Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 158

#157. Following His Lead

What are the moments of glory that athletes never forget, the ones they savor even after retirement?

The days they earned money and fame, set new records, or won individual titles? Or the day their team won the championship?

Generally, those are the moments people would pick, but many athletes who have been active for a long time often choose the day they received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Imagine the sight of tens of thousands of spectators stopping everything to applaud only you.

Perhaps that is the most honorable moment an athlete can experience.

Clap clap clap clap

“Well done! Good job, Man-shik!”

“He’s still alive!”

“Lee Man-shik! Lee Man-shik! Lee Man-shik!”

In the bottom of the 6th inning, with the Warriors and Changwon tied at 4-4, a situation with a runner on first and two outs was created.

As the Warriors’ dugout signaled for a pitching change, the fans filling Changwon Stadium gave Lee Man-shik a standing ovation.

Although he had spent over 10 years with the Seoul team, Lee Man-shik’s hometown was right here in Changwon.

The Changwon fans felt a sense of bittersweetness at the fact that the fresh-faced kid who used to wear the hometown school uniform was now a veteran nearing retirement.

The applause from the audience continued.

Lee Man-shik, who had done his best to block the innings despite allowing runners to get on base every inning, took off his hat and bowed deeply to them.

5 and 2/3 innings, 4 runs allowed, 3 earned runs.

That was the record set by Warriors’ starting pitcher Lee Man-shik today.

Kim Doo-young took over the mound to face the string of Changwon’s left-handed batters who would appear next.

Kim Doo-young, who usually maintained a cool attitude towards both teammates and opposing players, bowed to Lee Man-shik.

“You’ve worked hard, senior.”

“Okay, whew… I’m going to rest now. I’m counting on you, Doo-young.”

The Warriors were experiencing great difficulties due to the successive injuries of Lee Man-shik, Chun Sang-jin, Hong Young-shik, and Choi Jung-soo.

Although it couldn’t be said to be a perfect pitch, the return of the veteran itself was a tremendous source of strength.

Whoosh

Clang!

“Swing! Out!”

Kim Doo-young, who took over for Lee Man-shik, easily handled the next batter, ending Changwon’s attack in the bottom of the 6th inning.

And then, the Warriors’ attack in the top of the 7th inning.

Han Su-hyeok, who recorded a double, a stolen base, and a run in his first at-bat today, stepped up to the plate.

* * *

I am a pitcher before I am a batter.

I’ve never told anyone, but I think the essence of me as a baseball player is closer to a pitcher than a batter.

That’s why I can tell.

How much Lee Man-shik put his heart and soul into pitching in today’s game.

5 and 2/3 innings, 4 runs allowed, one of which was an unearned run due to the first baseman’s error.

It’s not a record you can call great.

But the unpleasant pain that comes with every pitch, the fear that today might be the last of his career.

It was a valuable achievement gained by fighting against those things. And it was a great pitch that gave the Warriors, who were struggling with a lack of starting pitchers, a chance to breathe.

When the season started, my only goal was to win the championship for the team.

I thought it didn’t matter what happened in the process.

But now I want a little more than that.

I want to lift the championship trophy with these teammates, smiling without any problems.

And I want to prepare for next season with them.

Is that even possible?

I don’t know.

All I can do now is to decide the outcome of today’s game as quickly as possible.

So that the batters who are out of the game due to injuries and exhaustion don’t have to come out as pinch hitters, and so that the middle relievers who are tired of continuous appearances can rest a little.

I have to end this game.

“Play!”

Our team’s attack began.

With starter Lucas Bennett down, Changwon’s second pitcher came to the mound.

Yoon Ho-gyun, a second-year rookie who got the chance to pitch in the first team only after Changwon’s fall baseball elimination was confirmed.

He was standing on the mound, sweating profusely, without even throwing a single ball yet.

“Han Su-hyeok! This way! Hit it this way!”

