On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 229

“Ah, seriously. So pathetic.”

Kim Jung-ryul lowered his voice.

“The opportunity for a championship is a gift from the heavens. If you don’t seize it, it might not come again for 10 or 20 years. Let’s grab it this time. Definitely. You should wear a championship ring at least once in your baseball career. Don’t you think?”

Kim In-hwan mumbled.

“I want to wear one too.”

Winning Streak as a Catcher

All-Out War

Korea Series Game 6, Suwon Hotel.

Ham Seong-hoon looked up at the sky through the window.

“If it’s not raining, at least the wind should be blowing. It’s quiet today.”

It was a clear and sunny day without a single cloud.

The bullpen’s fatigue was piling up due to the aftereffects of Games 2, 3, and 4.

If it had rained and we had a day off, the bullpen operation would have been easier…….

As he walked out into the hallway, pitching coach Yeon Woo-shik, who had finished preparing for work, greeted him.

“Are you heading out?”

“Isn’t it time?”

“It’s a bit early, but.”

“Staying in the room only complicates things. It’s good to come out a bit early. Clear my head while walking.”

Ham Seong-hoon led the way, and Yeon Woo-shik followed.

“Will our bullpen be okay today?”

Yeon Woo-shik sighed.

The expression ‘okay’ is truly ambiguous.

Does it mean the bullpen pitchers are in top condition, or just able to endure, or not the worst? You have to read the speaker’s mind to answer.

“If we exclude Jung-ryul, we have Chun-woon and Dae-sung, so it should be fine.”

“Chun-woon and Dae-sung……. It’s ambiguous.”

Jung Chun-woon is a sidearm pitcher, and Hong Dae-sung is a left-handed pitcher.

Jung Chun-woon is skilled at getting batters to hit ground balls with his diverse pitches and quick tempo, but his fly ball rate has been increasing recently.

It could be that the batters have adapted to Jung Chun-woon’s style, or it could also be the effect of his stamina dropping in the second half of his first full-time season.

Jamsil Stadium also has a big impact on Jung Chun-woon’s performance.

Suwon is not a small stadium, but it can’t compare to Jamsil.

Jung Chun-woon isn’t a bad option against the Pegasus, who have many right-handed hitters, but can Jung Chun-woon handle the Pegasus hitters in his current condition…….

Hong Dae-sung is a valuable left-handed fastball pitcher, but his control is the problem.

He pitches well but often throws pitches that end up in the middle [meaning he lacks precision].

In the regular season, his pitches are good and he uses Jamsil as his home, so one or two mistakes aren’t a big deal, but the Korea Series is different.

Especially now, when losing just one game means elimination.

“Jin-seok and Hong-min…… No. It would be tough.”

Go Jin-seok and Jung Hong-min.

The two pitchers who, along with Kim Jung-ryul, are in charge of the Gote’s [team name] must-win group.

“They both said they could pitch.”

“People are greedy, but they’ve thrown too much in a short period.”

“But we’ve been managing them throughout the season. They rested yesterday, so it should be okay for them to pitch today…… shouldn’t it?”

“It’s not overwork that’s the problem, it’s their condition. They’re not young, and they haven’t pitched lightly throughout the postseason. It wouldn’t be strange if they broke down at any time. No matter how hungry a farmer is, he doesn’t eat the seeds he’ll plant next year. We have Jin-hwan, don’t we?”

“Jin-hwan? He’s…….”

“Let’s use the pitchers we can use today as much as possible and save the pitchers we can use tomorrow. We’re not a team with overflowing resources like the Pegasus [another team]. Our all-out war is very different from their all-out war, isn’t it? If we squeeze them dry today, we really won’t have any cards to play tomorrow.”

“Hmm…… I understand. I think I said something unnecessary. I’m sorry.”

“We’re just sharing opinions, there’s no need to be sorry. We say what we have to say. We only do what we can do. The bullpen is good enough as it is. Don’t be too impatient.”

“I understand.”

Yeon Woo-shik sighed.

The current Gote is a strong team, but depth is still an issue.

This season’s performance was only possible because players like Song Seok-hyun, Kim In-hwan, Yoo Seon-ho, Lee Ji-sung, Seol Jin-il, and Kim Jung-ryul suddenly emerged. With the existing players alone, they would barely make the top 4.

The Pegasus don’t have a powerful cleanup [a team’s best power hitter, usually batting 4th] like the Gote, and their table setters [batters who get on base frequently, usually batting 1st and 2nd] and bullpen aren’t as overwhelming as the Scorpions [another team].

However, if you break down their lineup, starters, bullpen, and defense, they are among the best in the league in every aspect.

