Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 69

#68. A Whiff of a Great Record

The Magicians’ players were in disarray, reeling from two consecutive losses to the Warriors. Their owner’s furious dressing down of the president and general manager had cast a dark cloud over the entire team.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been an easy game for us.

Unfortunately, today was one of those days when the Magicians’ starting pitcher, Jimenez, was on fire.

Despite the gloomy atmosphere, Jimenez consistently delivered his pitches. By the bottom of the 6th inning, we had only managed one run, thanks to Senior Jo Sung-oh’s home run, giving us a precarious 1-0 lead.

Then came the Warriors’ attack in the top of the 7th.

Senior Kang Jin-seok, batting as the 7th designated hitter, smacked a clean hit to left field against Jimenez, finally putting a runner on first with no outs.

He roared on first base, a rare display of emotion for him.

Currently, Kang Jin-seok is probably the most insecure among the starting fielders.

He occasionally plays left field, but his defensive skills are hardly at a professional level.

That means his offensive power needs to be overwhelming, but his current batting average is around .250, with only two home runs.

It might sound harsh, but his performance is far from sufficient for a designated hitter on a team. Perhaps he’s better suited as a right-handed pinch hitter rather than a starter.

In any case, this hit in this situation will significantly extend his career.

The Warriors’ cheering squad erupted as the hard-earned no-out, runner-on-first chance was created.

The cheerleaders chanted Kang Jin-seok’s name in unison.

“Kang Jin-seok! Kang Jin-seok! We love you! Kang Jin-seok!”

“…Wow, Senior Kang Jin-seok must feel great. I wonder if they’d say they love me if I got a hit and got on base?”

“They’d probably say they’d kill you if you hit into a double play, though?”

“Why such harsh words…”

“It means to do it right.”

I lightly silenced Ahn Chi-wook, who was about to say something strange, and turned my gaze back to the field.

What’s important now isn’t this guy’s useless fantasies.

Top of the 7th, one-run lead, and a runner on with no outs.

This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Manager Lee Dae-jun chose to bunt.

“Strike!”

Senior Kim Soo-hak, who received the bunt sign, grimaced and pulled back his bat.

He probably thought it was a ball, but the umpire called it a strike.

That senior’s expression hasn’t been great lately either, especially compared to the beginning of the season.

Until last year, Kim Soo-hak was the Warriors’ undisputed left fielder.

If we were to classify his hitting, running, and fielding abilities into five grades from A to E, he would probably be rated as a ‘C’ in all three, or maybe even a ‘D’ [meaning he’s consistently average or slightly below average].

A player who is decent in all aspects, making it hard to find strengths or weaknesses.

However, as the Warriors’ infield has gradually upgraded, his mediocrity has become a disadvantage.

“Kim Soo-hak, fighting!” [A Korean phrase of encouragement, similar to ‘Go Kim Soo-hak!’]

“Fighting!”

The current Warriors’ outfield consists of Kim Soo-hak, Choi Min-seok, and Max Walker.

Among them, Max Walker, a foreign player who scores well and has a good arm, is a fixed right fielder unless he’s injured.

Senior Choi Min-seok, the center fielder, has the fastest running speed and defensive sense on the team, and he sometimes shows creative plays at the plate that even surprise me.

The problem is the left field position held by Kim Soo-hak.

It’s a position that requires contributing to the team’s offense instead of bearing a heavy defensive burden, but frankly, his offensive power is currently among the lowest of the starting fielders.

If Park Jae-cheol’s pursuit of Seo Hyeong-joo is successful [referring to a potential trade or acquisition], he might be the first to have his starting position threatened.

Thud.

“Out!”

In the meantime, Senior Kim Soo-hak successfully executed a sacrifice bunt to third base and returned to the dugout.

His face changed colors even with a successful sacrifice bunt, as if he had too many thoughts on his mind.

I don’t know.

I hope all the players on our team can be happy, but to do that, we need to perform well first, and to do that, better players need to take the starting positions.

