Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 166

#165. Former Teammates, Current Rivals

It’s never easy watching a player who once dominated the league gradually lose their edge and become ordinary.

Especially when that player is someone you’re coaching.

“Mansik, are you feeling alright?”

“Of course. It’s not like I’ve only been doing this for a day or two; it’s been over a decade. I’m fine.”

“If you’re so fine, why are your legs shaking like that?”

“Ah, this? It’s just an old habit of mine… Hehe.”

Inside the Warriors’ manager’s office before the third game, Manager Lee Daejun looked at Lee Mansik with a heavy heart.

Like he said, Lee Mansik, who had been doing this for over a decade, was also feeling the pressure.

The pressure to pitch well?

No, it was more the pressure of having to fill in for the team’s best pitcher, Han Suhyuk.

Han Suhyuk, who had finished his run as a starting pitcher this season.

Looking back now, it was a really good decision.

A rookie in his first year who played almost every game full innings, from the regular season to the WBC [World Baseball Classic].

No matter how strong his body is, it’s impossible for it not to take a toll.

In fact, the detailed examination results showed significantly negative results in terms of the body’s recovery and shoulder inflammation levels.

For the sake of the player’s future and the team’s long-term vision, Han Suhyuk was removed from the starting rotation, and they managed to play 13 games excellently in that state.

It was a good decision in many ways, and the right call.

But now, with only one game left, something inside Lee Daejun keeps tempting him.

To put Han Suhyuk up there, to put the most reliable Han Suhyuk on the mound.

‘Hoo…’

But he can’t. Lee Daejun brushed off that sweet temptation with a light sigh.

A pitcher isn’t such a simple creature. It’s not like they can just be put on the mound and throw the ball like a machine.

Especially players like Han Suhyuk, who pitch and hit.

The reason why there are concerns about Incheon’s starter, Im Junyoung, right now is precisely because of that.

Im Junyoung, who was recklessly used by Hwang Byungho.

“Hmm…”

Lee Daejun is just disappointed.

If Han Suhyuk’s body had held up just a little longer, so he could have put that kid out as the starter in the final game, then he might have been recorded in the team’s history as a championship-winning manager in his debut year, that kind of greed.

It’s greed. It’s literally excessive greed.

Han Suhyuk has already done enough. No, beyond doing enough, he grabbed this team by the collar and dragged them all the way here.

Now it’s their turn. They just need to finish the game well on the stage that the youngest member has created.

And right here, in front of Lee Daejun, stands a veteran who has bet everything on today’s game.

“Mansik.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Counting on me? It’s an honor to be entrusted with the final game of the season. I’ll throw until my shoulder falls off, Manager.”

The veteran, realizing that his time had come, stood up and bowed deeply to the manager.

A bittersweet smile appeared on Lee Daejun’s face.

Today is going to be a really tough game.

If Hwang Byungho had stayed in that position, it might have been easier to deal with.

Incheon, which had collapsed for two consecutive days after trying to play mind games with the Warriors.

But the shaken Incheon has returned to its original form.

Hwang Byungho was let go, the head coach took temporary command, and all the key players who had been banished to the second team returned.

The strongest team, Incheon, which has reorganized in that way, is now preparing for the Warriors’ final battle.

Lee Daejun recalled the face of his eternal teacher, Jung Yunseok, in his mind.

‘How on earth have you been doing this for decades, Teacher…’

* * *

Lee Mansik, and Im Junyoung.

Two people who once wore the Warriors’ uniform and led the team to victory in the Korean Series [championship series of the KBO League] are now wearing different uniforms and facing each other as enemies.

And that too, in an important game with the regular season championship on the line.

Back in 2016, when the Warriors lifted their fifth Korean Series trophy, Lee Mansik was the team’s young ace, and Im Junyoung was a rookie who mainly pitched as a middle reliever.

Eleven years later, Lee Mansik has become a veteran who has lost his former prowess and is just trying to survive day by day, and Im Junyoung is vying for the title of the league’s best pitcher.

‘Mansik hyung [older brother/senior].’

In Im Junyoung’s debut season, the senior who took care of the clueless junior who had just been called up to the first team, teaching him this and that, is sitting on the bench with a stern expression.

To be honest, he’s not sure.

