Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 57

#56. Breathe! Breathe!

Signing an S-class player with an estimated value of at least 12 billion won is no easy feat.

Of course, that 12 billion won isn’t paid all at once. If it were, we’d be jeopardizing the club’s financial stability.

Basically, assuming a 4-year contract, the signing bonus is around 4 billion won. Fortunately, this bonus can be paid in installments, depending on the agreement with the player.

Then there’s an annual salary of 2 billion won, including performance-based incentives [options in the contract that trigger additional payments based on performance].

Hmm.

Damn it.

I didn’t think twice about earning $35 million a year in the States, but now I’m agonizing over a total of 12 billion won over 4 years.

Things have improved somewhat since Min Ye-rin’s father, the investment guru Min Tae-hyun, took over the club’s finances.

He’s diversifying funds into stable, low-risk investments and building multiple safeguards to prevent any financial crises.

Hyung Seong-hoon, who met with Min Tae-hyun in the US, told me this:

‘I’ll spare you the detailed explanation.’

I suspect he didn’t fully grasp it himself.

Of course, it wouldn’t have made much difference even if I had heard it firsthand.

Investments are best left to investment experts, and baseball to baseball experts.

In any case, considering Min Tae-hyun’s assistance and the recent surge in spectator numbers, we should be able to secure the funds to sign Im Jun-yeong.

So, it’s not that I’m frustrated or anything.

I’m just facing reality.

I suppose you could say I’m realizing just how much money I used to make playing baseball.

In conclusion, we’ve decided to focus all the club’s resources on signing Im Jun-yeong, assuming he chooses to stay in Korea.

We desperately need an ace [a team’s best pitcher] who can be the cornerstone of our team’s rebuilding efforts.

While I was briefly back in team owner mode, fretting about the team’s future, the second game against Incheon commenced.

Our team started Lee Man-shik, while Incheon countered with Derek Bell, a new foreign player making his debut on the Korean stage this year.

I heard today is his debut on the Korean stage.

“Hey, check out that guy’s size. He’s almost as big as Deok-soo.”

“Deok-soo needs to bulk up. He might lose his title as the KBO’s [Korean Baseball Organization’s] most imposing physique.”

“Really?”

Senior Jang Deok-soo, who transforms into a fierce competitor when provoked but otherwise exudes a gentle, Buddha-like aura, nodded and donned his catcher’s gear.

He already consumes a tremendous amount of food; does he need to eat even more?

If we’re going to sign Im Jun-yeong, everyone needs to tighten their belts from now on…

…Let’s stop.

I’m just indulging in pointless thoughts because I’m fixating on the massive expenditure ahead.

For today’s second game against Incheon, manager Lee Dae-jun selected the following lineup:

1st batter, second baseman Lee Chang-mo

2nd batter, center fielder Choi Min-seok

3rd batter, shortstop Han Su-hyeok

4th batter, first baseman Jo Seong-oh

5th batter, right fielder Max Walker

6th batter, third baseman Ahn Chi-wook

7th batter, designated hitter Kang Jin-seok

8th batter, catcher Jang Deok-soo

9th batter, left fielder Kim Su-hak

Starting pitcher Lee Man-shik

The batting lineup is starting to pack some punch, although it still has its weaknesses.

Considering that today’s opposing pitcher, Derek Bell, is a left-hander, the outcome will hinge on how effectively our left-handed hitters, from the 4th to the 6th batters, handle his pitches.

“Play!”

The game began.

“Ball.”

“Strike.”

“Strike! Out!”

That’s what I admire about Lee Man-shik as a pitcher.

He doesn’t panic even after throwing three balls to start, and he maintains his composure. No, the fact that he can stick to his game plan is remarkable.

Even for a seasoned veteran, that’s not easy. Regardless of the stats, he’s a pitcher who inspires confidence in the manager and his teammates.

That’s not something you can achieve simply through experience.

Perhaps he would have excelled in any position, not just as a pitcher.

Lee Man-shik struck out the first batter, then retired the second and third with a fly ball to left field and a fly ball to right field, breezing through the first inning.

