Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 41

#40. If Words Don’t Work

Perhaps some people had a premonition that Hwang Sung-min would return to baseball. The last incident was classified as an internal matter by the club, so he didn’t receive any sanctions from the KBO [Korea Baseball Organization].

But no one seemed to expect the timing to be this quick. It hasn’t even been a month since he was released.

Well, whatever the case, it’s no use arguing about it now.

The important thing is to play the game in front of us.

“Argh!”

The first incident occurred during the Warriors’ attack in the bottom of the 1st inning.

After lead-off hitter Lee Chang-mo grounded out to the shortstop, Choi Min-seok, the number two hitter, stepped up to the plate.

Choi Dong-seok, the opposing pitcher, drilled a 143 km/h (89 mph) fastball into Choi Min-seok, who was also from the Magicians.

“Hey! You bastard!”

“What! What!”

Choi Dong-seok took off his hat and apologized to Choi Min-seok, though it seemed insincere. The startled umpire hesitated for a moment, then just gave a warning.

But Senior Jo Sung-oh, who was in the on-deck circle, exploded. He shouted and walked towards the mound, and Choi Dong-seok reacted angrily.

Both teams’ players rushed out of the dugout, but the tension quickly subsided when Choi Min-seok, who was hit by the beanball, signaled that he was okay.

The Magicians’ first baseman was muttering something to Senior Choi Min-seok, who was on first base. I was about to get angry, but Senior Lee Man-shik grabbed my shoulder.

“Soo-hyuk, stay put. We’ll take care of it.”

Yeah, this is a bench-clearing brawl in Korean baseball. Having only played in the Major League, where punches are thrown all the time, I can’t get used to this atmosphere.

If this were America, that pitcher would already be pinned down on the mound, screaming for his life.

“Yes, Senior. I’m okay.”

“Yeah, the atmosphere is a bit much today. I need to talk to Chul-hwan again after the game.”

I wonder if things can be resolved so peacefully?

Anyway, the first clash ended without much happening.

Senior Choi Min-seok, who moved from the Magicians, was the target, so both teams were in an awkward position, and both teams’ coaches actively stepped in to calm the situation.

But I still didn’t let my guard down.

There’s no reason. It’s just a gut feeling.

With the score tied at 0-0, in the top of the 3rd inning, Song Ki-tae, who walked, stole second base, making it one out with a runner on second.

Thwack!

The Magicians’ ninth hitter hit the ball between first and second base. Senior Jo Sung-oh dove with all his might and caught the ball, and in the meantime, runner Song Ki-tae sprinted towards third base.

Whirr.

“Ugh!”

It was that moment. Song Ki-tae raised his spikes towards Ahn Chi-wook’s left foot, who was stepping on third base to receive the throw.

“You son of a bitch!”

“What kind of dirty play is that!”

“What! What did I do!”

“Song Ki-tae, you bastard!”

“Watch your mouth! Why am I your bastard!”

“What?”

Fortunately, Ahn Chi-wook, who was quite agile for his large size, quickly dodged and tagged Song Ki-tae out.

The problem was that he didn’t avoid it completely, so his ankle was scratched by the spikes, causing a slight abrasion.

Senior Jo Sung-oh, who was on first base, ran over and tried to grab Song Ki-tae by the collar. The guy shook off his hand and retaliated.

Both teams’ players rushed onto the field again.

What was surprising was that Senior Lee Chang-mo, who was usually indifferent, was particularly excited.

“You son of a bitch! Just you wait! I’m going to shatter your ankles!”

“Try it! You son of a bitch! You can’t even play baseball!”

The two infielders of the same age, who used to glare at each other like cats and dogs when they were on the Warriors, clashed with fire in their eyes.

Come to think of it, Senior Lee Chang-mo has been fond of Ahn Chi-wook lately. They have the common ground of being infielders, and he said it’s cute how he follows him around to learn glove work.

“Stop! Stop! I’ll eject you if you do any more! Everyone back down!”

“No, look at what those guys are doing today!”

“What about us!”

“Stop it! Stop it!”

The umpires actively intervened. Warnings were given to the players who caused the collision.

