Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 179

End of Pitchers, Start of Batters – Episode 178 (179/287)

As always, while Korea was buzzing with excitement, the atmosphere at the stadium remained calm, much like most baseball games.

However, the opposing team scored the first run, and then another, making it 2-0. With the home team’s batters failing to start a rally, the home fans were starting to feel uneasy, but it was still early in the game, so it wasn’t too bad yet.

And…

[Vincent Harding steps up to the plate as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 4th. This is his second at-bat of the game. He walked in his previous at-bat. What will happen this time…]

[The matchup isn’t bad. Alan O’Donnell is excellent at inducing ground balls, as we saw in his perfect game, but Vincent Harding has precise hitting ability, allowing him to maintain a high batting average against any pitcher.]

[Since this is their first encounter, there’s no head-to-head record, so there’s not much information yet. However, Vincent Harding has a good record against pitchers with a low three-quarters delivery.]

There was reason to be hopeful.

2-0. At least ‘now,’ it wasn’t an insurmountable score for the Giants, and with Harding stepping into the batter’s box as the leadoff hitter, potentially sparking a comeback, the quiet stadium briefly stirred.

Some people waved handkerchief-sized pirate flags, a nod to Vincent Harding’s nickname, ‘The Flying Dutchman,’ which had become synonymous with him.

‘The Pirates would be crying if they saw this.’

Watching the scene, shortstop Lee Jungwoo couldn’t help but chuckle. Harding was nicknamed the Flying Dutchman because ‘Vincent’ is a Dutch name, and he used to play for the Pirates. The Giants, who had nothing to do with it, were going wild for the nickname…

As Lee Jungwoo observed, the Pirates fans felt not just bitter but pained. Seeing his continued success even after the trade made it even worse.

‘Harding… he’s doing well this month too. His batting average of over .400 this month is great, but his slugging percentage and clutch ability are the real standouts. It’s even more impressive than last month.’

Harding had already put up impressive numbers in April, enough to be a candidate for Player of the Month, but Harding in May was even more special. A slugging percentage of .740. If you only looked at a single month, there might be players with higher slugging percentages, but what made that mid-.700s slugging percentage special was the type of hits he was getting.

‘Seven home runs, which is good, but it’s almost ridiculous considering the slugging percentage. He just kept hitting doubles. Some of those would have been home runs if it weren’t for Oracle Park [the Giants’ home stadium, known for its spacious outfield].’

Even without double-digit home runs, a mid-.700s percentage meant that ‘almost all’ of his hits were extra-base hits. Perhaps that was Harding’s defining characteristic, Lee Jungwoo thought.

‘Excellent hitting ability. A batter who can hit extra-base hits to all fields. And 36 RBIs in May alone. Even if he has far fewer home runs than Hunter, some people are bound to rate him similarly, or even higher. Even if he’s not quite as good as Hunter, he still hits home runs well, and he excels at everything else.’

Lee Jungwoo’s eyes sparkled slightly as he watched Harding. They hadn’t explicitly declared a competition, but Harding had already landed the first blow. And on top of that, the team was losing.

What would Harding show in this situation?

‘He won’t be satisfied with just a walk. I have to be careful.’

Ignoring the increasingly noisy crowd, Lee Jungwoo focused on Harding and then smiled.

Just as Lee Jungwoo was watching him, Harding was watching Lee Jungwoo. It was only a brief, slight glance, but that was enough.

‘He’s aware of me.’

It was enough to realize that Harding, the great hitter, was aware of him. It might have been wishful thinking, but Lee Jungwoo thought Harding was definitely aware of him. However, the nature of that awareness was slightly different from what the Braves or Lee Jungwoo’s personal fans wanted.

‘Is he worried about my defense? Well, I did steal a hit from him last time we met. A hit that could have been a home run if I hadn’t. It must be a bit annoying.’

A satisfied smile appeared. The fact that such a great hitter was considering his defensive ability at the plate spoke volumes about Lee Jungwoo’s skill or value as a player.

‘Not bad.’

