Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 114

※ 114. A Misstep

The experience of throwing a ball on a mound in another country, against players from another country… And what if you pitched really well?

Needless to say, you’d be ecstatic.

[Han-ul is so cool!!]

[Oppa, I’m dying!!] (A common expression of excitement from a female fan to a male idol or admired figure.)

[Rabbit emoticon shaking a ‘Fighting’ panel] (A visual representation of encouragement, ‘Fighting’ is a Korean loanword from English, used to express support or cheer someone on.)

The day after the game against the USA, according to Min-young, the interest in the Premier12 tournament was very high in Korea.

Among the news, Min-young focused on stories about me.

[There are already a lot of stories]

[They’re so happy that they got a national team bullpen ace!]

[Rabbit emoticon holding and shaking a ‘Cool!’ panel]

Of course, this conversation included Min-young’s personal opinions…

After filtering it a bit, what resonated with me was the story about the Korean team.

The team had a 4-game winning streak from the group stage!

Fans were hoping that this momentum would continue through the Super Round and that they would win a gold medal in the medal round.

However…

Thwack-!

“…Aigo.” (A Korean expression of frustration or dismay.)

Park Dong-il of Sangmu [a military sports team], who started as the pitcher against Taiwan, faltered from the start and gave up a whopping 4 runs in 3 and 1/3 innings.

Shin Jin-cheol, who hurriedly went to the mound, finished the 4th inning, and in the 5th inning, I stepped up and cleanly blocked 1 inning.

After that, things went on somehow, and in the 7th inning, Lee Kang-min of Sangmu allowed a three-run homer, bringing the total runs allowed by the pitchers to 7.

Unlike the pitching staff, which had been so hot, the batting lineup was…

“Swing, out!”

0 points.

They had to admit a complete defeat of 7 to 0, being shut out helplessly.

“Uh… let’s go.”

“Yes, senior.”

I couldn’t help but be aware of the heavy atmosphere. I moved carefully so as not to upset the team members and the coaching staff, and arrived back at the accommodation.

As I unpacked my luggage and sat still on the bed, Hyun-jin sat on the opposite bed.

“The atmosphere suddenly dropped.”

“It can’t be helped. It’s the same in the postseason in Korea, and even in the regular season.”

“That’s true, but it’s something more…”

Something more… something more…

Hyun-jin waited patiently until I found the right word.

“…There seems to be something that drives people crazy.”

As I placed both hands on my knees with a snap, he smiled.

“Anyway, it’s a headache, really.”

The ultimate goal of a tournament with many people and many teams participating is, of course, to win the last game and win a gold medal.

But today, after losing to Taiwan, it’s not just about the gold medal, but whether we can even advance to the finals.

“The remaining games are against Mexico and Japan… Aigoya.” (Another expression of frustration, similar to ‘Aigo’.)

Mexico, which has been winning every game so far, and Japan, which is considered to be one level above Korea.

In this situation, the number of wins needed to secure a spot in the finals on our own is two.

Jae-hyuk of KP [presumably, a baseball team] is on standby for the game against Mexico in 3 days, and Hyun-jin is on standby for the game against Japan the following day.

“Jae-hyuk will do well, right?”

‘Aren’t you worried about me?”

“You… you’ll do well on your own.”

Hing. (A sound effect implying displeasure or sulking.)

Hyun-jin’s expression soured at my rather indifferent tone.

“Ugh.”

Tilting my head to the side made my vision much more comfortable.

“So… what should we do for the next 3 days?”

“Personal maintenance or rest would be fine. Since it’s important to put everything into the game right away, we don’t get involved in training.”

As I rested my chin on my hand with an unknown sense of unease, Hyun-jin calmed me down with a soft voice.

“Why don’t you get some sleep? Aren’t you tired?”

“I’ve only pitched 2 innings so far, why would I be tired?”

I’m only going to put you out in very important games.

I recalled the manager’s words as I retorted sullenly.

I should believe in the words of Manager Kim Seok-ju, who has been leading Sangmu Tigers to the Korean Series championship.

I should believe it…

“I’m just worried about getting cursed at for no reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to shine, I don’t want to be active, but it’s not good to just blend in.”

I organized and told him what I had vaguely guessed. Hyun-jin was smiling happily under the dim light.

“It’s okay. Thanks to your performance, we’ll win this tournament too.”