Both teams’ players returned to the dugout, grumbling at the umpire’s attitude, who seemed ready to call an ejection if they went any further.

Far away, Song Ki-tae and Hwang Sung-min were pointing at me with their fingers and muttering something.

Ah, this is really pissing me off. Who do those worthless bastards think they are?

The moment I couldn’t hold back my anger and was about to explode again.

“Soo-hyuk.”

“Yes?”

“No.”

“What?”

“Anyway, no. The manager told me. To stop you from doing anything weird no matter what. If I lose you here, I might go down to the minors. But we need at least one Korean coach in the majors, right?”

This time, it was the defense coach after Senior Lee Man-shik.

The Korean defense coach, who had approached me, looked at me with the most pitiful expression in the world. I could deeply feel the weight of a father responsible for his family’s livelihood in his eyes.

Hmm.

Isn’t this too unfair?

* * *

After two clashes, the game entered a lull.

Our team scored two points first with Senior Jo Sung-oh’s timely hit and Senior Kim Soo-hak’s squeeze bunt, and then Go Chul-hwan of the Magicians hit a two-run home run to tie the score.

The score was 2-2, and the game was now entering the bottom of the 7th inning.

Choi Dong-seok, who was nearing his pitch limit, exchanged glances with catcher Hwang Sung-min.

He will be taken off the mound soon. He has to finish it before that.

‘Now?’

‘Okay.’

The two, who had been close since high school, maintained their relationship by having frequent drinks even after joining the pros and being split into different teams.

Choi Dong-seok was furious that such a friend was beaten by his juniors and released.

Choi Dong-seok was especially angry at Han Soo-hyuk.

He was furious that Jang Deok-soo had accumulated grudges over time, but a rookie who had nothing to do with it jumped in and caused such a ruckus. He growled that he would show him what’s what.

Perhaps noticing his feelings, manager Lee Dae-jun excluded Han Soo-hyuk from the starting lineup.

Choi Dong-seok, who was very annoyed, threw a beanball at Choi Min-seok instead of Han Soo-hyuk. Song Ki-tae, who went out as a runner, raised his spikes towards the Warriors’ fielders.

This veteran pitcher, who had been playing in Korean baseball for a long time, knew that the umpire was not likely to call an ejection unless it was a big deal. He just had to not cross the line.

He tormented the Warriors’ players like that, and now he has reached his pitch limit.

At that moment, he recalled the last moment he had promised with Hwang Sung-min in advance.

Jo Sung-oh, who had a timely hit today, was at bat.

He is a four-year senior, but he is a human being without much presence. He is a marginal player who cannot be compared to himself in terms of skill or connections.

Nevertheless, he has been running around and doing quite well this year, as if he ate something wrong.

That’s why he’s the most suitable target.

A perfect target to relieve this shitty feeling and give a blow to the Warriors.

Whoosh!

Thwack!

“Aaaargh!”

A 142km/h (88 mph) fastball hit the batter’s shoulder.

Senior Jo Sung-oh, who was hit by the beanball, screamed and collapsed on the spot.

Choi Dong-seok was chewing gum mockingly, looking at Jo Sung-oh like that. He looked like he had nothing to lose even if he was ejected anyway.

Hwang Sung-min didn’t even look at Senior Jo Sung-oh, who had fallen, and Song Ki-tae, who was on second base, was grinning with his legs crossed.

At that moment, the pent-up anger burst out at once.

I shook off Senior Lee Man-shik and the defense coach’s arms and ran forward.

But this time, there was a presence blocking me again.

“You son of a bi… Ugh! Let go of this! Let go!”

“No.”

“Senior Jang Deok-soo, let go of this… Ugh, let go! You bear-like human! Let go!”

“Absolutely not. It’s the manager’s order.”

Manager Lee Dae-jun knew.

How recklessly the youngest had acted in the incident involving Hwang Sung-min and Jang Deok-soo.

He realized that Han Soo-hyuk was a person who was not bound by age or experience. He did not forget that he was a nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.

That’s why he took him out of the starting lineup. And he ordered Lee Man-shik, Jang Deok-soo, and the defense coach to prevent Han Soo-hyuk from joining the bench-clearing brawl no matter what.

