Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 84

84. Used, But Like New

High batting average, low pitching average.

A trend in the baseball world where hitters thrive and pitchers have to be extra cautious.

It might be fun to watch. Bang, a slight graze and it’s a fatal blow! Thanks to that, you can’t relax until the very end to see who will win.

But this high batting average, low pitching average trend has plenty of room to be used as a way to criticize pitchers and fielders.

That kind of pitcher is called the pitching king?

That’s the best shortstop in defense?

They don’t catch balls that should be caught. Balls that should be easily handled as ground balls become hits. Balls that should be caught in front of the fence disappear from sight.

Low batting average, high pitching average.

After this phenomenon continued for two years in a row, the committee finally took special measures.

Widen the strike zone and lower the coefficient of restitution [a measure of how much energy is conserved in a collision] of the official ball to reduce the speed of batted balls.

Balls that were called balls become strikes because they seemed to graze the zone, and balls that should have been hits or home runs are caught even though it’s not a great play.

But what about Kim Han-wool?

Because of this, my performance, which had been a complete disaster from the beginning of the season, had the exact opposite characteristic and was talked about.

If it’s this bad even with a low batting average, high pitching average, how much worse would it have been with a high batting average, low pitching average?

The heartbreaking suspicion began to fade little by little over time.

A good example is that the earned run average (ERA) [the average number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings pitched], which can be presented as a representative statistic for pitchers, is being gradually eaten away and is quickly converging to my original average.

A little short.

But it’s still a long way off. Now that it’s mid-July, let’s take a quick look at my stats: 20.2 innings pitched, 8.71 ERA.

Looking only at my stats after the dark period, it’s clear that I’ve returned to my usual self, but on the surface, I’m still a scrub.

Even ‘scrub’ is too generous.

Does such a pitcher dare to utter the word ‘All-Star Game’?

Well, I don’t know about me or baseball officials, but at least the fans don’t seem to think so.

Sensing this atmosphere quickly, the team didn’t even select me as a bullpen pitcher candidate.

Well… thanks to that…

“Ah… so comfortable…”

Lying on the bed with both hands behind my head right now. I couldn’t be more comfortable.

A whole week of long, legal vacation.

I met up with friends for a drink for the first time in a while.

I met Min-young and had a fun day.

I oiled my rusty body [referring to getting back in shape and relaxing].

After a few days of that, I ran out of things to do.

For the past few years, I’ve been focusing on ‘baseball’ at all times except for a specific period of the year.

Game, waiting, warm-up, analysis, training.

It was more difficult than I thought to insert the word ‘rest’ into a notebook filled with those words.

“Oh my…”

The temporarily unemployed man who ran out of things to do cleaned the house, the car, and even the baseball bag.

Then I took out the glove from the baseball bag. It was in a state that really made me sigh.

Stained, scratched, and even covered in mud due to the most recent game, which was played in the rain.

No way.

I received a good glove, and I can’t let it rot like this.

“…Ah, yes. Manager. Yes, yes. Hello, it’s been a while.”

If I touch this, it’s likely to become a mess. Let’s get help from an expert instead of me.

– Ah, Han-wool. What’s going on?

“Ah… it’s not that, I wanted to ask you something about a glove.”

– Glove? Do you need a glove?

“No, no, I don’t need anything.”

– Ah, then shoes? You’re thinking of using ours. What size are you?

I’m… I’m okay… I’m okay… No, I’m really okay. I’m really okay.

– It’s okay, so don’t feel pressured and take it.

I said I’m okay. Why do you keep trying to give me things?

“I think I haven’t been managing my glove very well. I’m trying to manage it, but it’s a bit…”

– Manage it? Just oiling it is enough.

“But I have a lot of mud on it. Can I just apply the oil you gave me?”

I continued the phone call while keeping an eye on the glove care products in the corner of my vision.

– Ah, you can’t do that. You’ll need to do some separate conditioning. Um… let me see. Ah, I’ll send you a contact number. Call them in about 5 minutes.

“Yes, ah, yes. I understand. Thank you.”

Click.

“……”

Ding.

“It’s here.”

