], this is for you!

Returning to the dugout, drenched, Seung-ju received a variety of welcomes, each reflecting a teammate’s personality.

Myung-jin simply raised both hands and cheered, as usual.

Hoon tapped his helmet with the bat knob.

Hyuk-jun playfully kicked Seung-ju’s butt.

Well, I understood Hyuk-jun’s feelings.

And the finale, of course,

“Eeeeey, click!”

Click!

A selfie ceremony.

Having navigated all sorts of challenges to reach me, Seung-ju still wore that ‘ㅎ’-like smile and gave me a…

Thumbs up!

“Did you see that?”

“What is it, old man?”

“Ah, you little… Have you already forgotten? Didn’t I tell you I’d show you how this hyung puts theory into practice?”

And as his thumb pointed to the ground, the TMI [Too Much Information] began.

“Hey, look. My right foot, uh? I could feel it slipping when it touched here. So, you know what I did? Originally, I used to stride like this, right? But this time…”

“That’s enough, teacher.”

“Ah, no fun.”

Why does he always say that?

“Hey, old man. It’s good for you to hear, you know?”

“So, what is?”

“I’m not a pitcher, so I can’t tell you how to throw when it rains, but for batters, you see…”

“Yes, teacher. Please, tell me.”

I guess it was worth asking.

“Actually, they’re not as sensitive to the ground conditions as pitchers are.”

“Well… isn’t that so?”

The pitcher has to throw as hard and accurately as possible to prevent the batter from getting a good hit.

The batter just needs to make contact, no matter how they swing. As long as it goes far, it doesn’t matter where it goes.

The lower body is the foundation of all movement, and the pitcher is more affected if the ground is unstable.

“But when it comes to vision, it’s actually more important for the batter.”

The batter has to pick out objects flying at incredible speeds and somehow hit them.

The pitcher just needs to get the ball over the plate, no matter how they throw. As long as it’s a strike, it doesn’t matter how it gets there.

Regardless of movement or anything else, the batter’s vision is naturally more restricted by the rain.

“But if they can manage to hit it, the batter is much more advantageous. Because vision is just as important for the fielders.”

The fielder has to deal with obstructed vision like the batter and the slippery ground like the pitcher.

The batter’s chances of success increase dramatically as long as they put the ball in play, no matter how. As long as it goes far, it doesn’t matter where it goes.

“If what you’re saying is true… doesn’t that mean I’m screwed?”

“Why?”

“You said it’s a game that’s already advantageous for the batter. But according to your logic, even this situation is disadvantageous for the pitcher, right?”

If it’s already a game that favors the batter, and the pitcher and batter each receive two and one debuffs, respectively, then the pitcher is even more disadvantaged.

Just as I was thinking, ‘Is he trying to psych me out before the game even starts?’ Seung-ju poked my left chest with his finger.

“Hey, why do you think I’m telling you this?”

“Hey, would I be asking if I knew?”

“The reason I’m telling you this is because you’re very different from other pitchers.”

“Different… am I?”

“You are. You’re one of the few pitchers who gets to call your own pitches and throw the way you want.”

“Hmm… so?”

“Just remember one thing when you’re planning your pitch selection: vision. If you use this vision properly, you’ll end the inning cleanly with three strikeouts.”

A pitch selection that utilizes vision?

I slowly considered what Seung-ju had told me and began to plan my strategy for pitching in the rain.

Like this? Like that? What about this?

I was staring blankly at the ground for a while when…

“Han-wool, get ready.”

“Ah, yes.”

I jumped up at the sound of my name.

Picking up the glove hanging on the railing, I stared blankly at the ground as I headed to the bullpen.

“Rain….”

The rain was still pouring down heavily, though not so much that we couldn’t play.

“Vision….”

The heavy rain was clearly obstructing the players’ vision.

“Sigh….”

It would have been nice if this was Gocheok Dome [an indoor baseball stadium].

Longing for the underground bullpen of the new stadium, I opened the bullpen door of Jamsil Stadium.

