Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 31

30. The Most Important Thing in Baseball

Many people have different philosophies about baseball, but I personally like to compare it to Go [a strategic board game] or architecture.

The commonality between baseball, Go, and architecture is that the entire picture changes dramatically depending on where and how the first stone is placed. It’s all about that initial move.

Teams in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] play 144 games in a season.

Starting pitchers, depending on the rotation, will start roughly 20 to 30 games per season, and starting hitters will step up to the plate about 500 to 600 times.

It’s a long race.

You have to continue fighting not only against opposing teams and players but also against yourself.

Fighting against a gradually lazy mind, complacency that this is good enough, personal matters from yesterday, the urge to throw everything away, and so on.

Managing a career and getting through a season safely while constantly fighting against these things is not as easy as you might think.

To exaggerate a bit, it feels like becoming an old man carving a bat.

Back to the main point, during my 15 seasons in the United States, I always placed a lot of importance on the first game of the opening series.

Thwack!

The Titans’ leadoff hitter smashes a ball hard towards the third baseman.

The ratio of left-handed hitters is increasing, and the defensive ability of the first baseman is also becoming important, but there is still much more required of the third baseman.

The ability to handle a ball strongly pulled by a right-handed hitter and throw it accurately to first base, relay plays after receiving a throw from the right fielder, and so on.

In that respect, Ahn Chi-wook is still a very lacking third baseman.

The guy, startled by the sound of the bat hitting the ball, froze as he watched the direction and speed of the ball.

As expected. KBO infielders often judge those kinds of balls as hits.

But I have no intention of giving up a hit to the opposing team’s first hitter in the opening game, the first of 144 games.

Because that’s not the first stone I want to place.

Thud!

I throw my body with all my might towards the ball flying like an arrow past the third baseman.

The soil of the ground scatters in all directions with a whooshing sound.

It’s a very familiar sensation.

My body slides smoothly over the special soil that Seong-hoon *hyung* [older brother or male friend] replaced for me, the soil I preferred most during my big league days.

‘Thunk.’

Got it.

I felt the ball in my outstretched glove.

But my body balance is completely broken, so it’s impossible for me to make a throw from this position, no matter how good I am. Besides, the opponent is the fastest leadoff hitter on that team.

“Ahn Chi-wook!”

I tossed the ball to Ahn Chi-wook, who was startled by my shout, as I was still down from the slide.

Ahn Chi-wook reflexively caught the ball with his bare hand and threw it with all his might towards first base.

“Out!”

The umpire, who had been contemplating for a while, declared the out, and the opposing team’s dugout immediately requested a video review.

They also know how important the result of the first hitter in the opening game is.

“Ptooey.”

I spat out a mouthful of dirt and walked towards Ahn Chi-wook.

We had never practiced this separately.

The play just now is the result of my efforts to train Ahn Chi-wook and his unexpectedly strong shoulder.

“Out!”

In the meantime, the umpire called out again.

The call was not overturned. Ahn Chi-wook’s lips curl up slightly.

Hmm.

Is this guy thinking he did well?

“Hey, Ahn Chi-wook.”

“Wasn’t I cool? Wasn’t I great?”

“No, a cool third baseman wouldn’t give up on that ball so easily in the first place.”

“…”

If you crack the whip, you have to give a carrot too. That’s how you show the owner’s appreciation.

I’m taking this guy around, teaching him, saving him from getting hit, and even giving him a salary, so aren’t I practically the owner by now?

Well, never mind.

“Still, you did well for a newbie. Honestly, I thought you were going to miss it even while I was tossing it.”

“Hmm.”

The guy’s lips, which had drooped slightly, rose about 15 degrees again.

Compared to when I first saw him in spring camp, he’s really becoming human.

If I push him a little more, he’ll become a decent third baseman.

Yeah, whatever it takes, I’ll make you a human being.

* * *

“Um, Manager…?”

“…”

Kang Bong-gu, the manager of the Busan Titans, was so amazed by Han Su-hyeok and Ahn Chi-wook’s crazy combination play that he opened his mouth without realizing it. He wiped the saliva from his mouth.

‘That guy is really crazy.’

I already experienced it enough in the exhibition game. Han Su-hyeok’s potential as a shortstop, that is.

I was amazed more than once by his incredible agility and flexibility that didn’t match his physique.

Sometimes, he made plays like a 10-year veteran, surprising me.

But I thought there would definitely be limitations as a rookie.

I thought that he would show surprising plays with his natural talent, but when he entered a real game, and thus was under psychological pressure, he would shrink back to some extent.

I was sure that he wouldn’t be able to use even half of his ability in a real game.

That’s why I gave a harsh rating to shortstop Han Su-hyeok.

The fact that the player placed next to him at third base was rookie Ahn Chi-wook also played a part.

Two rookies in their first year of joining the team were placed side by side in the 3-shortstop position.

Manager Kang Bong-gu instructed them to focus on that area in the opening two-game series against the Warriors. He thought that was the opponent’s weakness.

He ordered them to place as many right-handed hitters as possible from number 1 to number 9 and to hit the ball hard.
The fact that the opposing pitcher Ryan Stark favored inside pitches also played a part in that decision.

“Out!”

“Wow… he caught that too. Really?”

“Manager?”

“What kind of rookie doesn’t get nervous in the opening game, huh? Our kids couldn’t even sleep properly yesterday.”

But it seems like I misjudged.
The moment the Titans’ second hitter strongly pulled the ball and it looked like it was going to pass by the shortstop, Han Su-hyeok rushed over and snatched the ball.

Manager Kang Bong-gu realized that he had misunderstood something.