Lee Jungwoo felt the sensations in his entire body. His body, much more vibrant and younger than before the regression, better conditioned and more powerful, moved exactly as he wanted it to.

He anticipated another great play, and Lee Jungwoo slapped his glove once.

It was like a soccer goalkeeper declaring that he would block every ball that came his way.

The eyebrows of some of the spectators watching him furrowed at that action.

“He’s so cocky.”

“Does he really think he’s Harding’s rival or something?”

“Stop with the pathetic rivalry and act your age!”

They seemed to think it was just the posturing of an arrogant rookie, but their words didn’t faze Lee Jungwoo.

And after both players went through their respective routines, the at-bat began. With Alan O’Donnell still at 0 points, a few away fans shouted for him to pitch a shutout today.

The aftereffects of the previous perfect game still lingered. The surrounding home fans looked at them unpleasantly, but no one was particularly intimidated, just like Lee Jungwoo.

[First pitch, ball. 92 miles, fastball?]

[Yes, almost at his top speed. That means Alan O’Donnell is also focused on this at-bat.]

When the powerfully thrown ball was called a ball, Alan O’Donnell stuck out his tongue as if joking, but his eyes were cold.

Harding was too formidable an opponent to rely solely on natural talent, and it would be wasteful to expend energy trying to appear relaxed.

When the first pitch was a ball, the spectators who remembered the previous walk looked at O’Donnell with suspicious eyes.

They wondered if Alan O’Donnell was perhaps considering using the ultimate secret weapon often used against pitchers’ troublesome hitters against Harding.

Intentional walk.

However, when a strike came on the second pitch, those worries disappeared completely. It was a fastball that was clearly intended to challenge the hitter, 1 mile faster than the previous one.

The third pitch was thrown without a break.

A loud, solid sound rang out as the bat connected with the ball, and some people stood up, but they carefully sat back down, embarrassed.

The ball sailed just foul, crossing the third base line. It flew by in the blink of an eye because it was so fast.

“Haa…”

A long sigh echoed from the mound. It was a pitch meant to induce a ground ball, but Harding had hit it cleanly. If it had been a little less outside, it would have been a fair ball and resulted in an extra-base hit.

The lingering afterglow of the previous perfect game, which had remained until now in a match that was not going his way, was completely erased. A wave of pressure washed over him.

“Nice swing.”

“Good, good. Let’s hit it fair this time!”

Amid the cheers of the spectators, who were still confident despite the unfortunate foul and the two-and-one count, Alan O’Donnell finally closed his eyes tightly after hesitating several times.

‘Should I have gone more unorthodox? I should have dropped down completely and disrupted his timing.’

Lee Jungwoo clenched his fist tightly as he understood Alan O’Donnell’s feelings, his back radiating self-reproach.

‘He’s losing confidence. He’s starting to falter. Don’t back down, don’t back down, just keep attacking.’

It was something that anyone who faced a top-class player experienced. Being intimidated and shrinking back. And if a big hit came out of that, they would collapse.

“Alan! Trust us and throw freely, we’ll take care of it! We’ve been doing that until now, right?”

Derek shouted, even if it sounded forced, as if he had noticed O’Donnell’s wavering confidence, but the momentum didn’t shift. And then came the fourth pitch. The ball, thrown with forced emotion, flew towards the catcher’s mitt.

The ball, which traveled between the mound and home plate in an instant, was a changeup that benefited from O’Donnell’s physical exertion, making it sharper than expected. It could have fooled the batter, but…

[He hit it. A very big hit! It’s going, going, gone! It goes over the left field fence! It went over cleanly! Vincent Harding! Solo home run! His 8th home run of the season!]

[He lifts the low ball with ease. There were some comments that his low ball hitting was a bit lacking, but haha, at least for today, I think we have to retract those words.]

No matter how good the ball was, it was useless in a situation where the pitcher had already lost his composure.

Lee Jungwoo, who had jumped in an attempt to catch the hit, which was pulled in like a black hole and resulted in a cool solo home run, a refreshing chase hit that reminded him of the previous game, scratched the ground with the soles of his shoes out of unnecessary frustration.