The text message arrived as soon as I hung up the phone. The sender was the production manager of Rawlings Korea. The contents of the message were…

“…Ah, hello.”

Another person’s phone number.

As I was told, I waited about 5 minutes and then called the number.

– Yes, this is the Baseball Equipment Research Institute.

That someone was another glove expert’s number.

“Um, I’m Kim Han-wool.”

– Ah, yes, yes. I received a call from Manager Lee.

“Yes. So, I wanted to get some help.”

– Come anytime. It’s okay.

“Can I go now then?”

– Yes, yes. Come comfortably.

I hung up the phone and stood in front of the mirror, putting on my clothes.

The lower half of my body, which was almost naked, was covered with a pair of jeans, and the stretched-out T-shirt was replaced with a crisp shirt.

“My hair…”

I just woke up!

The hairs didn’t seem to have any intention of bending their claims [meaning his hair was sticking up and unmanageable].

“…Let’s wear a hat.”

Give up.

Beep.

I put on a hat with the W mark backwards and got into the car. I entered the address on my phone and put it on the holder, and the navigation completed the estimated route.

The car started moving along the straight line drawn on the map. When I checked the left side mirror and then the right side mirror,

Thud.

“Damn it.”

The hat I was wearing backwards kept getting caught on the headrest. I kept my eyes on the front and threw the hat onto the passenger seat, and only then was my vision clear.

Clang.

“Welcome~.”

“Hellooo…”

After passing through moderately congested traffic, I arrived at a baseball equipment store on the outskirts of Seoul.

“Baseball Equipment Research Institute… right?”

“Ah, you’re here!”

The first thing that came into view when I opened the door was the colorful gloves that filled the shelves.

Red, blue, black, white, yellow.

The positions were diverse, and the brands were diverse as well. Hundreds and thousands of bats made of aluminum alloy were hanging in the air, looking for new owners.

Batting gloves, shoes, all kinds of baseball-related clothing. How much is all that?

I was overwhelmed by the unexpectedly large scale. I was nervous and slowly followed the footsteps into the restricted area.

Occasionally, I heard people whispering, “Wow! It’s Kim Han-wool!” but no one approached me.

“Did you bring your glove?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

I handed the glove to the owner. It wouldn’t be easy to touch or wear a glove that had someone else’s sweat and blood on it.

“Hmm. You haven’t been taking very good care of it.”

He quickly made a diagnosis by putting his hand in and closing it, and stroking various parts of the leather.

“I’ll do a cleaning. It should take about… 30 minutes.”

“Then I’ll wait inside.”

“Yes, yes. Take a look around. Joo-wan! Make me a coffee!”

“Yes, yes!”

I was allowed to look around.

Maybe the owner meant to look around the store, but I was more curious about how the glove would be transformed than the store.

“Here’s your coffee.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Before I knew it, an employee had made me coffee. I carefully took it and sipped it, following the owner into the place he had entered.

“Ah, are you going to watch this?”

“Yes.”

“It’s going to be boring…”

“You’re not trying to hide it because it’s a trade secret, are you?”

“Hey, even if you watch it, people who won’t do it won’t do it.”

Before I knew it, the owner had a long nose plier [a type of pliers with a long, pointed nose] in his hand. The end of the long nose plier grabbed the glove’s lace and started pulling it.

Without hesitation, boldly.

The existence that could be called the glove’s lace was removed from the back of the hand, the palm, the fingers, and every part of the glove.

“This… was covered in mud, right?”

“Ah, yes.”

“People say, ‘There’s mud on the outside, so just treat the outside.'”

He must have been bored, so he wanted to talk.

“But you can’t do that. What is a glove made of? Leather, right? What is mud? It’s a mixture of water and dirt.”

“Yes.”

“Mud penetrates the leather. So…!”

Soon, all the laces of the glove were untied.

Without worrying about the glove’s embarrassment at revealing its bare skin, he rather opened the top and bottom leather of the glove and thoroughly cleaned even the secret areas.

Thud, thud, thud.

“…Oh my.”

“If you look inside, there’s dirt like this.”

The amount of sand that fell on the store floor was more than I thought.