“No, here! This way! This way!”

“Oppa [Korean term for ‘older brother’ used by females], it doesn’t matter which way, just hit it!”

As I swung the bat a few times, the entire stadium began to stir.

About 65% of the home runs I’ve hit this season have gone to the left.

Perhaps that’s why I heard that the black market tickets in the left outfield seats were being traded at exorbitant prices.

Numerous spectators hoping for a home run in today’s game.

Their mad cries to catch the 57th home run ball.

The dualistic minds of the spectators who support the home team but want to catch the home run ball hit by the opposing batter.

In such tremendous pressure, there’s no way a rookie who’s only in his second year can throw a proper ball.

“Ball.”

Yoon Ho-gyun’s first pitch flew to a place where even the catcher couldn’t catch it.

The catcher sitting behind home plate sighed deeply.

Perhaps the catcher’s mind is filled with resentment towards the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] for assigning the game against the Warriors at such an important moment.

It would be better if they were at the bottom of the league like Busan or Daegu, so they could at least have expectations for the rookie draft next season.

The battery [pitcher and catcher] of a mid-to-lower-ranked team, which has no choice but to take an ambiguous stance due to the KBO’s structure that makes tanking impossible, prepared for the next ball with a half-abandoned mind.

I can vaguely predict what kind of ball will come.

Even though they’ve given up on their fall baseball dreams, the manager will want to get at least one more win somehow.

Even if it’s a tie in the late game, they won’t easily bet on me.

An easily predictable conclusion, a borderline pitch.

A pitch that tempts me with a pitch that is one or half a ball out of the zone to induce a ground ball, and a ball combination that doesn’t matter if I get a walk if that doesn’t work.

“Ball.”

As expected.

The most rational strategy that Changwon’s manager can make now, or, to put it more bluntly, a strategy that can avoid responsibility.

But there was one thing he overlooked.

Whoosh

That the pitcher and catcher who make up the battery are in a panic.

That the pitcher is too young to throw his ball silently in a situation where nearly 20,000 spectators, even the home spectators, want the pitcher to be hit with a home run.

The pitcher, caught in the tremendous pressure of the manager’s instructions and the cheers from the stands, began to wind up, trembling.

The moment his hand left the end of the ball, I realized.

That it was finally time to grant the wishes of those many spectators.

Clang!

* * *

[Korean Baseball’s Most Home Runs Record Broken in 24 Years, Warriors’ Han Su-hyeok Hits Season No. 57!]

[57th Home Run Ball Hits the Center Spectator Seats and Falls to the Ground, Han Su-hyeok “Will Return to Fans Through Lottery” Warriors Fans Go Wild]

[Han Su-hyeok Records Season .400 Batting Average and 57th Home Run, Virtually Confirmed for MVP and Rookie of the Year]

[Han Su-hyeok on Achieving Record “Happy to Repay Fans’ Support”]

[Korean Home Run Record Finally Broken, Only Asian Record Remains]

[Commentator Go Dong-shik “400 Batting Average, 60 Home Runs, 50-50 Are All Possible, Unless Other Teams Interfere”]

The Warriors, who won the first game against Changwon with Han Su-hyeok’s 57th home run of the season, started transfer student Kang Dong-ha in the second game that followed.

Han Su-hyeok will be in the first game of tomorrow’s doubleheader, and Lee Young-joo will be in the second game.

Except for the third game in this 4-game series where Han Su-hyeok is pitching, there are virtually no reliable starting pitchers.

A situation where the batters’ shoulders are heavier than ever.

Seo Hyeong-joo, who had been out of the starting lineup for a while due to physical problems and a minor finger injury, returned as the leadoff hitter and center fielder in yesterday’s first game against Changwon.

Perhaps because he had been resting for a while, he only managed to get a walk in 4 at-bats, but he was still flying around in defense, preventing the team from conceding a large number of runs.

