On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 232

“Yes, of course. This is the last game anyway, so I have to go all the way.”

“Right. We have to squeeze out every last drop and go all the way.”

Jung Yong-wook and Kim Seong-hoon headed out into the hallway.

The hallway seemed full just with the two of them walking.

On a Roll as a Catcher

Korean Series Game 7 (1)

“Here.”

Jeonseong Group Chairman Kim Myung-jin extended his hand.

Ham Seong-hoon bowed and shook his hand.

“Thank you for coming all the way here, Chairman.”

“Thank you? I’m the one who’s grateful. You finally did it. You’re different from those loudmouths who are all talk.”

“It’s all thanks to your unwavering faith in me.”

Chairman Kim Myung-jin’s appearance at the Suwon Stadium made it feel like Jamsil Stadium [a larger, more prestigious stadium in Seoul].

Executives lined up on both sides, and the players, feeling the pressure, stood at attention without being told.

“It’s a shame this isn’t Jamsil.”

“I’m sorry. I should have worked harder to bring the game to Jamsil. It’s my fault.”

“Haha, this guy is not only good at baseball but also good at flattery. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have gone gray without ever holding a championship trophy.”

The president and general manager of Goat held their breath.

The chairman greeted each of the coaches after passing the manager, then stood face to face with captain Kim Jung-ryul.

“Kim Jung-ryul.”

“Greetings, Chairman!”

“Yes. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“Not at all!”

“You’ve worked hard for the team, but I haven’t been able to pay enough attention.”

“No! It’s okay!”

The chairman grabbed Kim Jung-ryul’s right arm.

“This is an arm worth more than gold. You have to finish strong after all your hard work. Don’t you think?”

“Yes!”

“I heard you’re getting married this year? Why didn’t you send me an invitation?”

“Pardon?”

Kim Jung-ryul blinked.

The chairman laughed heartily and patted Kim Jung-ryul’s shoulder.

“I’ll make sure to show my face, so be sure to give me an invitation. Got it?”

“Yes! Thank you, Chairman!”

The chairman shook hands with each player, offering words of encouragement.

The last one he shook hands with was Song Seok-hyun.

“Seok-hyun. Looking at our Seok-hyun like this, you look so handsome.”

The chairman grabbed Song Seok-hyun’s shoulders and smiled brightly.

“Our lucky charm is getting married this year?”

“Yes, that’s how it worked out.”

“Yes, yes. A man becomes an adult when he gets married. Marriage brings responsibility and keeps you from straying. If you think you’ve found a good woman, you should snatch her up quickly instead of wasting time choosing between this woman and that woman. Don’t you think?”

Yu Seon-ho, who was standing far away, wrinkled his nose for no reason.

“Yes.”

“I’m very busy. It’s a year of weddings, a year of plenty. I’m going to be very busy. I don’t know how many weddings I have to attend. Make sure you send me an invitation. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Just win the championship, just win it. Then I’ll take care of the house and the wedding gifts. So please.”

The chairman grabbed Song Seok-hyun’s hand.

“You have to win the championship this year. Shouldn’t I be able to pour a drink on the trophy before I die? Don’t you think?”

The executives who had followed the chairman applauded and responded that he was right.

The coaches and players also applauded, but their expressions were dark.

The chairman gestured, and an attendant brought a bottle of liquor.

The chairman held up the bottle and said.

“I bought this in 1990 to drink if we won the championship again the following year. I don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to open this. Let’s all share this drink together after we receive the championship trophy. How about it?”

Clap clap clap clap.

“Sounds great!”

“Just win the championship! I’ll take care of the house, the car, and the wedding gifts!”

The chairman shouted enthusiastically and then stroked Song Seok-hyun’s hand.

“Our lucky charm. You can make my wish come true, right?”

Song Seok-hyun smiled awkwardly.

“Y-yes. Of course.”

After the chairman left the locker room, sighs erupted from everywhere.

No one was pleased with the chairman’s encouragement visit.

“If the expectations are that high, it’ll be a real disaster if we lose, right?”

“I don’t know if that was encouragement or a threat……”

“If we lose today’s game, we’re done for……?”

