Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 81

Bang!

“Hiiiik!”

The start was an unreserved roar. A cornerstone, or a gamble, to accurately assess my current state.

The ball passed somewhere between being fully inside and directly in the center.

If I had intended to swing, the location was perfectly hittable, but Kang Dae-hyun simply watched the fastball pass him by, seemingly without any intention of hitting it.

Flap, flap. He opened and closed his red glove, urging me to throw the ball quickly. Receiving it with a *thwack*, he returned to the mound, checking the scoreboard.

143 km/h.

Considering my current physical condition, and without exerting tremendous force, the speed was faster than expected.

No more slow fastballs in the 130s. It will gradually, little by little, get faster.

Bang!

Another fastball!

From here on, I needed to concentrate again. Just watching blankly was only my subjective impression; Kang Dae-hyun must have been doing a lot of calculations in his head.

A fastball thrown with a bit more attention to control than the first pitch. It headed exactly where I wanted it to go.

It seemed far from the batter, but the umpire raised his right hand with the same posture as the previous pitch.

Glancing at a corner of the scoreboard, I grasped the direction for the next pitch. Before Gyu-hak’s sign came, I held up four fingers to express my opinion.

It’s possible.

With the current focus, I think it’s definitely possible.

The fastball grip went into the glove without hesitation. After rolling around unnecessarily, the moment it stopped, it looked the same as it did at the beginning.

Hoo…

Taking my left leg back and putting both hands behind my head. My concentration is very good right now. I feel like I could count the number of grains of sand under my right foot if I tried.

The toe of my right foot, which had been facing the catcher, turned sharply. In a chain reaction, my left knee powerfully rose to my chest.

It should be a thigh drained of strength from strenuous training, but I felt a strong power. Without resisting, I pushed off the plate with all my might.

Bang!

“Swing, out!”

A clean swing and a strikeout on a fastball that slightly missed the upper part of the strike zone. My fist clenched involuntarily.

I’ve only caught one batter, and there’s still a long way to go, but looking at the 146 km/h on the scoreboard, I couldn’t hide my joy.

It feels like just yesterday I was throwing 126 km/h with all my might. It was a new feeling. I rubbed under my nose with my chalk-covered fingers, *poo*…

“Et, ptoo, ptooe.”

…or so it seemed.

The next batter was Hong Seok-jin, who was scheduled to retire at the end of this season.

He decided to retire at the relatively early age of 38, compared to other legendary players, and the reason was quite interesting.

Clang!

“Ball—”

‘I can’t see the ball well.’

A hitter with the best eye in the league, which anyone who has watched the KBO League [Korean Baseball Organization] cannot deny.

A veteran hitter who has endured until now with that eye alone.

He himself admitted that this was his limit, or that he was already a player who had exceeded his limit.

“Swing—”

Then I should take advantage of that.

A swing and a miss on a fastball thrown after the slow curve was called low.

“Swing!”

Another swing and a miss on an almost identical fastball. I’ve created a good count, so now it’s time to throw the finisher.

I had a strong feeling that throwing another fastball would yield good results, but I felt bad about rejecting the catcher’s pleading eyes that desperately wanted a changeup.

My conclusion was that a hitter confused by the rapidly changing environment would naturally be drawn out, so I decided to go along with that conclusion for now.

I gently turned the fastball grip, and then subtly, the two fingers holding the ball were switched. The fingers that were kicked out of their original position had no choice but to stand by and watch what the middle and ring fingers were about to do.

The target was the outer low zone for the left-handed batter. Despite the increased difficulty due to the pitch being pushed rather than thrown, my current concentration created perfect control.

Clang!

But, I said that Hong Seok-jin’s reason for retiring was funny. That his saying he can’t see the ball well was funny.

“Ball—”

He still picks them out so well.

Now that the power of the fastball has increased, the power of the changeup will naturally benefit from the reflected gains.

I couldn’t see the head of the bat that would have been drawn out by other hitters, going, ‘Oh, oh?!’

In the end, it’s a fastball.

Is there a need to beat around the bush with a hitter who admits that his physical condition isn’t normal?

