A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 242

61. Korean Series (4)

The next day, afternoon.

The KH Cannons Field press room was more crowded than usual.

“Oh, you’re here? Wow, the Korean Series is really something! Even the chief editor is here in person!”

“What’s with you? I’m a field guy, you know? I just can’t come to the press room because of the junior reporters.”

Usually, only about 10 reporters would be in the press room, but today, there were roughly 30 reporters.

This was because each media outlet had significantly increased the number of reporters for the Korean Series.

“…….”

This made things a bit uncomfortable for the reporters who regularly covered the Cannons.

[Sports Hanseong]’s reporter, Hwang Young-joo, was one of them.

She was only about 10 minutes later than usual, but the best seats were already taken.

In the end, she had no choice but to sit in the corner and open her laptop.

“Oh, senior! Hello!”

Before Hwang could even open her notepad program and type a few words,

A reporter who looked about six years younger than her sat next to her and bowed.

His name was Lee Seong-rim, a junior reporter who used to work at [Sports Hanseong] before moving to another media outlet.

“Oh, Seong-rim, long time no see? Covering the Korean Series?”

“Yes, I was in charge of the JinYang Bucks this year, but… I also have a deep connection with the SH Knights.”

“I guess so. You were always in charge of the Knights when you were with us, right?”

While talking to her junior colleague after a long time, Hwang Young-joo kept her eyes fixed on the laptop screen.

Perhaps because her appearance created a slight sense of tension, reporter Lee Seong-rim cautiously asked.

“What are you working so hard on, senior? Is it… an exclusive?”

“An exclusive? No way. It’s an information report. The deadline is almost here.”

An ‘information report’ was the act of conveying information confirmed during coverage to the desk.

In fact, if it was a really useful story, it would have been published as an article right away.

In the end, most of the information that went up as an information report was either gossip about someone or trivial stories that couldn’t be made into articles.

Perhaps that’s why Hwang was readily telling him about what she was writing.

“It’s about how the league office people are in tears after the first game yesterday.”

“The league office people? Why?”

“Why else? Because it looks like the Korean Series will end quickly.”

The league office people liked the series to go on as long as possible.

It’s a matter of money. The series had to go to the 7th game to maximize ticket revenue, advertising revenue, and other revenue.

‘Fall baseball’ was the league office’s only peak season of the year, so yesterday’s game must have been very disappointing for them.

“Well, the score of 9-2 is one thing, but the game was so one-sided… I can understand why the league office people are depressed.”

“Ah, so?”

Reporter Lee Seong-rim nodded slowly.

But the next moment, he said in a very firm tone.

“The league office is worrying for nothing. Aren’t they underestimating our SH Knights too much?”

“Hmm?”

Hwang Young-joo smiled inwardly at the words ‘our Knights’ that came out of her junior’s mouth.

She remembered that reporter Lee Seong-rim was a huge fan of the SH Knights.

He wasn’t a Knights fan from the beginning. He just became a fan naturally after covering the Knights for a long time.

Of course, Hwang Young-joo was a person who was a little distant from such feelings.

“Our Seong-rim, you seem to have something to believe in?”

At Hwang Young-joo’s question, reporter Lee Seong-rim answered as if he had been waiting for it.

“Of course! I’m like brothers with the Knights players.”

Lee shrugged his shoulders.

“Before coming here, I took a quick look around the Knights’ locker room, and the players were all ready.”

“Ready?”

“Yes, ready to exploit the Cannons’ weaknesses.”

Reporter Lee Seong-rim looked around and lowered his voice even further.

“There was a team meeting this morning. At that meeting, they came up with at least six or seven things that could be called weaknesses of the Cannons.”

“Six or seven? That’s a lot.”

Inside, she wanted to ask, ‘What were you doing yesterday that you’re only finding them now?’ but Hwang Young-joo held back.

“So, what are those weaknesses?”

“Hey, even I can’t hear all of that. But what’s certain is that they’ve been intensively analyzing Manager Arthur Freeman’s tendencies.”

That he was a minor league [a lower-level professional baseball league]出身 [origin] director.

Reporter Lee Seong-rim’s eyes lit up.

