Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 158

Pitchers Done, Batters Up – Episode 157

[‘We Want Lee’ Echoes Through Wrigley Field. Is Lee Jung-woo Everyone’s Darling?]

[‘Still Performing Strong’ Lee Jung-woo Misses Player of the Month Award, But Receives an Unusual Number of Votes!]

[‘Aiming for 30-30?’ Quick And Power! Lee Jung-woo Delivers Perfect Performance!]

After the Cubs series, the focus was, of course, on Lee Jung-woo’s performance back in Korea.

Although he wasn’t named MVP due to a slightly lacking performance in the 4th game and the stellar performances of the team’s starting pitchers throughout the 1st to 3rd games, and he also missed out on the Player of the Month award announced after the series, losing to Arthur Hunter, his home runs, base running, and defense were all on full display. It was more than enough to meet people’s expectations.

While that was the atmosphere in Korea, the United States was quite different.

Fans in the United States were also pleased with Lee Jung-woo’s fierce performance, but they set it aside for a moment because something more interesting was brewing.

-Are you guys ready?

-Don’t be a nuisance here; go back to your Braves fan community, you [expletive deleted].

-Do you know who you’re up against this time?

-Get lost, you [expletive deleted].

When the Braves’ away plane took off, instead of clipping highlights or creating GIFs to post on fan communities, fans rushed to enemy territory first, eager to launch a fierce online attack.

Usually, they don’t provoke directly like this. Baseball is unpredictable, and if they made a fuss and lost, they would face several times more ridicule.

But this time, they didn’t hesitate. The outcome was already shimmering before their eyes.

-Phillies, you guys must really suck. How many times are you going to meet Lee since you’re in the same division? Why don’t you move to another division over there?

-That’s a good idea. If they go to Montreal instead of the Nationals, the Canadians would be thrilled.

-A crappy team like the Phillies going to Canada would only make them hate it more.

-True, they get swept every time they meet the Braves. Who would welcome them?

-We don’t need the Braves; just Lee is enough.

-Get lost, you [expletive deleted] bastards.

Because their opponent was the Philadelphia Phillies. Even at the beginning of last season, the Phillies were a team they couldn’t dare to compare themselves to.

But in just one year, the Braves treated them as the biggest pushovers.

Since Lee Jung-woo’s call-up, the Phillies had been a reliable source of victories, thanks to his excellent performance.

In particular, the sting of the opening series sweep, which hadn’t faded even after a month, still lingered.

Braves fans invaded various Phillies fan communities as if they had been waiting for it.

No, not just the fans, but the media also directly participated in mocking the Phillies—or at least, that’s how the Phillies fans felt.

[‘Phillies Massacre Machine’ Jung-woo Lee, Ready to Deploy?]

[‘Disappointing April’ Lee, ‘Congratulations to Arthur Hunter on Player of the Month Award. But May Will Be Different.’ Will the Phillies Be Sacrificed Again?]

[Phillies’ Uphill Battle to ‘Overcome Lee’, Can They Shake It Off This Time…]

Phillies Massacre Machine.

That was the term the media used to refer to Lee Jung-woo in this series. Lee Jung-woo, who thoroughly crushed opposing pitchers with an almost unchanging, expressionless face, looked like a slaughter machine from a movie. And the team that suffered the most at the hands of such Lee Jung-woo was the Phillies.

That’s why the Phillies were a team maintaining a seriously poor record against Lee, to the point where they openly talked about overcoming Lee.

-The Phillies are all talk.

-What nonsense are you spouting? How much of an [expletive deleted] are they?

-No, if I were them, I would have flown to Atlanta a long time ago and shot Lee with a revolver. They just yap.

-…Sounds crazy, but honestly, looking at their record against him, I admit it. I wouldn’t have been able to stand it.

-If Lee hits another home run this time, there will be a riot in Philadelphia.

-Seriously, shouldn’t we be careful? If they get shut out like the Cubs, they might burn the team bus.

-Is the team bus the problem? They’d be lucky if they didn’t grab the players and burn them at the stake.

So people were anticipating the series.

It would be a great topic if Lee maintained his previous form and blew up Philadelphia, and even if the Phillies finally overcame their Lee phobia in this series, that would also be a good story.

-I predict that the weird bell-shaped neon sign in your crappy stadium will be smashed during this series. Lee will destroy it with his Big Ball.

-The stupid yellow Small Ball won’t even scratch it! You [expletive deleted]!

-If that gets smashed, why don’t you just dismantle that [expletive deleted]-ugly stadium while you’re at it? And disband the Phillies, that [expletive deleted]-shitty team, along with it. Get rid of two eyesores in Philadelphia.

-You can’t dismantle the stadium. The Philadelphia idiots still need to watch hockey in the winter. Well, it would benefit the baseball world if that [expletive deleted]-shitty team disbanded right away.

-You [expletive deleted], you [expletive deleted]-like [expletive deleted]! Go back to your own community! Why are you causing trouble here!