‘I thought I was getting a little ahead of myself. He just countered it. He’s different. It might be an overinterpretation, but he knows how to read the flow of the game.’

The impact of this home run was significant.

Although the perfect game and no-hitter were already out of reach since O’Donnell had allowed one hit and one walk each, it was still a definite pitcher’s duel, as he had effectively shut down one batting order. But that was now disrupted.

Also, since they had closed the gap by one run, the team wasn’t completely relieved, and the Giants’ pressure to score was replaced by the Braves’ anxiety to maintain their lead.

‘To regain the momentum from before, we need to score at least 2 points, no, 3 points.’

Lee Jungwoo looked at Harding, who was passing by as he rounded the bases, with slightly bitter eyes.

He couldn’t even make eye contact and just passed by quickly, so he could only see his back, but for some reason, he looked quite imposing, even though he was slightly smaller than him.

After that, O’Donnell only allowed one hit to the next batter and then retired the side, so fortunately, it didn’t lead to a tie or a reversal, but Lee Jungwoo walked to the dugout with a slightly more serious expression.

“Did you see that! That’s Harding! He’s on a different level than a rookie like you!”

“Now, hurry to the locker room! Go get some steroids and come back, that’s the only way you can barely keep up!”

“You’re lucky! If there had been a runner on base, it would have been a tie right away. You guys got off easy!”

The spectators, who were already talking as if they had won, even though they had only closed the gap by one point. He had ignored those words until now, but this time he listened.

It was a debt to be repaid.

‘A perfect hit created by skill and momentum. But I can do it too. At least, the pitchers will feel that I’m as good as Harding…’

Lee Jungwoo looked at the Giants’ bench preparing for defense. People moving busily and fussily. Lee Jungwoo nodded as he scanned them.

It was worth pursuing.

‘There’s no me on their side of the defense. Considering that… the pressure the pitchers feel will be similar for Harding and me. It’s worth doing.’

The hero’s exhilarating blow aroused people’s cheers and joy. But it also aroused the villain’s competitive spirit.

####

The spectators, whose spirits had lifted with the chase made by the expected player, soon became gloomy again. It was embarrassing that they had confidently declared that only a reversal was left.

‘He pushed it slightly. The location is ambiguous. I have to catch this.’

“- Mai! Rollins, don’t come!”

[Perfect location-]

[He caught it! He barely caught it! Jungwoo Lee! Just like at bat, he’s showing an impressive performance in defense today!]

[Swing! A high fly ball – he just runs and catches it! Another out! The runner couldn’t even leave second base.]

[It was a chance to tie the score, but the Giants missed it. The score is still 3 to 1. The Giants had a chance with a runner on second, but they couldn’t bring him in, and the inning ends.]

“Ugh! He caught that?”

“If you’re going to swing the bat, you should know when to rest. He’s playing baseball like a dog.”

The Giants were still losing, and the score remained 3 to 1 after the opponent scored first. If the pitcher’s skill had prevented it, it would have been easier to accept, but the problem was, as always, the shortstop.

Like a fly buzzing around, catching balls as if to erase Harding’s home run from their minds, his plays once again made the home fans uncomfortable, and the excitement created by the solo home run almost completely dissipated.

As the 5th and 6th innings passed, some people grew increasingly anxious as the game entered its later stages, while others chugged their beer as if trying to cool their anger, then crumpled their paper cups.

In fact, quite a few people wanted to throw them on the ground rather than just crumple them, because that son of a bitch was constantly ruining their only pleasure in their boring daily lives.

“Dammit! Do better! How many times is this? How can’t you get past that guy?”

“Just loft it! Just hit it big like Harding does!”

Just as some people were starting to shout drunkenly, Lee Jungwoo internally expressed a little satisfaction after confirming the growing frustration.

‘The atmosphere is slowly building.’

In this game, Lee Jungwoo wanted to overwhelm the opponent just as Harding had intimidated Alan O’Donnell. He had already demonstrated his skills, so the pitchers were wary of him, but today he wanted more than that.