“Ahn Chi-wook, watch and learn.”

“What?”

“Senior Lee Man-shik’s performance, I mean.”

“Well… he’s good, but what am I supposed to learn? He’s a pitcher, right?”

Tsk.

What am I even saying to this kid?

It will take him years of experience in this world to understand what I mean.

Bang!

Bottom of the 1st inning, our team’s turn to bat.

Lee Chang-mo struck out after a lengthy battle that went to the 8th pitch, but Choi Min-seok followed with a clean hit to left field.

Derek Bell, the pitcher I observed from the dugout, was a textbook example of an impatient fastballer.

He was the polar opposite of our team’s Lee Man-shik, who had just pitched.

When he throws without worrying about control, his fastball can reach up to 158 km/h [approximately 98 mph], and he has a decent changeup, and a curveball that doesn’t seem refined enough to be a reliable pitch.

He’s the kind of pitcher you can find four or five of on every team in the minor leagues.

Was it because he threw 14 pitches against two batters and even gave up a hit?

I could see his dark skin flushing red with frustration.

Is it always the case that the bigger they are and the more they rely on fastballs, the less patient and more hot-tempered they are?

Actually, those are my favorite type of pitchers. Of course, I’m speaking from a batter’s perspective.

Guys who are overconfident in their pitches and charge in headfirst.

Against those guys.

Bang!

I swung at the fastball that came inside and connected for a hit to left field.

Choi Min-seok stopped at second base because the hit was too sharply hit.

So, one out, runners on first and second.

“Fuck!”

“Hey, Derek, are you okay? Are you okay? Ugh, what is this from the first inning?”

Incheon’s catcher, Son Young-jin, went to the mound to try and calm down the pitcher who was already in trouble at the start of the first inning.

The interpreter, who rushed out quickly, was working hard to relay the catcher’s and the coach’s words, but it was clear that Derek Bell wasn’t listening.

This makes the game easier.

Tuk tuk

I sent our signal to Jo Seong-oh, who was in the batter’s box.

It was a signal that he should anticipate the fastball and swing aggressively on the first pitch.

Jo Seong-oh, who saw my signal, pretended not to notice and nodded subtly.

In fact, this might require approval from the bench.

However, manager Lee Dae-jun generally encourages the players to make these kinds of decisions on their own.

What did he say? He believes that until the manager intervenes, the players on the field are best equipped to communicate, assess the situation, and make plays, I guess.

That’s not always the right approach, but Lee Dae-jun is a good manager simply for having such flexible thinking.

“Play!”

The catcher and coach returned to their positions, and the game resumed.

I don’t know what they said to each other, but the pitcher’s expression was even worse than before.

In my opinion, I think Incheon will be signing a new foreign pitcher soon.

Bang!

“MotherFucker!”

Jo Seong-oh hammered Derek Bell’s first-pitch fastball.

A clean hit to right field, landing just in front of the right fielder.

Choi Min-seok rounded third base and scored easily, while I pulled up at third base.

We scored the first point without much trouble, and there was still only one out, with runners on first and third.

Derek Bell’s face was crimson, and it looked like steam would erupt from his head under his cap.

It’s not easy to deal with a foreign player who’s acting like that.

Those guys know it too. They know that the club won’t release them unless their behavior is truly egregious.

They can get away with being temperamental and causing problems as long as they produce decent results.

Also, there are no veteran players to keep them in check like in the US, and everyone around them is from a different country.

That’s why you have to carefully assess their personality when recruiting a foreign player. Like our team’s Max.

He may not hit home runs, but he consistently gets RBIs [Runs Batted In], and he enjoys eating rockfish stew as much as he enjoys driving in runs…

Bang!

I guess it’s my lucky day today.

While I was lost in thought, Max Walker pushed Derek Bell’s first pitch and delivered a clean hit to left field.

He practically walked home, while the pitcher unleashed a torrent of profanity that even I couldn’t understand.

That’s impressive.

Incheon’s front office must have been aware of this. Did they sign him solely because he’s a left-handed fastballer who throws 160 km/h [approximately 99 mph]?

