Pitcher’S End, Batter’S Start [EN]: Chapter 23

There’s something about a home run that sets the heart ablaze.

Forget the stats or the score for a moment.

There’s a magic to it that nothing else can replicate.

Untouchable by any fielder.

A hit that stirs the soul with such ease.

That overwhelming magic, turning batters into Cadillac drivers instead of Fords, swept through Diamond Sports Stadium.

“This guy’s insane! How does he hit a home run in his first game, first at-bat?”

“The bat! Give me the bat! Let me feel that energy!”

“Hahaha, did you see that, you guys! This is the Giants!”

The ABL’s [Australian Baseball League] first home run of the season.

When it happened much sooner than expected, the initially indifferent crowd went wild.

They were already excited, but this just poured fuel on the fire.

They looked like crazed cult followers.

“Our team hits home runs now! We hit home runs!”

“What’s his name? What’s his name! I didn’t catch it earlier!”

“I don’t know! Something like Lee, I think! Lee!”

A name not quite remembered.

It was shouted with a throat so strained, a face so red, one worried they might collapse.

The deafening roar was hard to believe, coming from just 5,000 people.

After rounding the bases and high-fiving his teammates rushing towards him, Lee Jung-woo bowed to the crowd.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The cheer grew even louder.

Meanwhile, the Melbourne players scratched the ground or smacked their gloves, trying to regain focus.

“Don’t get discouraged! It was luck, luck! It’s nothing, focus again!”

The atmosphere seemed intimidated.

The Melbourne coach roared, as if he couldn’t accept it.

Giving up 3 points stings, but it’s still possible to come back.

Anything can be overturned in baseball, and it’s only the first inning.

So he shouted at his players, heads hung low.

But even he couldn’t shake the feeling that this would be a tough game.

“Adelaide’s got some firepower now.”

A team that hadn’t exploded until now.

They’ve finally armed themselves with explosives.

####

Bottom of the 3rd inning.

No additional points were scored.

Melbourne, jolted awake by the massive three-run homer, sharpened their defense, and Adelaide didn’t let their guard down either.

Both sides defended well, and the score remained 3-0.

When the second batter struck out on the fourth pitch, making it two outs, Lee Jung-woo’s second at-bat arrived.

‘I’m going to get a hole burned through my face.’

Lee Jung-woo felt the burdensome stares from the on-deck circle.

As he stepped into the batter’s box, he glanced at the mound.

The pitcher who gave up the home run in the first inning was still there.

He glared at Lee Jung-woo with fierce eyes.

‘He’s probably furious. Giving up a huge home run in the first inning must have hurt his pride.’

No pitcher likes giving up a home run.

Usually, it’s one of two things.

Fear or anger.

The Melbourne pitcher didn’t seem to be a coward.

Judging by the way he was glaring, ready to devour him.

Guessing the pitcher’s feelings, Lee Jung-woo twitched his eyebrows slightly, then provoked the pitcher by swinging his bat.

As if daring him to come at him.

‘He’s struck out 3 batters in a row since the last inning, so he’s gained momentum. I need to break that.’

A pitcher with momentum is as scary as a batter who’s found his groove.

Even Lee Jung-woo, who was used to getting hammered before his regression, could easily erase several innings once he gained momentum.

So, for the sake of future games.

Lee Jung-woo thought it was right to suppress him before he got carried away.

‘If he gets hit for another one by the same batter, even the fire will go out.’

Setting his goal, Lee Jung-woo imagined the strike zone.

He had drawn it countless times as a pitcher, so it came easily.

‘This umpire was generous on the outside corner.’

He didn’t know why, but so far.

The umpire had been generous with calls on the outside corner.

It was probably the umpire’s tendency, and since his own pitcher was taking advantage of it.

He couldn’t complain.

‘If he throws an outside slider as his finisher, it’ll be tricky. I need to hit it before that.’

Making his decision, Lee Jung-woo turned his gaze back to the pitcher.

The pitcher shook his head a few times, then took his stance with a dignified expression.

