Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 140

End of Pitcher, Start of Batter – Episode 139

The chilling sensation that brushed past the Phillies manager’s neck proved accurate. Their initial attack failed, and the momentum shifted to the Braves.

[He hit it! Rollins! A clean hit splitting left-center!]

[Ah, he attacked the first pitch perfectly. I thought he might observe a bit, being the leadoff hitter. But he just went for it.]

Being the opening game, they started with the same lineup as last year, and Rollins, batting first, reached first base with a leadoff hit. Then, Derek Hunt, instead of capitalizing on Rollins’ lead, carefully selected his pitches and walked to first.

Runners on first and second. In this critical moment, pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma’s eyes wavered.

“Damn it.”

The leadoff hitter swung before he could even showcase his specialty, the forkball, and the second hitter completely ignored him and walked.

He didn’t want to load the bases in front of ‘that guy’ if he could avoid it. Perhaps that subconscious desire manifested in his pitching, causing him to rush his throws.

Instead, he created the worst-case scenario: two runners on base in front of that guy, with no outs.

“Haa….”

As the pitcher exhaled deeply, the batter in the on-deck circle confidently strode to the plate.

Overflowing with confidence. Usually, he would scoff at such a batter and confidently handle him, but…

The opponent was trouble.

No, he was trouble last year too. And every time they face the Braves, he’s bound to be trouble.

[Third batter! Number 37!]

“Jung!”

“Woo!”

“Ri!”

As the stadium announcer introduced him loudly, the crowd chanted his name, syllable by syllable, as if they had been waiting for it.

A player who became a symbol of hope for the Braves in just one season. A hero who would lead them to glory someday, or rather, this season.

That’s how the fans saw Jungwoo Lee. From the opponent’s perspective, he was quite simply a major threat.

“That son of a bitch….”

Hisashi Iwakuma cursed the batter under his breath, and a cold sweat trickled down his back.

A batter he had faced only twice in the regular season last year and once in the postseason.

It was too infrequent to call him a nemesis, but strangely, whenever their eyes met, he sensed a palpable tension.

“Forget the fork… He picked out the changeup well too, so I should stick to fastballs (four-seam) and shoots (two-seam) as much as possible.”

Muttering with his glove covering his mouth, Hisashi Iwakuma looked at the catcher. He seemed to have the same idea, as the catcher, who had been staring at the batter for a while, gave a similar sign.

Quickly attack with power pitching. A very simple sign, but the Phillies battery understood each other perfectly.

Suppressing his tension, Iwakuma calmly composed himself.

And as soon as the batter took his stance, he threw the first pitch. The batter looked at him with the same impassive expression as always, even with a fastball that easily hit his top speed of 99 mph.

’99 mph, I can push it even further. Alright, let’s try to strike him out with fastballs!’

He had heard countless times from various coaches since he was young not to focus on speed to become a good pitcher, always give it your all without being fixated on velocity.

But for a pitcher, the greatest confidence booster was always speed.

Calming his wavering mind after throwing a fastball that hit his top speed without much effort, Hisashi Iwakuma adjusted his strategy and threw the second pitch.

A changeup thrown low and far outside the zone, as if testing the waters. It was a wasted pitch, and the batter just watched it go by.

He lost a ball count, but for some reason, he felt at ease.

Even while throwing a pitch that was practically an intentional walk, he worried if the batter’s bat might even follow that, but he just watched it. So.

It might be an excessive worry, no, it is an excessive worry, but Hisashi Iwakuma himself didn’t think it was excessive at all.

The enemy at the plate was a monster who could easily scoop up even pitches that seemed to be buried in the ground.

‘Inside? But… alright, let’s give it a try.’

A bolder request than he thought. But he bit the inside of his lower lip with his front teeth and threw the ball without hesitating any further.

A shoot that went straight in and then broke. This was also one of his specialties, though not as much as his forkball, which had a usage rate of 40%.

As the pitch, which broke his previous top speed at 96 mph, landed in the glove, the batter checked its location and wiggled his left eyebrow as if he was impressed.

“Good, that’s how it should be. That’s how it has to be.”

His confidence surged once more.

