Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 127

“Wow, the atmosphere is incredible!”

“They were already aggressive, but now they’ve openly declared war….”

Citizens Bank Park.

The stadium, packed with people, wasn’t just figuratively like a battlefield.

It truly felt like one.

Foul language, too obscene to repeat, poured out from every direction.

Curses extended from the players themselves to their parents, siblings, and even distant relatives.

Citizens Bank Park was filled with such anger and hatred.

“Fuck you, Derek! Fuck you, Joey! Fucking Korean, go home!”

“They seem angrier, but they’re saying the same things as always, right?”

“Did their brains freeze from the anger? Can’t they come up with new words?”

“They’ve just slightly changed the words, but isn’t that how they always are?”

The Braves players weren’t swayed or intimidated.

Instead, they seemed amused by the crowd’s insults.

Just nodding as if to say, ‘That’s how it is.’

The team’s atmosphere was no different.

In fact, it was even more relaxed than during the Wild Card game.

“Haha, it’s kind of cute. Aren’t they acting like this because they’re scared?”

“Seeing them so consistently the same makes me feel comfortable.”

“Yeah, that’s the Phillies for you.”

Most of the starting players were already used to this scenery from their regular season visits to Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, they were in the same division as the Phillies.

The Phillie fans already hated them.

Whether it was an away game or a home game, they always showed up to hurl insults. There was nothing particularly different.

Rather, this overheated atmosphere gave them a strange sense of familiarity, easing the pressure of the postseason.

“Normally, seeing the opposing team react so sharply would feel daunting. Normally.”

“But not now, right?”

“No, absolutely not. At least, not against the Phillies.”

Mancini smiled as he looked at the team.

Most Braves fans would have applauded his bold words, agreeing with him.

But some of them probably cursed him.

Saying he stirred up a hornet’s nest with unnecessary words, that he fueled the opposing team’s animosity even more.

However, Mancini wasn’t just speaking lightly.

“Right now, the Phillies’ anger just feels pathetic to these players.”

The head coach also smirked at Mancini’s words.

The Braves team didn’t have the deep tension that had gripped them during the Wild Card game.

It just felt like a regular season game, with a slight tension that helped them focus.

They felt no fear towards the opponent they met on the heavy stage of the Division Series.

“Desmond, are you even going to play one game looking like that?”

“What are you scared of? It’s the same scenery we see all season.”

“Haha….”

“They’re nothing. At least, not while this guy is here.”

“Scared of the Phillies? Are you even going to push out Lipton looking like that?”

Looking down on the opponent was a behavior to be avoided as it led to carelessness.

But this was a little different.

“They’re just full of a winning mentality.”

Mancini’s provocative interview was amplified by the tension of the unfamiliar postseason.

It stimulated the winning mentality towards the Phillies that was already in the players’ hearts.

The Phillies were the division champions.

They were a team that had built up an overwhelming record throughout the regular season.

Ironically, the Braves, who had been pushed to second place by them, had a definite sense of victory against the Phillies, and the source of it was simple.

“Hey, Lee! How’s your condition? Can you beat the Phillies again today?”

“Even if I’m just average, I’ll crush the Phillies.”

Lee Jungwoo silently raised his thumb at Derek’s words.

Then he started running again.

More than a thousand words, more than a hundred actions, that simple gesture felt bigger.

“Isn’t this good enough?”

“Yes, it’s ignited.”

Enemy territory, Citizens Bank Park.

A place where only one-sided cheers and shouts for the enemies existed.

Ironically, the thick scent of victory lingered only under the noses of the visiting team, the Braves.

####

[NLDS (National League Division Series): Atlanta Braves vs Philadelphia Phillies, the highly anticipated Game 1!]

-Wow, the Braves made it to the Division Series.

-Weren’t preseason predictions saying they weren’t even worth considering?

-Yeah, so the experts are collectively squirming.

It was the first time in a long time that a Korean major leaguer had advanced to the postseason.

Naturally, Korean baseball fans were quite interested.

Of course, the Korean professional baseball postseason was also underway, so it wasn’t *quite* comparable.

But Lee Jungwoo alone attracted almost as much attention before the game.

On the day of the game, people flocked to various broadcast and streaming channels.

The viewership was already guaranteed simply because a Korean was playing.

The fact that the opposing team’s starter was Japanese and that the Korean major leaguer was very likely to perform well also drew more attention.

-The Phillies must be really pissed.

-They are; they could seriously win the World Series, and they had to meet the Braves in the Division Series.

-Is the starter Iwakuma?

-Of course. Their head-to-head record is just one game, and he only gave up one home run. He’s a pitcher being considered for the Cy Young [award for the best pitcher in each league], why would they bench him?

-If they benched Iwakuma and put in another pitcher just because he gave up one home run to Lee Jungwoo, there would be a riot in Philadelphia.

