Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 166

Late August.

I wondered how the players were experiencing this time, with just over a month left until the end of the season.

“Wow… only a month left already?”

Gyu-jin hyung [older brother or close male friend] felt this way.

“A month is a really long time.”

Seong-hyun felt this way.

When there are roughly 30 games left until the end of the season, each team starts thinking about how they will spend the remaining time.

The lower-ranked teams know their position and prepare to finish the season early.

The mid-ranked teams stay tense, wondering if they might rise into the top 4, or if they might fall below it.

The top-ranked teams start shifting their focus from the regular season to the postseason.

Wonha Challengers, currently leading the league, naturally falls into the third category, but also,

“Sigh…”

partially overlaps with the second category.

Oh, of course, it’s not that we’re worried about falling below ‘4th’ place.

5th place Hanseong Winners has 46 wins, 1 draw, and 49 losses. 1st place Wonha Challengers has 58 wins and 39 losses.

In modern baseball, where teams fight over whether they can overturn a 3-game difference with a full month of investment, a ten-game lead is practically a done deal.

The reason we have a similar mindset to the second category is, obviously, because of Sangsoo Tigers. Their season record is 56 wins and 41 losses.

Just when we think we’ve shaken them off, they quickly catch up. Just when they’re getting too close, they fall back on their own.

It’s just… it’s just so tiring.

“If you count the games, there are about 30 left, right?”

“29 games including today’s game.”

“Hmm…”

“Why?”

It’s not that there’s anything specific…….

“I just thought there were more left than I expected.”

“There are a lot left.”

There are still a lot left, it seems similar to what Seong-hyun said, but the meaning behind it is completely different.

Not a single game, not a single at-bat, not a single pitch can be wasted, and there are still 30 games left? Damn it, I need to work even harder!

“Ah, can’t we just say the season is over now?”

Don’t ask me for weird stuff like that.

“Why end it already?”

“If it ends now, we’re the league champions.”

The expression is similar to Seong-hyun, but the essence is closer to Gyu-jin hyung.

No matter how many games we’re ahead, none of that matters, if the season ends with today’s game, Wonha Challengers is confirmed as the league champion.

But the ideal is very far away, and yet,

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

reality is very close.

Seong-hyun took a step away with a disgusted expression at the nonsense I was spouting.

I mean, I know what you’re thinking, but you don’t have to avoid me so obviously.

“Heon-hee.”

“Yes, senior!”

“Don’t hang out with that hyung. You’ll get infected with weirdness.”

“Yes?”

Infected with weirdness, he says.

“Hey, anyone would think I’m doing something really weird.”

“Aren’t you?”

“…….”

That’s too harsh.

“Let’s go hit some free batting.”

“Ah, yes. Senior, about your right elbow when you’re batting…”

As expected of the 91-line [players born in 1991, implying a certain camaraderie], Seong-hyun left the dugout with Heon-hee after spouting nonsense that wouldn’t lose to anyone.

“Hyungnim [term of respect for an older male],”

“…What is it, weird ajusshi [middle-aged man]?”

And then another 91-liner appears.

“I love you.”

“…….”

Myeong-jin suddenly appeared and made two hearts with his hands.

“Is he crazy?”

Yeah, I love you too, you little shit.

“Hyungnim.”

“What.”

“Shouldn’t you reconsider whether your thoughts and words are switched?”

“Hmm…”

Outwardly, I said, “Is he crazy?” and inwardly, I thought, “I love you too.”

“I said it right.”

I think it’s a suitable arrangement of words.

“Aww, I’m disappointed in you, hyungnim.”

“Then I’m a needle net [Korean idiom, meaning ‘I don’t care’].”

“…….”

“…Hey.”

“Yes.”

“That’s what you always do.”

“I don’t deal with such low-class gags.”

Low-class…….

“Fucking hell.”

I even played along, but Myeong-jin, already a traitor, plopped down in the seat next to me, chuckling to himself.

“…Aren’t you warming up?”

“I’m not starting today.”

“Why.”

“The coach told me to rest?”

“Are you sick anywhere?”

“No?”

Come to think of it, Seong-hoon hyung is also moving around a bit leisurely today…….

“Are Heon-hee and Gi-beom going in together today?”

“Yes. Heon-hee is playing third, and Gi-beom hyung is playing short. Also… Byeong-cheon is going in instead of Hoonie hyung.”

It seems there are quite a few changes in the starting lineup today.

“Why… bother doing that.”

It might sound a bit cruel, but the role of a backup member is simple and clear.

“I don’t know? Maybe it’s something like managing stamina?”

A spare role to manage the stamina of the starting members.

So, should backup members unconditionally resign themselves to being spare roles?

Of course not.

Sometimes they can become a stronger spear than the starters and stab the enemy, and sometimes they can become super backups who threaten the starters and provide solid support from behind.

But to be blunt, they’re still backups.

I’m not trying to belittle those players, but the difference in skill is a clear fact.

“Why now of all times?”

You can’t just define a player’s stats like in a game, with power, speed, and throwing ability, but there’s definitely an invisible gap.

Whatever the reason, when a player with a combat power of 100 is forced to leave the lineup, the spot is filled by a player with a combat power of 80, or 90 at best.

Only 20? Only 10?

No, a whopping 20 or 10.

“I’m not sure either… It’s a series against Sangsoo, not just any game.”

