Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 156

Starting with simple metrics like OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging] and WHIP [Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched], which are now quite familiar to general baseball fans, and moving on to somewhat difficult-to-understand indicators like WAR [Wins Above Replacement], FIP [Fielding Independent Pitching], WRC [Weighted Runs Created], WPA [Win Probability Added], and BABIP [Batting Average on Balls in Play].

At some point, baseball players and their plays began to be evaluated according to detailed, objective metrics.

A hitter who was ridiculed as a ‘balloon hitter’ was re-evaluated as an OPS-type hitter, and the value of some players who lived off classic stats like wins, losses, batting average, and RBIs clearly declined.

Nevertheless, one thing remains unchanged.

The flower of a pitcher is a strikeout, and the flower of a hitter is a home run.

No matter how excellent a pitcher’s detailed stats may be, what remains most vividly in the minds of fans is a pitcher who strikes out batters with blazing fastballs.

The same goes for hitters.

Even if you present various metrics and argue that this hitter is excellent, fans’ attention is inevitably drawn to hitters who smash home runs.

Even the front offices of clubs, who must evaluate and utilize players based on the most objective indicators and set their salaries, cannot simply ignore such fan sentiment.

This is because fans naturally flock to such players, which directly translates into the club’s popularity and revenue.

[Seoul Warriors’ Han Su-hyeok Finally Hits His 56th Home Run of the Season! Ties the Korean Record for Most Home Runs]

[Will the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] Single-Season Home Run Record Be Broken After 24 Years?]

[Han Su-hyeok’s 56th Home Run, a Three-Run Shot That Decides the Game, Leads the Warriors to Victory Over the Fighters, Successfully Eliminating the Gap with Incheon, Who Lost in Suwon Today]

[The Lucky Person Who Caught Han Su-hyeok’s 56th Home Run Ball? A 16-Year-Old High School Girl from Masan]

[When Asked About His Feelings on Achieving the Record, Han Su-hyeok Said, “I’m Happy the Team Won”]

[Warriors’ Remaining Game Ticket Prices Continue to Rise, Police to Conduct Special Crackdown on Ticket Scalping]

The KBO single-season home run record is 56, set in 2003.

In Japan, the 60 home runs hit by a foreign player in 2013 still remain unbroken.

What about the United States, which has more games per season than Korea and Japan, and where the world’s best players gather?

The situation there is a bit more complicated.

Officially, the most home runs is 73, hit by Barry Bonds in 2001.

Following that are Mark McGwire’s 70 in 1998, Sammy Sosa’s 66 in the same year, Mark McGwire’s 65 in 1999, Sammy Sosa’s 64 in 2001, and Sammy Sosa’s 63 in 1999.

These are the records from 1st to 6th place of all time.

The problem is that all three hitters on that list are known to have used banned substances.

To compile records targeting only clean hitters, excluding all those dishonorable names, you have to go back quite a long time.

61 home runs by Roger Maris in 1961, 60 by Babe Ruth in 1927, and so on.

If a monster named Aaron Judge hadn’t appeared in 2022 and hit 62 home runs, Major League Baseball might still not have been free from the 1961 record.

In any case, the reason why the single-season home run record is not easily broken, unlike other records, is that hitting 50 or 60 home runs a year is the realm of monsters, not humans.

Monsters who are born perhaps once every few decades.

The day Han Su-hyeok hit his 56th home run, the Korean baseball world was in a festive mood.

Not to mention the Warriors fans who have Han Su-hyeok, a hitter who tied the Korean record for most home runs and a perfect ace, and fans of other teams who are purely enthusiastic about the record itself, regardless of the ranking competition.

In addition, the KBO is delighted with the box office success that has come again after the WBC [World Baseball Classic] victory, and various media outlets are excited to generate views.

Han Su-hyeok, who ignited the flames of celebration in everyone’s hearts, was now sitting awkwardly at the dining table next door.

“You have to go down to Changwon tomorrow? Oh, that must be tough…”

“Well, it is, but it’s natural for a baseball player…”

“More than that, try some of this. Yerin worked so hard to make this.”

“Sis!”

It was an away game, but at the Fighters’ home stadium, which is located in the same city of Seoul.

After finishing the post-game interview, Han Su-hyeok returned home without eating.

