Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 183

Pitcher Over, Batter Up – 182

What happened afterward was, simply put, an outpouring of praise, adulation, and every compliment imaginable for Lee Jung-woo. Rosa Clemens, like a devout believer giving testimony, expounded on Lee Jung-woo’s muscle quality, bone density, skeletal muscle, etc., which, when summarized, amounted to ‘This kid is a monster.’

“Simply put, Lee’s muscle quality is far beyond that of the average player… Lee’s muscle quality is extremely… Lee is— Lee— Lee Jung-woo is—”

For about two months, she had been closely observing Lee Jung-woo, mixing appropriate professional terms with her observations. The reporters, like believers entranced by a cult leader, nodded and scribbled notes. By the end, some were even applauding with a mesmerized look.

Lee Jung-woo briefly thought about how perfect it would be to set up a stall and sell miracle cures, but he quickly suppressed a laugh at the changed atmosphere.

‘Our secret weapon is amazing; this should be the end of it.’

Lee Jung-woo thought that after this, there shouldn’t be any more doping suspicions.

The initial suspicion that he might have been doping stemmed from the fact that it ‘didn’t make sense.’ Why, with that physique, that batting form, as an Asian, how?

Since it couldn’t be explained logically, they looked for unconventional methods, which led to doping accusations. Now that it was explained, though… Of course, even if he explained it like this, some people still wouldn’t believe it.

‘I have to give up on those people. No matter what I say or what solid evidence I present, they won’t listen.’

At least he had instilled in the minds of everyone else that Lee Jung-woo had no need, reason, or benefit from doping. He considered it a success and drove the final nail into the coffin.

“Some of you may be a little puzzled by my delayed response. You might say I could have shown the test results in advance, or at least done an interview. If I had, it would have been blocked in advance.”

Lee Jung-woo scanned the crowd, and the reporters looked away as if they had been caught off guard. People naturally get defensive when their faults are pointed out. When they do something wrong and it’s revealed, they don’t apologize or reflect; instead, they shift the blame, asking why they were allowed to do it in the first place.

Most of those who criticized Lee Jung-woo were likely to be the same. Among the reporters in front of him, those who seriously covered his doping allegations would be too. As if warning those people, Lee Jung-woo continued.

“Why didn’t I stop it in advance? It’s simple: there was no need. Words become less effective the more they are repeated, and evidence loses its value the more frequently it is used. If I had interviewed or presented evidence in advance, it might have subsided temporarily, but it would have been revived later, with an even stronger conviction, ignoring the evidence I had shown before.”

There was already a precedent.

Lee Jung-woo had been accused of using drugs last year as well, and although the mentions were few, they were consistent. After the Asian Games doping test results came out, it subsided, but eventually, it resurfaced now.

Lee Jung-woo thought the reason was simply the difference in attention. Even though it was a refuted argument, it didn’t receive attention, so it became an issue again over time. The things he had presented to prove it were treated as ‘so what.’

“It will continue to be repeated every time I achieve results that seem even slightly unconventional, like this time. If it keeps happening, eventually there will be people who won’t listen to what I say and will only insist on their own opinions.”

Lee Jung-woo was planning to sweep it away in one go. By gathering the maximum amount of attention, using the maximum amount of evidence through the maximum amount of verification to the maximum number of people, he would refute it as thoroughly as possible so that it could never be brought up again.

“My answer to that was a head-on confrontation. I believe that the Major League is a stage of dreams, and the Major Leaguers who play there are people who fulfill the dreams of the fans. That’s why I wanted to stand up confidently so that the dreams and beliefs of all of you fans would not be tainted.”

Lee Jung-woo, having said that, suddenly felt overwhelmed. Up to this point, it was just a pre-planned script to drive the nail in, but now it wasn’t. He knew it well because he had felt it so many times. He knew the reality of the anger that was now bursting out.

‘I pretended not to be, but it hit me harder than I thought.’

Frustration. Lee Jung-woo couldn’t bear the frustration that surged up at the moment everything was over. Yes, he was incredibly frustrated. In terms of intensity, it was similar to when he first injured his shoulder. Why are they doing this to me? The thought he had then resurfaced in his mind.