Even Ham Seong-hoon, who had been calm, rubbed his brow with his index finger.

“Sigh. This is something else.”

* * *

-Beeeep!

-Ooooooh! Ooooooh!

-Bbambbambababam! Babababa Goat! Bbambbambababam! Babababa Goat!

-Pegasus! Fly high! High, high, so high! Our valiant steed is unstoppable!

-Eusha shya eusha! Eusha shya eusha! Pe! Ga! Su! Seu!

-Who are we? Pegasus! Who are we? Pegasus!

Even before the game started, the cheering competition between the two teams was fierce.

Pegasus created a large balloon doll of Pegasus, the team mascot.

Goat also displayed a large banner with the team logo in the middle of the stands.

The Suwon Stadium was filled with only the cheers, without any amplifiers.

Even the players, who were used to hearing cheers countless times, came out onto the field with tense expressions.

“The national anthem ceremony will begin. Please rise from your seats.”

The commotion subsided only when the national anthem ceremony began.

The players lined up on both sides of the field and bowed their heads.

“Today’s ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by the star who is currently enjoying the greatest popularity, Lee Hye-na!”

As Lee Hye-na waved her hand and headed to the mound, the fans also rose from their seats.

Lee Hye-na greeted the audience and then threw the ball to the catcher.

“That’s a strike! Lee Hye-na’s pitch was very accurate.”

“Haha. It seems she practiced a lot. It’s difficult for a female singer to throw from the mound to home, but it’s a great feat that it went straight into the catcher’s mitt.”

Jung Yong-wook stood up and shook hands with Lee Hye-na.

“Good luck. Fighting!” [A Korean expression of encouragement.]

Lee Hye-na smiled brightly and left the field.

Jung Yong-wook returned to home plate and sat down.

The tension that had briefly eased with Lee Hye-na’s arrival quickly tightened again.

-Play ball!

“The game has begun. Pegasus versus Goat, Goat versus Pegasus, Game 7 of the Korean Series. Today’s game is the last professional baseball game of the season.”

“The players have played the entire season for the winner of today’s game. The team that wins today’s game takes all the glory.”

Top of the 1st inning, Goat’s attack.

The pitcher on the mound is Kim Seong-hoon, the batter is Lee Ji-sung.

Lee Ji-sung, who hit a home run from his first at-bat yesterday, strikes out with three pitches from Kim Seong-hoon.

He couldn’t time the fastballs that kept coming inside.

Seol Jin-il is out with a ground ball on the first pitch.

Song Seok-hyun strikes out looking.

The pitch came close to his body, but the umpire called it a strike.

“Kim Seong-hoon is fierce from the start today. Unlike yesterday, Pegasus starts the 1st inning easily.”

“Today’s umpire has a pretty wide strike zone. Both teams’ pitchers need to take advantage of that.”

Bottom of the 1st inning, Pegasus’s attack.

The pitcher on the mound is Han Min-seok, the batter is Choi Young-seok.

Choi Young-seok stood close to the plate and swung his bat.

“Our strategy today is to overload the opponent’s defense.”

He remembered what the coach said during the meeting.

“Goat’s 1st and 3rd base defense is weak right now. That means the 2nd baseman and shortstop have a bigger defensive burden. We need to shake up their infield. You all know what to do when we shake up the infield, right?”

The best way to shake up the infield is to concentrate the attack on the weakest part of the defense.

It’s difficult for a batter to send the pitcher’s ball wherever he wants, but it’s possible now.

It’s not just anywhere, it’s 1st and 3rd base.

For a right-handed batter, if you pull the ball hard, it will go towards 3rd base or shortstop.

Since hitting the ball hard often results in ground balls, batters consciously correct their swing to push the ball to the opposite field before entering the plate.

But what if the opponent’s 3rd base is weak?

What if the pitcher’s ball is fast but his control isn’t very good?

Be prepared to get hit and stand close to the plate to induce inside pitches.

If you get hit, you walk to 1st base, and if it’s a mistake, pull it hard.

Pegasus’s conclusion was to aim for the corners, even if it means ground balls.

The opponent’s 3rd baseman, Park Jong-il, was a backup’s backup at the beginning of the season.

