Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 108

End of Pitcher, Start of Batter – Episode 107

After the final game.

Lee Jungwoo underwent a brief doping test. It was randomly selected, and even though he knew it was nothing serious, he didn’t feel great.

It felt like being treated like a drug user.

“What kind of way is this to handle a tournament? Lee, are they saying you’re a roider [someone who uses steroids]? That’s ridiculous.”

“Calm down, Mark. You know it’s just a formality, right? Everyone does it.”

“I’m just dumbfounded. How can they treat the players like this? Still, once the test results come out, those loudmouths will shut up.”

“It’s not all bad.”

He didn’t dwell on it for long because someone was there to grumble on his behalf.

Like he told Mark, it wasn’t just a bothersome task.

He didn’t pay much attention to it.

But Lee Jungwoo was aware.

That rumors were subtly circulating that he might be using performance-enhancing drugs.

‘Fortunately, the reason is so absurd that it hasn’t spread much.’

It was simply rooted in a base form of racism, the idea that an Asian couldn’t possibly be that strong.

It wasn’t openly discussed.

But as he achieved records and improved his performance, quite a few people seriously believed it.

This was an opportunity to shut those people up.

It wasn’t all bad.

“It’ll be interesting when the results come out. Pratt will spread it everywhere.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Lee Jungwoo, making an effort to shake off the unpleasantness, briefly checked on the team’s situation, which he had stopped paying attention to while focusing on the tournament.

They had even given him a day off, so he expected them to be doing quite well.

‘My presence is bigger than I thought.’

That wasn’t exactly the case.

Lee Jungwoo scratched his chin.

While he was gone, the Braves played 12 games and had a record of 6 wins and 6 losses, maintaining exactly a 50% win rate.

In other words, they had returned to being the Guardians of Balance Braves that were ridiculed by the Mets and Phillies before he was called up.

“Hmm, is that all?”

“Checking the team’s performance?”

“Yeah, it’s a bit disappointing. It’s not that they’re doing badly, but they’re losing games they should be winning. Shouldn’t I go back right away? It feels like a waste to take a day off. Even though the team told me to rest.”

“It’s only natural. The team’s central hitter and key infielder suddenly disappeared. Clarkson isn’t bad at defense, but his hitting is a bit lacking. And it’s good to rest when you can. It’ll be more helpful to return after getting some rest.”

Mark shrugged as if to say it was obvious.

In Mark’s view, it was natural for the Braves to decline again.

Compared to when they were firmly in third place in the past, only Lee Jungwoo had been added, and that led to the surge after June.

Now that the main force behind that surge had suddenly flown to Korea and the Philippines, it was inevitable that the team would decline little by little.

“Hitting is one thing, but honestly, his defense isn’t as good as yours, right? It’s decent, but not to the point where he prevents runs like you do.”

“Whoa, you’re hyping me up too much. Are you just saying nice things because I’m your client?”

“That’s just where you stand, you punk. You’ll probably get a welcome when you get back. Especially from the fans and pitchers. They’re pretty angry.”

“I guess so, the game gap they barely closed has widened again.”

Lee Jungwoo scratched the back of his neck with a blank expression. Before he left, the gap with the Phillies was 4 games.

It wasn’t exactly close.

But they had chased them to within a few steps. Now, it had widened again to 7 games.

‘The Phillies were no joke back then. Only the champion Boston remains in my head. The Phillies’ regular season was also impressive. Can we catch up?’

Lee Jungwoo was skeptical.

He didn’t know exactly how many wins the Phillies had this season.

But based on their momentum so far, it seemed difficult for the Braves to overtake the Phillies unless they did exceptionally well.

‘The only fortunate thing was that the Mets were also struggling, and the gap with them had widened slightly.’

‘Still, thanks to the Marlins and Nationals in the same division being pushovers since the beginning of the season, our win rate is high. Even if first place seems difficult, we can still make the wild card if we maintain it well.’

Lee Jungwoo chuckled.

Even though it was a tournament with a relatively low level of play.

After experiencing the tournament again, he wanted something bigger.

‘Let’s do well when we go back. It turned out like this because I wasn’t there. It’ll go up again when I join.’

Nodding, Lee Jungwoo casually tossed his phone aside.

Like Mark said, it was a sweet break given to him by the club.

It was better to rest well and completely recover from the fatigue of the Asian Games.

Lee Jungwoo closed his eyes, unaware that his phone, which he usually kept on silent to avoid the noise of ringtones and vibrations, was ringing loudly.

[Lee! How have you been! Hahaha! Still in the Philippines or somewhere? Don’t be surprised when you come to America! – Desmond Reach]

A message arrived, but it was soon buried under congratulatory messages for the victory.

####

As Lee Jungwoo and Mark had anticipated, as soon as the doping test results came out, the front office immediately connected with the media.

And spread it everywhere.

[Lee, Asian Games doping test results negative.]

[The source of Lee’s power is a pure culmination of effort and talent. ‘If you’ve ever seen his muscles, you wouldn’t even doubt it.’]