The pitcher looked at first base, even though there were no runners. It seemed to be a routine.

Then, Lee Jung-woo watched the suddenly thrown ball intently.

His eye for pitches wasn’t great, but he could at least graze the ball.

‘Four-seam?’

The choice was straightforward.

He probably thought that since he got hit with a four-seam in the previous at-bat.

He would throw another four-seam to break him.

‘No way.’

“Huuup-”

Even if the speed was a bit fast.

A light four-seam wasn’t a threatening pitch to him.

Lee Jung-woo took a deep breath and swung his bat simply.

Then, he widened his eyes.

‘This isn’t a four-seam?’

The incoming ball was slow.

And it broke slightly downward.

It wasn’t a four-seam.

‘Changeup.’

As he could tell from the way he was glaring at Lee Jung-woo, the pitcher had guts.

To throw a changeup, which turns into batting practice if read, to the batter who hit a home run in the previous at-bat.

That wasn’t something you could usually do with just guts.

‘But I can hit it.’

Lee Jung-woo adjusted the bat he swung, thinking it was a four-seam, to match the incoming trajectory.

‘I’ll flick it with my wrist strength.’

Since the trajectory was twisted in the middle.

His posture was disrupted, and he couldn’t put his weight and body rotation into it properly.

But he trusted his wrist, which Rubin had admired endlessly.

Even if it wasn’t a home run like the previous at-bat, he thought he could at least get a single.

Thwack-

The power was stronger than he thought.

As he hit another long hit.

The crowd stood up one by one.

Muttering filled the surroundings. Among them were the commentators.

“Here we go, he hit it, it’s flying far! It’s big! It’s huge!”

“The center fielder is running! Will he catch it? Will he catch it?”

The ball floated high.

It didn’t have as much power as the previous home run.

But it still cut through the field.

The center fielder chased the ball with his eyes and continued to backpedal.

Eventually, the cold sensation of the fence greeted him. There was nowhere else to retreat.

‘What, why is it going so far?’

Lee Jung-woo, who threw down his bat, expected at most a single in front of the center fielder, as it was a forced hit.

But he slowed down as the ball flew further than he thought.

‘Is it going over?’

The soaring ball was gradually falling, but it looked like it would clear the fence easily.

So Lee Jung-woo widened his eyes, and the center fielder, with his back to the fence, squeezed his eyes shut.

But the wind blew.

A strong wind that made his uniform flutter. Because he only hit it with his wrist strength.

The hit, which didn’t have a lot of power, was pushed back by the headwind.

“Ah! It’s caught in front of the fence! It was a big hit, but it didn’t have enough power.”

“The wind is saving Melbourne. Still, it was a very dangerous situation. If they had given up another home run. It would have been a knockout punch.”

The commentators, who had jumped up and shouted, sat down again with disappointed expressions.

The crowd, who had been excited, also sighed and sat down, seemingly disappointed.

But Lee Jung-woo, who had hit the ball, wasn’t that disappointed.

‘Caught in front of the fence? I hit it without getting my stance right?’

He was just a little dazed.

He had hit it in a completely broken stance, so he expected it to barely pass the infield.

But his punching power was beyond imagination.

It was so strong that it flew right up to the fence. If the wind hadn’t blown, it might have gone over.

‘Huh, I’ve heard that I have good wrist strength until my ears are numb… Was it this good?’

Returning to the dugout.

Lee Jung-woo rubbed his wrist slightly.

He already knew that his wrist was special because Rubin kept praising it.

But it didn’t seem to be just a little good.

The ball flew to the fence with just one swing using pure wrist strength.

‘I need to check it out.’

Lee Jung-woo’s eyes lit up.

It seemed a bit late, but he needed to properly check what batter Lee Jung-woo had, even now.

####

The Adelaide Giants won the opening game without allowing a comeback.

Many Giants players did their part.

But if you had to pick a MVP [Most Valuable Player], it would be Lee Jung-woo.