He cannot afford to lose the key hitter who is leading the team’s current rise due to such a trivial quarrel.

He has to step in instead.

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

Choi Dong-seok flinched at manager Lee Dae-jun’s roar, which sounded like he had swallowed a train’s firebox. He was a man who no one could stop when a bench-clearing brawl broke out during his active career.

At the same time as Lee Dae-jun’s roar, the Warriors’ players ran towards the mound. And the Magicians’ players also rushed out to protect the pitcher.

“Please, let go of this… Let… Aaaargh!”

“No.”

Even in the midst of that, Senior Jang Deok-soo’s hand, which was holding me from behind, did not loosen. It was clear that he, too, was barely holding back his boiling anger.

“You fucking… Ugh!”

“Let go! Don’t let go of this! Aaaargh! Don’t bite! Don’t bite!”

“I’m going to kill that bastard… Ugh!”

While I was struggling in Senior Jang Deok-soo’s hands, the players from both teams were entangled on the ground.

Senior Kim Soo-hak, who had seemed to have an unusual atmosphere since earlier, body-checked Choi Dong-seok. The guy screamed and fell to the ground.

“That hyung [older brother/senior] was hit by a beanball by Choi Dong-seok last year and rested for a month.”

“Hmm.”

Ahn Chi-wook whispered to me as if he was telling me something great.

Due to this bench-clearing brawl, Choi Dong-seok from the Magicians and Senior Kim Soo-hak and manager Lee Dae-jun from the Warriors were ejected. It was a crime to push the third base umpire, who was siding with the Magicians, and knock him down on the ground.

I looked around.

The faces of the players who lost their colleagues and manager due to the Magicians’ tricks were full of anger.

It was then.

Benjamin Reynolds, the head coach who took over the temporary command instead of the ejected manager Lee Dae-jun, spoke to me with a calm expression.

“Are you okay, rookie?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I was held and tied up by Senior Jang Deok-soo.”

“Good. You said you can also play left field, right?”

“Yes, I can.”

“Then… I’m thinking of putting you in Kim’s place from the next defensive inning.”

Unlike manager Lee Dae-jun, who had excluded Han Soo-hyuk from the list altogether in preparation for any eventuality, this white-haired American, who took over the temporary command, had a slightly different idea.

He is a person who is familiar with rough American baseball. He is a person who has lived in a world where the law of the jungle prevails, not school ties or regional ties.

His usual philosophy was that if you have a fight with the other party, you have to completely suppress them internally and externally. He believed that this was the right way to go, even if he was scolded by the manager later.

I answered such a head coach.

“Rather, Coach. Can I make another suggestion?”

“A suggestion?”

What I learned from playing in the Major League for 15 years is that these athletes are a species that never listens to words.

For these guys, actions speak louder than words. It’s a simple lesson that if you aim for the other person’s head, their heads can also explode.

“If you put me on the mound in the next inning, I’ll give those morons a proper lesson.”

“What? The mound?”

“Yes.”

“You… It’s going to be difficult to be a pitcher this year…”

“I won’t overdo it. Just one inning with less power. I’ll make those idiots piss their pants whenever they see our team in the future.”

“Hmm… I know what you mean.”

He is Benjamin Coach, who has been active in the Big League and the Minor League for a long time. He knows very well what it means to put a fireballer who throws 100 miles in this situation.

He glanced at the door behind the dugout where the manager had stepped down a few times, then answered as if he had made up his mind.

“Okay, rookie. But you can’t hit them directly.”

“Of course. I don’t want to commit murder either.”

“I think you understand me well. Damn it, okay. The boss might grab me by the collar later, but let’s do it. It doesn’t make sense to just let those guys go.”

I picked up the pitcher’s glove and headed to the bullpen after receiving permission from the head coach. The team members, who didn’t understand what was going on yet, looked at me with bewildered eyes.

As expected, today’s game has become a mess as I expected. And my plan to make my pitching debut in the Korean Series has also gone awry.

So I’m going to show those youngsters who ruined my plan the bitterness of life.

I’ll show you what baseball is. You little brats.

* * *