On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 220

The Third Inning…

-Strike! Out!

“Looking strikeout! Yoo Seon-ho is out without even swinging his bat.”

“Ah, what is this? It’s like a computer. Look at the pitching zone. How can he throw the exact same ball in the exact same spot like that? It’s a mystery. Wow, amazing. Really amazing!”

Yoo Seon-ho smiled wryly and stepped away from the plate.

Kang Gu-il barely caught his breath.

“Hoo…”.

A batter like Yoo Seon-ho, with his great eye and ability to anticipate, is the worst matchup for a pitcher like himself who relies on control and breaking balls.

Three consecutive pitches into incredible spots, something that might happen only three or four times in a game, was luck beyond skill.

The next batter was Choi Jae-wan.

Kang Gu-il, gaining confidence, threw the ball low.

Clang! Strike!

“Have the GOAT batters changed their strategy now? They’re being very selective with their swings.”

Kang Gu-il aimed for the low course again, but it was a ball.

Kang Gu-il aimed only for the low outside course with his two-seam fastball and four-seam fastball, without a splitter.

“3-2. Full count. Both Choi Jae-wan, who doesn’t swing, and Kang Gu-il, who stubbornly targets one course, seem to be very persistent in their own ways.”

“It’s a full count now. Choi Jae-wan should pick one ball he’s aiming for and swing.”

The decisive pitch Kang Gu-il threw was a splitter [a type of fastball with an unusual grip that causes it to drop suddenly as it reaches the plate].

It was a ball that started towards the center of the zone and then dropped down.

The ball Choi Jae-wan hit flew quickly towards the second baseman.

Kang Gyun-seung dove to catch it, out.

“Out! Kang Gu-il finally gets Choi Jae-wan out after a full count battle.”

“Kang Gu-il overcomes the bases-loaded, no-out crisis! That’s the charm of Kang Gu-il. He’s strong in crucial moments.”

“GOAT ends the inning without scoring a single run despite creating a bases-loaded situation with no outs.”

“It’s a shame they couldn’t capitalize on the good chance they had in the first inning. They need to be aggressive on offense. Don’t you think?”

“Not scoring with Song Seok-hyun and Yoo Seon-ho up to bat was a really unfortunate opportunity for GOAT.”

“Opportunity follows crisis, and crisis follows missed chances, right? The momentum has shifted to the Scorpions. The away game in Daegu won’t be easy.”

Kang Gu-il stood in front of the bench, waiting for Kang Gyun-seung.

“Thanks.”

Kang Gyun-seung grinned at Kang Gu-il’s words.

“I was scared. Is your body warmed up now, hyung [Korean term for older brother or older male friend] ?”

“Yeah. It’s fully warmed up.”

The bottom of the first inning, the Scorpion’s attack.

GOAT’s ace, number one starter Michael Fish, was the Scorpions’ nemesis.

A pitcher who guaranteed a quality start plus against the Scorpions, going beyond just a quality start [a statistic for a starting pitcher who pitches at least six innings and allows three or fewer earned runs].

He showed off his nemesis-like prowess by handling Hwang Gi-deok, Kang Gyun-seung, and Jung Dae-han with three consecutive groundouts.

“….”

Scorpion’s manager Lee Geon-hoo rubbed his eyelids.

Was the reason for putting Fish out in the third game, despite being the number one starter ace, perhaps due to Fish’s condition?

If Fish’s condition was perfectly fine, and he was put up in the third game anyway?

Today’s game between the two teams’ starting pitchers would result in GOAT’s overwhelming victory.

Could that young acting manager have made such a gamble?

Lee Geon-hoo shook his head dismissively.

Top of the 2nd inning, GOAT’s attack.

Kang Gu-il allowed one walk and then handled Jung Dong-gyu and Jung Young-soo with consecutive groundouts.

The next batter was Lee Ji-sung.

The first pitch to Lee Ji-sung was a splitter that fell from a high course.

Lee Ji-sung twisted his body, watching the falling ball, and scooped it up.

It was a well-scooped ball, but shortstop Hwang Gi-deok ran out and made the out.

Kang Gu-il finally regained a bit of a smile.

“I think I know a little now.”

As Kang Gu-il returned to the bench, catcher Gu Seung-cheol asked.

“Know what?”

“Their pattern. They gave up on low balls today. I think I need to mix in a lot of splitters.”

Bottom of the 2nd inning, the Scorpions also scoreless.