I laughed in disbelief at the encouragement that was close to half-joking.

“Have a good night.”

“Yeah, sleep well.”

* * *

I tried hard to make good use of the two days between the game against Taiwan and the game against Mexico.

Tubing, which I take care of more than rice every day. (Referring to physical therapy or exercises focused on the arm.)

Stretching that comes unconditionally with tubing.

And analysis of the opposing team we will face.

Just as I put on my glove to prepare for the game against Mexico on Friday evening,

“Taiwan lost.”

“Huh?”

A very hopeful piece of news came from the corner of the team.

“If this happens…”

In order to advance to the finals on our own, we had to win both of the remaining Super Round games, but now we only need to win one game.

“It’s going to be a little easier today.”

Baseball is a mental game, and the essence of what everyone often says is often misunderstood by the general public.

It’s not about helping someone with 100 skill show off 120 skill.

It’s about making someone with 100 skill only show 50.

In other words,

Thwack-!

The players, who played the game with a lower level of pressure, were able to fully show their skills.

“Turn! Keep turning!!”

“Hae-jin, run!!”

After giving up 2 points first, in the bottom of the 5th inning, Korea’s skills, luck, and the other team’s mistakes combined to score 7 points first.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The reason for hitting the dugout fence, which contained a sponge, with the palm of my hand was the unhidden excitement.

“Gyu-hak, nice!”

“Nice base!!”

Gyu-hak, who stepped on first base, shouted towards our dugout nearby. At once, the atmosphere in our dugout soared to the sky.

7 to 3.

With the big inning of 7 points in the bottom of the 5th inning, Korea secured its place in the finals of this tournament.

* * *

Japan, a country that is physically and mentally inseparable from Korea.

One of the things I envy when I look at Japan is that they call baseball the way of baseball (野球道) [Yakyu-do, the philosophy and discipline of baseball] and treat it as a national sport (國技) [Kokugi, a sport deeply ingrained in the national identity].

If you point out that I envy that because I’m a baseball player, well, I’d nod even if it’s not wrong.

If my position is like that, what would be the feelings of ordinary Koreans looking at Japan?

There is a very appropriate expression among the phrases that are used like idioms: you must never lose even at rock-paper-scissors.

If we lose to those with the team name Samurai Japan, what would Koreans say about us?

“Ugh…”

Just thinking about it makes my spine tingle.

Then, what if we look at Japan from the perspective of ‘Team Korea’, a medium-sized perspective, rather than a very small perspective of me personally or a very large perspective of Korea?

Comparing it to our country in terms of hitting… I think our country is slightly better. Slightly.

Base running is likely to be Japan’s advantage. This is largely due to the fact that the Korean batting lineup generally prefers hitting baseball to running baseball.

All that’s left is the pitcher.

Boom-!

“Strike, out!”

And defense.

Thwack-

“Fast!”

Bang-!

“Out!”

They’re good. They’re definitely good.

Today’s starting pitcher for Japan is Fujisaki Keisuke. With a rather thin body, he was throwing strong fastballs exceeding 150km and blocking the Korean batting lineup.

If he drove the count with a good fastball,

Whoosh-

“Swing, out-.”

He throws a forkball that crashes to the ground without fail, completing the strikeout.

As the inning ended, Hyun-jin, who was sitting next to me, got up. I clapped to cheer him on,

“Thank you, I think I can pitch well thanks to you, senior.”

Oh, please. Just go, please.

He bowed 90 degrees to me and left the dugout.

While Hyun-jin was practicing pitching, I summarized the current state of the game. After five attacks and four defenses, the points scored by both teams were 0.

I was about to think that we could give a judge’s victory to our team, which had at least one hit in 5 innings, rather than Japan, which had not stepped on first base for 4 innings, when,

Thwack-!

“…Ah.”

The Japanese 4th batter, who was the lead batter, immediately hit a home run.

Waaaaah-!!

Ikeru!! (It’s done!!) [Japanese]

Yattajo!! (We did it!!) [Japanese]

Here, the Tokyo Dome is the home stadium of Samurai Japan.

In a sense, it’s just one point, just one solo home run, but the Japanese were jumping up and down in their seats and rejoicing. They hugged each other and rejoiced.

The home run hitter passed second base with a clenched fist raised above his head. And what is the pitcher thinking as he stares at that figure?