“Not all of those weaknesses will come out. But the moment even one of them is exposed, they’re going to use that as a turning point to turn the series around… That’s the Knights’ strategy.”

“Turning point? Hmm.”

As Hwang Young-joo nodded slowly, reporter Lee Seong-rim pointed to the laptop screen.

“Senior, you’re going to structure your article that way too, right? The readability is perfect, right?”

The turning point that changed the Korean Series!

The scene where the flow of the series changed!

Hwang Young-joo just laughed at her junior reporter’s ‘recommended article title’.

“Not bad.”

Hwang Young-joo said.

“Turning point… When will that come out?”

“It’ll come out soon, soon! Considering the power of the two-time defending Korean Series champions, won’t it come out early in the game?”

It was reporter Lee Seong-rim’s confident statement.

* * *

During the two games that followed.

There was a day off in between, so it was exactly three days in terms of dates.

Reporter Hwang Young-joo was able to witness the cycle of hope, despair, and renewed false hope of a pathetic baseball fan right next to her.

“Oh, oh!”

It wasn’t that there weren’t any scenes that could actually be called a ‘turning point’.

For example, Lee Soo-bin, the Cannons’ third baseman, made a fielding error early in the second game.

“Senior, now’s the time! Managers from the minor leagues don’t like to change the lineup, right? It looks like that weakness has been exposed.”

“Ah, is that so?”

But contrary to reporter Lee Seong-rim’s expectations, the Cannons smoothly overcame the crisis.

Kyung Sun-woo, the right fielder, caught an ambiguous fly ball with an amazing understanding of his defensive position.

“Uh, uhm… Not now?”

There was a similar scene again.

At the end of the bottom of the 6th inning of the second game, around the beginning of the top of the 7th inning.

“Now’s the time. Ah, it’s now!”

Reporter Lee Seong-rim clenched his fist.

“Cannons’ starter Paul Owens has thrown 99 pitches through the 6th inning. Considering Arthur Freeman’s tendencies… Won’t he be replaced here?”

“Oh, that could be.”

The habit of not wanting to exceed 100 pitches even in the Korean Series.

The story was that this habit would create an opportunity for the Knights to counterattack, but even that expectation was shattered.

“Paul Owens… He’s coming out? It looks like he’s going to pitch until the 7th inning.”

“What?! Yesterday, he cut off Jimmy Morris like clockwork, so what wind has blown into Freeman’s sails?!”

A similar flow continued afterward.

I expected a mistake at the timing of the bullpen change, but unexpectedly, the Cannons’ winning streak [referring to a series of consecutive wins] group defended the lead like an iron wall.

I said it was a mistake not to bunt at the timing when they needed to squeeze out a point, but the subsequent Cannons hitters hit home runs one after another, making those words pale in comparison.

Was that why?

“…….”

From some point on, reporter Lee Seong-rim quietly stared at the broadcast screen without even mentioning the word ‘turning point’.

It was during the third game of the Korean Series, with the Cannons leading 2-0 in the series, that he shouted ‘Now is the time!’ for the very last time.

“Now… is it?”

Perhaps because he had been through so much, reporter Lee Seong-rim was instead asking Hwang Jo-mi at this time.

“S-Senior, can we see this as a turning point now?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Hwang Jo-mi nodded.

“If it’s not now, when else can we call it a turning point?”

Bottom of the 12th inning, score 5-3.

The SH Knights had seized a golden opportunity with bases loaded and two outs.

On the mound was Cannons’ closer Jang Dae-woo, and in the batter’s box to face him was-

“Is that Autumn Gizzard Shad Kwon Jeong-min [a player known for performing well in the autumn season]?”

* * *

Thump, thump! Kwon!

Thump, thump! Jeong!

Thump, thump! Min!

The voice of chanting Kwon Jeong-min’s name was echoing throughout the SH Knights’ home stadium.

In fact, Kwon had not been showing much activity since entering this Korean Series.

The momentum that seemed like he would just brush past and go over had disappeared somewhere, and the series batting average written on the electronic display was only 0.181.

