Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 146

All-Star bullpen pitcher fan vote, 1st place.

Marriage permission from both parents.

Affiliated team maintains 1st place in the league.

Any one of these would be incredibly good news, but having all three happen at the same time has led to consistently joyful days.

Definitely, this is my year. This year, I really need to throw everything I have into it.

“Let’s gooooo!!”

“Jin-hyung, blow them away!!”

It seems like not only me, but the other team members are feeling it too.

Screaming like crazy, clapping until our palms are red, laughing until our faces cramp.

Crack-!

“Turn, turn!!”

“Two-two! Second base!!”

If we shout like that, we’ll be happy.

We seized a solid victory from the beginning against the KP Stars at home.

Hitting, hitting them again, and hitting them one more time.

By the time the KP fans started to look distressed, Wonha’s attack ended, and the scoreboard showed 7 to 1.

This all happened by the end of the 3rd inning.

The snowball that started rolling as small as a billiard ball will soon grow as big as a house and become unmanageable.

Following the logic of ‘even if you lose, lose well,’ KP Stars used a large number of backup and minor league players in their lineup instead of the starters.

Then, of course, we,

Boom-!

“Starssss-!!”

gluttonously accept it.

With the end of the game, we stand in front of the foul line and bow to the fans in gratitude.

After happily clapping and celebrating the end of the day, we prepare to go home, looking forward to tomorrow.

And checking the game results of the Sangsoo Tigers in the car has become a natural routine.

“They’re relentless.”

Wonha Challengers win. Sangsoo Tigers win.

“Those relentless bastards….”

On the day I proposed to Min-young, I think the difference between Sangsoo and us wasn’t even three games, but now we’re being chased again to within two games.

If we win, they win too. If we lose, they lose too. Just when it seems like we’re getting away, they follow like crazy again.

The synchronized performance that has been going on since the second half of last season has something maddening about it.

The All-Star break is next week, and I don’t know how this few-day break will affect the pennant race.

“When is the next game against Sangsoo?”

Perhaps it would be a more certain method to have a life-or-death showdown with Sangsoo rather than scraping together wins against other teams.

According to the schedule, the next Sangsoo series is right after the All-Star game.

“First….”

What I can do right now. No, what I should aim for.

Winning all five remaining games before the All-Star break. Not worrying about what Sangsoo does, and just doing what we have to do.

“We’ll win.”

I don’t think we’ll collapse at the end after running so hard.

Maybe if Kyu-jin hyung heard that, he’d tell me to stop planting flags [making overly confident predictions], but no.

“We will win.”

We will win.

Feelings, hunches, intuition, and so on. Along with the momentum I’ve been riding all year.

And,

“…Stats.”

Control – Top Tier

Power – High Tier

Stamina – Mid Tier

Four-seam – 98

Curve – 88

Slider – 85

Splitter – 86

Changeup – 86

Sinker – 85

Traits

Detachment – I’m okay with any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort – Makes the opposing batter uncomfortable when they see the pitcher at the plate.

Comfort – Those who watch me feel comfortable.

Focus – The number of targets I can focus on increases.

The fastball, which is almost at 100, and the slightly improved curve and changeup stats.

It was clearly saying.

“We will win.”

That we can win. No, that we will win.

* * *

If you ask the team, ‘Who is the best hitter in the KBO League [Korean Baseball Organization]?’, 100 out of 100 will point to Park Hae-jin.

Then, slightly changing the question, if you ask, ‘Which is the best hitting ‘team’ in the KBO League?’, 100 out of 100 will point to KP Stars.

Not individual batting average, but a team batting average of .300. This amazing team really,

Crack-!

“Ouch….”

Crack-!

Crack—

hits fiercely.

Thanks to Kyu-jin hyung’s power and the Wonha Challengers’ defense, we’re minimizing the score,

Crack-!

“Oh no…it’s gone.”

They even take the points that I wish we could avoid giving up.

A team that has truly bet their soul on hitting is not an exaggeration at all.

“Kyu-jin hyung, nice, good job.”