I have a wealth of experience as a player, but I’m just a beginner as an owner.

I don’t know how to make everyone happy.

“The Warriors’ strongest ninth batter~ Choi! Min! Seok!”

“Waaaah!”

One of the good things about playing the Jamsil rivalry [games between two Seoul-based teams, the Warriors and the Magicians, played at Jamsil Stadium] is that we can use the cheering amp even when we’re the away team.

I heard there were several debates about that issue in the past, but now we’re playing in an environment where it’s hard to tell whether we’re home or away.

Honestly, it’s often distracting for me personally, but if the other players like it, then whatever.

With the energetic cheers from the stands, Senior Choi Min-seok stepped into the batter’s box.

That senior’s greatest strength isn’t his speed or defensive ability.

It’s that he knows how to ride the momentum.

The fact that he can perform better than usual when the team is doing well is the greatest strength of the player named Choi Min-seok.

Of course, the downside is that he can collapse along with the team when the team’s momentum is broken.

Well.

That’s a problem for later.

“Choi Min-seok! Choi Min-seok! Choi Min-seok!”

Jimenez, the Magicians’ pitcher we’re facing for the second time, is definitely a pretty good pitcher.

Creating a one-out, runner-on-second situation against such a pitcher isn’t easy.

Especially if we want to catch that guy who’s been avoiding me like I’m a non-existent player, we need to score right now.

“Ball!”

“Strike!”

“Ball!”

Crack!

“Foul!”

Knowing that fact well, Senior Choi Min-seok persistently battled Jimenez.

Ahn Chi-wook suddenly took over the ninth batting order after moving up to second, but he didn’t seem to care much about the batting order.

He’s a good player. In terms of skill and mentality, in all aspects.

Crack!

“Ooh!”

Senior Choi Min-seok connected well with the outside two-seamer thrown by Jimenez.

Everyone thought it was a timely hit.

However, Yang Seon-woo, the center fielder who is one of the pillars of the Magicians, chased after that hit and caught it with a slide.

“Agh!”

“Why that!”

Senior Kang Jin-seok, who had hurriedly returned to second base, tagged up, changing the one-out, runner-on-second situation to a two-out, runner-on-third situation.

It’s a shame, but the opportunity is still alive. A single hit is all we need to score.

Lee Chang-mo, the Warriors’ leadoff hitter, stepped into the batter’s box.

* * *

“Batter, to the plate.”

The umpire instructed Lee Chang-mo, who had stepped out of the batter’s box to take a moment to think.

Lee Chang-mo nodded lightly and stepped into the batter’s box to prepare to hit.

A precarious one-run lead at 1-0, two outs, runner on third, and the pitcher is the opposing team’s ace.

In many ways, a single hit is desperately needed.

“Ball.”

Jimenez’s slider came in, but he held back well. It’s a pitch optimized to deceive right-handed hitters, but for some reason, he can see the ball well today.

“Strike.”

This time, it’s a changeup that comes into the center of the zone and then drops sharply. He thought about swinging at it for a moment, but he barely resisted, remembering the probability of it becoming a ground ball if he hit it.

“Ball.”

This time, it’s a two-seamer that flies to the outside and then suddenly breaks. Fortunately, he had predicted the pitch to some extent, so he was able to pick it out just by looking at the course.

The opposing pitcher’s complexion has worsened slightly. That’s also proof that he’s doing well at the plate.

“Lee Chang-mo, fighting!”

“Fighting!”

Senior Lee Man-sik led the chant from the dugout, and the juniors followed, chanting his name.

The senior, who is only focused on the team’s victory without even knowing that he is currently pitching a no-hitter. Lee Chang-mo slightly bowed his head to him and glared at the pitcher again.

He feels like this is the turning point.

Since the next batter, Ahn Chi-wook, has been in pretty good form lately, there’s a high probability that they’ll try to compete rather than intentionally walk him.

If so, then he’ll aim for it.