As soon as I stepped out of the dugout, the rain began to pelt me, and my hat, uniform, shoes, and even my glove began to darken.

Squish, squish, I stepped on the excessively moist soil and stood behind the pitcher’s plate.

I turned my waist, loosened my knees, loosened my hamstrings, loosened my shoulders, and raised my head to loosen my neck, and at that moment…

Thud, thud, thud!

“Aish, seriously.”

I felt resentful towards the sky for hitting my face with its ultimate move.

Is this the god of water or something?

I prepared to pitch, forcibly and repeatedly raising my body temperature, which refused to rise due to the constant barrage of the cold liquid called ‘rain.’

I ran around the bullpen for no reason, and I also tried stretching while making groaning noises against the wall.

“Gun-yeong-ahhhhh.”

“Yes!”

When I judged that the amount of sweat on my body was greater than the rainwater, I immediately called Gun-yeong.

Gun-yeong, wearing a catcher’s mask with stubborn raindrops clinging to it, appeared and stood behind home plate without me having to say another word.

A drop of water bounced off the brim of my hat and poked me in the eye, so…

“Agh.”

I vented my anger once.

“First, fastball.”

“Fastball!”

When it’s hot, I suffer from overheating, but on days like this, I suffer from my body temperature cooling down too quickly.

As soon as the rosin powder, turned yellow by the rain, soaked into the baseball,

Whoosh!

I started pitching without delay and began warming up.

Gun-yeong’s mitt, like my body, uniform, glove, and mentality, was soaked in the rain, and the sound of the catch was unusual.

It seemed like it would be a tough outing today, but when I received the ball that Gun-yeong threw back to me, those thoughts disappeared.

How should I pitch today? What concept should I go with today? Who will I face today?

“Vision….”

I don’t know about anything else, but at least one concept has already been decided, so this part doesn’t give me a headache.

“…How?”

However, interpreting a very difficult keyword is even more of a headache.

I stood with my weight on one leg behind the pitcher’s plate and stared at Gun-yeong. And I decided to imagine a batter standing next to him.

How long had I been standing still, staring at the imaginary batter?

Thud, thud, thud—

The sound of raindrops hitting the brim of my hat was particularly loud.

I watched as the moisture that the brim of my hat couldn’t hold dripped down in front of my face and unconsciously looked up.

And then,

Plop!

“Ugh!”

I flinched greatly as a drop of water hit my eyeball directly.

“Agh… oh?”

I was about to get angry again, but then I unconsciously looked up at the sky again, struck by a thought.

And then,

Plop!

“Aish….”

I got hit again.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

Gun-yeong, worried that the pitcher he was temporarily working with was out of his mind, got up from his seat for a moment, staring blankly at the sky and hurting himself, staring blankly at the sky and cursing to himself.

“Ah, no. I just have something to think about. I’m throwing a fastball.”

“Yes, yes, fastball!”

Using vision.

Two plans were quickly established in my mind thanks to the raindrops I received on my eyelids.

One is to directly attack the batter’s eyes. The other is to indirectly attack the batter’s eyes.

Ah, of course, I’m not talking about throwing a baseball at their face, which is scary.

“Curveball!”

“Hey, curveball!”

Whap!

The curveball, thrown with a grip much closer to the edge than usual, was slower and bent at a larger angle.

The batter would have to lift his head slightly to see this ball properly.

“Fastball!”

“Hey!”

The next ball I decided to throw after throwing the curveball was a fastball. This time, I was aiming for the top of the strike zone.

In this heavy rain, the batter would unconsciously lower his head slightly to avoid exposing his eyes to the rain as much as possible.

Therefore, their line of sight, which naturally faces lower than average, can more easily track pitches in the lower part of the zone.

But on the contrary,

“Fastball, fastball.”

“Heyyy!”

Whoosh!

It becomes more difficult to see high pitches.

In the end, the main theme of today’s pitching will be height. If you filter it one more time, the word ‘high control’ will remain.

“Then… slider! Down low!”

“Slider!”

When baseball first came into the world, there were only fastballs. Then the curveball was invented, the slider was invented, and then something else was invented….