The 3-shortstop position, which he thought was the Warriors’ weakness before the game, was the Titans’ weakness, not the Warriors’.

He quickly revised his plan.

“…Tell them not to pull it on purpose.”

“Yes?”

“The plan to send the ball to the 3-shortstop position is on hold for now.”

Kang Bong-gu, who was also a rival of Warriors manager Lee Dae-jun during his playing days, clicked his tongue and looked at the opposing team’s dugout.

It’s too far to see well, but it was obvious that Lee Dae-jun was smiling right now.

We’ve been scraping the bottom of the league together for the past few years, but someone’s first-round pick is Han Su-hyeok, and ours is Kim so-and-so, who went into rehab due to a shoulder injury.

‘Envious bastard…’

The world was still unfair.

* * *

“Nice play!”

“Good job! The youngest ones are doing everything today!”

Ahn Chi-wook caught the ball well as Gu Se-jun, the Titans’ cleanup hitter, pushed the ball, and the offense and defense were switched.

To be honest, I didn’t think he would catch it.

Predicting the trajectory of a ball going over third base is not easy even for veterans.

I can’t say this to him directly, but baseball is still a game where the good players are good. They say ‘ya-jal-jal’ [a Korean slang term meaning “the good players are good” or “skill will always prevail”].

The guy, who had only heard negative feedback about his defensive ability, looked at me with a smirk on his face for once.

What? What? Do you want me to praise you? For just that much?

No way. You’ll just develop bad habits.

“How was it? Cool, right?”

“Don’t lift your chin, don’t take your elbows away from your body, and don’t pull it too hard.”

“What?”

If I had left him alone, he would have been so excited that he wouldn’t have been able to control his excitement even at the plate.

I gently suppressed Ahn Chi-wook’s excited heart and entered the waiting batter’s box.

Lee Chang-mo, the leadoff hitter who has recently been enjoying getting on base, was carefully choosing the ball.

The Titans’ foreign pitcher threw the ball into every corner.

But Lee Chang-mo endured it well and eventually advanced to first base.

It’s not that the opposing foreign pitcher didn’t throw well, but rather that Lee Chang-mo saw the ball well. His batting sense has deteriorated a lot compared to his prime, but his eye for the ball is still alive.

When I think about it, even a player like that fails and falls into a slump due to the wounds he gets from it, and that’s what the big leagues are all about.

When I was playing in the United States, I saw countless players who were frustrated by that high threshold.

A rookie who was supported by everyone around him and thought he was the best in the world enters the major leagues via the minor leagues.

Even at this point, he mistakenly believes that he is the best and that he has a talent that cannot be easily seen.

But no.

When he comes up to the major leagues, there are many guys like him. Some of them are even monsters that he can’t even dare to compare himself to.

That’s how his self-esteem is shattered, and he goes back and forth between the minor leagues and gets older. And before he knows it, he’s almost thirty. At that moment, his firm heart begins to break little by little.

I wasn’t the best, I wasn’t a special player. The major leagues don’t want me.

Then, teams from Asia, such as Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, reach out to that player. They offer him a high salary and tell him to give up his dream of playing in the major leagues and choose reality.

Some players resist that temptation and continue to move forward towards their dream of becoming a major leaguer, but most players compromise with reality.

Baseball to make money, simply as a job.

Of course, that’s not a bad thing. No, maybe it’s a natural thing. Working as much as you get paid is the basis of labor.

The problem is that it’s hard to become a real star with that mindset.

You can’t reach the top without going beyond that, pushing your limits, and challenging impossible goals.

I can’t know exactly what Lee Chang-mo’s heart is right now.

Maybe he’s hesitating and faltering in front of the limits he’s created?

I tapped the bat on the ground a few times and entered the batter’s box.

The foreign pitcher, whom I had already faced in the exhibition game, glared at me with his eyes wide open.

Hmm.

He did that back then and got hit with a home run, but I guess he doesn’t have a good memory.

“Han Su-hyeok! Han Su-hyeok! Bbara barabam bbambbam! Han Su-hyeok!”

My name resounds powerfully from the cheering squad’s speaker. The new cheer song just for me echoes through the stadium.

It’s a different feeling that I’ve never experienced in the major leagues.

The decibel seems to be much louder than when Lee Chang-mo was at bat, but maybe it’s just a feeling?

When I look closely, the celebrity Min Ye-rin, who was mixed in with the cheering squad, is staring at me while sticking to the safety net.

“Su-hyeok, why did you just leave last time? *Hyung* [older brother or male friend] was disappointed.”

“I’m sorry. Something urgent suddenly came up.”

“Is that so? I thought you left because you didn’t want to see me. Then our Su-hyeok should give *hyung* [older brother or male friend] a good ball today, right? Here, I’ll give you a fastball right in the middle, so let’s get along with *hyung* [older brother or male friend] in the future.”

I have to admit that Gu Jae-hyun is good at being glib.

Are you trying to trash talk again even after being hit once in the exhibition game?

Hmm, but this time I’m honestly confused.

Last time, they said they would give it to me in the middle and actually threw it in the middle. It’s an incomprehensible battery [pitcher and catcher duo].

Are they expecting me to let my guard down? Is it going in reverse?

The foreign pitcher, who had been constantly fixing his gaze on me as if he didn’t expect Lee Chang-mo to run at all, started his pitching motion in that position.

“Okay, watch closely. It’s right in the middle.”

My head gets complicated for a moment at Gu Jae-hyun’s sly voice.

Really? Are you going to throw it right in the middle again?

That’s unlikely, but should I just take a strike and aim for it?

Okay, then let’s try…

Oh?

Thwaaaack!

* * *