Of course, the Braves fans didn’t consider the latter.

Even before the Braves team arrived in Philadelphia, the game was already ablaze.

####

Citizens Bank Park, which had called in the Braves, was as noisy as ever.

No, perhaps because of the Braves’ massive community invasion the night before, it was a bit more boisterous than usual.

“Welcome to hell!”

“Get ready to run back to Atlanta crying! You [expletive deleted]-like [expletive deleted]!”

“You know we let you off easy in the opening game, right? We’re going to get three times that back, so you better wait!”

“Lee! Listen up! You’re going to be neutered in this series! Why? Because your Ball, which is as small as my pinky fingernail, will shrink in fear of the Phillies’ Ball today!”

“Why don’t you just cut it off and play softball? Seems like it would suit a Pussy like you!”

The Phillies, welcoming them with curses and bloodshot eyes, were filled with resentment to a bizarre degree.

“Why are they like that?”

“Looks like our fans put in some effort.”

“Ah~ They really stirred them up properly.”

“Oh, we need to be careful today? If we don’t want to die a meaningless death here.”

Among the weary players, Lee Jung-woo, who had been given nicknames such as ‘The Phillies’ Grim Reaper’ or ‘The Disaster of Philadelphia,’ was bombarded with the most and harshest insults. But Lee Jung-woo was just glad.

“Lee, you’re not Ball, you’re Nuts! Why? Because it’s [expletive deleted]-ing small, only the size of a peanut, that’s why!”

“Oh, geez. They curse in such a strange way.”

“They’re saying that because they can’t see Lee’s Big ball. How great this guy is.”

“Yeah! It’s a Ball I’ve acknowledged, how dare they!”

“Shut up a bit.”

Lee Jung-woo, glaring at his teammates who were confidently pointing at their lower bodies towards the home crowd as if to show off, scanned the stadium and wore a satisfied smile.

‘Yeah, if you come to enemy territory, this is how it should be. It’s much better to be completely hostile than to be unpleasantly ambiguous because there’s no guilt.’

It was a grim atmosphere that would have made someone with a weak mentality collapse on the ground, but Lee Jung-woo welcomed it.

After experiencing Cubs fans who showed a strange obsession that made the back of his neck cold, he felt that those who cursed from the start were rather welcome.

That’s why Lee Jung-woo, who was rather satisfied, calmly prepared to crush the Phillies as usual.

‘The ball is strangely extending further. Why? Is it because of the home run I hit in the Cubs game? It doesn’t seem like my swing has gotten bigger…’

The trajectory of the batted balls during batting practice, which he was doing to check his hitting, was unusual.

Even though he was tired from the away game, if it was this much, it was definitely not ordinary.

Just in case his swing had gotten bigger, he asked the hitting coach, and Colson, the hitting coach, just gave him a thumbs up.

“I don’t know about anything else, but it’s certain that the Phillies are [expletive deleted]-ed today.”

“Looks like my cycle is good?”

“Yeah, it’s running perfectly. If you keep it up… Player of the Month is a breeze, and MVP is easy too.”

Lee Jung-woo grinned at the coach’s words, which included a bit of lip service.

“Lee is one-nutted! One-nutted from today! Pinky fingernail one-nutted!”

The voices of the Phillies fans, who had prepared and chanted all sorts of strange slogans, reached the inside of the batting cage. It was a word that touched a man’s pride, so it could have been unpleasant, but Lee Jung-woo showed no reaction.

He didn’t really care.

But to the hitting coach who was facing him directly, that appearance felt even more frightening.

Usually, when he went into that poker face, the slaughter machine they were always proud of would start operating.

‘A lot of people are going to get broken again today.’

Hitting coach Colson’s mouth was itching. He wanted to run to the Phillies’ bench and tell them.

You guys are all [expletive deleted]-ed today.

####

In a game, the voices of the fans have great power. But it wasn’t always just that.

The Phillies fans were shouting for Lee Jung-woo to be shown a hard time, but the Lee Jung-woo that the players felt was different from the Lee Jung-woo they thought.

‘Haa… If that [expletive deleted] does well, the fans will go crazy again, right?’

‘Why are we in the same East Division as the Braves? If he’s so good, he should get out of the NL East [National League East Division]….’

A player who puts a lot of pressure on the opponent just by his presence. A player who wins before the game even starts with an intangible aura, like the players who have reached the peak.

At least to the Phillies, Lee Jung-woo was such a player. Always, always, wherever, whenever they met. A vicious guy who bites savagely like a fierce fighting dog.

After being attacked by that guy, something somewhere becomes tattered, whether it’s the mind or the body.

In particular, the burden that the pitcher bears was extraordinary. Unlike the fielders who were just getting cursed at by the fans, the pitchers were the ones getting hit directly.

“Everyone be careful. You already know he’s a dangerous guy, so I won’t say more, but… be careful until the end.”

A person of interest to the point where even their grumpy captain, Trosso, Giovanni, left those words before the game.