In a short-term series, a team without weaknesses is more difficult than a team with strengths.

Moreover, the Gote has become weaker in both offense and defense with the absence of Kim In-hwan and Choi Jae-wan.

The opponent’s starter is national team ace pitcher Jo Jin-hee.

The Gote’s advantage over the Pegasus was their overwhelming explosiveness, but even that has been diluted.

If he were Ham Seong-hoon, he would be constantly smoking cigarettes, but he is surprisingly calm, which is even more surprising.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going?”

“Ah, yes. I’m going.”

* * *

Korea Series Game 6, 1 hour before the start.

The Pegasus were in the middle of a meeting.

The conclusion they reached after the discussion was, as expected, to lock it down.

“One point.”

Coach Choi Seong-yeon said, looking at the pitchers.

“I think the number of runs we give up today is exactly one. The moment we give up even one run today, we’ll immediately replace the pitcher. That’s no exception, even for Jin-hee.”

Jo Jin-hee closed his mouth with a stiff face.

A quick hook [being taken out of the game early] is not a welcome word for a starting pitcher, but what can he do?

If they lose here, it will be a 3-3 tie.

The best thing to do is to win the Korea Series and go to the Major League.

If, really, if, if.

If the Pegasus don’t win, the Pegasus might change their mind.

If the team doesn’t post him [allow him to be bid on by MLB teams], he’ll have to wait two years.

Whether he goes over when he’s even a year younger or not.

Youth is important to everyone, but a year is worth more to an athlete.

Now is not the time to assert pride.

He will somehow step on the Gote and go straight to the Major League cleanly.

“Let’s protect it. If we just protect it, victory will come to us naturally. Got it?”

“Yes.”

* * *

“This is Suwon. We have to hit it over, don’t we?”

The players stirred at Ham Seong-hoon’s words.

It’s a short-term series.

It’s a game where one loss means elimination from the Korea Series.

At a time when they have to risk their lives for one point, he ordered a power hit, a home run.

Yesterday, the wind was strong and the atmosphere was down due to the losing streak, so they couldn’t expect connected plays, so the choice of a power hit was forced.

It’s improvisation and a last-ditch effort. In other words, luck.

If a last-ditch effort works twice or three times, you can’t call it a last-ditch effort.

Ham Seong-hoon seemed to read the players’ mood and slowly opened his mouth.

“The Pegasus have leeway. Both mentally and in terms of power. Unlike us, who came through the playoffs, their power is intact. Especially the bullpen is very fresh.”

In sabermetrics [the empirical analysis of baseball], the most important factor in a short-term series is scoring suppression.

Scoring suppression is different from batting average against and on-base percentage against.

Whether you give up a hit or a walk, you just shouldn’t give up a run.

There are two ways to avoid giving up a run even when there are runners on base.

Shift and pitcher change.

The Pegasus have built the best center line [defensive players in key positions] in history, consisting of Jung Yong-wook, Kim Hyung-woo, Choi Young-seok, and Shim Chang-gyu.

On top of that, they have plenty of bullpen pitchers who have saved their energy.

More than half of the balls that the batter drops on the ground are outs.

The better the defense and the more good bullpen pitchers there are, the higher the probability that a ground ball will be an out.

“I know your concerns. Our team’s power is not intact right now. But that’s the case with every team at the end of the season. It’s just that it happened to us in the Korea Series. There’s no need to complain. We just have to do our best with what we can do now. In-hwan is out and Jae-wan is out, but I don’t think we’re weak. Our team has hitters who can hit the ball over the fence. There’s no need to get a hit. Just hit it hard. Don’t even think about RBIs [runs batted in]. A looking strikeout is okay too. If you think you can hit a home run, just hit it. If you get fooled by a breaking ball, there’s nothing you can do. Don’t dwell on it. Our goal is…….”

The Pegasus are much more advantageous in the ground ball battle.

Today’s game will be a one-run game.

They will be criticized for being stupid and hoping for luck in today’s game.

But a manager has to endure criticism.

If we are weaker than them in both the starters and the bullpen, we have to turn the game around.

Ham Seong-hoon looked around at the players and said.

“Home run. It’s all about home runs.”

In a home run battle, the Gote doesn’t lose to any team.

Our team has the King of Jamsil [a player known for hitting home runs in Jamsil Stadium], who makes the Jamsil fence look like a joke.

* * *

The start of Game 6 was different from usual.

Instead of the heated cheering of both teams, there was quiet observation.

In Game 5, the Gote came back to life from the brink.

No one knows yet whether yesterday was the last struggle or the beginning of a counterattack.

We can only guess by looking at the beginning of today’s game.

However.

It was painful for Gote fans that the Pegasus’ starter today was Jo Jin-hee.

