Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 218

#217. Second Debut

In the end, I returned to this place.

Some things were the same as before, and some had changed a lot.

The things that remained the same were the boos from the home fans, furious at the team’s performance, the skeptical looks from my teammates, and the unpleasant smirks of those A’s guys who believed they could always beat Seattle.

And what had changed was me, who was once a rookie straight from the minor leagues, and my perspective, now returning with over 18 years of professional experience.

In the top of the first, Oakland’s offense went three-up, three-down, and it was Seattle’s turn to attack.

Standing in the on-deck circle, I looked around the field.

Far away on the mound stood Oakland’s ace with a confident expression.

Devin McPherson, a franchise star who debuted with Oakland and a right-handed ace who would soon move to a big market for a lot of money.

When I first came up to the big leagues after struggling in the minors, I was helpless against that guy’s pitches.

A fastball easily exceeding 100 miles per hour, and a powerful cutter that seemed like a fastball but sharply broke away to the outside.

I struggled for a while with that powerful pitch that I had never even seen in the minor leagues.

Whoosh

Crack

“Nice! Good ball!”

“Devin! Crush them!”

The Oakland players, confident of their victory in today’s game, treating Seattle like a lunchbox they could take out and eat anytime, exchanged the ball with smirks.

Right, I remembered.

I think I liked silencing those guys – especially the Yankees – who showed their teeth on the field the most.

By striking them out, hitting home runs, or, if necessary, throwing punches.

Hmm,

Come to think of it, I lived quite restrained when I was playing in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization].

Being on the field without any burden, without anything to be responsible for, solely for myself, I felt an unspeakable sense of liberation.

It was like being trapped in a stuffy urban forest of buildings and then coming out into a wide open field.

Huh.

I took a deep breath without realizing it.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could smell the dirt and grass of the field, which was slightly different from Korea.

The body I had worked so hard to build last winter twitched without its owner’s permission.

Crush them, smash those damn bastards.

I took another deep breath to calm that boiling energy.

Huh.

“Hey, what are you doing? Is that some kind of ritual you do before stepping into the batter’s box?”

“No, Ty. I just feel good.”

“How boring.”

Our team’s first batter, who had briefly stepped away from the plate, signaled to the umpire that he was ready.

And so, Seattle’s offense began in earnest.

* * *

Crack!

“Third!”

Thud

“Damn it!”

“Safe! Safe!”

Last season, the Seattle lineup was utterly humiliated by that Oakland ace, Devin McPherson.

To the Seattle hitters who were just beginning to blossom, he was an impregnable existence.

The Seattle lineup recorded a dismal batting average of 0.150 against that pitcher who froze hitters with a 100 mph fastball that came right at their bodies, and then tempted their bats with a two-seamer and cutter.

“Okay, good job anyway, Derek.”

“Good job? I barely got on base thanks to the error.”

Seattle’s first batter, Derek Fleming, who barely survived at first base thanks to the third baseman’s error, shrugged his shoulders as he handed his guard to the coach.

Derek was one of the top two hitters on this team before Han Su-hyeok and Ty Johnson joined.

That’s why his batting order was usually second or third.

But last winter, the team spent a lot of money to recruit a big name like Ty Johnson, and with the addition of an Asian who came from the KBO, Derek was demoted to the first spot.

To be honest, he felt terrible.

He had nothing to say about Ty Johnson, who had played in the big leagues for 15 years and recorded a slash line of .300/.400/.600, hitting nearly 40 home runs every year…….

‘That bastard…….’

The Asian hitter who was placed in the second spot instead of him, the second spot that should have been his.

He couldn’t accept that guy yet.

He dominated the KBO, a minor league?

He hit a few home runs in spring training?

So what?

There wasn’t a single guy playing in the big leagues right now who hadn’t shown that kind of performance.

He didn’t even think about it, but what if he had played in the KBO?

‘At least .400 with 50-50 [50 home runs and 50 stolen bases].’

To this young, arrogant big leaguer who was just beginning to bloom and heading towards his prime, Han Su-hyeok’s glory in Korea was not even a consideration.

If his true colors had been revealed in the exhibition games, he might have been able to reclaim his original position.

