Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 62

Season Opener (1)

-Hello, viewers. Today is finally the day we’ve all been eagerly waiting for – the start of baseball season!

-The season opener is always exciting and nerve-wracking. I’m getting nervous just watching.

-We’re about to witness a showdown between the Buffaloes and the Hawks. What are your thoughts?

-The Buffaloes unfortunately missed the playoffs last season due to a losing streak at the end. They have a new manager from the minor leagues, and there have been many changes in the player lineup, including the team staff.

-What should we focus on?

-The most eye-catching aspects are definitely the Buffaloes’ key hitters, Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju. They showed great performance from the second half of last season. As expected, they’ve joined the first team from the season opener. It will be exciting to see what they can do.

-Buffaloes versus Hawks season opener! We’ll be broadcasting live shortly.

Today, the day of the season opener, was a Saturday afternoon.

As expected of a game held on a weekend afternoon, the stadium was packed with fans excited about the season opener.

I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at the crowd.

“What a sight.”

Many fans were wearing uniforms with Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju’s numbers and names on them.

About half of the Buffaloes uniforms worn by the spectators had the names of these two players on them.

Compared to a few months ago when it was hard to find even one, it felt like a world of difference.

Last winter, during the salary negotiations with the Buffaloes, I confidently predicted that the unit of uniform sales would change, and I had a good feeling that it would turn out as expected.

I entered the stadium with a smile on my face.

* * *

As the game time approached, more and more spectators filled the stadium.

Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-ju were also lightly warming up.

Oh Seok-hoon’s face was filled with tension.

“Why are you so nervous?”

Park Seong-ju, seeing Oh Seok-hoon’s stiff expression, tapped him on the shoulder and said a word.

“I’m not?”

“What do you mean you’re not? You’re super nervous.”

“…….”

Oh Seok-hoon’s expression became even stiffer than before.

“I wonder if Hyun-woo *sunbae* [senior colleague/mentor] has arrived yet?”

“I think he said he arrived earlier.”

“I bet *sunbae* is nervous too, right?”

“Maybe?”

Park Seong-ju glanced at Oh Seok-hoon and burst into laughter.

“Even so, I don’t think he’s as nervous as you are.”

Even with Park Seong-ju’s joke, Oh Seok-hoon’s expression didn’t ease up.

“Waaaaah-”

“Oooooh. For victory. Buffaloes fighting!”

“We love you forever. The strongest Hawks!”

The stadium was filled with the enthusiastic cheers of both teams’ fans and the team’s anthem sung in unison.

And at 2 p.m., all the players were ready to start the game.

-Well, finally. The first game of the new season will begin.

-You might think that the season opener is just one of the 144 games, but it’s important to get off to a good start. You can’t ignore the momentum, can you?

-That’s right. There’s nothing more certain to boost the team’s morale than winning the first game of the season.

As expected of the season opener, both the Buffaloes and the Hawks sent out their ace pitchers as starters.

Both teams’ starting pitchers were foreign players who had newly joined this season.

The lineup also consisted of players who showed the best skills and condition through spring camp and exhibition games.

Of course, at the center of the Buffaloes were the 3rd batter Oh Seok-hoon and the 4th batter Park Seong-ju.

The home team, the Buffaloes, started the game on defense first.

Park Seong-ju took his position next to third base, and Oh Seok-hoon took his position in right field.

-This is the first time the Buffaloes’ new pitcher is showing himself to the fans. Can you introduce him?

-He has played in 7 games in the Major League. He doesn’t have much Major League experience, and you can’t say he had outstanding results, but what’s promising is that he showed excellent performance in Triple A [the highest level of Minor League Baseball]. He had a career ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] of 3.62 as a starter.

-Oh, that’s pretty good, isn’t it?

-As for his pitches, he has an average of 150km/h [approximately 93 mph] four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a curve, a slider, and a forkball. Among them, the most noteworthy pitch is the two-seam fastball. He is also good at inducing ground balls. It seems like he will be a good match with the Buffaloes, who have a solid infield defense.

The pitcher on the mound took off his hat, prayed to the sky, and then put his hat back on and placed his foot on the pitching rubber.

“Fighting!”

Park Seong-ju gave strength to the nervous pitcher in short English.

The pitcher met Park Seong-ju’s eyes and winked, as if he was even enjoying the tension of the season opener.

“Play ball!”

The umpire signaled the start of the season opener.

The pitcher didn’t hesitate for a moment and confidently threw the ball toward the catcher’s mitt.

Thump!

Ting!

The opposing batter confidently swung at the fast timing.

But as soon as the ball hit the bat, the batter sensed a ground ball and ran towards first base with all his might.

The mis-hit ball rolled weakly towards third baseman Park Seong-ju.

It was a situation where a mistake could occur if he became impatient because the opposing batter’s speed was fast.

“Slowly, slowly.”

The players around Park Seong-ju shouted loudly at him.

Park Seong-ju caught the incoming ball and calmly threw it towards the first baseman.

“Out!”

Although the running speed was tremendous, it was a definite out.

“Waaaaah- Park Seong-ju! Park Seong-ju!”

The fans cheered even for a simple play.

The pitcher also raised his thumb towards Park Seong-ju.

