Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 200

Can I Endure It? (3)

Despite the Vikings’ attempts to unnerve him, Donald Watson thankfully maintained his composure and played well.

In the following defensive half-inning, he showcased excellent fielding as if nothing had happened, drawing cheers from the fans.

“Watson! Watson! Watson!”

-There’s not a single flaw in Watson’s performance today!

-The Vikings are hitting some good balls to the outfield, but each time, they can’t get past Watson’s defensive range.

Bottom of the 8th inning.

The home team, the Jaguars, were leading 5-1.

With runners on 1st and 2nd, it was Watson’s turn to bat.

He was worried about another beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter] coming his way, but fortunately, with two runners on base, they didn’t throw any threatening pitches.

From the Vikings’ perspective, a four-run difference still allowed for a comeback, so there was no reason to put themselves at a disadvantage in the count.

Thanks to this, Watson was able to focus on the game.

Perhaps wanting to avenge the earlier threat, Watson’s concentration at the plate seemed even sharper than usual.

Thump!

“Ball!”

Thump!

“Ball!”

He skillfully laid off pitches that barely missed the strike zone, and,

Tick!

Tick!

He fouled off pitches that came in as strikes.

As the at-bat dragged on, the opposing pitcher sighed, unable to hide his exhaustion.

-Watson is really battling hard. He’s already made the pitcher throw ten pitches.

-It’s significant to make even a relief pitcher throw ten pitches. If the pitch count increases, forcing another pitching change, it becomes a burden for the opposing team.

-Is this revenge for the beanball in the previous at-bat? His concentration is amazing. What will the result be?

The exhausted pitcher took a few deep breaths before preparing to pitch.

And the eleventh pitch left the pitcher’s hand.

The moment the pitcher released the ball, Watson seemed certain that it was the pitch he had been waiting for, and he swung his bat with all his might.

Crack!

The sound of Watson’s bat hitting the ball was so solid that you could anticipate a home run.

“It’s gone!”

“Nice one, Watson!”

The Jaguars players simultaneously raised both hands in the air and shouted, as if they had rehearsed it.

However, Watson didn’t move an inch and remained standing in the batter’s box.

He must have known it was a home run the moment he felt it off the bat, yet he simply watched the ball fly.

And then,

“Home run!”

Only after the ball cleared the fence and he visually confirmed the umpire’s call did he slowly start to move.

Throwing his bat high into the air while rounding the bases was, of course, a given.

Olivia, who was watching, jumped up and down with the brightest expression of the game.

Thomas and I also jumped together, sharing the joy.

Watson’s wife and daughter, who had rushed out upon hearing the news, also shared the joy with us. The broadcast camera captured this heartwarming scene.

-Donald Watson finally hits a towering home run! It will be a great gift for his mother who came from afar!

-His wife and daughter are also happy. It’s really nice to see.

“Waaaaah-”

“Watson! Watson! Watson!”

Watson was running slower than usual, as if wanting to savor the cheers of the Jaguars fans.

As he passed third base, he pumped his fist against his chest, further igniting the atmosphere.

After exchanging enthusiastic high-fives with the two runners waiting at home plate, he pointed his gaze and finger at the Vikings players as he returned to the dugout.

The expressions of the Vikings players watching this were hardening.

-Watson’s home run extends the score to a seven-run difference.

-The Vikings were probably planning to make a push in the final attack of the 9th inning, but they couldn’t overcome Watson’s wall. A seven-run difference seems insurmountable.

-But you never know until the end in baseball. Let’s watch until the end.

However, in the subsequent inning, the scales of victory, which had tilted heavily in favor of the Jaguars due to Watson’s home run, did not shift.

In the end, the game concluded with a decisive victory for the Jaguars.

After the game, the beanball thrown at Watson became a major talking point, regardless of the final score.

└It seems like they deliberately tried to provoke him, trying to get into Watson’s head.

└The Vikings play dirty. That’s why they can’t win the championship. They need to compete with skill, not cheap tactics like that.

└That’s also a strategy. Baseball is a mental game, so psychologically shaking up the opponent is a valid method, isn’t it?

└So it’s okay to throw beanballs? What if a player gets injured? If the best player is sidelined, it wouldn’t be good for the league as a whole.

└As long as you don’t hit the head, the rest won’t cause major injuries.

└Should I throw a baseball at your back? Even if it’s not thrown by a professional pitcher, you’ll get bruised if you get hit by a baseball, right?

└The Vikings fans have a terrible mindset. Don’t they have any sense of sportsmanship? A professional player’s body is their livelihood, and you’re just creating dangerous situations because you don’t like them?

└Still, Watson seems to have matured. If it were the old days, a bench-clearing brawl would have already broken out.

└It’s not just a bench-clearing level. The Vikings pitcher probably wouldn’t have been able to walk properly afterward.

└If another beanball comes, it’s okay to charge the mound without holding back. You shouldn’t react impulsively, but you don’t have to be a pushover.