Surely, when he first joined the pros, no, even when he lifted the Korean Series trophy, he thought he could play baseball with that hyung for the rest of his life.

But why did things turn out this way?

Why are they facing each other in different uniforms in a game that will leave one of them with a lifelong scar?

‘Throb’

Manager Hwang Byungho made unreasonable demands on the junior pitchers, and when he protested, he ended up throwing a punitive pitch.

That wasn’t the end of it. The pitching interval was shortened by a day.

But there were no complaints.

Even if it wasn’t Hwang Byungho’s instruction, he would have wanted to request an adjustment to the pitching schedule first anyway.

Im Junyoung was that kind of player. A player who is always prepared to sacrifice himself in order to put his team in the top spot.

‘Throb, throb’

But the human body is not a machine.

Im Junyoung’s shoulder was very tired from the continued overuse in the second half of the season. The unpleasant pain that he occasionally felt still remained.

Im Junyoung turned his head and looked at the scoreboard.

1. Center Fielder Seo Hyungju

2. Left Fielder Choi Minseok

3. Shortstop Han Suhyuk

4. First Baseman Jo Sungeoh

5. Right Fielder Walter Smith

6. Catcher Jang Deoksu

7. Third Baseman Ahn Chiwook

8. Second Baseman Lee Changmo

9. Designated Hitter Kim Suhak

Starting Pitcher Lee Mansik

This is the Warriors’ starting lineup that he will be facing today.

He has to fight against those players who might have become his teammates.

And that too, with a very large reward called the regular season championship in front of him.

Manager Lee Daejun, who had been rotating the roster throughout the last 13 games, has brought out the best members today.

The Warriors’ lineup, which was so flimsy at the beginning of the season, now has no gaps.

The shoulder that keeps throbbing, the grip of his hand that isn’t what it used to be, and the strong opposing team’s lineup.

Nevertheless, Im Junyoung’s face was filled with a pleasant tension, not a burden.

‘Good. Let’s do it, Han Suhyuk.’

Im Junyoung sensed it.

That today’s game will ultimately be decided by the showdown with Han Suhyuk that will come at some point.

The ace who once took responsibility for the Warriors prepared for a showdown with the junior who has now taken over the Warriors after him.

* * *

Whoosh

Pow!

“Swing! Out!”

Following Seo Hyungju, Choi Minseok was struck out in succession.

The speed of 153㎞/h [approximately 95 mph] was clearly marked on the scoreboard.

I think I was a little wrong.

I thought that shortening the pitching day by one day would have a negative impact on his pitching,

So I probably thought that Im Junyoung would pitch by taking a little power out and matching the ball,

But he put all his power into each ball on the mound, and struck out the two batters in front of me in succession with 10 balls.

[Batter #3 Shortstop Han Suhyuk]

“Waaaa!”

“Han Suhyuk!”

“Suhyuk! Show us!”

“This way! This way!”

The Incheon outfield stands were once again covered in a wave of butterfly nets [used by fans to catch foul balls].

I looked at Im Junyoung. But his gaze wasn’t on me.

He’s just looking at the catcher and shaking his head.

Could it be that the signs don’t match?

No, the team’s starting catcher, Son Youngjin, was dropped from the first team roster after the collision with me.

The backup catcher sitting behind home plate right now isn’t capable of leading Im Junyoung on his own.

In the end, it’s not the catcher who’s giving and receiving signs with Im Junyoung right now, it’s the bench.

After a while, Im Junyoung, who had been giving and receiving signs like that, sighed deeply and lowered his head.

“Batter, to first base.”

“Woooo.”

“Are you even an ace after doing that? Are you avoiding the showdown here?”

“Just fight! Fight even if you get hit!”

I don’t know if the spectators who are shouting to fight right now are Warriors fans who came to the away game, or Incheon fans, but that’s not important.

That proud man avoided the showdown with me.

The ace of aces, who never ran away in any situation, accepted the bench’s automatic intentional walk.

This means that the desire to win today’s game no matter what is greater than his pride as an ace.

What this means is quite significant.

Ttaak!

“Out!”

The Warriors’ first attack ended as the ball hit by Walter went straight to the first baseman.

Seo Hyungju and Ahn Chiwook came up to me and grumbled as if complaining.

“That hyung is no joke today. It feels like it’s about 160 [km/h].”