-Park Seong-ju, that was a clean defense.

-The pitcher’s ball is good. His breaking ball is also entering the strike zone well whenever he needs it, and he’s even skillfully inducing ground balls by using the two-seam fastball from time to time.

-It’s his debut game, so he could have been nervous, but he got him out with just two pitches. It’s a great start.

The pitcher continued to show a good performance in the battle with the following batter.

Thump!

The breaking ball that seemed like it would go out of the strike zone barely caught the edge.

“Strike out!”

“Waaaaah-”

The stadium was filled with cheers once again at the umpire’s dynamic strikeout call.

Thanks to the pitcher’s great pitching, the Buffaloes’ defense in the top of the first inning was quickly finished.

Finally, it was the Buffaloes’ turn to attack in the bottom of the first inning.

The Buffaloes’ 1st and 2nd batters stubbornly fought, but they couldn’t get on base due to the power of the Hawks’ starting pitcher.

And then it was the turn of the 3rd batter, Oh Seok-hoon.

-The skills of both teams’ pitchers are good, but it seems like the batters’ hitting condition is not very good yet. They’re not having a proper match.

-Will it be different when they meet for the second time after the batting order has gone around once?

-There’s a high possibility of that. Because it’s the first time they’re seeing the pitcher, they’ll feel unfamiliar with the pitching tempo and the angle of the breaking ball.

-I see. Now, the 3rd batter, Oh Seok-hoon, is approaching the plate. What kind of result will he show?

Oh Seok-hoon walked towards the plate and turned his gaze towards the seat where Kang Hyun-woo would be sitting.

A grateful presence who allowed him to put his name on the first team’s opening game lineup.

If he could see his face even for a moment, it would give him strength.

“Huh?”

He saw a man waving his hands vigorously in the distance.

It was definitely Kang Hyun-woo.

He could recognize him accurately even from a distance.

As soon as Kang Hyun-woo made eye contact with Oh Seok-hoon, he put his hands to his mouth and shouted something loudly.

He couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but it must be words of encouragement.

Oh Seok-hoon entered the plate with a bright smile on his face.

The opposing pitcher was looking at him with sharp eyes.

“Hooo-”

For some reason, today felt even more nerve-wracking than his professional debut game.

-Oh Seok-hoon is at the plate. He has a technical hitting style, and he also has long-range hitting power and tremendous speed.

-His laser throw as a right fielder is also formidable, right?

-That’s right. Last season, he showed the potential of a very attractive mid-to-long distance corner outfielder. Will that continue this season as well?

‘Just do as you’ve trained. Just like I practiced with Hyun-woo *hyung* [older brother/close male friend].’

‘It’s no different from batting practice.’

He began to prepare for batting in the same way he had done until now.

He gripped the bat, overlapping his right and left hands in order.

And one high swing, one low swing.

In the meantime, the pitcher had finished exchanging signs, and he was changing his grip while covering it with his glove so that his fingers couldn’t be seen.

Oh Seok-hoon looked at the pitcher’s eyes and took a batting stance.

The pitcher, who had wound up, stretched out his leg to stride and released the ball.

Oh Seok-hoon focused his eyes on the ball flying with thousands of rotations.

Thump.

“Strike!”

Huh?

The trajectory was strange.

He tilted his head and looked up to check the speed on the electronic display board.

134km/h [approximately 83 mph].

Looking at the trajectory that slightly dropped on the way and the slow speed, it was a changeup.

He naturally thought that the first ball would come in as a fastball.

It was at a timing he hadn’t expected at all, so he couldn’t even think of swinging the bat.

‘So that’s how he’s coming out?’

He was completely caught off guard.

‘Then I have to pay him back in the same way.’

Oh Seok-hoon’s eyes changed sharply.

The pitcher, who had finished preparing to throw the next ball, threw the ball without hesitation to where the catcher’s mitt was waiting.

Oh Seok-hoon hurriedly changed his batting stance.

-Uh… uh?

-Oh Seok-hoon suddenly bunted! It fell in a tricky spot.

-The location is ambiguous. It looks like the pitcher will have to catch it?

The pitcher caught the bunt that rolled in front of him and immediately threw it towards first base.

However, that was not enough to beat Oh Seok-hoon’s speed.

“Safe!”

“Waaaaah- Oh Seok-hoon! Oh Seok-hoon! Oh Seok-hoon!”

As the first base umpire spread his arms left and right to declare safe, the stadium was once again heated with the cheers of the fans.

The pitcher, who had hurriedly thrown his body to catch the ball, gasped in exhaustion.

-This was a play that only Oh Seok-hoon could make. Dropping the ball with a bunt was perfect, and he finished it off with tremendous speed.

-The Buffaloes’ first hit of the season is completed with a bunt.

-And this can’t be seen as just one hit. Because he suddenly made the pitcher run, his breathing is completely shaken. Look at him gasping for breath now.

The pitcher took a new ball and took rough breaths all the way to the mound.

Meanwhile, the 4th batter, Park Seong-ju, was quickly approaching the plate.

“Park Seong-ju! Park Seong-ju! Park Seong-ju!”

The cheers of the expectant fans echoed even louder in the stadium.