└I’m a fan of another team, but can’t the Vikings just throw one more time so we can see a bench-clearing brawl? I want to see it live.

* * *

The next day, we went to the stadium again.

Because yesterday’s game was so exciting, the whole family wanted to go on another baseball outing.

Being able to directly see and feel Watson’s performance and the home fans’ tremendous cheers is more thrilling than anything else.

Moreover, today was the day Michael Scott was starting as the pitcher.

Perhaps because of that, Thomas couldn’t contain his excitement from the night before.

Even after arriving at the stadium, the excitement continued.

Today, we were able to watch the game from the VIP suite provided by the Jaguars again.

We bought mostly the foods that Thomas and Watson’s family had enjoyed yesterday and ate together.

Everyone ate heartily, as if the food tasted even better than usual.

Shortly after, it was time for the game to start.

The video introducing Michael Scott, the starting pitcher for today’s game, was playing on the electronic scoreboard.

And Scott, who emerged from the dugout, slowly made his way to the mound.

“Waaaaah-”

“Scott! Scott! Scott!”

The Jaguars fans responded with tremendous cheers as soon as they saw Scott.

“Wow!”

Thomas, who finally saw this scene in person, was speechless.

“Thomas, it’s amazing, right?”

“It’s so thrilling. This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“It’s real.”

“Wow……”

Thomas was lost in emotion as he watched Scott on the field.

“Play ball!”

The game finally started.

“Hoo- Scott has to do well.”

Thomas, sitting next to me, seemed more nervous than Scott on the mound.

Scott confidently began his pitching.

The first batter was a right-handed hitter.

Thump!

“Strike!”

Thump!

“Ball!”

Thump!

“Strike!”

After getting two strikes, it was time to throw his finisher.

Whoosh-

“Strike out!”

The batter’s bat couldn’t help but swing in vain at the sharply curving ball.

Even if you knew Scott’s pitching repertoire, it wouldn’t be easy to adjust after seeing a fastball exceeding 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph].

He cleanly struck out the first batter.

“Wow, every pitch was really perfect.”

Thomas exclaimed and clapped as Scott struck out the batter with a swing and a miss.

“Now you know why he’s been doing so well lately, right?”

“Amazing! Has he improved a lot against left-handed hitters too?”

“Of course. An ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] in the 2s doesn’t just come out of nowhere.”

I smiled confidently at Thomas.

Coincidentally, the second batter was a left-handed hitter.

Tick!

Tick!

Tick!

The batter tried to swing aggressively to get ahead in the count, but it seemed difficult to make solid contact.

And the finisher he threw,

Whoosh-

The batter’s bat inevitably swung in vain at the ball that looked like a strike and then dropped sharply.

142km/h [approximately 88 mph]!

“Wow!”

Thomas clapped and had a broad smile on his face.

He then perfectly struck out the third batter, finishing the first inning flawlessly.

“Scott, you’re really awesome!”

Olivia jumped up and down and shouted loudly at Scott’s performance.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, the Jaguars’ attack did not result in any runners getting on base, and the inning ended with three up, three down.

Not to be outdone, Scott, who went to the mound in the top of the 2nd inning, also showcased powerful pitching.

He succeeded in inducing weak ground balls, not allowing a single batter to reach base.

-I expected it to some extent, but Scott seems to be in good form today as well. It probably won’t be easy for the Vikings to score a lot of runs.

-Moreover, Scott is basically a pitcher who can handle more than 6 innings. In order for the Vikings to win today’s game, it seems important to minimize runs allowed.

And in the bottom of the 2nd inning.

The Jaguars’ attacking inning came around, and Watson stepped up to the plate.

“Watson! Watson! Watson!”

The Jaguars fans shouted Watson’s name louder than ever, anticipating another electrifying hit.

As the pitcher seemed ready to throw the ball, Watson also gripped his bat and took a stance to swing.

Finally, the pitcher’s first pitch came flying,

“Ugh!”

The ball thrown by the pitcher sailed over Watson’s head.

Watson was startled and fell to the ground while ducking.

The Jaguars players who saw this were all surprised and stood up from their seats.

-Uh oh? A very dangerous pitch just came in.

-There was a pitch in yesterday’s game that the Jaguars could have misinterpreted.

-The atmosphere of this series is getting heated. We need to calm things down. There are also young fans watching.

“Oooooh-”

The boos of the Jaguars fans filled the stadium.

However, the Vikings pitcher simply fiddled with the ball and prepared without any particular expression.

Watson, who returned to the plate, clenched his teeth and gripped his bat.

And the second ball left the pitcher’s hand.

This time, it was heading towards a spot far from the strike zone.

Thwack!

In the end, the ball thrown by the pitcher struck Donald Watson’s back hard.

“Aaaagh!”

Watson’s scream, which sounded painful just to hear, erupted.

For a fleeting moment, silence fell over the stadium.