On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 257

With Fish’s departure and injuries to Choi Jae-wan and Jung Young-soo, the team considered it a reasonable outcome.

Until the five-game losing streak the following week.

* * *

“…….”

The manager’s office was silent.

Ham Seong-hoon had darker circles under his eyes than usual.

The other coaches just glanced at each other, not daring to speak.

“Are you keeping the interviews under control?”

At Ham Seong-hoon’s words, defense coach Ahn Young-jae spoke as if he had been waiting for the cue.

“Yes, we’re keeping them as restrained as possible. I’ve repeatedly told them to speak as generically as possible if they do speak.”

“……Sigh, we’ve been completely outplayed.”

Ham Seong-hoon gave a bitter smile.

The coaches cleared their throats, watching Ham Seong-hoon’s reaction.

After a 1-2 record against the Pegasus, the team faced the Wales the following week. A rematch in a situation where their animosity hadn’t faded.

The Goats were swept by Wales, recording a five-game losing streak.

In this series, Jung Baek-sun, who replaced injured shortstop Jung Young-soo, suffered an eye injury.

He was hit in the eye by the opposing player’s glove while attempting to steal second base.

With the shortstop injured from the third inning of the first game, there was no way the game could go smoothly.

Jung Young-soo, who had recovered from his injury but wasn’t in top condition, had to step in.

Jung Young-soo committed two errors in the first game, essentially becoming the scapegoat.

As players started getting injured, whether intentionally or accidentally, in every game, the Goats’ players’ agitation reached its peak.

Wales gave up 13 walks over the three games, thoroughly avoiding direct confrontation.

The Goats self-destructed, committing seven double plays in three games.

After the five-game losing streak against Wales, articles and posts criticizing Ham Seong-hoon poured out.

More than the five-game losing streak, the fact that they were so thoroughly beaten by Wales was the biggest source of anger for the fans.

No fans believed that the incidents that occurred every time they played Wales were mere coincidences.

Fans directed more criticism towards the Goats, especially the manager, for not retaliating in kind, rather than blaming Wales.

A manager who couldn’t protect his players.

Ham Seong-hoon had to earn the nickname ‘Incompetent Master’ in addition to his existing nickname ‘Dol Seong-hoon’.

“What’s done is done. Let’s focus on the games against the Wolves. With the losing streak, one win is crucial. Even if it’s tough today, let’s utilize the bullpen…….”

After a brief meeting, the coaches dispersed.

Ham Seong-hoon remained alone in the manager’s office, sipping coffee.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Yes, come in.”

“Manager, what are you doing?”

“Ah, Team Leader Kim.”

The person who opened the door was Kim Hak-in.

Kim Hak-in saw the coffee in Ham Seong-hoon’s hand and raised both of his hands.

“I guess I’m late. I’ll have to drink all of this.”

Kim Hak-in had coffee in both hands.

“Please, sit down. What brings you here?”

“Just checking in, haha.”

Kim Hak-in sat down.

Ham Seong-hoon gave a bitter smile.

“Team Leader Kim, you must be tired too. There must be pressure from above.”

“It would be a lie to say there isn’t, haha. People who don’t know much about baseball are the worst. But they can’t directly scold the manager, right? The chairman has already spoken. So, my job is to get called in and asked why every day. By the president and the general manager.”

“I’m causing you a lot of trouble.”

“Well, I was just joking. The manager is working harder than I am.”

Ham Seong-hoon scratched his head.

“This season is tough in many ways. The pitching and hitting balance is off, there are many injuries, and the losing streak…….”

“And Wales is so annoyingly persistent, right?”

“Ha, you’re right. I’ve never hated anyone this much in my baseball career, but I just can’t bring myself to like Wales. How many times is this? It’s like they’re asking for a fight. I really feel like seeing a bench-clearing brawl every game.”

Kim Hak-in put down his coffee.

“I think I need to apologize.”

“Yes? Suddenly?”

“The reason Manager Hwang Geun-seong is acting like this is because he didn’t get to come to our team. As the manager knows, Hwang Geun-seong was the top candidate for our team’s manager last year. It was almost 80% done, but it fell through, so he might see it as a humiliation. He must be angry. He probably thought he was already our team’s manager.”

“Was Hwang Geun-seong the top candidate?”

“He was close to the top. He’s a man who settles scores, so he must have a lot of grudges against our team. Especially against the manager. He wants to show that he’s better, since he was passed over for a junior.”