However, the SH Knights bench was still sending Kwon Jeong-min their trust, as he was a hitter who had shown such a hot hitting sense in the previous series.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

‘I’ve already used up all the cards I can use as pinch hitters. Right now… I have no choice but to entrust it to Jeong-min.’

That was what Knights coach Kim was thinking.

‘He’s shaken because of the shock of the first game, but still, Jeong-min is a guy with a plan. If he hits just one, just one here…’

They could turn the game around that day.

They could turn around the team atmosphere, which had sunk due to two consecutive losses.

And if Kwon Jeong-min’s sense of hitting was revived by luck, then the direction of the series would really be unknown.

In other words, a turning point.

A watershed that determines the flow of the series.

The Knights’ coach was unknowingly clenching his fist tightly on his knee.

‘Jeong-min, please just one…’

It wouldn’t have been just the coach.

The players sitting in the dugout, the coaching staff, the front office staff.

Of course, the Knights fans filling the stands, and even reporter Lee Seong-rim in the press box.

Some had their hands together, some had their hands on their hips, and some were just blankly staring at the ground-everyone was of one mind.

Everyone had one thought.

‘If just one comes out here…’

It seemed as if everyone’s heart became a reality in an instant.

Cannons’ closer Jang Dae-woo, who was not in good condition, allowing two walks and one hit that day.

He allowed two more balls, making the ball count 2-0.

Now it’s really the hitter’s count.

The shouts of the Knights fans are getting louder and louder, and the tension on the ground is getting tighter and tighter.

“…….”

Jang Dae-woo, who has a lot of experience, must have felt a lot of pressure.

Even when he put the rosin bag in his hand and tapped it, there was a shadow on his face.

Twoong-

When he threw down the rosin bag and started receiving the catcher’s sign, his eyes gradually became sharper.

Swaeeeeeeak- Bbeoeoong!

The third pitch is a four-seam fastball.

Outside low course. Strike.

Swaeeeeeeak- Bbeoeoong!

The fourth pitch is also a four-seam fastball.

Outside high course. Strike.

By the time he entered the final set position with a ball count of 2-2, everyone watching the game that day could have guessed.

‘It’s over.’

‘This is the end.’

As if to confirm that premonition, Jang Dae-woo’s four-seam fastball, making a terrifying sound, digs into the catcher’s mitt.

Swaeeeeeeak- Bbeoeoong!

And the next moment, what reporter Lee Seong-rim heard in his ear was the umpire’s declaration of the end of the game.

“Strike! Batter out!”

A voice that continues while raising a fist high.

“Three outs, game set!!!”

It was at this moment that the atmosphere of the stadium completely changed.

Knights fans sit down, clutching their heads, and Cannons fans hug each other and rejoice.

Knights players walk to the dugout with their heads bowed, and Cannons players rush madly toward Jang Dae-woo on the mound.

“Dae-woo!!!”

“Senior Jang Dae-woo!!!”

“Wow, are you really doing this?! I thought my heart was going to drop!!!”

A player slapping Jang Dae-woo on the back, a player pouring a drink over his head.

The joy was not only for the players.

The coaches also cheered and clenched their fists, and fell over with a ‘thud!’ while running outside.

In the midst of such a commotion-

“Haa, it ends up like this after all.”

Reporter Lee Seong-rim, who had been anxious in the press box, shook his head and sighed deeply.

“With this, the series record is 3-0……. It’s going to be tough this year. The Cannons seem too strong for our Knights to do anything about it.”

A passionate fan of the Knights who gave up only after the results of the third game came out.

It was a situation where Hwang Jo-mi, who was usually a baseball reporter but didn’t have a team to support, and just thought that the team that earned a lot of views was the best, would have just silently patted her junior on the back.

“Damn it, why are the Cannons doing so well this year? I’ve watched quite a bit of baseball, but this is the first time I’ve seen a team so hard to find weaknesses in.”

But what was the harmony on this day?

At the words of her junior praising the Cannons, reporter Hwang Jo-mi was unknowingly wearing a faint smile.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

While finishing writing the article for the day with one enter key, reporter Hwang Young-joo replied.

“Cannons, that’s the team I support.”