Well, we’re grateful to be facing him.

There’s only one out, and the score is 2 to 0. Runners on first and third again.

At this point, even a complete idiot wouldn’t throw a fastball on the first pitch again…

Tuk

I guess manager Lee Dae-jun is considering pulling that foreign player in the first inning.

The bench’s signal was given.

Ahn Chi-wook, who had been taunting Derek Bell by swinging his bat wildly, executed a bunt on the first-pitch curveball as if he had been planning it all along.

“Uh oh!”

“Fuck!”

The pitcher didn’t even react to the first-inning squeeze bunt [a high-risk play where the runner on third base attempts to score as the batter bunts the ball], which is rarely seen in the US, and the third baseman belatedly charged and threw to first base, but both the batter and the runner were safe.

In an instant, 3 to 0. There’s still only one out and runners on first and second again.

A deafening chorus of boos erupted from the visiting team’s stands.

“You call that a foreign player, huh?”

“Get that idiot out of there and bring in a real pitcher!”

“Derek Bell? Is he an automatic out?”

It’s fortunate that he doesn’t understand Korean.

Otherwise, there might have been another incident of him throwing a bat into the stands.

* * *

After Ahn Chi-wook’s squeeze bunt made it 3 to 0, our attack ended there because Kang Jin-seok hit into a double play.

I could see Derek Bell throwing his glove in the dugout from here.

Incheon easily defeated the Magicians with 4 wins last season and won the Korean Series, but if their foreign players are like that, they might struggle a bit this year.

In fact, when a foreign player is acting like that, the team’s star player should quietly take him aside and give him some mental guidance.

He’s big and strong?

If you back down, those guys will only become more uncontrollable.

You have to look him in the eye and tell him.

If you’re going to play baseball like that, pack your bags and get out of here right now.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are no veterans in Incheon who can say that right now. If Senior Im Jun-yeong was in the dugout, maybe… but he went to the hospital for a routine checkup today, so…

Anyway, whether he’s acting up or not, the game continued.

“Out!”

Derek Bell, who seemed destined to be pulled early in the first inning, gave up another runner in the second inning but somehow managed to survive.

The problem arose in the bottom of the third inning, during the Warriors’ attack.

I went up as the lead batter and saw 10 pitches, but I struck out on a fastball that was high and outside.

Well, I can’t hit every pitch.

It’s definitely powerful if you can control it. Of course, the problem is that he can’t control it.

Anyway, after me, Jo Seong-oh also struck out, and Max Walker walked to first base.

Derek Bell’s face started to turn red again.

* * *

‘Fucking bastards.’

Bottom of the 3rd inning, two outs, runner on first.

Derek Bell’s eyes narrowed as the opposing team’s 6th batter approached the plate.

After lingering on the fringes of the major leagues for the past two years, he abandoned his futile pursuit and chose to come to Korea.

Annual salary of $700,000.

That’s a fortune compared to the $110,000 he earned in the minor leagues.

Perhaps that’s why Derek was determined to make a statement on the Korean stage. Despite failing to break into the big leagues, he began to dream of dominating in Korea and then moving on to Japan.

Today was the first step towards realizing that grand ambition.

But those fucking bastards ruined everything.

The 1st batter, who nonchalantly fouled off his pitches, irritated him, and the monster who connected with his most confident fastball infuriated him.

But the one who bothered him the most was that guy.

The opposing team’s third baseman, who looked young but was surprisingly big.

A rookie who had the audacity to bunt against him in the first inning.

‘Cocky yellow monkey.’

The words of a Puerto Rican foreign player, the only one on the team who spoke his language, echoed in his mind from before the game.

‘Hey, I don’t care about anything else, but don’t even think about getting into a bench-clearing brawl with those guys. Um… it’s hard to explain. Just to ensure you return to your family safely, you should avoid those guys.’

He had dismissed the warning as nonsense.

Sure, they had a few big guys, but they were just Asians. Their race was fundamentally different.

Besides, Derek Bell had been fighting since high school, playing American football.