The lineup was as expected.

The Phillies sent out their ace, Iwakuma Takeshi, as the starting pitcher.

The Braves also sent out their second starter, Christensen.

It was a logical lineup, and if you only looked at the starting pitchers’ records,

The gap between Iwakuma Takeshi, a Cy Young finalist, and Gordon Christensen, a mediocre second starter, was so severe that a head-to-head comparison was almost laughable.

But some people predicted that Christensen would be the winning pitcher just because of Lee Jungwoo’s presence.

-If Iwakuma gets crushed again, will Japan collapse?

-Totally 인정 [acknowledging]. Japan will be seething.

Actually, to be precise.

Iwakuma Takeshi had never been *crushed* by Lee Jungwoo.

One strikeout and one home run.

That was all.

But the symbolism of the home run, where he dug up a forkball that was almost buried in the dirt and sent it over the fence…
The image of Iwakuma collapsing after that home run and walking off with a lonely look on his face overlapped.

People felt like Lee Jungwoo was a huge nemesis to Iwakuma Takeshi.

The fact that they hadn’t seen Iwakuma like that often made it even more shocking.

-ㅈㄹㄴ [bullshit] 개정우 [Lee Jungwoo with a derogatory prefix] is a bubble; he’ll get crushed throughout the series.

-Here we go again with the 국까 [people who bash Korea]s. Aren’t you tired of saying that all season?

-When is that bubble going to burst? What the X is that bubble made of that it’s lasting so long?

-Didn’t you see the game against the Phillies in September? If you take out the home run, his stats are worse than the previous games; that’s a clear reason why he’s a bubble. He’s running out of steam.

-Why do you keep responding? It’s obvious they’re betting against him and doing 매국배팅 [treasonous betting]. Just ignore the 국노 [traitors]s; that’s the answer.

Of course, there were people who predicted the Phillies’ victory and Iwakuma Takeshi’s great pitching for various reasons(?),

But most people just hoped that Lee Jungwoo would hit a refreshing home run again.

-Lee Jungwoo is batting second again today?

-Yeah, it looks like they’ll keep using him as a strong second batter during the postseason.

-That’s the right thing to do. Home runs are important in the postseason, so he needs to get as many at-bats as possible.

-Look at Iwakuma’s eyes. Can you see how he’s ready to devour the Braves? That’s an ace. I’m sure of it. Iwakuma will have a shutout today. 개정우’s bubble will burst and his real skills will show.

-Ah, yeah. Sure. Don’t bother saying that on the Korean broadcast channel; go to a community in the neighboring country?

Lee Jungwoo came out as the second batter again.

Since it was the Braves’ first attack, many fans who saw Lee Jungwoo grab his bat from the start were filled with anticipation.

Lead-off hitter Derek Hunt watched the pitcher’s deciding forkball without swinging after a tenacious battle and walked.

It got even worse.

-There’s a runner in front of Lee Jungwoo? And the opposing team is the Phillies?

-The story’s over~ Let’s go for his 3rd postseason home run!

And finally, when Lee Jungwoo came to the plate.

The server allocated by the portal site to prepare for the crowd momentarily lagged due to the massive amount of chatting.

-Lee Jungwoo entered~~~~~

-Jungwoo, hit one!

-I bet on the Braves because I trust Lee Jungwoo. I’m going to trust you.

-Breaking) Iwakuma is sweating!

-Breaking) Lee Jungwoo is expected to hit a home run

-Breaking) 개정우 is expected to bubble pop

Iwakuma Takeshi and Lee Jungwoo.

The reactions of the fans from Korea and Japan, watching the two players meet on the momentous stage of the postseason, were starkly different.

Japanese fans hoped that Iwakuma would repay the humiliation from last time.

Korean fans hoped that Lee Jungwoo would hit a home run, as always.

After a brief standoff, the first pitch flew.

Lee Jungwoo watched the outside two-seamer [a type of fastball] without swinging,

The two-seamer was faster, more varied, and more powerful than the one Derek had seen earlier.

-Wow, Iwakuma is crazy too. 97 miles in the postseason;;;

-That’s a two-seamer. Not a fastball.

-Is Lee Jungwoo going to win? Is he going to hit that?

The chat room was momentarily shaken because it was such a powerful ball.

Even the fans who wanted Lee Jungwoo to hit a home run wavered for a moment but soon regained their expectations.

Because Lee Jungwoo’s nodding as if he knew it well was etched into the camera like a sharp dagger.

-Believe in 갓정우 [God Jungwoo].

-Lee Jungwoo nodded. Don’t you know the 1 nod = 1 home run formula?

-Honestly, if a bad player did that after seeing the ball, it would look like a ㅂㅅ [idiot], but when Lee Jungwoo does it, it’s 간지 [cool] X.