I took my eyes off Hyun-jin and turned to the seat next to me.

“…Hyuk-jun.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“I’m not…”

Hyuk-jun, who is scheduled to start in the finals tomorrow, didn’t seem to be very impressed even after seeing the 4th batter touch home plate.

“I don’t really feel anything here.”

“Is it easy?”

“Strangely, they can’t hit my ball.”

“Why.”

It’s because you’re good.

In fact, Hyuk-jun’s role in the national team is Japan’s designated hitter. He has faced Japan three times in his career, and his ERA is exactly 1 in 18 innings.

If Taiwan had won against the United States yesterday, today’s starter would have been Hyuk-jun here, not Hyun-jin over there.

Okay, let’s be honest.

Since we’ve already secured a spot in the finals, if we judge objectively, there’s no harm in including this game in the garbage game [a game with little consequence].

But what if the inside of that garbage game is a match against a team that you can’t even lose at rock-paper-scissors?

Boom-!

“Ah, pitcher, ball is good!!”

“Eeeeei!!”

Even though the importance is lower than the finals, it turns into a game where you have to be prepared to give up your life if you lose.

Bang-!

“Strike, out!”

I stood up and applauded Hyun-jin, who caught the 7th batter with a looking strikeout and returned to the dugout.

Even though the senior he loves, respects, reveres, admires, and cherishes is directly visiting and applauding him,

“……”

Hyun-jin had a somewhat sullen expression on his face. The way he took off his glove and the way he took off his hat were different from usual, full of annoyance.

Reading the atmosphere, I poked Hyuk-jun in the side and urged him to move aside.

“…I’ve never seen Hyun-jin hyung [older brother or senior] like that before.”

“I’ve never seen it either.”

“Should I go ask him?”

“Don’t touch him without tact, leave him alone.”

“Yes…”

After a short break, Sung-hyun of Wonha, Ki-yoon of KP, and Hae-jin of Sangmu were about to step up.

The top of the 6th inning, which foreshadowed a series of strong hitters, did not greatly reflect our expectations.

No, if we only look at the sense of hitting, it did meet our expectations.

Sung-hyun’s batted ball was well hit, but it was a line drive to the shortstop, Kim Ki-yoon walked on a walk, but Park Hae-jin,

Thwack-!

“It’s 빠졌…!” [Korean expression of disbelief or shock]

“Ah!”

“What is it!”

He hits a double play here.

“…Is that caught?”

“What is it. No, what is it. Seriously, what is it, that.”

I’m sorry to Kim Ki-yoon, who is currently in charge of second base, but everything related to defense was being overwhelmed. Completely.

Park Hae-jin, who hit the double play ball, didn’t seem to have much regret, and immediately returned to our dugout and started preparing for the bottom of the 6th inning.

Clap clap clap-!

“Ah, just block it! Hyun-jin, cheer up too!”

“Let’s go, let’s go!!”

Under the generally depressed atmosphere, it was only me and Hyuk-jun who were raising the dugout with nonsense and profanity.

Still, thanks to the two of us, other team members started to get up one by one and cheer for the people of the same country.

Everyone was happy when Hyun-jin threw a strike, and everyone was disappointed when it was judged as a ball.

While I was feeling this atmosphere with a happy expression,

Toc toc- (Sound of knocking)

“Han-ul, you’re going out in the 7th.”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

The manager seems to have judged that the current situation is important.

“Hyung [older brother or senior], our existence is hwaiting [fighting/good luck].”

“Don’t say hwaiting.”

I went to the bullpen, passing Hyuk-jun’s reaction. I didn’t get lost on the way because I had been there once.

“Ugh… I’m going to have to throw hard today, really.”

Boom-!

Anyway, when it’s time for me to go up, they’ll contact me from above. Until then, I,

“Eup!”

Bang-!

“Showkeeeeeeeek!!” (Slurred pronunciation of ‘strike’ for comedic effect)

Just get ready to break the samurai’s swords.

It hasn’t been decided yet which batter I’ll be facing, but I think it’ll be okay to face any batter.

Unlike other countries, there was really a lot of information about the opposing players in the case of Japan.

Should I say thanks to that,

Ting-!

[Dae-han Min-guk!] (Korea!) [Korean]

– 1 inning without giving up a run (0/1)

– Reward – All pitches +1

The text content that appeared when I stepped on the mound looked much lighter.

“Play!”