‘I don’t have Harding’s career. So, even if they’re wary, they’re not afraid, because there’s no such intimidation. Then, I have no choice but to create it with my plays.’

To that end, he devoted himself to defense, aiming to create an overwhelming sense of intimidation as Lee Jungwoo. He wanted to break the opponent hitters’ momentum before it even started and, at the same time, let the pitchers know that there was no infielder like him behind them. Unlike the Braves, they would have to block him, who was full of venom, all by themselves.

The plan was progressing smoothly. The hitters he’d gotten out began to wear blank expressions, and it was becoming contagious.

‘All that’s left is the pitcher.’

Harding had reclaimed the ground that Lee Jungwoo had seized in the early game, but the momentum was flowing back to Lee Jungwoo.

####

At the top of the 7th inning, the reliever who came in to replace the starting pitcher, who had just met the quality start condition [pitching at least six innings and allowing no more than three earned runs], had a twitch in his eye.

‘He just filled it with venom and passed it on to me.’

Bullpen pitcher Ryan Burke made eye contact with the Braves hitters filling the batter’s box, especially Lee Jungwoo.

It was amazing that they had managed to hold on, giving up only 3 points to those monstrous guys, but the timing of the handover wasn’t good.

Ryan Burke, who had been watching the batter’s box for a while as if possessed, tried hard to focus on his practice pitches, but even that wasn’t easy.

Because there was a hitter watching him, exuding an immense sense of intimidation.

‘When I saw him last year… I don’t think it was this much.’

A crazy sense of pressure.

He had been thoroughly *털렸* [beaten badly] last year, but there wasn’t an atmosphere like now, where he seemed to overwhelm the pitcher just by appearing. Just… somewhat sharp teeth.

But now, an aura of intimidation like seeing a grown beast overflowed from his whole body.

It was funny to say that about a mere player. Ryan Burke sincerely thought so. And he had felt a similar aura from a teammate before.

That’s why he felt even more afraid.

‘Is it really similar? A rookie in his second year? To ‘that’ Harding?’

His head was full of questions. Why? Why? Why was he so intimidated in front of a rookie in his second year? Amazing stats? Recent momentum? Such things didn’t even come to mind in the first place. He had simply been pushed back in the battle of momentum.

‘Throw as if you’re facing Harding or Hunter… Ilya wasn’t just saying empty words.’

To be honest, he was dumbfounded when he first heard it. He felt like he was being made fun of.

He even had blasphemous thoughts like, ‘Just because you got *털렸*, does that mean I’ll get *털렸* too?’ He also wondered if the ace was ignoring him, a bullpen pitcher. But now he knew it was advice from the heart.

‘No, no. I’m still a little more advantageous. More advantageous. Because it’s his first at-bat, he won’t be used to it.’

The battle between the hitter and the pitcher is more advantageous to the hitter as it goes on, and more advantageous to the pitcher in the beginning, because hitting is originally based on familiarity and experience.

Hitters often back down more easily than expected against pitchers they haven’t gotten used to enough. Of course, there are some who don’t.

‘But, is it still valid now?’

Ryan Burke, who had glanced at the batter’s box with a worried look for a moment, shook his head briefly and calmly recalled the opponent’s information again. That’s what he had to do.

‘Just hold on for one inning, one inning. It’s still manageable, right? It’s 3 to 1, if I hold on well and pass it on.’

Ryan Burke, who forcibly shook off the pressure that was tightening his body, prepared for the match while pulling out data that didn’t even come to his dazed mind well.

‘I only trust the data, the data.’

Ryan Burke knew well that he wasn’t a very good pitcher. That’s why he had been pushed from the starting lineup to here in the first place.

The fans called him the Giants’ core bullpen, but he knew that he was still a little lacking.

That’s why he tried hard.

He couldn’t be versatile in every way like Mason, who was once a teammate and is now the opposing team’s ace, and he couldn’t overwhelm the opponent like ‘Tsar’ Ilya. So, his method was to analyze the opponent based on the information he had gathered as much as possible.