Top of the 3rd inning, Kang Gu-il threw two-seam fastballs on the low course for more than 80% of his pitches.

He continuously targeted only the low and far side, giving up consecutive walks to Seol Jin-il and Kim In-hwan, but he overcame the crisis himself by getting Song Seok-hyun looking strikeout and inducing a double play with a splitter against Yoo Seon-ho.

Bottom of the 3rd inning.

Kang Gu-il touched his right elbow with his left hand.

He’s thrown a lot of pitches today.

Already fifty-five.

Kang Gu-il closed his eyes.

It was the Korean Series [championship series of the Korea Baseball Organization].

How exhilarating were the Korean Series championship and the Korean Series MVP [Most Valuable Player award]?

The happiness didn’t last even a few months.

Surgery, rehabilitation, surgery, rehabilitation.

Once an arm is torn to shreds, it doesn’t recover easily, and it gets injured easily.

Only after giving up the fastball and the forkball did the pain in his elbow and shoulder subside.

As the rehabilitation period lengthened, Kang Gu-il’s name was gradually forgotten, and instead of hoping for a FA [Free Agent] jackpot, all he could hope for was that his arm would be okay until FA.

He probably won’t be able to apply for FA.

Even if he does, would he be lucky to receive 2 years for 1 billion won [Korean currency]?

That’s only possible when he’s healthy, so he gave up his lingering feelings.

The moment of happiness was intense but short, and the aftereffects are deeper and much longer.

Both teams didn’t score or concede any points even as the 4th inning passed.

The Scorpions couldn’t overcome their nemesis Fish, and GOAT had many runners on base but didn’t score.

Then, in the top of the 5th inning.

Kang Gu-il gave up a hit to Lee Ji-sung, then another hit to Seol Jin-il, and a walk to Kim In-hwan.

The Scorpions’ pitching coach went up to the mound.

“Good job. You’ve worked hard today.”

Kang Gu-il stared blankly at the pitching coach and said.

“Coach, I still have strength in my pitches. Can’t you let me handle just this inning?”

“Why are you being so stubborn? This is enough.”

“You know I’m good at inducing ground balls. There’s no one on our team who induces ground balls better than me.”

“Gu-il, don’t waste time and come down now.”

Kang Gu-il bit his lip tightly.

A wry smile came to his face at the irony of ‘If you don’t have the skill, you can’t even get overworked even if you want to.’

Now even the opportunity is disappearing.

Kang Gu-il handed over the ball and stepped off the mound.

The team members applauded him for his hard work, but he didn’t hear it.

The next pitcher was sidearm Sung Hoon-gi.

A one-point reliever just to face right-handed batter Song Seok-hyun.

Sung Hoon-gi threw an outside slider from the first pitch.

-Strike!

“Song Seok-hyun is being very selective with his swings today. He’s not swinging unless he really has to.”

“That slider was coming into the zone. He should swing at those pitches.”

Kang Gu-il bit his lip.

Song Seok-hyun is a hunter.

A hunter who sets traps and waits.

You shouldn’t try to win a psychological battle against Song Seok-hyun.

You have to think about giving up a walk and pitch tightly.

Sung Hoon-gi’s second pitch was a curveball, ball.

The third pitch was a fastball, strike.

1-2 situation.

Sung Hoon-gi lured Song Seok-hyun’s bat with a slider.

-Ball. Outside.

2-2.

Sung Hoon-gi tilted his head.

It was a well-executed pitch, but the batter didn’t react.

Sung Hoon-gi came to a conclusion.

Today, Song Seok-hyun is being stingy with outside pitches.

That means it’s perfect to target the outside of a right-handed batter with a sidearm pitcher’s fastball that curves outward.

Sung Hoon-gi lifted his leg and aimed for the low outside course.

A course that’s good for a strikeout if it goes in well, and good for a double play even if he hits it.

Even if it doesn’t go in, it’s a 3-2 count.

As Sung Hoon-gi confidently threw the fastball, Kang Gu-il frowned without realizing it.

“No.”

Thwack!

Song Seok-hyun’s bat instantly flew towards third base.

The bat flew high into the sky, and the ball flew even higher, even higher.

Sung Hoon-gi’s knees buckled.

“The trajectory is huge! Huge! Very huge! Very, very, very huge! The ball goes over the fence, over the fence and out of the park~~~~~! Song Seok-hyun’s grand slam! Song Seok-hyun! He properly capitalizes on the bases-loaded opportunity in the 5th inning! 4-0! GOAT’s frustrating offense is blown wide open in one fell swoop!”