Just with all my might, with the confidence that you can never hit this ball. If I have just that, it’s enough to,

“Swing, out!”

Catch him.

I prepared the signal flare for a revival by catching the first batter, and completed the loading by catching the second batter. Now all that’s left is to fire, but,

Fourth batter, Park Hae-jin.

The emotionless announcement from the stadium announcer was like a drop of water blocking the muzzle of the signal flare.

Gulp, I swallowed involuntarily. Can I beat Park Hae-jin with just a one-level upgrade?

Quest or no quest, can I shoot a red signal flare high into the sky?

The finisher is a fastball.

The concept of keeping the fastball as the main pitch remains the same, but I’ve slightly deviated from the pattern of centering everything around the fastball.

The main is still the main, but I save the fastball as much as possible.

Park Hae-jin’s batting stance was the same as always. Legs spread moderately, hands raised to a moderate height, bat swinging moderately.

The gaze that indifferently looks at the pitcher, and the tightly closed mouth as if not giving away any hints, were also the same as always.

“Hiiiik—!”

The first pitch was outside, a curve that I felt anxious about even after throwing it. The tension I felt due to the up and down movement subsided when I saw the movement of the mitt.

“Ball—”

“Ball!”

After that, I threw a slider and a splitter, but he picked them all out.

I felt especially disappointed with the splitter, as it was a pitch that I tried to get into the zone with a feeling of a desperate blow.

2-1.

It’s a disadvantageous count even against other hitters, but I have to get out of this count against none other than Park Hae-jin.

I thought deeply for a moment. Even if I throw other breaking balls, it will probably be similar to the previous ones anyway.

…Let’s throw a fastball.

I made up my mind, but I didn’t send a sign from my side. I waited for Gyu-hak to give the fastball sign.

When the number of headshakes exceeded five, I stepped off the plate to catch my breath.

The situation was temporarily paused, allowing me to take a deep breath. My head, which had been feeling pain from being overly focused, felt cool.

While looking around, I made eye contact with Sung-hoon hyung [older brother/friend], who was directly in front of me.

Nod.

What does that nod really mean?

Does it mean you can do it?

Does it mean do whatever you want to do?

Does it mean I don’t know?

I smiled lightly and stepped back onto the plate, and this time a sign demanding a fastball popped out from the start.

Satisfied, I started the windup again.

I’ll throw control away. Only power, squeeze and squeeze to catch him. The current me is just a scrub who lacks even that.

“Kk…ack!”

I naturally screamed at the sensation of my fingertips burning. From the upper part of my lowered vision, the ball was going its way well. The expected arrival area was the upper part of the strike zone.

*Ttaak*—!!

The bat came out to meet it far away, even though it didn’t have to.

I left my right foot, which had slid forward due to inertia, as it was. Thanks to that, my body was able to rotate counterclockwise quickly.

Jin-hyung was running hard towards the expected landing point of the highly and rapidly flying batted ball.

Even though he was 100m away, I felt like I could hear the sound of his feet running hard towards the fence.

He ran and ran, but the center fielder, who had nowhere else to go, leaned his back against the fence. It may have looked like he had given up, but his eyes chasing the ball were full of energy.

He slightly turned his body, put his right shoulder against the fence, and raised his left arm as high as possible.

He jumped weakly, slightly, and the ball, which had lost the power to defy gravity, was sucked into his glove.

“Sshaaaaaack!!”

Involuntarily, strength entered both fists.

[Concentration]

– Pitch a scoreless inning with focused pitching. (1/1)

– Reward ― Slider +2

Control ― Top

Power ― Medium

Stamina ― Medium

Four-seam ― 67

Curve ― 55

Slider ― 43+2=45

Splitter ― 44

Changeup ― 51

Sinker ― 51

Traits

Detachment ― I don’t mind any batted balls or situations.

Discomfort ― Makes the opposing batter feel uncomfortable when they look at the pitcher in the batter’s box.

Comfort ― Those who look at me feel comfortable.

I succeeded in the quest, finished the inning cleanly for the first time in a while, and got a hold.