“Ah, they hit that.”

“Too bad, too bad!”

“Eunbi, Kabi!”

“Hey, you crazy bastard!”

Kyu-jin hyung came down after giving up 5 runs in 7 innings.

Looking at the runs given up alone, it’s true that it’s quite a lot, but the game itself wasn’t bad. The only regret is the three-run homer in the top of the 7th.

“It’s okay, we’re winning. Let’s keep adding points.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s score, let’s keep the momentum going!”

But we’re still winning even after giving up 5 runs?

Tick—

“Ah, it fell, it fell!!”

“Run, three! Watch three!!”

Hitting focused.

Although it looks flashy and spectacular on the outside, if you look at the other side, it means that they can’t do anything but hit.

When considering a team, what other elements are there besides hitting? Typically, pitching, defense, and base running.

Well…base running is so-so.

Crack-!

“Come in! Seong-hyun, come in!!”

“Seung-ju, second! Run to second!!”

The pitchers are weak. Their control isn’t very good, and they produce a lot of hits and home runs.

Tick!

“Ah, it fell again!”

“Seung-ju, thir-, no, home!!”

“Seung-ju hyung, run home!!”

The defense is even weaker. Whether they catch the ball or not is a problem, but they also show many weaknesses in positioning and relays.

Swish-!

“Safe!”

The right fielder fumbled the ball that bounced off the fence, the shortstop who was relaying dropped the ball, and finally, the catcher dropped the ball at home.

Thanks to three blunders in one play, Seung-ju set a rare record of leaving home and returning immediately.

Record-wise, he didn’t build an inside-the-park hotel, but it could be said that he built an inside-the-park motel [referring to a humorous situation where a player circles the bases due to errors, similar to completing an inside-the-park home run, but with a comical twist].

“Yessss!”

“Niceee!!”

“Hey, click, click!”

Click!

Seung-ju, who built a motel, gathered us and took a selfie.

Seeing that bastard, who hated it the most when I suggested this, doing that makes me feel like he’s gone crazy, but well, the result was good.

By the time the top of the 8th inning ended, our lineup had scored 9 points.

“Han-wool, let’s go out in the 9th. I’ll check your condition.”

“Ah, yes.”

The flow has been like this for the past few days. Overwhelming, pressuring, dominating. Since we crush the opponent’s spirit from the beginning and proceed with the game, it’s very relaxed in the later stages.

Thanks to that, my desire to get into the game quickly and fill my stats quickly has just remained with me.

Ah, I want to get my fastball stat to 100 quickly.

“Gun-young-ah.”

“Yes!”

After calling our Gun-young, who always works hard, I slowly started catch. Exactly the same as I usually throw, not even a little different.

Whoosh!

“Wow, good ball!”

“How is it compared to before?”

“It’s good. It feels heavier, but sometimes it flies a bit.”

“Flies? Ah, noted.”

However, the only difference is one thing I’ve been practicing these days, throwing a heavier and more powerful fastball.

On average, if I can throw around 154km [kilometers per hour], and if I push myself a little harder, around 157km, that alone would make me an amazing pitcher, but something…….

“Ah…well, I think this is enough.”

Something, you know, like you feel like you can do something more.

I’m in that state right now. It’s not just about the speed or anything like that, but I feel like there’s something I can go one step further, but I can’t see it.

“Should I hold it like this?”

The fastball grip I usually throw is not much different from the widely known four-seam grip. Holding across the seams, with a finger width of about 1cm.

However, the fastball I’ve been practicing these days is to completely stick together the index and middle fingers that were spread apart.

A secret plan to put more force into the center of the rotation axis, to directly hit the center of the ball.

The effect is quite good. I don’t know if it’s a placebo effect, but it seems to come out about 2-3km faster, and the ball seems heavier.

But there’s one problem…….

“Fastball!”

“Hey!”

Thwack!

As the point where I can apply force becomes narrower, if I deviate even a little from there, the ball will go off course.

“Ouch, damn!”

“Hyung, relax, relax!”