[Braves GM Pratt, controversy over harsh words? ‘An end to the idiots.’ A post on his SNS is a hot topic.]

[ATL) Look, you bastards. Lee is a drug user? Are you out of your mind?]

[ATL) They’ve certified it in an international competition. You won’t talk again, will you? Then you’re really stupid.]

[PHI) How can you trust the test results? It wasn’t done by the secretariat. Didn’t the ching chongs [derogatory term for Chinese people] lobby?]

[NYM) There’s an idiot here. I don’t like Lee much either. Stop it. Aren’t you ashamed?]

[WAS) Wow, so it’s really pure power tool? Is that kind of strength possible for an Asian?]

The impact was less than expected.

Because the suspicion of drug use itself wasn’t that big yet.

But the Braves front office achieved their goal.

They silenced those few idiots, as GM Pratt said.

At least they wouldn’t say such ridiculous nonsense this season or even next season.

That was the doping test result that achieved that goal.

But the article that fans welcomed the most was different.

[Jungwoo Lee, returns on September 1 with a gold medal.]

[Lee is back!]

[Jungwoo Lee, expected to return by September 3 at the latest, said in a victory interview, ‘I want to return quickly for the team’s sake…’]

Lee Jungwoo is coming back.

It was an obvious and absurd article since the tournament was over.

But just the fact that those articles were posted increased the overall traffic in the southern United States.

All Braves fans, even fans of other teams, paid attention to it.

He’s coming back.

The monster rookie who had virtually dominated the league from June to early August. In about two weeks, finally or already.

Those who had seen him off with joy when he left were frustrated, and the fans who had shed tears cheered.

Even though there was important news that would determine the direction of this season’s standings, the expanded roster.

Braves fans focused only on that. New rookies didn’t enter their eyes.

No matter how well they did or how they played.

They thought that Lee Jungwoo’s return alone would have a greater impact on the team’s victory.

[Everyone be nervous, you X bastards. It’s been good so far, right? Now that happy time is over.]

[Lee is back. Lee is back! XXX. Lee is back!]

[Clarkson, thank you for your hard work. Your defense is definitely better than guys like Darren, and it was quite stable. But I’m sorry, please sit on the bench from now on.]

[Wait, Phillies. Since Lee is back, we’ll start chasing you again.]

It was a truly explosive reaction.

Everyone who claimed to be a fan of the Braves was enthusiastic, and some even bought drinks for their acquaintances.

Saying it was a drink of joy.

The Braves organization was also taken aback by this frenzy.

They were worried that the emotions of existing franchise stars Derek and Joey, and even several regular players above them, would be hurt.

But they were even more enthusiastic.

[@SuperHunt – Lee is coming back soon. It’s the perfect news to announce the full-fledged start. Everyone look forward to it.]

[@MasonRoper – I’m happy, but I want a faster return.]

[@VivaPoppin – Hmm, then am I being pushed back to number 6 again? That’s a bit disappointing, but it’s better for Lee to come:)]

Because they were players who played the game directly, Lee Jungwoo’s presence was perhaps even greater than what the fans felt.

Especially the pitchers, and third baseman Poppin, who had been working hard and getting cursed at while Lee Jungwoo, who had taken care of his back, was away.

And Derek, his partner, was publicly expressing his joy while being a little gentle with Clarkson out of guilt.

One article described this atmosphere as follows.

[Jungwoo Lee, ‘Return of the King’]

The king of Atlanta is returning.

Although his career is still too narrow and he is just a rookie with no achievements.

There are countless players who boast much greater status, popularity, and careers than him, such as Joey Fredman and Derek Hunt.

But at least in this season’s impact and the emotions Atlanta felt while he was away, Lee Jungwoo was someone no one could touch.

He was the young king of Atlanta.

####

‘I went in August. I came back in September.’

After returning to the United States.

After relieving the fatigue of the flight again, Lee Jungwoo went straight to the training ground.

The people he met on the way were startled or moved.

And the stadium staff muttered, ‘It’s done now,’ and nodded.

‘It’s a bit burdensome?’

Lee Jungwoo chuckled.

What on earth happened while he was away that made them act like that?

Lee Jungwoo couldn’t understand, but he could confirm that he was a player of this level on this team.

‘By the way, now that I think about it, September is the expanded roster, right?’

Expanded roster.

It could act like a kind of booster for teams with thick rosters.

On the other hand, teams that weren’t so thick were worse off than not having anything at all.

The Braves were a team in the middle.

There were moderately ready-to-use players. There were backups. There were quite a few rookies worth developing.

It wasn’t a golden harvest, but it was just right for spending the season.

‘Who’s going to come up? Most of them will be Triple A [the highest level of minor league baseball], right? There’s no one worth coming up from Double A [the second-highest level of minor league baseball]….’

“Lee! Long time no see! Hahaha. Why don’t you reply?”

‘Oh yeah, you were there.’

