Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 130

There are so many ways to describe baseball.

Baseball is like life.

Baseball is a team game.

Baseball is a batter’s game, or a pitcher’s game.

All are correct. They’re all really correct.

But if I could add one more phrase, I think I’d say this:

Baseball must be harmonious.

Harmony… in many senses.

For a batter, the harmony of power and accuracy.

For a pitcher, the harmony of fastball and control, plus breaking balls.

For a fielder, the harmony of the first bounce and their footwork.

Now, let’s think about this in terms of a team, not just an individual.

A baseball ‘team’ must be harmonious.

This means:

The harmony of the pitching staff and the batting lineup.

The harmony between the coaching staff and the players.

The harmony between the coaching staff and the front office.

Ultimately, these stories can be interpreted in this way.

For those who aren’t simply enjoying baseball, but relying on it to make a living, there’s even more to consider.

And one more thing needs to be added here.

Baseball is a team game, baseball is a game played by people; these two ideas merge and produce…

“Seongwon and Seungjin, where are you? Ah, come here for a second.”

“Yes!”

“Yes, Manager.”

The harmony of the old and new.

Jiho muttered as he watched the two rookies from the 2020 season respond to the manager’s call.

“It’s a relief. Aren’t those two doing better than expected?”

“They are doing well. It’s a real relief. How about it, Jiho? Doesn’t it feel a bit strange having juniors now?”

“Well… yes. I haven’t even found my own way yet, but it feels like I have sons….”

Sons…….

“That’s not wrong.”

It’s quite amusing to see a young punk talking about having sons when they are only two years younger than him.

“Treat them well. Even if it feels like a big difference because they are two years younger than you, remember they’re essentially your contemporaries.”

“Yes. I will not commit any improprieties against my juniors.”

“……”

Thumbs up!

“I mean it.”

Jiho expressionlessly raised his thumb and handed over his educational plan for his juniors.

What the.

“But teaching juniors is harder than I thought.”

“What’s so hard about it? You said they feel like your sons. Just tell them everything from A to Z, like you would with your real sons.”

“Isn’t that what’s difficult?”

“Don’t overthink it. Just remember when you first joined the team. How your seniors taught you when you first came.”

That was the basis when I taught my juniors in the first place.

“I know this in my head… but there’s something like, I guess it’s a kind of inferiority complex. I’m not that good of a player yet, so… am I qualified to teach someone? Something like that….”

“Ah. I can see how you might think that. Right.”

Jiho, who is saying such things, is currently recording an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] of 5.87. A record that can’t be praised, even with empty words.

It’s natural for a rookie-level pitcher who hasn’t yet clearly grasped his strengths and his role to have such thoughts if he’s recording such a record.

“But it’s better not to think like that because of your performance.”

But it’s only been a little over a month since the season started. Also, the innings pitched are only 7.2 innings.

I’m not too worried because Jiho has the ability to lower his ERA enough in the second half of the season.

And,

“Whether your performance is good or bad is completely separate from whether you teach someone or not.”

“But don’t you need some kind of qualification?”

“You don’t need that.”

Qualification to teach someone?

“Hey, I know almost everything about pitching theory now. Do you know what posture means in pitching mechanics?”

“Well… I only know the general meaning.”

“Have you heard of the term intrinsic arm angle?”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“What about ARP [Anterior Release Point]? MER [Maximum External Rotation]?”

“That too….”

“What about dynamic balance?”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

Posture, intrinsic arm angle, ARP, MER, dynamic balance.

These are all terms that you’d only see and understand by studying pitching theory more than is strictly necessary.

“Why do you think I know these terms? Because I studied. Why did I study? Because my performance was so terrible, I tried to do anything.”

…It was desperate back then.

“I still regret not being able to apply those theories to myself… but those studies weren’t entirely useless. I gave quite a bit of help to those around me.”

“With those theories?”

“Yeah. Originally, it’s the coach’s job and role….”

You have to phrase this carefully. If you choose the wrong words, it’s like talking behind the coach’s back.

“Well… the coach is also human. There may be things the coach can’t see. So I secretly went and told them. Slyly.”

“Did the players who Kim Hanwool helped in that way see any effect?”

“Not all of them. In the first place, I didn’t force them. If I went to Hyukjoon and said that your ARP is not good, and it got worse, it would be entirely my responsibility.”

“Ah… that’s right.”

“I just drop hints. Subtly.”

‘Aren’t you doing this when you throw? I think it might be better if you do this?’

Of course, the choice was up to the player.

“Of course… there’s also that aspect. The people I’ve been with so far have had good personalities for the most part. They didn’t care much even if I interfered, and rather appreciated it, because I was worried about them.”

“That seems quite important too.”

“It’s important. It’s meaningless if I’m giving them attention, but they get annoyed and tell me not to interfere.”

“That’s right.”

“What I said earlier is just my experience. I’m not telling you, Jiho, to study theory right away and go to them and say that your form is like this and that.”

“Yes.”

“Just be like a senior. Help them with the external parts rather than the internal parts of the game. You’ve done your duty as a senior just by doing that.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“If there are any guys who don’t listen, tell me. I’ll take care of them all.”

“Yes!”

The high school graduate, who is only in his third year, nodded with an expression that showed he had greatly relieved his burden.