“Even so, this is just a mess. What is a veteran of the baseball world doing? He’s not retaliating because he didn’t get to be the manager, is he? He’s not a kindergartner.”

“Sometimes, athletes can be more childish than kindergartners. He’ll probably keep picking fights with us all season.”

Ham Seong-hoon chuckled.

“So, he’s really prepared for a bench-clearing brawl?”

“Probably. It’s not like he’s the one fighting. And it’s also his long-standing tactic to create internal unity by provoking other teams and starting fights.”

“Wow……. So, he really thinks of the players as chess pieces? The players are the ones who suffer.”

“Having 1,000 wins in this baseball world means he’s survived for a long time. There’s a reason why he’s survived for so long. Even if the players are expendable, he still gets results, so why wouldn’t the higher-ups like him?”

Ham Seong-hoon rubbed his eyes.

“Anyway, you’re saying that a petty and unscrupulous man has a grudge against me, so he’ll keep holding me back all season?”

“Sigh, yes. It’s not my intention, but the manager is getting tired because of him. I’m sorry, Manager.”

“It’s okay. It’s not Team Leader’s fault. I knew Hwang Geun-seong was tough, but I didn’t know he had such open animosity towards me. I need to prepare myself.”

“Prepare?”

Kim Hak-in narrowed his eyes.

“May I ask what kind of preparation?”

Ham Seong-hoon furrowed his brow.

“Sports for sports. War for war. An eye for an eye, right?”

* * *

The three-game series against the Wolves was a winning series with 2 wins and 1 loss.

It seemed like the Goats were starting to gain momentum again, but the starting pitchers were the problem.

Foreign player Mckinsey was notified of his demotion to the minor leagues due to his continuous slump, and inning-eater [a pitcher who can pitch for many innings] Lee Chang-hoon was still adjusting to his changed pitching form.

Han Min-seok was performing like an ace, but that was all the Goats had for starting pitchers.

In April, the Goats’ starting ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] was 6.71.

The worst ERA in the league.

The bullpen had an ERA of 3.11, and the hitters had a batting average of .292, ranking 2nd and 1st in the league, respectively, but when the starting pitchers collapsed, the games also collapsed.

In the latter half of April, they were confirmed to be in 8th place in the league with 2 wins and 7 losses.

They were 8th place, two games behind 7th place Gwangju Bulls.

It was a series of misfortunes.

The Goats faced the Phoenix as their first three-game series opponent in May in the worst atmosphere.

The Phoenix were 6th in the league.
The three-game series was scheduled to include Kim Young-hoon’s appearance in the starting rotation.

The Goats coaching staff sighed deeply, but the hitters’ reactions were different.

“Finally…….”

Song Seok-hyun clenched his bat tightly, his eyes shining.
The day to face Kim Young-hoon in the pros was approaching.

Finally.

Counterattack (1)

“Hoo! Hoo!”

-Swish! Swish!

On the day of the three-game series against the Phoenix.

Song Seok-hyun was swinging his bat at a private baseball training facility near the dorm.

The opponent he pictured in his head was Kim Young-hoon.

He rotated his waist to match the trajectory of Kim Young-hoon’s curveball.

“Ha, I can’t seem to get the angle right.”

Kim Young-hoon’s curveball came in three main variations.

The basic one was the orthodox 12-6 curve [a curveball that drops sharply from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock].

Even though it was a lightly thrown ball, it had an angle and speed comparable to other players’ power curves.

Another one was the slow curve.

He didn’t throw it often, but it came in at a speed of 80~110km/h.

To others, it looked like an Arirang ball [a very slow pitch], but it had a lot of spin, so the trajectory was completely different from what the hitters expected.

Since it was a rarely used pitch and very effective, hitters couldn’t even touch it more than nine out of ten times.

Finally, there was the high-angle curve.

Kim Young-hoon’s decisive pitch, with all sorts of nicknames such as goblin curve, rainbow curve, mystery curve, waterfall curve, and vertical drop curve.

Looking at the angle alone, it was as high as a high fastball, but it came in as a bouncing ball.

It was called a magic ball because it had a fast speed and tremendous spin.

If a knuckleball was a pitch that could come in from anywhere, up, down, left, or right, the high-angle curve only moved up and down, but it was a pitch that no one knew how far it would drop.

Hitters looked at the pitching form, the throwing hand, the height and position of the ball to figure out the pitch, but Kim Young-hoon’s ball could be a strike or a ball at any height or angle.