“The man of out-of-the-park home runs is showing his true colors again. That swing just now was a really well-aimed hit. He pulled it perfectly.”

“Was taking Kang Gu-il off a miscalculation? The Scorpions give up a grand slam as soon as the pitcher changes. The faces of the Scorpions fans are clearly disappointed.”

“In my opinion, I think it wouldn’t have been bad to just keep Kang Gu-il going. Isn’t he a player who’s good at inducing ground balls? Even though his batting average against and on-base percentage were high today, he also induced a lot of double plays.”

“Sung Hoon-gi played well throughout the regular season, but his performance in the playoffs is disappointing.”

“That’s baseball, isn’t it? You never know what will happen in a short-term series.”

Sung Hoon-gi stepped off the mound.

The next player to come up to the mound was Kim Young-hee.

Left-handed fireballer Kim Young-hee struck out Yoo Seon-ho and made Choi Jae-wan and Oh Jin-young ground out, ending the inning.

Bottom of the 5th inning, the Scorpions’ attack.

The Scorpions couldn’t score a single point against Fish in the 5th inning either.

During cleaning time [a short break between innings in baseball], catcher Gu Seung-cheol gathered the players and shouted a cheer.

It was a hollow cheer, but only Kim Young-hee raised his voice loudly.

“Fighting!”

Top of the 6th inning, GOAT scoreless.

Bottom of the 6th inning, the Scorpions finally took a point by hitting three consecutive hits against Fish.

4-1. GOAT immediately replaced the pitcher with Jung Cheon-woon, but they conceded another point, making it 4-2.

The 7th inning was scoreless for both teams.

In the 8th inning, the Scorpions made it 4-3 with a home run by Jung Dae-han.

Top of the 9th inning, GOAT’s attack.

The Scorpions brought up closer Tak Gi-deok.

“Tak Gi-deok is coming up again.”

“It’s a one-point difference. We can definitely turn it around with a one-point difference. The Scorpions have to use everything they can.”

The first batter was Lee Ji-sung.

From the first pitch, Tak Gi-deok stuck a fastball high and inside.

Thwack!

Lee Ji-sung wasn’t intimidated, but technically turned his body and pushed the ball towards the pitcher.

“Hit! It’s a hit!”

“Tak Gi-deok was in danger just now, right? He almost got hit. Usually, pitchers shouldn’t try to catch balls flying towards them by force. You can get hurt trying to catch fastballs.”

He threw a forkball to Seol Jin-il from the first pitch, but Seol Jin-il stubbornly scooped up the forkball that was falling for a long time and got a hit.

No outs, runners on first and third.

“Wow, really. Haha.”

Song Seok-hyun shook his head.

Even though they’re on the same team, he has no idea what kind of ball Seol Jin-il will hit.

Other teams, knowing that Seol Jin-il hits the first pitch well, often throw breaking balls from the first pitch.

Seol Jin-il sometimes picks those balls out, but he also waits for those balls and swings with a full swing.

Because of these hits that sometimes come out, other teams know that Seol Jin-il is a first-pitch enthusiast and a bad-ball hitter, but they can’t easily target Seol Jin-il.

No outs, runners on first and third, Kim In-hwan at bat.

Tak Gi-deok made two strikes with two fastballs.

0-2 situation, the only ball a forkballer will throw.

Since he has four balls to spare, he observes the opposing batter’s reaction with one forkball.

The ball Tak Gi-deok threw was a forkball that flew towards the center of the strike zone and then fell.

Tak Gi-deok felt a chill down his spine at Kim In-hwan’s swing that came down from above.

Bang!

Soaring Success as a Catcher

Everything According to Plan!

Kim In-hwan stretched out his right hand.

The place his finger was pointing to was the center fence.

The ball soared high, high into the sky and over the fence.

“….”

“…Ha.”

The Scorpions fans fell silent.

A *쐐기포 [Wedge Hit]* that crushes the will to chase.

Kim In-hwan came home to the applause of the fans.

“Nice!”

“Good job, good job. In-hwan! You did great!”

The Scorpions’ manager Lee Geon-hoo closed his eyes.

He felt drained.

The Scorpions players also lowered their heads and buckled their knees.

There was nothing more to see.

GOAT’s victory in the 3rd game as well.

The playoff 3rd game ended anticlimactically, crushing the last hope of the home fans.

* * *