Lee Jungwoo scratched the back of his neck.

Desmond Reach.

He was a guy who had briefly worked with him in the exhibition game and Double A, and they were quite close.

Before Lee Jungwoo, he was called the future core of the Braves, a promising catcher.

Lee Jungwoo didn’t expect him to be called up already.

‘I think there are some catchers in Triple A. He won the competition.’

That meant that the club ignored the league gap between Double A and Triple A.

He had achieved such good results that they chose to develop prospects instead of immediately usable players.

‘His skills are good. His catching is stable. His stealing control is not bad. First of all, he swings the bat well. But considering that I didn’t even know his name, I guess he didn’t do well before the regression either. I don’t know how it will be this time.’

As if not knowing what Lee Jungwoo was thinking.

Desmond kept exclaiming and nodding.

“Lee, I knew you would do well even if you went up. Yeah, you were a complete monster. Would it be any different in the majors? But I didn’t know you would do this well.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks for the deep faith.”

“Joasseu, this time you’re Rookie of the Year. Next season, I’ll get it. How about it? Isn’t that the best one-two punch?”

“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”

‘It’s still noisy. But it also looks a little awkward. Well, it must be very unfamiliar.’

Lee Jungwoo, who had roughly answered, looked at Desmond. They were friends, but not for long.

It was also a few months ago.

And in that short period of time, in a similar prospect position, one became a Rookie of the Year candidate, and the other was a backup catcher who had just been called up with an expanded roster.

It must have been a little awkward from Desmond’s point of view.

He was working hard to hide it on purpose, but Lee Jungwoo could tell.

‘Well, he’s not a guy I’m not friends with. It’s okay to relieve some tension.’

Thinking that way, Lee Jungwoo tapped him on the shoulder. Desmond, who was somehow stiff, widened his eyes as if asking why.

“Let’s warm up together. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the training ground, so it’s a bit awkward.”

“Huh? Uh, yeah, let’s do that.”

Desmond, who smiled brightly, nodded vigorously as if shaking off his awkwardness and followed him.

Lee Jungwoo slowly walked around the training ground with Desmond, who was following like a baby bird.

Even though it was early, there were quite a few people at the training ground.

Seeing that most of them were unfamiliar faces, they were probably all call-up students.

Whether it was their usual routine, or they came out early to leave a good impression on the coaching staff.

Whatever mindset they came from, he liked the crowded training ground.

‘It’s not bad to smell people [be around people].’

Just as Lee Jungwoo was about to focus on warming up, the starting players gradually arrived.

“Oh, you’re already here? It’s earlier than usual? I thought you’d rest a little more because you had a long flight.”

“I have to come quickly. I have to work harder as much as I couldn’t play.”

“Awesome, Lee’s here! Lee! Are you okay today? You played in the competition, so your sense of the game must be perfect. Make sure to play today! Because I’m pitching.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m resting until tomorrow. I can’t help it because it’s the club’s order. Good luck, Stewart.”

“Fuck!”

“You didn’t get hurt, did you? If that’s the case, I’ll punish you?”

The existing starting players who came in one by one greeted Lee Jungwoo happily.

Desmond, who was chattering next to him, greeted them diligently as if he was awkward.

“Wow… Lee, you’re really a starter… You seem to be very close to the other players.”

‘I finally caught my mind. It shakes it mercilessly.’

Lee Jungwoo, who sighed at Desmond’s appearance, who seemed to feel a strange emotion again, slapped him hard on the back.

“Why are you so frozen? Didn’t you say hello?”

“I greeted you. But it’s a little awkward….”

“What’s awkward? Aren’t you going to stay with me?”

“Ah, yeah, that’s right. I have to stay.”

Lee Jungwoo nodded at the eyes that had regained their vitality. Derek, who was approaching, seemed to have grasped the situation.

He nodded slightly at Lee Jungwoo as if he had done well and raised his thumb.

“I’m glad you seem to be fine. Did you win well? I sent you off with tears in my eyes. I would be angry if you didn’t win.”

“I came back with a gold medal. Come and see if you’re curious.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. Then, what about that, what is it, military service? Is that also neatly taken care of?”

“I just need to receive military training in the off-season.”

“That’s a relief.”

Derek smiled as if he was relieved. To be honest, Derek was the one who missed Lee Jungwoo the most while he was away.

Clarkson was a good partner, but he was a little lacking compared to the best Lee Jungwoo.

It was also no joke to appease the pitchers who were easily angry because they were already used to Lee Jungwoo.

Now that was over too.

“Then there won’t be any obstacles now.”

“Yes, I’ve cleared everything up neatly. All that’s left is to run.”

“Yeah, we have to run. Because these new fuels have been added.”

Desmond shouting with a tight military spirit.

Derek smiled.

Lee Jungwoo also had a faint smile.

Like those words, all that was left for the Braves was to smash the obstacles in front of them and run. Because Lee Jungwoo returned.

Just that alone meant that the Braves were starting September perfectly.