‘But his momentum has been declining since the last series. He only has one hit in two at-bats today. And his bat speed has decreased a little, and the distance of his batted balls has also decreased. And his hitting point is unstable when hitting. I heard that his mentality was damaged by the suspicions, but I don’t think so. Is his hitting cycle down?’

A veteran pitcher knew how to filter information. Various suspicions, slumps, etc. As if he wasn’t a superstar for nothing, there were many words coming out for just one series of slump, but the answer that the pitcher thought was the hitting cycle.

He thought that the cause was something that all hitters go through countless times. That’s why he felt even more relieved.

If it was a mental blow or a slump, he would grab the feeling and run wild at some point. But if his hitting feel was simply down, it would be maintained to some extent.

‘However, since his talent is talent, there is a possibility that he will get out of it in an instant. In fact, even today, there was a long hit at the moment of carelessness. The second one was at least an outfield fly. His power is still there.’

Careful, careful. Repeating it like a sacred saying, Ryan Burke carefully started the match.

The hitter who walked slowly and filled the batter’s box calmly poked one ball at a time, raising the strike count, and the fear gradually subsided.

‘Is his hitting feel really down? It was the timing for a swing…’

A somewhat poor hit.

Apart from the intimidation, the hitter in front of him was ambiguous when looking at the swing alone. His characteristic bat speed didn’t feel that fast, and his hitting timing was a little late.

‘No, this is the normal timing. He was originally the type to watch the ball and then swing the bat. In this case… his bat speed isn’t keeping up.’

When he combined the existing information with the obtained information, expectations began to rise little by little.

If he could get the most dangerous hitter in the Braves out right now, maybe this inning could be finished more easily than expected.

Of course, there were hitters like Joyner and Peterson lined up behind him, but anyway, the most dangerous one was that guy.

‘Okay, let’s test the waters one last time.’

Two strikes, no balls.

When he threw one ball lightly, the bat immediately followed. His body flinched for a moment because it was the low course that the opposing hitter liked, but the result was a foul. Ryan Burke cheered.

‘The previous at-bat was a good hit. His hitting feel has definitely dropped. He would have easily *갈겼* [hit hard] it normally… he couldn’t reach it.’

Happy thoughts kept coming to mind, but he sacrificed one more ball to be sure until the end, and then he chose the final decisive ball.

‘A curve… is absolutely out of the question. I’ll go with a changeup.’

If he twisted the timing with a changeup in a situation where his hitting feel had dropped, he thought he could draw a swing and miss.

Ryan Burke’s eyes moved, following the ball flying to draw a strikeout, filled with that belief, on the 5th ball.

‘Ah…’

Another foul, and the distance was far. He thought that his hitting feel had definitely dropped. It would have been a home run normally.

However, that was all.

‘What should I throw?’

The same thought that Alan O’Donnell had when facing Harding in the bottom of the 4th inning swallowed Ryan Burke’s head, and the same effect was coming out.

The shoulders that had become a little more confident while raising the strike count shrank slightly, very slightly, and his hot eyes shook mercilessly.

The strike zone, which had clearly looked big, now looked like a small mouse hole, and the thought that he would get hit no matter where he threw was rampant in his head.

‘A slider… yes, a slider.’

A slider, which is still one of his weaknesses, although it has been much improved. He wasn’t good at throwing it himself, but he thought it would be better than the others at least.

Normally, he would have thought about it one more time there, and he would have considered the opponent hitter’s thoughts. But the pitcher who was immersed in the atmosphere didn’t have that much *余裕* [room to spare/composure].

He threw a slider, captivated by the thought that appeared like a lifeline. Even that was without confidence, so he threw it close to a ball, and the result was the same as the scene that the Giants fans had seen earlier, because the ball thrown by the intimidated pitcher couldn’t fool the hitter.

“Ah…”

It was a hit that shook off the Giants’ chase and Lee Jungwoo’s comeback home run for Harding.