* * *

If the harmony of the old and new could be measured as a scoring category, the Wonha Challengers would have scored 0 in this area.

Why?

What harmony of the old and new? There is no old. There is only new, so where and with what do you harmonize?

But as time passes, new things gradually turn into old things, and other new things come under them.

This 2020 season seems to be the time to properly show what this harmony of the old and new is.

“Seungjin, let’s go out in the 7th.”

“Yes!”

Lee Seungjin, a rookie pitcher from the 2020 season who is in charge of the new in the 2020 season Wonha Challengers.

When you see him, he is really what should I say…….

“Hoo, please take care of me!”

“Yes, yes, Seungjin, throw, throw as much as you want!”

“Yes!”

Should I say he is pure? Should I say he is full of passion? Or should I say it is passion for baseball, should I say it is obsession?

That is really good to see. When I look at him, he feels like a mild version of Hyun Jin.

‘I love baseball so much. It’s so much fun. That’s why I want to work harder and do better. Now that I’ve become a baseball player, I really want to see the end.’

Hyun Jin’s words from some time ago; the script of those words has not been perfectly preserved over time.

Thud-!

“Oh, Seungjin, good, good!!”

Seeing him smash it like that from the first bullpen pitch, it seems like I see a glimpse of Hyun Jin.

He also looks like he’s just going to get hurt by moving with that much enthusiasm.

Clap clap clap!

“Hey, hey, Seungjin, take it easy. You’ll get hurt.”

“Seungjin, your ball is good, so take it slow.”

So the senior pitchers, led by the pitching coach, began to calm Seungjin down with applause.

“Ah, yes…!”

Good. He is really something.

He seems a little intimidated by the seniors’ scolding mixed with affection, but the reason for that intimidation is really cute.

‘I want to do well, I can do well, I want to show you. Why are you putting a limit on me? Did I do something wrong?’

Looking at that bewildered expression stemming from desperation, I just know why old-timers go, “Sigh, haa- newb smell-” when they see newbies.

Clap clap clap!!

“Seungjin, good, good!!”

“Seungjin, your fastball is good, show us one more fastball!”

“Yes!”

Maybe he doesn’t understand it right now. He’s just like a child who says he understands when you tell him to do this.

What you need at times like this is,

“Seungjin, look.”

“Yes, Coach.”

“The catcher is sitting like that now.”

“Yes.”

“Take a look at the catcher. Huh? The catcher’s right foot, right knee, right shoulder, head, left shoulder, and mitt. Take a quick look like that. Look now.”

“Yes.”

“Take a slow look. Then look, the batter next to you won’t come into your eyes.”

“That’s right.”

“Throw like that.”

“Yes!”

The coach appears right away.

‘Take some strength out of your shoulder and throw, throw with 80% instead of 100%, throw comfortably.’

It’s just useless nonsense to players who are automatically raising their gears in the realm of the unconscious.

Rather than that, it’s better to forcibly pull the gear into neutral from the side like now.

The coach, who was forcibly matching the timing, glanced at the situation outside the bullpen.

“Seungjin, last two.”

“Yes! I’ll throw a fastball!”

He announced the end of the bullpen session. Two pitches left, looking at Seungjin’s expression…….

“…He’s putting a lot of strength into it.”

Thud-!

“Hey, your ball is good, so you can take it easy!”

“Yes!”

Seungjin prepared for his last pitch with a look full of confidence, as if he hadn’t poured out 100% yet.

But our coach is not a pushover to the point where he can’t foresee this situation.

“Seungjin, let’s go up now.”

“Yes?”

“Go up now. The inning ended a little early.”

“Ah… yes.”

It’s a feint, you bastard.

Seungjin made an unnecessarily sullen expression as the last chance to show off how amazing I am in front of the coach and seniors disappeared in vain, but it’s okay.

“Play!”

The place where you have to show off in that sense is not just a bullpen.

Thud-!

“Striiiiike, out!”

There. Because it’s there where you are standing now, the mound.

Clap clap clap!!

“Ah, Seungjin is good! Let’s keep going!!”

“Seungjin’s fastball is good!”

“You can just throw fastballs! Go fastball!”

Seungjin, who is evaluated to have the best potential in terms of ball speed, is expected to be the closer for our team in the future.

It’s a little sorry to Jiho, who has already picked out the next-generation closer…….

Thud-!

“Swing, out!”

The ability to draw out the bat like that with just one fastball is something that no one can have.

Clap clap clap―

“Oh… what is he really.”

“If you only look at the ball speed, it’s better than mine?”

“Hey, you still can’t keep up with your senior.”

I appropriately accepted Senior Eun Gu’s words and checked the scoreboard once. The speed of the fastball he just threw was 149km [kilometers per hour, approximately 93 mph].

When judging Seungjin’s fastball with only one category of speed, it’s true that saying it’s the best ever is a bit of an overstatement.

Seungjin’s fastball has something more than just speed.

Thud-!

“Swing, out!”

Power.

When we express the field term that we keep saying ball speed with a more intuitive word, Seungjin is a pitcher who has the power to take responsibility for 1 inning with just his fastball.

Clap clap clap―

“Oh, Seungjin, your ball is really good.”

“Thank you!”

“Seungjin, don’t overdo it. Go ice it right away.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

The rookie pitcher, who successfully completed his promotion stage, returned to the dugout with a much relieved expression.