Unnecessary rotation is put on the ball, or I can’t hit it properly, or I hit it wrong and it gets cut like a cutter or sinker [types of pitches].

“Hyung, take it slow!”

Gun-young also knows me very well as he has been watching me for a long time.

He knows that I have a lot of thoughts right now, that I’m a little annoyed because things aren’t going well, and that I’m frustrated because I can’t see any clues.

“Hyung! Let’s do it one by one, one by one!”

“Ah…okay, okay.”

Gun-young got up from his seat and ordered catch instead of pitching, asking me to take it one step at a time.

I accepted this favor,

Wham!

“Oh, just now! It has to come like that!”

Slowly, I decided to ride the flow.

Slowly,

Thwack!

“That’s it!”

Slowly.

Thwack-!

“That’s it, that’s it!”

“Gun-young, sit down.”

“Yes!”

Feeling like I had a slight sense of it, I sat Gun-young down and decided to try pitching again.

Before taking the windup, I slowly aim at where I will throw. I check the mitt that Gun-young, sitting on the outside of the right-handed batter, is holding, and then my left foot, and then both hands behind my head…but…….

Ding-!

[The First Step in Pitching, Control]

– Pitch where the catcher wants. (0/10)

– Reward – Four-seam +2

“…Wow.”

A quest that forcibly summons a memory has appeared.

Only the reward content has changed a little, but the name of the quest and the content of the quest are all the same as when I first encountered this system.

“Hyuuung!”

And, Gun-young’s voice calling me, who is spacing out looking at this quest, and,

“Ah, no, sorry.”

My answer to that.

“I think I’m going crazy, really.”

Thanks to that, the annoyance is gone. Rather, I feel full of refreshing feelings.

“Fastball!”

“Aye, fastball!”

Thwack-!

Ding-!

[The First Step in Pitching, Control]

– Pitch where the catcher wants. (1/10)

– Reward – Four-seam +2

“Wow, hyung, your control is really good. Your feel is really good, it comes right away!”

The enhanced fastball arrived exactly where Gun-young was holding the mitt. Seeing Gun-young showing surprise and awe accordingly makes me feel good too.

Whether it’s the concentration that came from the desire to get the quest reward, or whether it’s thanks to the support and encouragement that Gun-young gave me,

Ding-!

[The First Step in Pitching, Control]

– Pitch where the catcher wants. (6/10)

– Reward – Four-seam +2

The content of the quest was quickly filled.

It was thanks to keeping the tempo of the delivery the same, but reducing the tempo of the intervals as much as possible, thinking that I might go up to the mound at any time.

Quickly, and slowly.

The nonsense of adding a shot to the coffee and making it light was clearly being realized here.

Thwack-!

“Niceee!!”

Ding-!

[The First Step in Pitching, Control]

– Pitch where the catcher wants. (10/10)

– Reward – Four-seam +2

Control – Top Tier

Power – High Tier

Stamina – Mid Tier

Four-seam – 98+2=100

Curve – 88

Slider – 85

Splitter – 86

Changeup – 86

Sinker – 85

Traits

Detachment – I’m okay with any batted ball or situation.

Discomfort – Makes the opposing batter uncomfortable when they see the pitcher at the plate.

Comfort – Those who watch me feel comfortable.

Focus – The number of targets I can focus on increases.

“Wow….”

Finally, finally, I reached 100 fastball.

I just regret that stat inflation can’t be done with rosin or other equipment in reality.

But I don’t need that.

“Han-wool, let’s go up.”

“Yes!”

Because I got something even more valuable, confidence.

Your love is a wildcard, Folding is the hard part―

Waaaaaah-!!

Kim Han-wool! Kim Han-wool! Kim Han-wool!

Fastball 100.

I can’t believe that I, who was struggling with a 129km fastball, a stat 24 fastball, have grown this much.

Ding-!

[Power]

– Strike out 3 batters in 1 inning by throwing only four-seam fastballs (0/3)

– Reward – Power +1

Moreover, I can’t believe that there’s still room for me to grow one step further here.

“You’re all dead.”

Just you wait.