He didn’t have much of an appetite, and more than anything, he felt burdened by the constant talk about his home run record.

Han Su-hyeok, who was genuinely not interested in such records and was only focused on the 4-game away series against Changwon starting tomorrow, was planning to fill his hunger with leftover bread at home.

But there was someone waiting for Han Su-hyeok when he returned home.

‘Oppa…’

‘Yerin? Why are you out here?’

‘It’s not that…’

Unlike usual, or rather, is this what she’s usually like?

Anyway, someone appeared behind Min Yerin, who was strangely blushing and avoiding eye contact.

A face that’s hard to guess the age of, but the moment you make eye contact, you know, ah, this person is an actress, the halo behind her.

‘You’re here. I’ve been waiting a long time. You haven’t eaten, have you? You did? Don’t lie. Yerin called the club earlier to ask. Who did she ask? Hey, we have to protect the identity of the informant. More than that, you must be tired, so I won’t take up too much of your time, so come in and have a meal.’

‘……?’

Even Han Su-hyeok, who has no interest in movies or dramas, had seen her somewhere a few times, Kim Eun-byeol, the actress among Korean actors who is most deserving of the title of world star at this point, dragged him into the house.

Thus began the awkward meal of Min Yerin, Kim Eun-byeol, and Han Su-hyeok.

The food tasted quite good.

Min Yerin, who couldn’t even properly cook ramen just a few months ago, kept learning to cook from her aunt, even cutting her fingers dozens of times, and now has cooking skills that are no less than those of a professional.

Of course, all of that was for Han Su-hyeok.

“Well, then the meal is roughly over, shall we have a cup of tea? Are you very tired by any chance?”

“Um, no. I think that’s okay.”

“That’s a relief. Then I’ll be a little more nosy.”

“Yes?”

“No, hehe. It’s nothing.”

As Kim Eun-byeol said, tea time was not very long.

Kim Eun-byeol and Min Yerin were not foolish enough to keep a full-time shortstop who played today and had to leave for Changwon tomorrow morning.

There was a brief introduction between Kim Eun-byeol and Han Su-hyeok, and the customary greeting that they would like to see each other often in the future, and the very short remaining time was entirely Min Yerin’s.

“Wow, Oppa… I almost fell backward when that home run went over earlier.”

“I saw it too. Hey, you really shouldn’t stand behind the safety net anymore. You already fell once in the States, you’re really going to get seriously hurt.”

The story about the safety net that surprised Kim Eun-byeol.

“Oppa, but do you think the Warriors can really be number one? The Incheon guys were completely fired up.”

“Well, we’ll have to see. No, we definitely have to.”

A story about baseball.

“Then, Oppa, I’ll go to the stadium again tomorrow without being late. Oh, by the way, how was the tuna sandwich I brought you last time? What do the other players say?”

“Oh, it was good. Everyone ate it well.”

“Okay, then I’ll prepare 100 servings of that again tomorrow.”

“100 servings?”

“Duk-soo Oppa will eat more than 10 by himself. Hehe, I have to start preparing the ingredients now.”

Even Min Yerin’s ambitious promise to prepare 100 sandwiches by herself.

After that story, Han Su-hyeok returned to his house, and now only two women remained.

Only then did Min Yerin, who remembered why she had complained to Kim Eun-byeol and what she wanted to ask her, asked with a flushed face.

“That’s right. Sis, so what I was worried about is…”

“That’s enough, you.”

“Yes?”

“You like that man, don’t you?”

“Heok!”

Min Yerin’s face flushed as if it would burst at any moment.

Like him as a man. That insignificant word made her heart flutter.

“That worry is obviously about how to confess, right? Looking at that man, he doesn’t seem to know anything about your feelings.”

“Keuheok!”

Min Yerin collapsed in front of Kim Eun-byeol, who saw through everything without saying a word.

Min Yerin, who had taken off all her masks, asked in a trembling voice.

“Sis… you’re right about everything. What should I do? I looked it up on the internet and everyone is saying nonsense… The only thing that made sense was to hug him, but I can’t even bring myself to say it, heeing…”

Kim Eun-byeol, seeing Min Yerin’s expression as if she was about to burst into tears, gave a faint smile.

The thirteen-year-old brat has grown up like this and is about to start her first love.