That meant prediction was meaningless.

You had to hit the ball with only instinctive senses, so it was no different from hitting a knuckleball.

In addition, he had a heavy and accurate 145km/h fastball, changeup, slider, two-seam, splitter, and fork, which knuckleballers didn’t have, so he was truly like a final boss.

GOD of Baseball.

It was a cheesy nickname, but no one could argue with it.

Even hitting just one hit would bring applause from the audience.

This season, Kim Young-hoon was so untouchable that even the adjectives ‘monster season’ were not enough.

“It needs to be more concise. More, more.”

Song Seok-hyun wiped his sweat-soaked face and took his stance again.

If you can’t predict it, hit it with only your senses.

The swing must be so concise that it’s not a partial connecting motion, but to the point where you can fold and unfold a single finger.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

The bat spun non-stop, even more non-stop.

* * *

Friday, Daejeon Stadium.

The weather was perfect, and the stands were already full.

Even scalpers were walking around outside, but even they were almost sold out.

“Wow, we were really lucky. Why is it so hard to get tickets?”

“I know. I heard rumors that the Phoenix season tickets were sold out this year, and it seems like it’s not a false rumor.”

The two men who were lucky enough to get seats in the third base infield were Kim Young-seok and Jung Mi-nam.

There was one reason why the two people living in Seoul came all the way to Daejeon.
Half of it was to support their friend Song Seok-hyun, and the other half was to see Kim Young-hoon.

To be more precise, 100% of it was to see the showdown between Song Seok-hyun and Kim Young-hoon.

This was the same for other people as well.

Even before the game started, the outfield was packed with people.

“He’s coming out, he’s coming out. Seok-hyun is coming out.”

“Oh, I can see him better than I thought.”

As the game start time approached, the players from both teams appeared on the field.
The biggest stars of both teams were definitely Kim Young-hoon and Song Seok-hyun.

When Kim Young-hoon smiled and waved to the first base stands, cheers erupted, filling the Daejeon Stadium.

“He’s like a god here, a god.”

“He’d get elected if he ran for mayor.”

In Daejeon, Song Seok-hyun couldn’t compare to Kim Young-hoon’s popularity.

From the start of the game, the Phoenix fans were already intoxicated with victory, singing and doing the wave.

After the national anthem, there was a ceremonial first pitch by girl group member Jung Chae-yoon.

[We will have a ceremonial first pitch by Jung Chae-yoon from the popular girl group BESO.]

[I heard that BESO is a big fan of the Phoenix.]

[Really? That’s amazing. Is she from Chungcheong-do? Or are her parents from Chungcheong-do?]

[Haha, neither. Angel Entertainment Chairman Jang Cheon-soo is a big fan of the Phoenix, so she became a fan while watching baseball.]

[Ah, I’ve seen fans who follow their parents, but this is the first time I’ve seen a fan who follows their boss.]

After throwing the first pitch, Jung Chae-yoon shook hands with Kim Young-hoon.

“Please win! I’ll be cheering for you! All of our members came!”

“Yes? Ah……haha. Yes, thank you.”

“Phoenix fighting! Win the championship again this year!”

Kim Young-hoon laughed.

After Jung Chae-yoon left the mound, Kim Young-hoon touched the rosin bag.

White powder comes between his fingers as the Goats’ leadoff hitter Lee Ji-sung enters.

“The strongest lineup……. This will be fun today.”

Kim Young-hoon smiled and picked up the ball.

-Play ball!

* * *

-Strike! Out!

[Three consecutive strikeouts! Kim Young-hoon is completely neutralizing the opposing hitters from the first inning again today!]

[The hitters can’t get a feel for it at all. They need to decide whether to hit the fastball or the curveball, but they can’t do either.]

[10 pitches. He finished the first inning with 10 pitches. Kim Young-hoon is Kim Young-hoon. The Goats have been struggling recently, but their lineup is by no means easy. Isn’t it still the strongest lineup in the league?]

[This game will be interesting. Kim Young-hoon looks to be in good condition.]

Song Seok-hyun, who was in the on-deck circle, returned to the bench.

The ball is better than expected.

It was Kim Young-hoon’s ball that he couldn’t get a feel for even with a speed of 130km/h.

When he increased the speed to 145km/h, it was dark in front of his eyes.

The first hitter in the next inning is himself.

Song Seok-hyun took a breath.

The Goats’ mound in the bottom of the 1st inning is Hong Dae-sung.