Seeing the slightly unsettled batter, he felt extremely pleased. Yes, this is how it should be. His body, which had been drained of energy as if dehydrated when that guy came to the plate, was now filled with hot blood again.

Now, he didn’t back down from the staring contest with the batter and stared at him for a long time. Then, he put all his might into throwing the last pitch.

The choice was a four-seam fastball. Although he was confident, he would forever shelve the forkball when facing that guy, at least. He didn’t have the courage to throw an unsatisfactory changeup or a shoot, showing the same pitch in a row.

So, in this situation, Hisashi Iwakuma fearlessly shoved his most confident four-seam fastball into the strike zone.

“Ugh-”

The batter glanced at his fingertips for a moment and then instantly swung his bat.

A sharp crack echoed, and a groan escaped from Hisashi Iwakuma’s mouth. He knew he had made solid contact. A line drive. And even the angle was good. Enough to easily clear the fence if it continued.

“Ouch….”

“Damn it, was that foul?”

“Challenge it! Challenge it! It looked like it came inside!”

The crowd gasped in disappointment and made requests that were laughable.

As home fans who wanted the first home run of the season to come from their team, they couldn’t help but be disappointed. The ball did go over the fence as expected, but it also went past the foul line.

“F***, f***, f***.”

If the crowd was disappointed, the pitcher’s heart sank.

He thought it was going over the moment it was hit. Luckily, it was a foul ball…

He really wanted to thank all the gods in the world.

‘The first home run can’t happen. It absolutely can’t happen. It’ll probably be talked about forever, but that can’t happen!’

Hisashi Iwakuma hated the batter, but he acknowledged his skill.

That monstrous guy would definitely reach the top. In about 20 years, he would be treated as a legend. He was sure of it. But to give up the first home run of the opening game to such a guy? It would be replayed countless times as one of the legend’s many records?

In fact, he would already be talked about forever just for being beaten in the postseason, but he didn’t want to create anything more than that.

‘I was too hasty, I was too hasty. Let’s go slowly, let’s go slowly, and unleash all our strength at the last moment.’

He had been pushed back by the momentum, but he wanted to think of this as a strategic decision.

After rejecting the catcher’s requests several times, Hisashi Iwakuma gave up two more balls.

Now it was a full count. It was a do-or-die moment, but his mind was much more at ease than before.

Now he just had to do his best and throw.

“Here it comes.”

Muttering lowly, he threw the ball with all his might. Like the batter who had hit a long hit, his fingertips felt a heavy sensation as he released the ball. Whether it was because he relieved the tension and relaxed his body, or whether it was just luck, he had a good grip.

Could he throw a pitch like this again this season? He even wondered if he could. The most satisfying four-seam fastball that surpassed his body’s limits flew.

Even the course was good. High inside, but a high fastball that seemed like it would be a strike.

“Please get out!”

He even uttered words from his home country, which he hadn’t done since coming to America to adapt as much as possible.

He was that desperate. The batter turned his body, and fortunately, the angle wasn’t right. It wasn’t the pull-hitting uppercut swing that people who had seen Jungwoo Lee last year were familiar with, but a light push with a level swing.

A very easy and simple swing.

Judging by that alone, it didn’t seem like it would have much distance.

But the results always exceeded expectations.

[Huh? Uh? The angle is good, isn’t it?]

[He just pushed it lightly- but the ball doesn’t seem to want to drop! The ball keeps going and going! Is this going over? Is this really going over?]

If it had been just a little shorter, if it had been just three inches shorter, it would have landed inside the ground or in the left fielder’s glove, but the ball, which had been flying endlessly, teased the left fielder who had been chasing it to the end, barely clearing the fence.

“Huh? That went over?”

“No, he just pushed it lightly, right?”

“I knew he had good power, but was it really that much?”

“This is crazy….”

Even the home fans who were cheering for the batter were dumbfounded by the absurd home run. Hisashi Iwakuma, unlike many pitchers who hang their heads after being hit with a home run, turned his body and looked at the scoreboard.

He wanted to check if his senses were wrong, if it was a mistake rather than a good pitch. In fact, he could see that it was just a good pitch at first glance. But it would be right to say that he just wanted to find a reason.