Has time passed this much already?

Kim Eun-byeol, who suddenly realized that she was over thirty, hugged Min Yerin tightly and said.

“You don’t have to do anything, Yerin.”

“Yes?”

“You’re already doing well. Just keep doing that. Soon that man will know your heart.”

Those fresh feelings she had when she met that man a long time ago flashed through her mind.

Kim Eun-byeol, who came into the guest room, sent a message to her lover who was now by her side.

[Joe, I think I did well to come to Korea. That little kid is already a lady.]

* * *

“Su-hyeok, you look like you’re in good condition today.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, you looked a bit tired until yesterday, why, did you eat something good? Hey, if you have something like that, don’t eat it alone, let’s eat it together, bro.”

Choi Min-seok, who was called a player who only played around and neglected training during his Magicians days, pinched my side and joked, while most of the players were rotating [being substituted to avoid fatigue].

He was right.

Strangely, I woke up this morning feeling refreshed. My mind was clear enough that the problems that had been making my head complicated for the past week didn’t come to mind.

It’s strange. Come to think of it, I feel like I slept particularly well yesterday.

I started training with an unknown feeling.

A 4-game away series against the Changwon Raptors.

My, no, our goal is to win at least 3 games here.

In yesterday’s game, we won, and Incheon was caught by Suwon, and the gap between the two teams disappeared again. Although we are unfortunately in 2nd place due to a lower win rate.

Anyway, nothing can be said for sure yet.

Unlike coach Lee Dae-jun, who is rotating players due to concerns about their injuries, Incheon is now waging a total war every day with the mindset that there is no tomorrow.

If this situation continues, we will have to play a bloody 1st and 2nd place decider in the final 3-game series of the regular season against Incheon.

It would be fortunate if we win there, but if we get pushed back, we will play the playoffs against the 3rd place team in a very tired state.

It’s a situation where you can’t find any room to spare.

But it’s still strange.

Why are my body and mind so light?

“Han Su-hyeok, do you have some time right now? We’re filming WarriorsTV.”

“Um, yes. I have a little time.”

“Ooh, thank you! Okay, everyone, be happy. Today we’ll talk to Han Su-hyeok.”

Perhaps that’s why I nodded to the club’s own TV interview request, which I had avoided as much as possible before training to maintain concentration.

The public relations team staff and the outsourced PD [Production Director] are excited and hold out the camera and microphone.

When I think about it, it’s not an external media outlet, but valuable resources and promotional media that I hired with my own money.

Why have I been rejecting these friends’ requests all this time?

I don’t know. Was I that short on time?

“Han Su-hyeok, the first 40% batting average since the first year of professional baseball, and if you add just one more home run, you will achieve the KBO single-season most home run record in 24 years. What do you think, can we expect it?”

Normally, I would have said that such things are not important, and that all I want is the team’s victory.

But at that moment, what came to my mind was the faces of the many fans who were holding mosquito nets [used to ward off insects at outdoor games] and calling out the name Han Su-hyeok at yesterday’s game.

I had forgotten.

What I wanted was not baseball alone, not baseball just for myself, but baseball with other people.

And that includes the fans who cherish my club, the Warriors.

“Home run record?”

“Yes, Han Su-hyeok. Ah, of course, what’s really important is not such a record, but the team’s victory, but still for the fans…”

“I’ll break it. What’s so difficult about that.”

“Ah, yes? What did you say just now?”

“I’ll break the Korean record, and since it’s come to this, I’ll break the Asian record too. Since there aren’t many games left, I’ll postpone the world record to next year. Is that a good enough answer?”

“Ooh! Thank you! Thank you so much. Choi PD! Let’s edit this quickly and upload it. Let’s go, quickly!”

The staff member, with a flushed expression, bowed repeatedly and disappeared somewhere, as if he liked my answer.

Yeah, when I think about it, what’s such a big deal?

If there is a choice between the team’s victory and personal records, I will choose the former without hesitation, but if not, I decided to aim for home runs more actively.

“Su-hyeok, you’re going to help this brother today, right?”

“I just need to hit 4 home runs for you, right?”

“Wow… that sounds reassuring just hearing it.”

Moreover, today is Lee Man-shik’s comeback game.

Okay. I’ve decided.

Today’s game, let’s blow it up properly.