And as time passed, pitches derived from these basic pitches began to be discovered or invented one by one.

Cutter, knuckleball, Vulcan changeup, centripetal fastball, slurve, straight change, eephus pitch, etc.

I’ve never practiced them seriously, but if I had a little time, I’m confident that I could use them well in a real game. Because I have a good feel for the ball.

But I’m not really interested. Even with the pitches I have now, there are as many as six, which is more than enough.

“Going with a curveball.”

“Curveball!”

Whack!

Today, I decided to boldly subtract half of that. Namely, the sinker, changeup, and splitter.

It’s a setting that focuses solely on height.

The fastball is simply the fastest pitch and the one that can target the highest area.

The curveball is the only pitch among all existing pitches that can start as a ball and end as a ball, so it cannot be left out of today’s operation.

The slider will be used to induce a swing and a miss, sticking strictly to a low ‘ball’ today.

A low ‘ball’ that induces a swing and a miss?

In the current situation where ground balls are practically suicidal, the changeup or splitter might be better if you simply want a ball that falls low, let alone the sinker.

However, the changeup is too slow when you have to focus on location rather than timing.

Also, if you approach it from the perspective of simple speed, I can’t deny that the splitter is a good choice, but…

“Uh… splitter once.”

“Hey!”

Crack! Thud…….

“…Aish.”

The ball and my fingers, full of rainwater, created more friction than necessary and didn’t separate the way I wanted.

If the splitter comes off too early, it becomes a mistake or just a ridiculous ball, but if it comes off too late, it just becomes a nonsensical ball.

Therefore, the slider, which I chose as an alternative,

“Going with a slider.”

“Yey!”

Rather, it stuck to my hand more because of the moisture and created a stronger spin than usual.

Well, I don’t know if this moisture actually makes the ball spin better or not, but it feels like it.

Whump!

“Oh, good. This is good, really good!”

Gun-yeong, who caught the slider almost touching the ground, was so impressed that he couldn’t return the ball for a while and was just admiring it.

“Han-wool, let’s go.”

“Yep.”

The coach approached as I nodded my head to match Gun-yeong, who was just nodding his head.

To Gun-yeong, who suffered in this terrible downpour,

Thumbs up!

After giving him a thumbs up, I stepped on the crunching grass and headed to the mound.

Your love is a wildcard, Folding is the hard part― [Reference to lyrics of a popular song]

Walking slowly, I took off my hat for a moment and swept the slightly grown bangs back, then put the hat on deeply as it was.

Thanks to this, I don’t think I’ll be stressed by my hair,

“Ugh… they really messed up the mound.”

Instead, it seems like I’ll only be stressed by the condition of the mound.

Seeing the small puddle that had formed, I was starting to feel respect for the pitchers who had pitched before me.

No, seriously, how did they pitch on this kind of mound?

First, I dragged the remaining mud that was still somewhat intact and filled the corner where my left foot would land. When it was filled to a certain extent, I stomped on it with my spikes to tamp down the ground.

“First….”

Only after I felt that it was somewhat stable did I start practicing pitching properly.

I feel a little uneasy about my foot sinking in with a thud, but it’s not bad.

“Okay.”

As practice pitching came to an end,

Ninth batter, catcher Kang Yong

The leadoff hitter of the inning appeared at the plate, knocking off the raindrops hanging from the brim of his helmet.

He kept shaking his head and blinking his eyes, seemingly bothered by the heavy rain.

He even frowned, as if to say he wouldn’t be defeated by the rain, but well, it doesn’t seem to be very effective.

“Play!”

Whether Kang Yong was uncomfortable or not, the umpire pointed at me with his index finger, urging the game to proceed.

Maybe the umpire is quite upset right now too.

Why does the association keep playing this game when they could just call it? I wonder if they’re just thinking about ending it quickly and going home.

And,

Ding!

[Blindingly Obvious]

– Record 3 strikeouts in 1 inning and allow no runs (0/1)

– Reward – Changeup +2

I don’t think much differently.