[101.7-mph]

“Huh….”

But the scoreboard was honest.

The speed clearly marked below the exit velocity.

The speed, which exceeded his top speed by more than 2 mph, did not allow even a sliver of consolation. As if driving a stake into his chest as he laughed in vain, the stadium announcer’s voice echoed loudly as he welcomed Jungwoo Lee back to home plate.

[The first home run of the 2035 season! The protagonist is! Jung! Woo! Ri! of the Atlanta Braves!]

Three runs allowed in the first inning.

It was already the worst situation.

But the Phillies’ humiliation didn’t end there.

####

[In a normal game, it would be obvious for our Jungwoo Lee to be the MVP, but… oh, it’s a bit difficult today.]

[Yes, starting pitcher Mason Looper is also amazing. We’ve already heard that he’s equipped with a new pitch, but…]

The commentator clicked his tongue. Usually, it’s common to commentate focusing on Jungwoo Lee, and it’s always a good approach, but it’s quite difficult to do that today with such a strong competitor.

[Strike! Strikeout! Mason Looper gets his twelfth strikeout of the game today!]

[Actually, around that age, it’s not easy to develop something further, but rather to focus on maintaining the current skills… it’s really amazing.]

Starting pitcher Mason seemed to have been serious when he boasted, as he completely crushed the Phillies, allowing only one hit and one walk through the 8th inning.

The Braves’ good defense, with players in great condition, certainly played a role in that. But as the number of strikeouts, 12, showed, his command of the mound itself was enormous. And at the center of that great pitching was a new weapon that had been receiving a lot of attention since the exhibition games.

[Yes, this is the winning shot again. It’s a pitch that has been getting attention and causing concern because it produced good results during the exhibition games. For now, it’s continuing its momentum into the opening game. Looking at it now, is it a two-seam?]

[The grip is slightly different from a typical two-seam. Yes, as you can see on the screen now, the position of gripping the seams is different. But, for now, it’s classified as a two-seam. It’ll probably be a bit ambiguous unless he reveals it himself.]

That ambiguous ball was toying with the Phillies’ batters. The commentator was sweating profusely.

According to what the PD [Production Director] had told him during the breaks, viewers were complaining that the commentator didn’t even know one pitch properly.

He felt wronged. The trajectory was bizarre, and the grip was unique. In the first place, it was difficult to call that kind of ball anything unless the pitcher himself revealed it.

So, while feeling wronged by the viewers who were criticizing him, the commentator explained the pitcher’s great pitching, adding his own opinions as much as possible. So much so that his notebook, which had been full of Jungwoo Lee, was now filled with things about Mason that he had written down while commentating.

[By the way, at this point, it seems like the Phillies would really say it’s too much.]

[They definitely would. I often had cases like that when I was a player, and you can’t help but say it’s cruel from the receiving end. Of course, it might be different because it’s the major leagues. But people’s minds are pretty much the same.]

As the caster appropriately changed the subject to the commentator’s flustered appearance, the commentator also skillfully chimed in. There was also a reason to avoid the immediate crisis, but it was also somewhat sincere.

Really, the Braves were beating the Phillies so badly today that it seemed too much.

They had already scored eight points. But they didn’t allow the opposing team to get a hit or even get on base.

Thanks to the Phillies’ aggressive approach in the early game, starting pitcher Mason saved his pitch count and was still in great shape. Perhaps the Phillies could be saddled with the disgrace of an opening-day shutout, and most people watching the game took it seriously.

So, the commentator went even further and assumed the worst-case scenario.

[This game also has the symbolism of being the opening game. It’s the first game of the series. But if they lose like this in this game… in my personal opinion, it could definitely affect the entire series.]

[Yes, the Braves show tremendous explosiveness the moment they gain momentum, and especially this year… even the starting lineup is unusual.]

The commentator, who was mentioning more than just today’s game, was expressing displeasure that he was exaggerating to promote Jungwoo Lee, but the commentator was very serious.

####

The worst-case scenario that the Phillies could experience in this game was completed.

“First base! Hurry!”

“Out! Game set!”

“Yeaaaaaaaah!”

Mason cleanly erased the bottom of the 9th inning. The players who rushed out in an instant lifted him up.

