Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 193

After the ceremonial first pitch, during the official game preparation time, Lee Jung-woo had a reunion with his parents, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“You came without a word. When did you arrive? Was that really you on the phone with Mark yesterday, Mom?”

“It was supposed to be a surprise, but I was so startled… Athletes really are different. You recognized it right away.”

“We arrived yesterday and have been staying at a hotel. Thanks to you, Jung-woo, we get to stay in a big hotel. When we said we were your parents, the staff was incredibly kind.”

“Hotels are usually kind anyway. But when did this all start…”

“We got a call from Mark around early May. He said the team suggested a surprise because it’s your birthday and also Korean Night.”

“Wow, thanks to my successful son, I got to throw the first pitch at a Major League game. Seems your son is quite popular? I was worried I’d get scolded for coming without notice, but everyone even applauded. And Major League is different. The stadium’s quality, wow!”

His father, who probably never imagined he’d throw a ceremonial first pitch in such a huge stadium, was flushed and excited. His mother silently looked at Lee Jung-woo, seemingly touched.

Lee Jung-woo, feeling a sense of familiarity from his father’s animated gestures and expressions, couldn’t help but laugh again.

His father always loved baseball, but his body couldn’t keep up with his enthusiasm, so he usually just watched. To actually throw a ball in a Major League stadium in front of a crowd was a whole different experience. It must have been a novel feeling.

Even Lee Jung-woo himself, a professional baseball player, felt special when he stood on the mound during last year’s All-Star Game Home Run Derby as a simple event. How much more would his father feel?

Understanding this, Lee Jung-woo just chuckled at his father’s flustered appearance.

“You threw well. Did you practice?”

“Don’t even mention it. Your dad dragged me to a screen baseball center [an indoor batting cage with a projection screen] and made me throw baseballs. I was so embarrassed at my age.”

“It’s better to prepare than to be embarrassed here. And my son is a Major League player, so his parents can’t just throw the first pitch badly. We had to do it right.”

After expressing their feelings for a while, his parents suddenly smiled at Lee Jung-woo. They knew he was doing well and popular from the news, but the direct reaction was beyond their imagination.

It felt like just yesterday he was struggling with injuries, but now seeing Lee Jung-woo receiving so much love gave them a strange sense of emotion.

“Coming all the way to America to watch my son’s game for free, what a luxury.”

“I brought some side dishes and seaweed soup from Korea. Let’s eat together after the game. Last year, you were busy settling in, and we were busy too, but we should take care of you this year.”

Lee Jung-woo nodded slightly at his mother’s words and briefly introduced his parents to his teammates, who seemed curious, and the coaching staff, who seemed to have heard about it in advance. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind this time either. His teammates greeted them lightly, looking as usual, but perhaps a little nervous.

“This is Lee’s spot. He takes up two of the best spots all by himself, but considering his skills, it’s not enough. He deserves three.”

“Of course, of course. He could use the entire locker room by himself, and no one would say anything.”

“Haha, you are beautiful, Mother. And Father… yes, you have quite the presence. Like a mafia boss, or a noir actor. Lee seems to have a good mix of both parents.”

Especially Peterson and the other three, who had committed the grave sin of a cake attack on Lee Jung-woo a few hours earlier, followed him around like tour guides, enthusiastically showing them the locker room and dugout and showering them with compliments in English, which they couldn’t understand anyway.

“They don’t understand English, so don’t overdo it.”

“Lee, you are like a brother to me, so I should treat them as my parents. How can I not overdo it? Haha, leave the tour to me. And… keep that Korean birthday celebration where you smear things on my face far away. I don’t like getting things on my face.”

Lee Jung-woo, dumbfounded, shook his head at his words. Seeing them subtly watching him, Lee Jung-woo couldn’t help but laugh again and shook his head at his parents, who looked at him with puzzled expressions, as if to say it was nothing.

After the brief tour, while seeing his parents off to the stands for the game, Lee Jung-woo suddenly felt a pleasant freshness filling him. Like waking up from a good night’s sleep after a good dream.

“We’ll cheer hard from the stands, so don’t feel pressured because we’re here. Just do what you always do. I don’t want to be blamed for putting pressure on my son.”

“I’m not the type to feel pressured. You know that? If anything, it gives me more strength.”

“That’s right, my son is a strong-hearted person like me.”

“Watch comfortably from the stands, Father, Mother. I’ll show you how well your son does that the team treats me this well.”

It was a boast that came out of his mouth without him realizing it, but Lee Jung-woo was serious. He really wanted to show them. Not just an event like last year’s Home Run Derby pitching appearance, but a real Major League game, where he now confidently plays as a ‘batter’.

Also, besides his parents, there were fans, many Koreans, and so on. It was a stadium filled with people who loved him the most in the world. Since they were rooting for him so much, it was right for him to repay them as a human being.

‘My condition… was just okay, but that won’t be enough today.’

Fortunately.

He had plenty of strength.

####

-The Braves are really shouting out Lee properly. They’re treating him like a legend.

-He’s doing well. He needs to build up like this so that Lee will sign with a happy heart when it’s time to negotiate a contract later.

-He keeps scoring points, so if they just prepare enough money, it’ll be fine.

-Lee looks a lot like his father. His father looks like a mafia boss.

-I’m at the stadium now, and I felt a bit emotional during the ceremonial first pitch. When we applauded, both of them looked teary-eyed.

-It means their son is being recognized that much, so of course they’d be happy.

Since they came to the stadium, it was safe to say they were absolute supporters of the Braves, so the atmosphere at Truist Park [the Atlanta Braves’ stadium] was good. No, it was great.

He was an absolute favorite among Braves fans, and the shout-out was just right.

However, the reaction online was a bit mixed.