He hesitated for a moment, worried about potential disciplinary action from the club.

But no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t let it slide. Back home, if you let something like this go, you’d be seen as a coward.

‘Fuck!’

Derek Bell, having made up his mind, slowly began his windup.

A pitch that prioritized speed over pinpoint accuracy, aiming to throw near the desired spot.

The 155 km/h fastball hurtled towards Ahn Chi-wook’s head.

“Ugh!”

Bang

The moment the ball left Derek Bell’s fingertips, screams erupted from the crowd.

It was an obvious beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter’s head].

But he was fortunate.

Ahn Chi-wook quickly ducked, and the ball struck the bat he was holding instead of his head, deflecting it away.

“That crazy bastard!”

“Su-hyeok! Su-hyeok! Wait! Hey, grab Su-hyeok!”

I genuinely thought he had been hit in the head.

The instant I believed that Derek Bell, that fucking bastard, had hit Ahn Chi-wook in the head, my vision blurred.

Concerns about the consequences of hitting someone again and facing another suspension, and worries about the team’s standings, vanished from my mind.

At that moment, all that mattered was concern for Ahn Chi-wook, that idiot, and rage at the pitcher who threw that fucking ball.

“Grab Su-hyeok! He can’t control himself!”

I heard Jo Seong-oh’s shout from behind as I charged out of the dugout.

I apologize, but I had no intention of heeding that warning.

That fucking bastard deserved a lesson.

A lesson about the potentially fatal consequences of throwing a ball at someone’s head.

In the distance, Derek Bell stood on the mound, waiting for me with his fist raised.

Yes, this confirmed that he deliberately threw a beanball.

I’m going to kill him.

At that moment, as I sprinted towards the mound, bracing myself for another suspension.

Shuuk

Something massive and incredibly fast whizzed past me.

And that object engulfed Derek Bell, who was preparing to fight on the mound.

It was so swift that he couldn’t even react, let alone throw a punch.

“What a crazy dog bastard!”

“Cough!”

A gigantic hand, seemingly inhuman, seized Derek Bell’s neck, lifting the 198 cm [approximately 6’6″] tall player into the air.

“Where did a butcher like you come from to play baseball!”

Ssuk!

“Kkeueok!”

It was Senior Jang Deok-soo who had grabbed Derek Bell’s neck and hoisted him up.

Red light emanated from his eyes, which were usually as gentle as a mutt’s…

To be honest, he looked so terrifying that I would have run away if I had encountered him on the street at night.

“Senior…?”

“Come here. You dog bastard, I’m going to teach you some manners.”

“Kkeueueueu.”

Peoeok!

Jang Deok-soo, still gripping his neck, slammed him into the mound.

“Hey! Stop Deok-soo! Someone’s going to die if you do that. Hurry!”

“Deok-soo! Hey, Jang Deok-soo! Stop it! Are you trying to be a murderer here?”

“Let go! Sibal [a Korean curse word], I’m going to kill that bastard.”

“Senior Deok-soo! Please don’t! Stop!”

While the Warriors players desperately clung to Jang Deok-soo, preventing his next move, the Incheon players, who were initially stunned, rushed over and pulled Derek Bell’s head out of the mound.

“…Is he dead?”

“Hey, Derek. Are you okay?”

“Hey, breathe! Breathe! Don’t give up!”

While about a dozen Warriors players were practically glued to Jang Deok-soo to restrain him, a stretcher arrived and carried Derek Bell away.

I think I just witnessed something extraordinary. To lift that big guy with one hand.

“Kill him! Kill him! I’ll hire an international lawyer for you, so kill him!”

I turned my head and saw Min Ye-rin shouting from the first base stands, urging them to kill him.

What’s with the international lawyer in this situation…? Does she want him to be tried in the US because he’s an American player?

Jang Deok-soo, who was raging like a wild boar that had been struck with a javelin, and the spectators who were going wild, responding to his fury.

The Jamsil Baseball Stadium was once again consumed by madness.

Hmm.

By the way, if Senior Jang Deok-soo gets suspended, who will be our catcher?