He was a player who would have had a hard time surviving in Pegasus’s minor league.

“Defense is a chain. No matter how good the defenders are, if one part of the chain breaks, the defense is useless. You only need to make one hole. If you make one hole, the others will collapse on their own. Whether it’s 1st base or 3rd base, whether you push it or pull it, it doesn’t matter. Once the defense collapses, they can’t recover until the end of the game. Hold on. Tenaciously hold on. Somehow hold on. Bunt is okay too. It doesn’t matter if you don’t score. The first thing is to collapse their defense.”

Bang!

-Strike!

“Strike! Han Min-seok throws a clean first pitch.”

“Han Min-seok’s pace is good. The ball went in very heavily.”

Choi Young-seok loosened his shoulders once.

His control has improved more than before.

If his control used to be mediocre, now it’s slightly better than the league average.

He would have been a very difficult pitcher in the regular season.

Han Min-seok’s second pitch.

Choi Young-seok immediately bunted.

Tack!

The ball hit the bat and rolled towards 3rd base.

3rd baseman Park Jong-il ran forward urgently.

The ball is coming along the line, barely.

Choi Young-seok slid into 1st base.

-Foul.

“Foul. Foul. He tried to get a surprise bunt hit, but it’s a foul. It would have been a hit if it hadn’t gone out of the foul line.”

“It was a moment that highlighted Choi Young-seok’s resourcefulness. Although it was a foul, I think it was a good attempt. It’s the Korean Series, isn’t it? In a game where the win or loss can be decided by one point, you have to do your best for every point.”

Choi Young-seok brushed off the front of his uniform and returned to home plate.

Song Seok-hyun squatted down and examined Choi Young-seok’s knees.

“……”

From his chest to his thighs to his knees, everything was covered in dirt from the one slide.

A batter with a career average of over .300 throws himself into a bunt without hesitation…….

Song Seok-hyun looked at 1st and 3rd base.

When you bunt, the 1st baseman, 3rd baseman, pitcher, and catcher move to create a siege.

The most important fielders in a bunt are the 1st baseman and 3rd baseman.

Goat’s 1st baseman and 3rd baseman are fielders who are struggling with a career batting average of just over .200, which is not fitting for the name of the Korean Series.

It’s not just the batting average that’s the problem, it’s hard to say that their defense is good either.

One pitch from the pitcher, one swing from the batter becomes data.

Choi Young-seok’s bunt just now is a signal.

Song Seok-hyun immediately signaled for an inside pitch.

Bang!

-Ball.

It was a pitch that could have hit him, but Choi Young-seok didn’t avoid it.

Rather than avoiding it, he smacked his lips and regretted it.

“……”

Song Seok-hyun wiped his lips.

Is Pegasus also in a do-or-die situation…….

Song Seok-hyun brought his mitt to the inside again.

Tang!

-Foul.

It was a pitch that almost hit him, but he swung the bat without hesitation.

Again, one pitch inside, foul.

This time, he asked for one pitch outside.

Tang!

“A ball that goes past the 1st baseman! It’s a hit! A technically pushed hit! Choi Young-seok steps on 1st base after a difficult battle.”

“I hope amateur baseball players watch the hit just now. Even in an unfavorable count, that swing that calmly looks at the ball and pushes it to the right-center field is the epitome of textbook form. As expected, Choi Young-seok. There’s a reason why he’s called the greatest 2nd baseman of all time.”

Han Min-seok pursed his lips as if he was disappointed.

It was a fastball of 147km/h, and it was a ball that was properly attached to the outside.

He only attacked the inside, but he threw the ball on the outside border line, and he saw it accurately and hit it.

“I’m tired……”

Song Seok-hyun already felt a throbbing in the back of his head.

The next batter is center fielder Shim Chang-gyu.

Shim Chang-gyu also stood close to the plate.

The ball that Song Seok-hyun requested was an inside fastball.

Shim Chang-gyu tried to bunt from the first pitch but dodged.

-Ball.

“The ruling is that the ball was a little off.”

“Pegasus keeps trying to bunt today. Unlike yesterday’s game, today’s game could lead to a one-point match.”