The game started, and the starting pitcher for today’s game faced the leadoff hitter with so much force that the fielders watching from behind him could feel it.

‘I can’t give up a runner no matter what.’ A desperate full-force pitch that made you feel that way. But the problem for the Braves didn’t end there.

[Derek Hunt casually walks to first base. His on-base percentage has noticeably increased this season.]

[Yes, it seems that he’s been playing as the leadoff hitter this season, so he’s playing accordingly. At the same time, he’s maintaining a decent batting average and slugging percentage. That’s why he’s being evaluated as a great player.]

Even without Lee Jung-woo, the team itself was now too strong. Even though there was such a crazy hitter, the word ‘one-man team’ was nowhere to be seen.

The leadoff hitter casually walked to first base. Then, darkness fell on the field and on the players’ faces.

The hitter still comes in with the same [expletive deleted]-like poker face. He’s had more expressions lately, but most of the time he has such an indifferent face.

No one knows if he’s doing that because he knows it gives the pitcher fear, or if he’s just an original jerk.

What’s certain is that that stiff face had a sufficient effect.

“Hoo….”

The pitcher let out a long breath.

Even though the Phillies had been getting closer and closer to a broken family since the opening series sweep, they were still teammates, so the other players also 100% sympathized with his feelings. Even if they were the pitcher, there would be no answer.

When they were doing the power analysis before the game, exclamations, sighs, and a few hollow laughs burst out from here and there.

A hitter who painted the entire square strike zone red. A crazy guy who would go over the fence if he got hit anywhere. A monster who had courses he was better at hitting, but no courses he couldn’t hit.

As someone who had to face him as an enemy and fight on his own, the pitcher couldn’t help but sigh.

He still had the escape route of intentional walk, but from the moment that guy equipped his base-stealing sense, that was truly the last sanctuary.

Even if you ignore the base-running antics, there would be a guy who was just as terrifying as him, if not more so, waiting with his teeth grinding.

If they did such a thing in a home game, the fans would also give them a disapproving look.

So, they had to fight first. The pitcher, who had been exchanging opinions with the catcher for a long time, suddenly threw the first pitch. And he widened his eyes.

Whether the ball slipped because of the sweat he shed in tension, or whether he just made a stupid control mistake, the ball went way off, towards the hitter’s body.

A first pitch that stretched high and almost grazed his face. It was a very dangerous situation because a headshot could have resulted, but the fans just shouted happily.

“Yeah! That’s it! [Expletive deleted], just hit him in the head!”

“That’s the Phillies! Kill that cowardly bastard!”

“[Expletive deleted], can’t you control it properly? You should have smashed his skull! You can’t even hit that!”

“Kuhahaha, see! I told you he’d be one-nutted, right? How much did it shrink that he can’t even move from his spot?”

“Small Nuts! Small Nuts!”

The fans liked it.

In their eyes, it seemed like the pitcher was bravely fighting a battle of nerves with the hitter. That’s why they were satisfied.

But the players unknowingly closed their eyes tightly. They wanted to take the stadium caster’s microphone and shout, “Please don’t provoke that bastard.”

In their eyes, Lee Jung-woo wasn’t scared and unable to move; he was just watching the ball.

So, they wanted to shout, “Please shut your mouths and don’t provoke the opponent.” But the spectators just kept shouting.

The price was terrible.

‘Don’t nod, don’t nod. [Expletive deleted], don’t nod that [expletive deleted]-like head!’

The pitcher screamed inwardly.

After the dangerous first pitch, the hitter, who had been quietly watching the balls thrown carefully a few times, stepped out of the plate, performed his unique routine, and then made eye contact with him.

He hoped that he wouldn’t do the last routine, but the hitter nodded with a slight, very subtle lift of the corner of his mouth.

Then, he briefly scanned the outfield stands and looked somewhere.

‘Could it be… is he thinking of hitting it?’

The neon sign that stood firmly above the right-center field stands. The Liberty Bell that rang and flashed loudly every time the Phillies hitters hit a home run.

First baseman Pedro Castillo, watching the hitter briefly take in the sight of what was once almost exclusively his, unknowingly swallowed hard.

He shook his head, saying it was a ridiculous thought.

Not long after he got back into position, the sound of the bat rang out.

‘It’s gone over.’

A batting sound he knew too well.

The moment Castillo heard the clear sound that he doesn’t hear often these days, so it lingered in his ears even more, he sensed a home run.

And he unknowingly followed the direction of the batted ball and shook his head at the home run that hit the right second-floor stands.

‘Yeah, there’s no way. I’m thinking too sensitively-’

“Tsk, the angle wasn’t right-”

Pedro Castillo, who was shaking his head while laughing at himself for having such a stupid thought, froze at the words Lee Jung-woo spat out as he passed him. He didn’t know why, but maybe that crazy bastard really was going to fulfill his fans’ expectations.

Castillo looked up at the neon sign again and thought.

‘Will that… be okay after this series is over?’

He didn’t feel confident for some reason.