Just like when he was first injured, the path that Lee Jung-woo, as a player, had walked, both before and after his regression [return to an earlier state or form], had been completely denied for the past few weeks.

Taking a brief breath, Lee Jung-woo suddenly took off his jacket. As he took off his black suit, muscles rippled beneath his white shirt, and when he took that off as well, his sturdy, armor-like muscles revealed themselves. The camera flashes went off in the sudden situation, and Mark, who had been watching from the side, was stunned and couldn’t hide his bewilderment, but then he suddenly shut his mouth.

The traces covering his right shoulder. Scars that Lee Jung-woo himself still felt awkward about, unlike before his regression, because not much time had passed, and his shoulder, full of unhealed scars and surgical marks, was revealed, and people flashed their cameras dozens of times.

As the people in the hall were in confusion, Lee Jung-woo looked directly at the camera filming the press conference and said confidently.

“If I had used drugs, I would have done it when I was wandering after rehab. It’s much easier that way than switching to a hitter. But I didn’t. Not when my shoulder was like this, not when my fastball dropped from 95 mph to 80 mph after rehab. Not when my breaking ball turned amateur. Not even when I left the mound and switched to a hitter. I didn’t do it then, and I didn’t do it now.”

It was also a performance to drive the final nail into public opinion, but it was also a message to himself. He wanted to prove it to himself. He wanted to show it. A life that had collapsed but had not been tainted. It was a past that he had walked, accepted, and shaken off as a genius hitter and superstar, but the last remnants still remained.

As if spitting it out, Lee Jung-woo shouted.

I didn’t do it. Even when it was awful, sickening, absurd, and I fell into the abyss so desperately that I wanted to die. Even when I was floundering in that pit, enduring all kinds of ridicule, contempt, regular dismissals, and the final forced retirement.

I didn’t do it.

“This is the product of my effort and my innate talent, just like Braves, Atlanta, and all the fans believe. Is this a sufficient answer to the doping controversy surrounding me?”

A shout mixed with the decades-old pride of a mediocre pitcher and the confidence of a top-class hitter. The press conference ended with that. And the suspicion disappeared cleanly, to the point where it couldn’t even resurface. The doping controversy, which started with a slight doubt, ended like a sudden storm, just as it had risen.

####

[‘I Didn’t Do It’ Jung-woo Lee, Shocking Press Conference!]

[‘Powerful Shout!’ Jung-woo Lee, Who Drove Him to This?]

[‘Groundless Suspicion and Scandal, Now Is the Time for Everyone to Reflect.’]

[‘Head-on Confrontation for the Fans’ Lee Jung-woo Proves His Innocence!]

[‘Time to Stop Discrimination Against Asians’ Views Based on Racial Logic Are Obsolete and Faded in the Face of Modern Medicine!]

[Jung-woo Lee, ‘Not Detected’ He Really Didn’t Do It!]

[Lee, ‘Doping Test Is Not Related to the Club’ Is It Really True?]

[‘Product of Innate Talent’ Not Doping, Just a Genius!]

Like the swarming reporters, articles poured out in an instant, and since it was also broadcast, there were immediate reactions. Apologies, continued suspicions, nods of belief, or emotional responses.

People showed their respective reactions, but what was certain was that public opinion had changed. The gradually increasing number of skeptics disappeared, and those who remained were just low-level trolls.

-Wow… so it was just innate?

-Isn’t that a body born to exercise? Can an Asian body be like that…

-Are you a racist? Why do you keep saying Asian, Asian? Fuck asshole.

-I’m also Asian, so I’m just curious, you X-like Dumb Shit.

As Lee Jung-woo had expected, people were purely impressed by Rosa Clemens’ explanation. Didn’t it mean it was just innate? That tremendous power, the driving force that allowed him to easily hit home runs even with a tap-like batting form, all of it.

It was an explanation that cleanly resolved the suspicions so far, and since the supporting data was distributed to the reporters, it spread quickly, and people marveled at the talent of Lee Jung-woo.

And they were enthusiastic.

[‘Charisma Captivates the Press Conference’ Jung-woo Lee Overwhelms Reporters Single-Handedly!]

[‘The Last 3 Minutes to Be Remembered’ Lee Really Didn’t Do It. Not Then, Not Now, Not Ever.]