Seo Hyeong-joo, who had never neglected physical management from high school until now, and who thought that he would not lose to anyone in terms of physical strength, was greatly shocked by his classmate Han Su-hyeok.

A monster who has appeared in every game except for a few games that he missed due to suspension this season, who even participated in the WBC [World Baseball Classic] while others were resting, and who hardly shows any signs of exhaustion even though he is also working as a pitcher in the second half of the season.

‘Is this really possible?’

In Major League Baseball, where there are far more games than in Korea or Japan, and thanks to that, there are fewer rest days, players who are often called iron men often appear.

The most representative player is Cal Ripken Jr., a one-club man for the Baltimore Orioles who left an absurd record of 2,632 consecutive games played.

His consecutive game appearance record, which began on May 31, 1982, at the young age of 21, ended on September 20, 1998, when he was 38 years old.

He started in every game for 18 years, an absurd amount of time, and even played the most innings as a shortstop during that period.

Yes, so I can fully admit that far.

About Han Su-hyeok starting almost every game as a shortstop.

But there is one important thing left.

That he has been working as a starting pitcher since the second half of the season.

That he is going back and forth between batter, shortstop, and pitcher.

That he is only missing the game as a designated hitter the day after starting, and is playing as a shortstop again in the remaining games.

This is not just a matter of physical strength.

In order for a baseball player to perform any role, mental strength is inevitably consumed.

There is a mental strength for playing as a batter, and there is another mental strength needed to wear a glove and play defense.

It’s not for nothing that players with low stamina and concentration are pushed to the designated hitter position. Ordinary players often run out of all their mental strength just by combining offense and defense.

But that monstrous classmate is even doing pitcher on top of that.

Even perfectly performing three roles: batter, fielder, and pitcher. Even while building an overwhelming record that is hard to find rivals in Korea.

Seo Hyeong-joo’s face, who once thought he could catch up with Han Su-hyeok, who thought he could beat Han Su-hyeok as much as he wanted if he had the chance, turned red.

Although he failed to challenge for a .300 batting average, he was proud of having the best debut season, recording a nearly .400 on-base percentage and 45 stolen bases.

But in the meantime, that classmate focused on winning the team rather than personal records, and achieved a record that he couldn’t even dare to follow.

That monster came to him.

“I saw your chin was constantly raised yesterday? Tell the manager if you’re tired. Don’t force yourself to play.”

I know. Seo Hyeong-joo knows now too.

The real meaning contained in that arrogant tone.

That it’s not an attack or sarcasm against him, but a concern that he might get injured or fall into a slump.

That’s why Seo Hyeong-joo had no choice but to accept it even more crookedly.

“What are you talking about? Are you keeping me in check because I’m going to take the stolen base title?”

“Stolen base? Ah, ah, is that so.”

I could tell just by looking at his eyes.

That personal records are not in the head of this monster who may achieve 50-50 [50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season] for the first time in the world, that the only thing in his head right now is winning today’s game.

“Just you wait…….”

“Hmm? What are you always telling me to wait and see?”

“Shut up, I’m going to get on base no matter what today, so you have to bring me home no matter what. If you don’t, it’s all your fault.”

“What kind of nonsense is that…….”

“Okay, I have to run, so go away, you monster. Go do your thing.”

Leaving behind Han Su-hyeok, who was dumbfounded, Seo Hyeong-joo began to circle the ground.

All sorts of 잡생각 [jap-saeng-gak: Korean slang for 잡 ‘jap’ meaning miscellaneous and 생각 ‘saeng-gak’ meaning thoughts, referring to unnecessary or distracting thoughts] that had been in the head of the naive first-year rookie, the failed challenge to a .300 batting average, the desire for 50 stolen bases, and the expectation for a salary increase next season, disappeared, and instead, the desire to win began to fill him.

Without even realizing it, Seo Hyeong-joo was following in the footsteps of his classmate Han Su-hyeok.