“Have you ever hit a 160 ball?”

“Of course! That Suwon mercenary last time…”

“Ahn Chiwook, Seo Hyungju.”

“Why?”

“I’m really going to make anyone who makes even one error today receive fungo [batting practice drill] until they throw up.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“It’s as I said. It means be nervous. If you want to win today’s game.”

* * *

Whoosh

Pow

“Strike!”

All of Incheon’s starting players, who had been banished to the second team for protesting against Hwang Byungho, have returned to the first team.

Kang Woochan, the center fielder who had been grinding his teeth in the second team for the past fifteen days, let Lee Mansik’s first pitch go by as it was.

Speed 135㎞/h [approximately 84 mph].

Lee Mansik smiled bitterly without realizing it when he saw the speed marked on the scoreboard.

‘It’s terribly awful.’

The speed, which was 140 [km/h] at the beginning of the season, had already dropped this much.

He tries to comfort himself by saying it’s because of the elbow injury, but in fact, Lee Mansik knows.

Even after undergoing Tommy John surgery [ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction], he will never be able to throw a fastball again.

The right-handed orthodox pitcher, who threw a fastball, curve, changeup, and slider close to 150 [km/h] at the beginning of his debut, has now become a sad figure who has to deceive his opponent’s eyes with a 135㎞/h fastball and a sinker.

Whoosh

Throb

The pain started again the moment he threw the second ball.

The pain itself has been around for so long that it’s bearable now, but the problem is the fear that comes with it every time.

What if I collapse here as it is? And what if that becomes the end of my baseball career?

There were more than one or two seniors who left the ground in that way. Lee Mansik’s fear is even greater and clearer because it is based on reality.

Whoosh

Ttaak!

“Foul!”

The opposing batter, who just watched the fastball go out of the zone, this time hit the sinker that came into the zone and sent it to the outfield.

Fortunately, it spun in reverse and went out of the foul line, but honestly, his heart sank.

Even at the start of this season, he was able to compete to some extent on the body side.

He was confident in his control, if nothing else, so he was able to get the count with a 140㎞/h fastball that dug into the batter’s body.

But now he can’t throw that ball.

The only weapons he can throw now are a 135㎞/h fastball, a 118㎞/h sinker, and a 110㎞/h changeup.

He can occasionally mix in sliders and curves, but he has to endure unpleasant pain every time.

Should I ask them to change the pitcher now?

Should I tell them the truth that I’m not okay at all, that I’m sweating all over my body every time I throw a ball?

But there isn’t one.

No matter how much he thinks about it, there is no pitcher to throw in his place.

Kang Dongha, who threw three days ago, is on standby, but it is too much to entrust such an important game to him, who has been used to just enduring rather than winning, and then losing, throughout his baseball career.

It’s just me after all. I have to do it now.

Lee Mansik, gritting his teeth, once again put all his strength into putting the fastball into the batter’s body.

A 136㎞/h fastball containing a person’s life flies towards the catcher’s mitt.

But,

Ttaak!

Kang Woochan, who had been sharpening his knife in the second team stadium where he was forcibly kicked out, properly hit that ball.

A strong and fast hit that you can tell is a hit as soon as it’s hit.

At that moment when Kang Woochan was smiling with satisfaction at the line drive that was flying like an arrow next to the third baseman,

Chuck

“Heoeol…”

“What? What happened?”

“Really? That was caught? Why?”

The spectators who were watching the game on TV, or watching the game on their smartphones in the outfield, screamed in surprise.

Han Suhyuk, who had been completely out of the relay camera’s angle, popped out from somewhere and caught that hit as it was.

Han Suhyuk, who instinctively started in that direction as soon as the hit started, and barely managed to handle the hit after even attempting a dive, stood up and shook off the dirt on his body.

Kang Woochan, who had an immediate hit stolen from him, looked at the sky with a blank expression, and the veteran pitcher, who was about to be in a crisis with a runner on first base as soon as it started, raised his thumb and thanked Han Suhyuk.

Everyone who watched the scene sensed it.

That you shouldn’t take your eyes off today’s game for even a moment, and that the game will be decided in an instant at any moment.

A game where neither the players playing the game nor the fans watching can let their guard down for even a moment.

That’s how 5 innings passed in an instant.