Especially in a game like today where we have to face Sangsoo Tigers, 10, let alone 1, of combat power difference will become an enormous snowball in the later innings and weigh us down.

“Or… am I no longer useful to the Wonha Challengers…?”

Of course, there are occasional cases like that.

When there’s almost no difference in combat power between the starting player and the backup player. Or when the starting player’s combat power is 100, but the backup player’s combat power is around 102.

If such a situation occurs, the player with a combat power of 100 will be demoted to a backup member, and the player with a combat power of 102 will be promoted to a starting member.

It’s only natural for professionals to find their place according to their skills.

But I can confidently say that such a phenomenon has not yet occurred in this unique team called Wonha Challengers.

Gi-beom, who has solidified his position as a pinch runner with his fast feet and above-average defensive skills in all infield positions?

Heon-hee, who has a bold swing and the league’s highest level of gap power with his line drive hits?

Sorry, but,

“No. That’s not it.”

Even so, Myeong-jin is Myeong-jin.

A shortstop with a ridiculously wide defensive range, although his shoulder is a bit weak.

Fast feet, with a record of winning the stolen base title in the past.

Even with a crazy way of thinking that twists the opponent’s ball distribution sense.

No matter how much the two of them fly and run, unless Myeong-jin has left the team like in the past or they haven’t perfectly filled in their respective shortcomings, they can’t even compare to Myeong-jin.

Then why?

“Hmm…”

How could a mere player read the coach’s mind, but if I had to, had to understand, there is a point that I could nod my head to.

Could it be that they are using this series, called the preview of the Korean Series [championship series in Korean baseball], to decide who to fill the remaining spots besides the starting members?

The Korean Series, where much more detailed and diverse tactics than the pennant race will be exchanged, has a high possibility of discovering many player position changes.

A preview of the Korean Series?

“Sniff…”

It might be a very arrogant choice of words, but I didn’t say that.

I’m just quoting the words used by the professional baseball commentators and reporters scattered here and there.

“Sniff…”

Or, as Myeong-jin said, it could really be for stamina management.

It’s almost September, but it’s still hot, and they might lose their balance or get seriously injured because of it.

In fact, Myeong-jin himself injured his oblique muscle last year and was out of action for as many as ten days, so they would be even more concerned.

Rather than regretting it after being out, it’s not bad to rotate players and manage their stamina in advance while there’s still room…….

“Sniff…”

“Ah, shut up a bit.”

“Oh, hyungnim, are you abandoning this younger brother?”

I really want to abandon him. I really want to throw him away.

“Hyungnim, I’m disappointed.”

“…….”

I can’t react. I’m afraid he’ll say something weird again.

“Disappointed or whatever… just take a break this time.”

“But you know, there’s something uncomfortable about this.”

“What’s uncomfortable.”

“Hmm… I’m still in my first year of FA [Free Agency], and I’m already thinking, ‘Am I not helpful to the team anymore?'”

You’re talking nonsense.

“Why aren’t you helpful.”

“Well, I know. I can feel very well that the team is being considerate of me, that they’re cherishing me because I’m important.”

“But.”

“It’s just personal dissatisfaction. Honestly, if it were the old days, no matter how unreliable I was, they would have just stuck me at shortstop in the 1-hole and used me… but it’s not like that these days, is it?”

He put aside the face that can transform into a crazy person at any time, and Myeong-jin created an atmosphere similar to his hardened face.

“Gi-beom hyung too, and Heon-hee too. It’s true that their skills have improved. The parts where I’m lacking, those two definitely have.”

“Hmm…”

Myeong-jin, Gi-beom, Heon-hee.

I’m the team captain or whatever, but I just listened to Myeong-jin’s words quietly because if I said one wrong word, the result could turn into gossip.

“I know it’s an inevitable flow. And the coach wouldn’t have done this at other times, but he must have judged that those two have a higher win rate than me today, so he sent them out.”

Clang―

Clang-!

Heon-hee, warming up the bat in the batting cage.

Clang―

“Two strikes!”

Clang―

“Three balls!”

Gi-beom, cooling down the ground at the shortstop position.

“I’m just disappointed.”

“What at.”

“…That I’ve become distant from being a hero these days, that kind of disappointment.”

If he had talked about it with the same crazy antics as usual, I would have responded accordingly,

“Does a hero work every day? They need days off sometimes too.”

Seeing the venom painted all over his eyes, I also felt the need to match that atmosphere.

“As expected, hyungnim, you were qualified to be a hero.”

Ah, please.

I gave him good words so as not to break the atmosphere since he was showing a serious side for once,

“Hey hey, that’s not it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s not like a hero works every day. They need days off sometimes too.”

“Ah… yes.”

“Isn’t it cool? Aren’t you curious who said it?”

“Yes, I think it’s a great saying. Who said it?”

“That’s right, those are the words of the hero Kim Han-wool.”

Myeong-jin quickly regained his condition and started wandering around the dugout.

The game started, we scored a point in the top of the 2nd inning, scored another point in the top of the 4th inning, and conceded two points in the bottom of the 5th inning,

“Coach.”

“Oh, why?”

“I am a hero.”

“What?”

“But I will sometimes be a hero who rests.”

“…….”

Even during the cleaning time [between innings] immediately after that, Myeong-jin approached the coach who had excluded him from the starting lineup and diligently appealed his mentality.

I think I’m really going crazy.