Most were satisfied that the Braves were carrying out a pre-planned scheme to completely embrace Lee Jung-woo in the future.

Or they just laughed it off, thinking it was a gesture of respect for the overwhelming performance Lee Jung-woo had shown in a short period of time.

-Lee is incredibly, unbelievably good, but do they have to go this far for a second-year player? Korean Night? OK, there are a lot of Koreans, so they can open it. It’s not unprecedented. Opening it on Lee’s birthday? Lee is Korean, so I can understand that far. But why have Lee’s parents throw the ceremonial first pitch? They have nothing to do with baseball and haven’t made any social contributions to the Atlanta area.

-I totally agree. Lee isn’t a veteran who’s been with the team for five years or more. Why go this far?

-It’s good to respect a good player, but they need to adjust it appropriately. General Manager Pratt seems to be too biased towards Lee.

-Does no one else have parents… Next game, it’ll be the captain’s parents, then Joey’s parents, and then a whole line of people coming to throw the ceremonial first pitch.

He debuted in June of last year and has only played for a little over a year. He’s showing almost MVP-level performance and is considered one of the best players in the league.

There were quite a few reactions that it was excessive, and some even expressed discomfort. It felt like the team was doing a kind of dog and pony show [an elaborate and often showy display or event] to win over one player’s heart.

-Is this a postseason game or something? And it’s not like a player’s family has never thrown the ceremonial first pitch before.

-I actually prefer it. Instead of an invited singer who sings well but is a stranger throwing the ceremonial first pitch just because they’re Korean, it’s more meaningful for Lee’s parents to throw it. That’s what I think.

-As far as I know, Lee’s salary this season is around $800,000. Even if it’s a lot, it’ll be under $1 million. But compared to what Lee has shown so far, it’s practically free. So, is it such a complaint that they’re giving him something else instead of a higher salary?

However, there were also many rebuttals. Compared to what Lee Jung-woo had shown so far, many felt that he deserved this kind of treatment.

Even if there was a decent fandom, most people thought that the parents of the team’s player were a little more meaningful than an invited singer whom most people didn’t even know.

However, that didn’t mean the problems disappeared, so there was a sharp conflict online, and it was the same even after the game started. But Lee Jung-woo, who had prepared himself for something.

-So, they went overboard with Lee! Lee went crazy! A two-run home run from the first at-bat~~~~~ Parents? Bring them, bring them. Bring his grandfather too. Bring his grandmother too. No, bring his f***ing dog and let it throw the ceremonial first pitch!

-Wasn’t he about to swear just now? The change of attitude is too fast.

-Lee must not have wanted the fans to fight because of him. He swung at the first pitch right away.

-Wait, does this mean he already has 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases? There’s still about a month left before the first half ends… Is this possible? Is he going to achieve the 30-30 club [30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a single season] in the first half?

-It’s Lee. It’s definitely possible.

-Are you still surprised after seeing that? Just take it for granted at this point.

It was powerful enough to easily change even disapproving eyes.

####

People were in an uproar.

The sight of the 40,000 people filling this huge stadium, Truist Park, waving like a single body was spectacular.
A human sea created by waving cell phone lights or rubber tomahawks [foam axes, a common stadium giveaway] distributed at the stadium.

Looking down at the ground from the middle of it, the two couldn’t say anything. But the hearts of the couple who had lived together for decades were the same.

“Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee!”

“Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!”

The son, running around the square, diamond-shaped base, smiling brightly while reaching out to them, as if he had found them. The cheers for him. And the joy. All of those things resonated strongly in their hearts.

They were worried about their son, who would have to navigate a foreign country all alone, and they always felt a weight in their hearts. But now, all those worries had disappeared. At least if there were people like this, if he was receiving this much applause, he would be doing much better than they had worried.

It was a beautiful home run, the 20th of the season and a powerful shot that completed the 20-20 [20 home runs and 20 stolen bases] in the first half, but what the two were seeing was not the skill or the stats, but the faces of the audience accepting it.

“Our Jung-woo… really…”

“He’s receiving a lot of love.”

“Because he’s a player who knows how to repay that love. Your son is.”

Mark, who was sitting next to them to assist them, nodded with a proud smile, as if he knew everything, to the words that were forced out of their choked throats.

“You must be Lee’s parents? Thank you so much. Thanks to you both-”

“Lee will be remembered as a legend of the Braves forever! Hahaha!”

The surrounding spectators were enthusiastically chattering in English. The people, with their faces flushed as if they were intoxicated by something other than alcohol, were easily understood even without the interpreter or Mark explaining what they were saying.

Thanks to the intuition they had built up over their lives, they could tell just by looking at their faces full of joy.

Just by seeing them cheering for them when they threw the ceremonial first pitch, they could feel that so many people were enthusiastic about their son, but now it felt even more intense. Enthusiasm, it wasn’t just that level, everyone was shouting with emotions beyond that.

He was always a proud son, a son who made them feel proud just by overhearing things about him, but now their heads were dizzy from the constant shocks, and their eyes were getting watery again because of the ticklish feeling in their hearts.

Mark looked at Lee Jung-woo, who was high-fiving his teammates after finishing his base running, with a satisfied expression, and then smiled at the two of them after confirming it out of the corner of his eye.

For these two, this was already more than enough, but in his opinion, Lee Jung-woo today didn’t seem like he would be satisfied with just hitting one home run. According to what he had seen so far, Lee Jung-woo always caused a big accident when he was so fired up. An accident that would shake up Major League Baseball.

“He achieved his first goal of 20-20, but it seems like Lee is aiming for more today. He wants to show you properly in front of you. Lee, who he is as a player.”

The first at-bat that satisfied everyone and even brought them emotion. But it was just the beginning.

Unfortunately for the Seattle Mariners, who had inadvertently become the supporting cast.