The pressure from that small nod was so great.

On the days when Iwakuma Takeshi pitched,

Even the few Phillies fans who always appeared, regardless of home or away, wearing 유사 Wapanese [pseudo-Japanese], Japanese helmets, watched the game with stiff faces.

That image was captured by the camera, giving the viewers a laugh.

-ㄹㅇ [real] crazy bastards. What are those Phillie fans wearing in the postseason?

-It’s so weird to see a Yankee wearing a Japanese helmet. What is that?

-ㅆㅇㅈ [agree] It would have been more intimidating if they had done a 왜구머리 [Japanese pirate hairstyle]

-ㅆㅇㅈ [agree] Then Lee Jungwoo would be trembling too~

-They couldn’t even do that. I understand; they look over thirty at face value. They’re probably close to forty. Every strand of hair is precious at that age.

-아재요… [old man]

Of course, the people watching the broadcast only laughed for a moment.

Citizens Bank Park was still full of tension.

It was even worse because Lee Jungwoo kept watching the balls Iwakuma threw.

The stadium was now under so much pressure that it was hard to breathe properly.

No matter how good the technology was, the broadcast camera couldn’t perfectly capture that feeling.

But the viewers who vaguely felt that the turning point had come also stopped chatting for a moment and swallowed hard.

[Okay, the count is already two and two. Now it’s the 5th ball.]

[Iwakuma Takeshi will have a headache. Does he trust and throw the forkball that he’s most confident in, which is often called a magic ball? Or does he avoid it? It’s time to choose?]

[In fact, he’s likely to choose the forkball. After all, fans only remember Lee Jungwoo’s home run. But before that, he struck him out. His faith wouldn’t have been completely shaken by just one home run.]

Iwakuma is thinking hard.

To Phillies fans, the pitch clock felt like a ticking time bomb.

With only a short time left, Iwakuma finally made his choice.

[He throws!]

Everyone watching the game focused on one ball.

The ball stretched straight to home plate.

The white ball flew by in the blink of an eye, but strangely, people could see it well.

That’s how focused they were.

Of course, the concentration of Lee Jungwoo, the person involved, far exceeded that of ordinary people.

####

The ball drops sharply.

The pitcher’s choice was a forkball.

Lee Jungwoo felt it was slow.

Even if the speed was slower than the two-seamer.

Everything seemed to be moving slowly enough to allow him to think a lot, even though it would be a very short moment before it flew to home plate.

‘Did he think that home run was a fluke? He was so shaken after getting hit?’

Maybe it was because they hadn’t met for a long time since then. He might have thought that Lee Jungwoo had forgotten the feeling from that time. Or maybe the memory of that time was just beautified over time.

But for whatever reason.

Lee Jungwoo didn’t let go of the feeling he had once caught.

‘If that’s really the case…’

“Hmph-”

‘I have to tell him it’s not.’

A breaking ball that was so low that it was at the same height as his ankles, not his knees.

Lee Jungwoo seemed to have abandoned his signature beautiful batting form.

Like an amateur trying to hit the ball somehow.

He bent his upper body and brought the bat to the ball.

And he pulled it forcibly.

A sharp batting sound rang out, the crowd roared, and the pitcher bit his lip.

The batted ball flew along the right foul line of Citizens Bank Park.

‘I can’t get it over the fence. Let’s run.’

[Hits the fence hard! The right fielder couldn’t catch it! The ball keeps rolling! He has to run!]

[The start was fast! He could have predicted a home run and walked slowly—but neither player did!]

Because he forcibly scooped up a severely low ball, the power wasn’t perfectly applied.

A home run didn’t come out.

The batted ball that hit the fence hard returned to the ground.
The right fielder who belatedly ran up hurriedly caught it.

But by that time, first base runner Derek was about to reach third base, and Lee Jungwoo was about four steps away from second base.

They barely managed to keep Lee Jungwoo on second base with a relay play.

But the runner had already stepped on home base and was high-fiving his teammates.

Looking at the number 1 prominently displayed on the scoreboard.

The stadium was frustrated.

Although it wasn’t a home run as expected or worried about.

It was enough to seize the victory from the start of the game.

‘He looks dazed. It’s only natural that his proud ace conceded a run from the start.’

Lee Jungwoo, who was stuck on second base and took a moment to catch his breath, raised both hands towards the bench.

The meaning was simple.

‘This is the Phillies we know.’

Therefore, start the bombardment.

If Mancini’s interview had touched the winning mentality towards the Phillies that was inherent in the Braves players,

Lee Jungwoo’s hit from the start of the game awakened the sense of defeat that the Phillies had.

Top of the 1st inning of NLDS Game 1.

At the same time as the majestic start of the Division Series rose, its result also revealed itself.