All of those words felt meaningless to the current me.

For 7 years, I had been unilaterally beaten whenever we met.

For the first time in my career against Park Hae-jin, I caught an out count.

Others would see it as just one game in a common match, and just one of the commonly caught out counts, but to me, it was the most valuable out of the thousands of outs I had caught so far.

End of the top of the 8th inning. I quickly calmed down my emotions and headed towards our dugout.

I made eye contact with the guys who were happy, and when I looked ahead, Park Hae-jin, who had slightly passed first base after hitting, was approaching.

“…Nice pitch.”

“……”

He passed me and headed towards the dugout on the third base side.

Foolishly, I stood still in that spot, watching him disappear into his dugout before I could start moving again.

* * *

A signal flare for a revival, a common idiom.

It’s a common word that even I, who knows nothing about literature, can casually think of during a pitching appearance. If that’s the case for me, what about the reporters who make a living writing?

Kim Han-wool, launching a signal flare for a revival, or something like that. They slightly changed the words and spread similar stories.

Expectation.

The continuation of similar words naturally has a purpose.

The reporters who wrote the articles wanted views, and the Wonha fans who provided those views wanted my revival.

“Strike, out!”

Including that day, I pitched in 4 games for a week, with a record of 4 scoreless innings.

“Aigoo……” [expression of exhaustion/exasperation]

I finished the inning easily, took off my hat, and went into the bullpen. I sat on the empty bench, and Hyuk-joon, who was the starter today, approached me.

“Aigoo, hyung-nim [term of respect for an older brother or male friend]. You worked hard again today.”

“Oh, Hyuk-joon is quite good at massaging.”

I refused the care of today’s starting pitcher while acting cocky.

“Is there any doubt? I will become Hwang Hyuk-joon who works even harder for hyung-nim.”

I was playing around with that concept.

“Look at Kim Han-wool, it’s really injustice itself. Was what you said during the camp real?”

“Hyung, what did you say? Do you want to blow my win?”

“No……”

“Hyung, you’re pitching tomorrow, right? I think I might go up tomorrow too?”

“……”

Hyung Gyu-jin, who had been contemplating for a while, came over and put both hands on my left shoulder.

“That’s right, that’s right, there. Massage there, aaaaack!!”

“Kim Han-wool bullpen pitcher-nim [term of respect], thank you always.”

“Hyung! Hyung! Ah, ah, hyung!!”

The massage full of fire attributes ended just before my fragile shoulder was about to be crushed.

The sound of *eueoeoeo* coming out after trying to get rid of some pain but receiving even more pain was being broadcast live to everyone in the bullpen.

Ahahak!

Hyung-nim, shall I give you a massage too?

Get lost!

Those who watched the absurd skit using the break paid their admission fee by clapping and laughing.

It’s an atmosphere that’s possible because I’m continuing the good flow this season.

Everyone was happily laughing and chatting, predicting what results their teammates would produce.

Most of the predictions were on the good side, and most of the bets were correct.

Ttak—

“It’s going, it’s going!!”

“What’s wrong with Gyu-hak!!”

2nd in the league.

If it’s natural for the name of the Sangsoo Tigers to be at the very top of the league standings, it was an upset that our team’s name was right below it.

The sight of rising one step each season, 4th place, 3rd place, was clearly a positive sign.

We had dragged down the perennial second-place Dongsung Hornets one step below, and this spot that we were holding was not likely to be taken away.

What were the strengths and weaknesses of our team, the Wonha Challengers?

Of the two clearly contrasting elements, the former still belonged to the strengths, while some of the latter had left their positions.

Tae-woong’s growth, who aimed the first injustice at the camp, saying he wouldn’t let it go if we didn’t get 10 wins, and Gyu-hak, who seems to have finally opened his eyes to hitting and is maintaining a 1-person share of hitting.

With just these two things, our team was able to reserve a spot as an ordinary strong team.

Ttak—

“Turn, turn!!”

“Turn, you crazy bastard!!”

The ordinary strong team was cruising quickly towards July.