Legendary 3 minutes.

That was what the media and netizens called the last scene of the press conference.

The words Lee Jung-woo threw out at the last moment, looking straight at the camera, and the bulging, solid muscles that proved it, were enough to look like a work of art in themselves.

In fact, there were reactions that it was like a very short short film.

It was an impromptu action, but as Lee Jung-woo had hoped, people were impressed, immersed, and moved by it. In just a short time of 3 minutes, it best explained how Lee Jung-woo had lived and what kind of person he was.

The story of overcoming hardships and eventually succeeding was already famous among baseball fans, but the vivid scars gave more stimulation than simply hearing it through the media or words.

-I think I know now how much hardship Lee has overcome. Look at the scars… It’s amazing that he’s still playing as a player, even a Major Leaguer.

-Think about how miserable he must have been. He stepped on American soil with a huge sum of $2.5 million and proved his worth, walking a smooth path. Then he lost everything. He made a comeback on the third path. Doping for such a player, even now that he didn’t seek the dark hand in the worst moments… There would be no greater shame for Lee than this.

-That’s right, so he prepared meticulously. Like the home run he showed yesterday, it was a perfect shot!

-If you count it, it’s like a *gyakuten manrui sayonara homuran* [game-winning grand slam]. Shouldn’t this be recognized as the 18th home run of the season?

The confident appearance of grabbing dozens of hyenas, even those who tried to bite his neck at any chance, also topped the real-time popular videos on famous video sites. In Korea, Lee Jung-woo’s shoulder ranked first in various portal site search terms for several hours, and Lee Jung-woo ranked second.

Also, in the United States and Japan, they received as much attention and attention as that. No, the reaction in the United States was much bigger than in Korea. It was the epitome of the American hero they had been hoping for.

In the case of the All-Star vote, which started at the end of last month, it was already virtually confirmed in the shortstop position with the absolute support of the Braves fans, but just looking at the fact that it was going wild with the momentum to take first place in the overall vote, you could understand how great the aftermath was.

‘Actually, if you count it after the regression, I didn’t have that much trouble.’

There were people who talked about Lee Jung-woo’s despair, and there were articles and comments that guessed quite accurately, as if they had seen through his heart, but it was exactly half the answer.

The source of the emotion was the life before the regression, that is, the events and hardships that do not exist in this world. Frankly speaking, Lee Jung-woo after the regression was always on a winning streak, so it was not that difficult. In the first place, he went up to the Major League in just one year after switching to a hitter, so there was no time to have a hard time.

So, people were reacting while looking at Lee Jung-woo before the regression, whom they did not know, not Lee Jung-woo himself in front of them.

Lee Jung-woo, who looked through it with slightly awkward eyes as if he had lied, nodded at the public opinion that was so friendly to him.

“Fortunately, it seems to have worked well. I was a little worried… I don’t have to be anymore.”

“I didn’t expect this much, but I’m glad it’s still friendly.”

Lee Jung-woo and Mark, who returned home and checked all of those things, finally let out a sigh of relief. All the things they had worked hard to prepare had finally come to an end. It was also with the highest quality. It was bearing fruitful fruits to the extent that they could praise themselves as being as good as it could be.

“Do you know how surprised I was? I thought you were suddenly crazy, I was so nervous I thought I was going to die. If you were going to do that, you should have told me in advance!”

“It came to me spontaneously. I thought I was indifferent, but I guess I was stabbed a little deeper than I thought, so I did it out of anger. I won’t do that in the future.”

“You answer very well.”

Mark grumbled, but he didn’t deny that it was the best scene either. In fact, the effect was outstanding. To exaggerate a little more, it was a much more powerful weapon than the various test results that had been prepared so hard.

Lee Jung-woo picked up his cell phone and searched for his name on SNS [social networking service]. Posts were uploaded so quickly that it was difficult to follow with his eyes. It was so severe that the latest model lagged several times, and Mark, who was sitting next to him and peeking at it, chuckled and muttered.

“Now a real hero is born.”

“Why? Is the unit price going up again?”

At Lee Jung-woo’s lukewarm words, Mark smiled and spread two fingers.

“I’m sure, now it starts at least twice as much.”