Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 144

#143. The Size of My Domain

“Fuck!”

“Hey! Someone stop him!”

“Raphael! Calm down! Calm down! Hey! No!”

Raphael Jorge, the foreign first baseman for the Busan Titans, known for his terrible temper, hurled harsh insults at the home crowd.

The game was temporarily halted as the umpires rushed to figure out what was happening.

Top of the 6th inning, the Warriors were leading the Titans 8-0.

The Warriors, who had scored six runs in the first inning with a cycle [hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in the same inning] including Han Su-hyeok’s two-run homer, were unilaterally dominating the Titans with Cho Seong-oh’s home run and Jang Deok-soo’s timely hit.

Han Su-hyeok had perfectly shut down the Titans’ lineup, allowing only one walk through the 5th inning, meeting the requirements for a win.

The pathetic hitters had given up 10 strikeouts in just 5 innings.
The few Titans home fans began to boo their own team’s players.

And it seemed that Raphael Jorge, who understood the insults, had exploded.

I don’t get it.

No matter how angry you are, how can you hurl insults at your own team’s fans like that?

What is the Titans’ manager even doing?

In this situation, he should replace the first baseman, but the Titans’ bench didn’t move, and eventually, the game resumed as it was.

“Hey, watch out for beanballs [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter], and even if you get on first, don’t provoke that guy. Don’t get hit and start crying.”

“What? I’m good at fighting too, you know?”

“Is Raphael’s forearm as big as your thigh?”

“…Damn it.”

An Chi-wook, who had stepped back for a moment, returned to the plate.

A large score difference, and the Titans team was agitated by the booing of their own fans.

It was a perfect situation for a beanball to occur.

If those guys were going to cause trouble, now is the perfect timing.

Because of the retaliation, they won’t be able to target me, the pitcher, so there is a high probability that An Chi-wook, the easy rookie, will be the target.

“Ball.”

Whoosh.

“Strike!”

If, by any chance, that pitcher hits An Chi-wook, I will rush to the mound without hesitation and punch him in the jaw.

I have no mercy for those who touch people in my domain.

Not only Seong-hoon hyung [older brother/friend], but also my fellow players who spend almost all their time with me are naturally people within that domain.

Clang!

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Titans’ pitcher didn’t throw a beanball at An Chi-wook after all.
The ball came close to his body, but it didn’t hit him.

Rather, An Chi-wook hit that ball beautifully, turning it into a right-field hit.

I can see Raphael Jorge muttering something again to An Chi-wook, who arrived at first base.

“Is no one controlling him, or are they not doing it on purpose?”

“…….”

I spoke to Gu Jae-hyun, who was sitting behind home plate, first.

But there was no answer.

I don’t know if he didn’t like what I said in the first at-bat, or if he was simply annoyed by the fact that I mentioned Raphael, I’m not sure which one it is.

It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I wanted to hear an answer.

I was just wondering why people who divide themselves based on their school, even among players of the same nationality, just leave those arrogant foreign players alone.

Whatever.

Let’s just play baseball.

“Ball.”

“Hmm.”

“…….”

He seems to be sulking. I left Gu Jae-hyun, who was still silent, and headed to first base.

There’s no reason to give me a walk when they’re losing by eight points. He’s just not controlling the ball well.

I slowly walked towards first base.

Raphael Jorge stared at me with strange eyes.

* * *

– Han Su-hyeok, who perfectly blocked 5 innings and met the requirements for a win early on, is now on base with a walk at the plate.

– That’s a relief. I was worried that a beanball situation might occur, but it seems that the Titans’ bench has controlled the players well.

– Beanball?

– Yes, in fact, the atmosphere right now is perfect for a fight. It’s a home game, but there are more fans of the visiting team in the stands, the disappointed home fans are cursing at their own players, and the game is a mess… no, they are losing by a large score, so it’s strange that a fight doesn’t break out.

Come to think of it, that’s right.

The announcer slowly scanned the ground.

The Warriors players were still not letting go of the reins of the game, while the Titans players were showing their frustration with faces that seemed to have seen it all.

In the stands, the Warriors fans who came to the away game and the home team Titans fans were arguing here and there, and the different cheering slogans coming from both sides were intertwined, making the atmosphere of the stadium chaotic.

‘Something could really happen.’

The announcer muttered to himself without realizing it.

Thud!

“Gack!”

I heard something breaking near first base, and I saw the giant Titans foreign player spitting blood and flying away.

At the same time, players poured out of both teams’ dugouts, and soon the ground became a scene of chaos.

“What on earth is this…….”

* * *

The Titans’ first baseman, Raphael Jorge, who was staring at me with bloodshot eyes, spoke first.

“You’re the WBC MVP [World Baseball Classic Most Valuable Player]?”

I didn’t bother to answer.