Can they overcome the iron wall of Jo Jin-hee?

-Play ball!

The Gote bats first in the top of the 1st inning.

The first batter was Lee Ji-sung.

Jung Yong-wook silently held out his mitt in the center.

He’s a batter who hits a lot of fouls.

Don’t increase the number of pitches unnecessarily, just push him with power.

Even if he gets on base, Jung Yong-wook’s shoulder can catch him easily.

Especially Lee Ji-sung, who only sticks to bent-leg sliding after injuring his wrist.

Jo Jin-hee saw Jung Yong-wook’s mitt and immediately understood what it meant.

Lee Ji-sung…… has no home runs at all.

Just relax and think of it as zeroing in and throw the ball.

Bang!

“Foul. It’s a ball right in the middle, but it’s a foul.”

“It’s a foul that goes off the right field line. Lee Ji-sung usually pushes the ball to hit a foul, but today he’s pulling it. It seems to be his own way of dealing with Jo Jin-hee’s fast ball.”

Jung Yong-wook frowned.

Full swing from the first pitch? Lee Ji-sung?

It felt strange, but he’s still Lee Ji-sung.

Jo Jin-hee’s first pitch was 151 km/h [kilometers per hour, a very fast pitch].

There are only a few people in the country who can stop Jo Jin-hee from raising his pitch from the start.

Bang!

“Foul. This time, it’s a foul that goes high into the third base stands.”

“This one was quite big. Lee Ji-sung is still swinging with all his might.”

Jung Yong-wook stretched his mitt down.

Since he reacted to two fastballs, it’s time to strike him out with a breaking ball [a pitch that curves or changes speed].

Normally, he would face Lee Ji-sung head-on, but now he can aim for a strikeout.

Jo Jin-hee shook his head.

Head-on match.

He doesn’t want to waste even one ball.

The coach declared that he would be taken out if he gave up even one run.

Jo Jin-hee nodded as if it were natural on the outside, but as a starting pitcher, he couldn’t afford to accept a quick hook.

He will be responsible for the innings as long as possible. That’s what a starting pitcher is.

Jung Yong-wook didn’t talk to Jo Jin-hee, but he could read his stubbornness.

Jung Yong-wook held out his mitt in the center.

Push him with power.

You can only be called a major leaguer if you can overpower a player like Lee Ji-sung.

Jo Jin-hee kicked with all his might.

The fastball that he throws while lifting his long legs to his chest and shooting them out like a bullet is Jo Jin-hee’s true decisive pitch.

The ball flew in, scattering white dust.

It’s a ball that can’t be seen properly with the naked eye, but Lee Ji-sung swung his bat in time with his rhythm.

‘Keep your arms close and bend your wrists as much as possible.’

That’s what Song Seok-hyun said when he explained his batting form.

After his wrist injury, he batted as if he had a cast on his wrist, but this time he put Song Seok-hyun’s words into practice.

He kept his left arm close to his body and bent his wrist more than 90 degrees.

Bang!

He hit the ball, but he didn’t see the ball.

He bent his wrist, but there was no pain.

He hit the ball, but he didn’t feel anything.

Lee Ji-sung was just amazed that his wrist didn’t hurt.

“……Huh?”

Lee Ji-sung stood at the plate and stared blankly at the ball.

The ball goes farther than he thought.

Unfortunately, the direction is the center fence.

Even if it was a corner fence, he wouldn’t be able to get it over the fence, but it’s still a shame.

He could have hoped for a one-in-a-million chance.

The caster raised his voice.

“Huh? Is it big? It’s bigger than I thought. A ball that goes farther than I thought. Is this really…… going over? It’s over, it’s over! It’s a home run! It’s a home run! Lee Ji-sung hits a home run!”

“Wow! I get to see Lee Ji-sung hit a home run! I also get to see him hit a home run in his first at-bat in the Korea Series! It went over the center fence of Suwon Stadium, which is no small stadium!”

“1-0! It’s 1-0! Lee Ji-sung’s home run makes it 1-0! The Gote fans are really celebrating. They’re incredibly happy.”

“How can they not be happy? Unexpected luck is even more joyful. Lee Ji-sung hits a home run against Jo Jin-hee? You can’t write a more absurd scenario than this.”

“The Gote takes the lead with a home run from the first at-bat in the first inning. Don’t be surprised, baseball fans. The hero of the home run is not Song Seok-hyun or Yoo Seon-ho. It’s Lee Ji-sung!”

Lee Ji-sung doubted his eyes.

Is it really……?

“What are you doing? Aren’t you running?”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”

Only after Jung Yong-wook’s blunt reply did Lee Ji-sung finally move his feet.