5 plate appearances, 4 at-bats, 2 hits, 1 home run.

He also got a walk. He was virtually responsible for the team’s score in this game, with 5 RBIs [Runs Batted In].

And he showed good defense as a shortstop.

It was perhaps natural that he was chosen as the MVP.

‘Does the ABL do this too? Well, it’s a professional league here, after all.’

Lee Jung-woo, who was called out for an interview to be posted on the streaming site and homepage, looked a little awkward.

He thought he would only experience it if he went to the majors [Major League Baseball in the US]. He never expected to do it in Australia.

‘An interview… It’s been a while.’

Of course, he had done it before, back when he was a high school student.

Back then, he was a nationally known prospect, so he often did interviews.

There had been none since then.

He had never played well enough to be an MVP.

And he was no longer a player that reporters would be interested in.

‘Ah, there was one. A fallen prospect interview. How did he collapse, was it?’

Other than swearing at rude reporters and chasing them away. Lee Jung-woo had no interviews.

So everything was awkward.

A pretty reporter holding a microphone and looking at him with slightly burdensome eyes.

A cameraman standing right in front of him, filming.

And even the small but bright lights.

It was a bit modest compared to the interviews often seen in the majors or Korean professional baseball.

But the feeling was right.

“You had a great performance in the first game of the season. How do you feel?”

“First of all, I’m happy that the team won. And I’m also happy that I successfully finished my first game in Australia.”

As the reporter smiled faintly at his awkward tone.

Something covered him from behind.

“Hahahaha, Lee, congratulations! And welcome to the Giants!”

“Keep doing this in the future!”

A shower of cold water.

Lee Jung-woo finally realized why his teammates had been so quiet.

He thought they were just packing their bags, but they were plotting this.

‘I’ve only seen others do it. It’s my first time being on the receiving end.’

It often happens.

Pouring a water shower on a player during an MVP interview.

Sometimes they even spray the provided sports drinks.

Fortunately, it was just water, as the ABL, a professional baseball league, was a bit poor.

‘Well, this is good too.’

Lee Jung-woo, soaked, shook the water from his head and smiled faintly.

Being a drowned rat wasn’t very pleasant.

But sometimes these kinds of happenings were fun.

So Lee Jung-woo gave his teammates a thumbs up and focused on the interview again.

As his wet uniform clung to his body, revealing the body he had worked hard on during the fall.

The reporter looked at him with an even more blatant gaze than before.

“…Yes, then I hope Lee will continue to play well in the future.”

After the interview.

The reporter didn’t just look with her eyes.

She acted directly.

She handed him a note with her number on it.

“Lee got something from the reporter!”

“This amazing guy! He hit a home run from the first game! And even flirted with a girl?”

He didn’t know how they caught it.

When he entered the locker room, his teammates shouted, making a fuss.

But Lee Jung-woo was indifferent.

‘This isn’t the time for me to meet someone. And there’s no reason to create a scandal.’

Folding the paper.

Lee Jung-woo threw it into the trash can and erased the reporter from his mind.

He replayed what he had confirmed in today’s game.

‘I deliberately hit it with only my wrist, but the distance was quite considerable.’

All the outs extended far into the outfield, even with his broken posture.

It didn’t become a hit because it was barely caught by the fielder.

But the distance couldn’t be ignored.

The hit that became a hit also didn’t go over the fence.

But it was a big hit enough for the runners on first and second base to step on home base comfortably.

‘It’s not for nothing that Rubin said it was okay to change my batting form.’

He wouldn’t lose his wrist even if he changed his form.

Rubin was confident that his slugging percentage wouldn’t drop no matter what he did.

So he changed his form without hesitation.

Lee Jung-woo nodded briefly, finally realizing it.

‘I know it now. I need to learn how to use my strength properly.’

There was plenty of time.

There are still 39 games left.

There are plenty of opponents to practice with.

There are many pitchers with similar skills to him, so it’s perfect to face.

‘Australia, now that I’m here. Let’s squeeze it dry until the end.’