Opening-day shutout victory. It wasn’t a great record like a perfect game or a no-hitter.

No, it wasn’t just not light, it was very heavy. Because it was one of the great records in the club’s history.

[1956-1986-1987-2035]

The hastily displayed letters appeared on the scoreboard, and the cheering crowd discovered them and shouted even louder.

“Mason! Mason!”

The fourth record in club history.

A tremendous record that even the great 90s didn’t have. Of course, there were some other games where they won the opening game with a shutout. But the starting pitcher defeating the opposing team alone was the fourth time in club history. It was a great record after 48 years.

Even in terms of individual players, Ryu Burdette in 1956, and Rick Mahler in 1986 and 1987, had achieved it consecutively, so Mason was the third player in history.

In the case of 1956, it was during the Milwaukee Braves era, so if limited to the Atlanta Braves, he was the second player in history and the third record in history.

“Cy Young, let’s go!”

“Mason! We’ll somehow persuade Pratt! Please stay for another 10 years!”

“You’re the best! You’re the best! I know! You’re the best, you son of a bitch!”

People who realized the record a little later shouted the word Cy Young [award for the best pitcher] to Mason, just like they had done to Jungwoo Lee. Reflecting that atmosphere, Mason was selected as the MVP. Jungwoo Lee coolly acknowledged it.

”

‘If I receive it here, the picture will be even stranger.’

He had an amazing record with 4 at-bats, 3 hits, 1 home run, 5 RBIs, and 1 walk. He crushed the Phillies’ pitchers as always.

-Mason is really good, but it’s a bit disappointing.

-Yeah, if it wasn’t for Mason, Jungwoo Lee would have been the MVP. It’s a shame we couldn’t hear the interview.

-Hey, honestly, it’s an opening-day shutout victory, so Mason should do it.

-I’m just saying it’s a shame. I’m not objecting. I admit that Mason should be the one.

However, the Korean fans who wanted Jungwoo Lee’s interview couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Mason’s interview scratched those fans’ hearts properly.

He mentioned Jungwoo Lee unexpectedly. Not just saying that he was grateful for the RBI support, or that this record was thanks to the good defense.

“Yes, we will have an interview with MVP Mason Looper. You have set a great club record after 48 years. How do you feel?”

The interview, which started by asking about his feelings about the record, went through several questions and then led to his new weapon, which most experts and heavy fans were curious about.

“Mason Looper’s new pitch is becoming a hot topic on the internet from the opening game. Are you aware of this?”

“Yes, I am aware.”

“Then you must also know that fans are confused. There are divided opinions on whether to call it a two-seam or a one-seam. How about Mason making the decision?”

At the reporter’s question, Mason shrugged his shoulders, then turned his head to one side and smiled.

“Well, my opinion is not important. We should follow the originator’s name.”

“The originator? Even without that, fans are very curious about who you learned it from….”

“He’s over there.”

He pointed to one side, where there were colleagues who seemed to be planning to pounce on him as soon as Mason’s interview was over. Among them, the person Mason pointed to was Jungwoo Lee, who was supporting the bottom of the bucket.

“Uh… uh? No, uh?”

The reporter experienced cognitive dissonance. He was confused as to whether this was just a joke about everything being thanks to his colleagues, or a serious sincerity. Mason, not seeing Jungwoo Lee shaking his head as if feeling sorry for the reporter, still said with a smiling face.

“I learned it from Lee over there. Lee himself, the originator, called it a one-seam, so I have to call it that too.”

“Lee… are you talking about Jungwoo Lee?”

Mason gave a definite answer to the reporter who asked again just in case.

“Yes, it’s the Lee you all know.”

At his words, the reporter’s eyes widened as if he had caught a scoop. The cameraman was the same.

“Lee, thank you so much! It’s all thanks to you!”

As if swept away by the excitement of achieving the record. Seeing Mason, who was driving in the wedge until the end, and the camera that turned to him in an instant, Jungwoo Lee wiped his face.

Although he did not win the glory of the opening-day MVP thanks to Mason’s great performance.

It seemed that the protagonist was Jungwoo Lee himself this time as well.