Whoosh.

A two-seamer coming to the outside. It was similar to the one from before, but it was coming closer to the zone.

He took a breath, adjusted the position of the grip low, relaxed his shoulders, and lightly tapped it.

Crack!

Lee Chang-mo lightly pushed the hit, and the ball passed over the head of the Magicians’ first baseman, Go Cheol-hwan, and dropped in front of the right fielder.

It was a great timely hit that brought in the runner on third and made the score 2-0.

“Waaaah!”

“Nice!”

“Lee Chang-mo! You’re the best!”

“Lee Chang-mo! Lee Chang-mo! Lee Chang-mo!”

When he was briefly playing in the Big Leagues [Major League Baseball in the US], the hitting coach didn’t really like Lee Chang-mo’s habit of pushing outside pitches like that.

What did he say? He said that kind of hit can produce double plays, so he had to create strong hits even with outside pitches, I guess.

It’s not wrong, but this isn’t America, it’s Korea. The pitcher’s quality is worse than in the Big Leagues, and the fielders’ range is much narrower.

If he can lightly push the ball and get it over the heads of the infielders, there’s no reason to refuse.

“Good, that was a great play.”

“Thank you.”

He handed the protective gear to the first base running coach and had that thought.

If his old running speed was still alive, if that were the case, he would have 멋지게 [meotjige – stylishly, coolly] stolen second base here.

But once a knee is broken, it’s impossible for it to come back now.

Knowing that fact well, Lee Chang-mo hopes that he will be pushed out of the number one spot as soon as possible.

Instead of a fake leadoff hitter like himself who can’t run because of injuries, he wants a better leadoff hitter to take his place for the team.

So, he hopes that he can hit comfortably in the lower batting order.

* * *

Sometimes, I get inspiration from watching other players’ plays.

That was the case with the hit that Senior Lee Chang-mo just made.

I watched closely from the on-deck circle how he was hitting.

The hitting method of pushing the outside two-seamer and getting it over the head of the first baseman was a strategy that was optimized for the current situation, considering the opposing pitcher’s quality and the fielders’ range.

He’s a good player. He’s definitely a hitter in the upper level in terms of hitting technique in this team.

However, the fact that he’s a leadoff hitter who can’t harass the opposing team even when he gets on first base is a significant minus factor for both him and the team.

Because if a player like Yang Seon-woo of the Magicians, who steals more than 30 bases in a season, gets on base, the entire defense of the opposing team is shaken.

Anyway, thanks to Senior Lee Chang-mo’s timely hit, the score was widened by one point to 2-0.

Ahn Chi-wook, who stepped into the next batter’s box, was helplessly struck out by Jimenez’s three consecutive changeups.

“…….”

“Are you an idiot? To fall for that.”

“…Damn it.”

I said that, but honestly, Jimenez’s two-seamer and changeup are at a level that could work even in the Big Leagues. It’s just that the other parts that support it are slightly lacking.

Anyway, the attack was cut off in front of me, and it’s our turn to defend again.

“Alright, fighting!”

“Fighting!”

Senior Lee Man-sik, who was leaving the dugout, shouted fighting once again.

Sometimes, I feel like he’s more like an uncle than a senior. Even though I’ve lived longer than him before the regression.

Perhaps this is the only advantage of Korean professional baseball, which is intertwined with school ties and regional connections.

The seniors cherish the juniors, and the juniors trust and follow the seniors, something like that.

Hmm.

Saying it makes me feel a bit cheesy.

It feels like I’ve become more accustomed to the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] than the Big Leagues, which is full of Yankees [referring to individualistic players focused on personal success].

Well, that’s that…

With the top of the 7th inning over, the score is 2-0, and Senior Lee Man-sik’s record so far is one walk, three strikeouts, and the rest are all ground balls.

Perhaps because the Magicians’ hitters are completely demoralized, the number of pitches is only 62.

I smell it. I smell it.

I smell a great record.