But that rookie almost skipped the exhibition games thanks to the manager’s consideration, and in the end, Derek couldn’t reverse the situation before the opening game started.

‘Well, his punch was pretty good.’

The only thing Derek admitted about Han Su-hyeok was the powerful punch that knocked down three arrogant minor league guys at once.

He was about to warn those guys who were disrupting the locker room atmosphere anyway, but Han Su-hyeok smashed them first.

It was a great punch.

Did he learn some kind of Asian martial arts?

Anyway, even considering that, he still didn’t like him.

“Play!”

‘Tch.’

But regardless of such complicated feelings, it was time to focus on the game.

It was the opening game against Oakland, those damn bastards.

He didn’t like the rookie Han Su-hyeok, but what he didn’t like even more were those A’s guys.

The team’s one-sided losing record throughout last season, and some of the old-timers who threatened Seattle’s young hitters just because they were veterans.

He couldn’t give them another victory.

He would win.

He would win no matter what today.

Swish

‘I don’t like it, but… we’re still a team.’

He could see clearly what kind of game that Oakland ace, who had utterly humiliated the Seattle hitters last season, would play against Han Su-hyeok.

He would probably make him step back from the plate with an inside pitch, and then finally induce a double play with a cutter that ran to the outside.

That guy’s cutter, which he threw against right-handed hitters, was almost a magical pitch.

Most of the time, it was a swing and a miss, and even if they hit it, it would be a ground ball to first base.

To prevent such a situation, he had to move actively on first base.

Tap tap

“Safe!”

“Boo!”

“Damn it! Just compete!”

He kept touching the pitcher’s nerves by repeatedly starting as if he was going to steal a base.

Again, it was for the team. Not for Han Su-hyeok, that arrogant bastard.

Bang

“Ball!”

The pitcher, who had been in a battle of nerves with the runner on first base several times, now entered into a full-fledged battle with the hitter.

As expected, the first pitch came high and inside.

It was the kind of pitch that would have startled an ordinary hitter and made them step back, but Han Su-hyeok showed no emotion and took his batting stance again.

He had to admit that he had guts.

Well, that’s why he fought with three big guys.

But what’s important to a baseball player isn’t guts, it’s skill.

The skill to blow away that fearsome Oakland ace’s pitch.

‘I can’t help it. I have to help more.’

He emphasized it two or three times, but this was for the team. Not for Han Su-hyeok.

Whoosh

“Safe!”

He didn’t like the role of the first batter, but he was confident in his base running.

The pitcher’s face showed annoyance at Derek Fleming’s active movements.

‘Hmm, am I surprisingly good at being the first batter? No, what am I thinking?’

He erased the unnecessary thoughts that came to his mind and widened his lead again.

No matter how much the runner helps, it is up to the hitter to hit the pitcher’s pitch.

Please, don’t let that arrogant rookie hit into a double play.

Don’t let him touch that damn cutter and create a weak ground ball.

As Derek was unknowingly offering a prayer for Han Su-hyeok in his heart,

Whoosh

The pitcher threw his main weapon, the outside cutter,

‘Tch.’

The moment the runner, who instinctively noticed that fact, was about to start towards second base,

Crack!

“Ugh!”

With a tremendous sound of impact, a white object flew over Derek’s head.

Han Su-hyeok pushed that cutter, which had broken dozens of Seattle hitters’ bats and produced ground balls last season, as it was.

“Whoa……?”

“What? How high is it going?”

The spectators stopped cheering for a moment at Han Su-hyeok’s trajectory, which was closer to a parabola than a straight line, and continued to follow the ball with their eyes.

It’s going to fall now, it’s time to fall.

“Oh, oh, that…….”

The right fielder, who was slowly backing away while chasing the ball, was already pushed to the fence.

But the ball was still flying in the sky.

Han Su-hyeok’s power, which had increased during the winter, was breaking through the sea breeze blowing from the Pacific Ocean.

And after a while,

Thud

The ball slammed into the retractable roof that blocked the right side of the stadium.

A ball that would have been an out-of-the-park home run if it had been a normal stadium.

The pitcher who was hit by the home run, the right fielder who chased the ball to the end, and the fans,

Everyone was gaping and couldn’t do anything,

Swoosh

Han Su-hyeok, who was standing at the plate and admiring the ball as it was, threw the bat back and slowly moved towards first base.