In a game where we are leading by a large score, and where each win is precious for the fall baseball season, I’m not stupid enough to get caught up in the troublemaking of a temperamental foreign player.

I just quietly gave him a warning.

“If you want to talk about baseball, talk to your teammates.”

It meant shut up and play baseball. But Raphael seemed to have taken my words a little differently.

“Teammates? Hmm, well, can I call those stupid guys teammates?”

I was annoyed by dealing with him, so I looked at the first base umpire. With the hope that he would stop this unproductive conversation.

But the first base umpire seemed to have a problem with the equipment he was wearing and was interrupting the game to talk to the headquarters.

Raphael’s nonsense continued.

“You were almost a player in the big leagues, so you know, right? How hard it is to play baseball in this stinky pen, how shitty it is to work with guys who aren’t even minor league level.”

One thing was certain.

Unless they kick this idiot out, the Titans will be bleak next year as well.

How stupid it is to keep using a guy who has no respect for his teammates or the league he is playing in, just because he hits home runs well.

The game interruption that started with the equipment problem is getting a little long. It seemed that something was wrong with the cam that the first base umpire was wearing.

As I didn’t say anything, Raphael’s tongue continued to wag.

“Damn it, I hate this city of Busan so much. Do I need to treat the guys who boo their own team’s players like fans? The guy who cursed at me earlier, I’m going to kill him if I meet him outside.”

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Your salary comes out of those fans’ pockets. And I don’t care about your fans, so if you have any complaints, go to the front office.”

“Hmm, is that because we have the same skin color? Well, your team isn’t any better when it comes to shitty fans.”

Raphael turned his gun to the Warriors fans out of nowhere, whether he didn’t like my reaction.

I was getting frustrated with why I had to listen to such nonsense from this ridiculous guy, and then he crossed the line that he shouldn’t have crossed.

“Look at the woman hanging on the outfield over there. She’s a crazy fan who follows you around, right? I saw what she did in the United States, and she’s really crazy. Well, what does it matter? She’s very usef…”

“Shut up.”

“What?”

“I said shut up. If you say one more word, I’ll kill you.”

“Hoo… what is it, did you already spend a night with that woman? Is that why you’re overreacting like this…”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Hehe, you’re just like the shitty people in this country. Okay, I’ll post what happened today on SNS [Social Networking Service] and talk about your relationship with her…”

At that moment, I realized.

The size of my domain that I vaguely had, and who was in it.

The moment the trash called Raphael mentioned Min Ye-rin, the moment his dirty tongue wagged and spewed slander about her.

I exploded.

Grab!

“I told you to shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!”

Thud!

“Gack!”

The moment I grabbed him by the collar with my left hand, a fist flew as if he had been waiting for it.

After easily dodging the punch, I punched him in the jaw.

The guy who spat blood from his mouth and flew away was trembling on the floor.

“Hey, what’s going on! What’s going on!”

“I don’t know either! Let’s get out there! Hey! Deok-soo, you can’t! Manager, please stop him!”

“Deok-soo! No! Grandma is watching from heaven! No! You can’t kill people!”

Excited or surprised colleagues rushed to first base.

The Titans players, who were looking at the ground with blank expressions, came out to the ground a little late.

“What’s going on! What’s going on?”

The umpires ran over and asked what was going on, but I didn’t answer.

I didn’t want what happened here to spread outside.

A stretcher came in and took the Raphael guy, who was half out of his mind, out of the ground.

And the umpire declared an ejection.

My second start ended a little early like that.

* * *

“Hmm, Han Su-hyeok. Please sit here. You must be tired, but I won’t hold you for long. I need to finish quickly and watch our players smash those damn Titans guys. Well, your throat must be dry, so have a cup of this tea first. It will be very helpful in calming your excitement.”

“I’m not excited.”

“Okay. Then let’s get straight to the point. What happened at first base?”

It’s not just anyone, it’s General Manager Park Jae-cheol.

He needs to figure out why I was excited today so he can take follow-up measures.

After taking a sip of tea, I explained what had happened as briefly as possible.

That the crazy guy kept ranting about Korean baseball and the fans, and eventually made remarks mixed with harassment about Min Ye-rin.

Park Jae-cheol’s face turned red after hearing everything.

“Han Su-hyeok, I promise you in this position. I can’t avoid the minimum penalty for violence, but instead, I will bury that crazy guy in this country.”

From Park Jae-cheol’s point of view, Min Ye-rin was an invaluable benefactor.

Marketing and public relations, as well as direct and indirect assistance related to other club operations.

How much has she done for the Warriors so far? How much would that be worth in money?

Park Jae-cheol, who was grateful every day that she was a Warriors fan, could not just let it go.

“Now that I know everything, rest assured and go back to the accommodation and rest. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Park Jae-cheol’s eyes were sparkling with excitement.