“You’re a pitcher, right? So you’ll be sensitive to the weight of the glove.”

“I guess so…”

“For a pitcher, the balance starts to break down from things like this.”

Ha ha ha, the owner laughed and suddenly took out a pure white cotton t-shirt.

Chik, chik, chik, he sprayed the white cotton t-shirt rolled up on the ends of his two fingers a few times.

Swish, swish, swish, then he started rubbing the glove without any hesitation.

“Is that oil?”

“No. Cleaner.”

“Oh…”

The glove, which had been darkened by the mud, was gradually regaining its original color. It was like magic in that it made my eyes widen.

“And let’s see…”

He slightly shifted the part of the cotton t-shirt wrapped around his finger and swish, swish, swish, this time he started applying solid glove oil.

Glove fingers, palm, back of the hand, even the glove’s laces and inside.

“Fortunately, the glove itself is a very good glove. The leather and the laces are both good. Manager Lee must have been very careful.”

“Ah… is that so?”

“Okay, touch this.”

The owner handed me another glove that was next to it.

“And Han-wool’s.”

And my glove.

“How is it? Can you feel the difference?”

I put my glove in my left hand and another glove in my right hand and simultaneously rubbed the palm side.

“No. Isn’t it the same leather?”

“Hmm.”

That’s why civilians are like this.

He couldn’t hide his disappointment with such an expression.

“You know that not all leather is the same, right?”

“Ah… yes. I heard it from the production manager.”

“These days, there’s no such thing as unconditionally keeping it good, but still. Even if it’s steerhide [a type of leather from a steer], it’s still a fact that there’s at least some leather that’s good and some that’s not.”

Bang!

With a light hammer, a hole was made in the end of the glove lace. After threading the glove needle,

Swish, sweesh…

The glove began to be reassembled in the reverse order of before. Forgetting about the existence of the half-remaining coffee, I watched the glove regain its original color.

“If it gets this wet and contaminated, the laces should be damaged to some extent, no matter what happens to the leather. Looking at it, it seems obvious, but you just put it in your bag after the game and that’s it, right?”

“Oh… how did you know?”

“I can tell by looking at it.”

Ha ha ha.

“But this one is in very, very good condition even after going to such extremes. Okay, try it on.”

“Oh, oh…!”

The glove, which had a used but like-new mindset, was put on my hand.

The feel of the palm touching it, the overall feel of the glove that I touched with my right hand, is very good. It’s like new.

“Wow. Awesome.”

“Didn’t Manager Lee give you anything else when he gave you this? Like management supplies.”

“He gave me some… and he told me how to use them. But this one is in a bit of a… very bad condition. I didn’t know how to handle it.”

“Then there’s nothing I can do. Come if you can, I’ll sponsor you too.”

“I’m a pitcher, so there’s nothing I can really… receive…”

“I’ll give you unlimited coffee sponsorship.”

“Ah, I’ll have to come every day.”

I held the shiny glove in my arms. I feel like I’ve gained fuel that can definitely reverse the terrible first half of the season.

“How much do I owe you?”

“How much, what. You came with Manager Lee’s introduction. I’m just doing this much. Let’s sponsor this conditioning in addition to the coffee sponsorship.”

“Ah, Mr. President, you’re awesome!”

“If you really want to, sign something and go.”

A piece of A4 paper and a magic pen were pushed in front of me. I gladly accepted it and swish, swish, swish, I completed a signature that I could draw with my eyes closed.

My signature was hung next to the signatures of the seniors and juniors who had already visited behind the counter. I smiled at the happy sight and bowed my head.

“Come visit again.”

I said goodbye to the owner, who smiled kindly, and returned to the car. I carefully placed the glove on the passenger seat…

“Ah.”

A navy blue hat lying somewhere on the passenger seat. I quickly tapped my head, but the only sensation I felt on my fingers was rough hair.

I hope no one took a picture. Ah, no way.

I didn’t know at this time. As soon as I went back to work, Sung-hyun would scold me, saying, “Is it okay for a professional to walk around like that?”

“…No way.”

I denied reality and slowly, the car started to return home.