“Wow!”

“No way! It flew all the way over there!”

“Crazy! What! Is this a dream?”

The home fans, who finally realized the situation, started cheering all at once.

And the Oakland players, realizing that the opposing rookie had done everything that was taboo in the big leagues, admiring the home run ball and doing a bat flip, glared at Han Su-hyeok with fierce expressions.

“Derek, what are you doing? You have to go home.”

“Ah, ah, yes, coach.”

It wasn’t just the opposing players who were surprised by that unbelievable home run.

Derek, who had been doing his best at first base to prevent a double play, started running towards second base with a blank expression.

‘A home run? It went over?’

His antipathy towards Han Su-hyeok had disappeared from his mind.

The fact that he had given those Oakland bastards a blow as soon as the first inning started.

That alone made him feel like he was flying in the sky.

“Hoo!”

Turning around second base, to third base, and back home.

Whether it was because he was upset about being hit by a two-run home run, or because he was angry about the bat flip, the second baseman and third baseman cursed at him.

But he ignored it.

If he got into a fight, this good flow could be broken, and the Seattle players, including himself, were still young and lacking to face those Oakland guys who were full of veterans and fighters.

‘Let’s be patient. What’s important now is that we scored two points first.’

But the situation was beyond the level of being solved by just being patient.

Ignoring everything, closing his eyes and ears, the Oakland catcher’s curse flew into Derek’s ear as he stepped on home plate.

“Be sure to tell that arrogant rookie. I’m going to blow his head off in the next at-bat.”

“What?”

“And the same goes for you. I told you last time, didn’t I? If you get on my nerves one more time, I’ll kill you. Rookie, be prepared.”

“These damn bastards…….”

To Derek, who was born and raised in the United States but did not forget his pride in his hometown of Venezuela, that was an unbearable insult.

Derek flared up, and the catcher snorted and cursed again.

The umpire, who caught on to the unusual atmosphere, stepped in between them to separate them.

“Stop, stop!”

“No, didn’t you hear what that guy just said? Hey! That guy just insulted my hometown!”

“I know, so step back! If you make things bigger, you’ll be ejected!”

The umpire, who had not yet grasped the exact situation, gave Derek a warning instead, but he could not do anything.

Like the umpire said, if he made things bigger here, he would only be ejected. He had no choice but to end the game first and then file a formal complaint through the club.

As Derek barely suppressed his rising anger,

Thud

Han Su-hyeok, who had slowly returned to the diamond, finally stepped on home.

Confirming that the umpire’s attention was focused on the excited Derek, the catcher threatened Han Su-hyeok.

“You arrogant rookie bastard, I’m going to blow your head off in the next at-bat. I’m going to smash it and send you back to your dirty hometown…….”

But Desmond King, the starting catcher for the Oakland Athletics and a well-known fighter in the league, could not continue.

Pow!

Han Su-hyeok’s powerful uppercut blew the guy’s jaw away.

The 100kg giant flying backwards, spitting blood from his mouth.

The players and fans of both teams, who had not yet grasped what had happened, stared at him with blank expressions.

Han Su-hyeok, who had smashed Desmond’s jaw with one punch, climbed on top of the fallen guy’s body.

Pow!

Pow!

“Say it again. What about my hometown?”

“Stop! Stop!”

The players of both teams belatedly rushed to the home plate, and Ty Johnson, who was in the on-deck circle, ran in and barely pulled Han Su-hyeok away.

But it was already too late.

Desmond King, who had been hit three times by Han Su-hyeok, was foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

“Damn it! Yeah! Kill them all!”

“I feel so refreshed! Good! I’m going! I’ll show you the taste of my punch!”

“Damn Oakland hillbillies, I’m going to kill you!”

The angry players of both teams clashed here and there on the field, an ambulance came in and carried away the unconscious Desmond King, and the umpire gave Han Su-hyeok an ejection order.

Some of the spectators, who were more excited than the players, rushed onto the field, and a small Asian woman was foaming at the mouth and running around.

And so, Han Su-hyeok’s second debut in the big leagues came to an end.