The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 106

[VS MLB? (4)]

[First pitch!! He swung!! Choi Su-won!! It’s huge!! It’s huge!! Over the fence!! Over the fence!!]

[Top of the 2nd!! Marine’s Choi Su-won. He took Josh Anderson’s 97-mile cutter and pulled it over the fence!! He’s only nineteen this year. No, he hasn’t even had his birthday yet, so he’s eighteen!! A mere eighteen-year-old player hits a home run off the first pitch against a pitcher who was third in the Cy Young Award voting in the major league last year!!]

[Josh Anderson on the mound right now can’t believe his eyes.]

[Didn’t I tell you? The rumors about Choi Su-won were amazing. Manager Kim Dae-cheol has placed the fourth batter in a very appropriate position. If the runner in front of him gets on base, we can expect a big score. And who is the next batter? It’s Lee Gyu-man. This season’s Marine lineup. I have high expectations.]

The commentator and caster breathed a sigh of relief.

6:0 to 6:1.

It was a real relief. To be honest, the game they were watching today felt less like a simple practice match between clubs and more like a national competition, or perhaps even more than that. Most people acknowledge the difference in skill between the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] and MLB [Major League Baseball].

But perhaps it was thanks to the achievements of Korean teams in international competitions since the 2000s and the remarkable performances of some KBO players who advanced to MLB? Some KBO fans were greatly misunderstanding the difference in skill. They had expectations that a team of Korean national team level or KBO All-Star level players could achieve meaningful results in MLB.

‘That’s an absurd idea.’

But the problem was that it was very difficult to shatter the expectations of those fans. In that sense, the MLB team had to show a decent performance, but in that sense, 6:0 in the bottom of the first inning was nothing short of a disaster.

Choi Su-won walked around the ground with light steps.

About 1/3 of the stadium was filled. About half of them were Koreans living nearby. It seemed that the Korean community had come to watch as a group. They sent Choi Su-won generous applause and cheers.

“Swan Choi?”

James Cole frowned.

Of course, he couldn’t guarantee a perfect game or a no-hitter. No matter how great a pitcher is, he can’t strike out every batter, and a few of the 27 outs are bound to result in balls in play. And whether that becomes a hit or a ground ball is ultimately determined by the pitcher’s and fielder’s skills, and ‘luck.’

But no matter how bad that ‘luck’ element is, James Cole couldn’t imagine his Athletics giving up a point to the Marines.

But look at that home run soaring far beyond the fence.

Is that really the Athletics’ ‘bad luck’? No, it’s not. In baseball, only two things, ‘strikeouts’ and ‘home runs,’ are truly in the realm of ‘skill.’ So, does that young batter have the ‘skill’ to hit a home run against a top-class major league pitcher?

“Alexander McDowell keeps talking about him as his rival.”

“Ah······.”

The best prospect in the United States.

A genius who debuted in the major league last year at the ridiculously young age of 18 years and 120 days. Although his performance in the major league did not meet expectations, no one still doubted his future success. The important thing was not that his major league performance was poor, but the fact that a mere seventeen-year-old boy crushed the Rookie League, Single A, and Double A, and advanced to the major league at the age of just over eighteen. He even recorded a home run in the big league.

And that guy keeps talking about him as his rival whenever he gets a chance. I don’t know if there was luck in the home run just now, but what is certain is that the guy named Swan is a batter with at least the minimum qualifications.

“Damn it······.”

It was truly unfortunate.

Why wasn’t there a guy like that when he was in the Marines three years ago? And why did such brilliant talent go to the Marines, a dump? No matter how great the talent is, it can never bloom in the environment of the Marines······.

Lee Gyu-man came to the plate.

He is a complete hitter who has represented the Marines, no, the KBO, for a long time. When he was the manager, he was already in his late 30s and past his prime, but even so, he made me think, wouldn’t he be able to make it in the big league?

Of course······.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

Was it because he was hit with a solo home run by a minor league player, even at the AA level, that hurt his pride? Josh Anderson struck out all three of the Marine’s batters in a slightly agitated manner.

Change of attack and defense.

Thanks to the clean three-up, three-down inning? The atmosphere in the dugout, which had been slightly heated by Choi Su-won’s solo home run, was as cold as if frost had fallen. Lee Jeong-hoon, the most easygoing of them all, forced a smile and encouraged the others.

“Come on, we’ve still caught up by one point. Let’s shut them down cleanly this time and slowly catch up. Just because he’s a major league pitcher doesn’t mean he won’t throw a bad pitch, right?”

Lee Gyu-man, the veteran leader of the Marines, who would have agreed with Lee Jeong-hoon’s sentiment in normal times, remained silent.

In the previous at-bat, he realized the ‘difference in class’ for the first time. It was an emotion he had never felt even when facing foreign mercenary pitchers or major league pitchers in international competitions.

100 miles.

A 161km/h cutter.

In fact, even 97 miles was absurd. But 160 feels different. Moreover, it’s a cutter, not even a fastball. Would it have been possible in his prime? I don’t know.

The players picked up their gloves one by one and headed to their defensive positions. Choi Su-won is playing first base today. Lee Gyu-man is a designated hitter who does not play defense. Because of that, his head was even more preoccupied. If he had gone out and played defense, he could have shaken off these thoughts even for a moment.

Defensive inning in the bottom of the 2nd.

What was worst for the Marines was that Lee Gyu-man was not the only one with a complicated head.

-Clang!!

The Athletics’ batting order, starting with the third batter.

Dilton Dooley’s first pitch was attacked.

A high, hard-hit ball.

Lee Joo-hyeok, the center fielder, started running. As a fast runner who runs 100 meters in just over 11 seconds, his speed was very fast. Kang Ho-chang, who was the starting center fielder until last year, did not sign the contract until the start of spring camp, and eventually left the team two weeks ago. It was a great opportunity to show that he could fill the vacancy perfectly.

To the right.

He glanced back to find the ball. He couldn’t see it. Did he misjudge the hit? It was definitely going far······. Then to the left.

He was fast. It was a speed worthy of the evaluation that he would have been a great talent to illuminate Korea if he had done track and field instead of baseball, but he became a disaster because he played baseball.

The hit was still not visible.

As expected, the first choice is correct when it is ambiguous. Now that it has come to this, back to the right.

Amazing physical ability to change direction twice in that short time. Even more impressive was that his body was almost near the hit despite so many unnecessary movements.

But that was it.

A clean hit to center field.

Lee Joo-hyeok, who hurriedly ran after the ball bouncing on the ground, quickly picked up the ball. It’s too late for 2nd base. Then 3rd base!!

A very powerful throw with only one flaw.

Noh Hyeong-wook, the third baseman, stepped back, jumped, and raised his arm. The runner was already right in front of third base. The throw grazed the end of the glove and flew past.

There was no slide.

He stepped on third base and then home. Noh Hyeong-wook ran to pick up the ball in a hurry.

Inside the park home run. Or a triple with a fielder’s error.

Lee Joo-hyeok effectively gave the opposing batter a home run.

But this defense was by no means the worst. What was worse was that Lee Joo-hyeok’s defense was ‘slightly’ lacking compared to the Marines’ average defense.

The Marines’ 2nd inning defense did not end easily.

***

Bottom of the 2nd inning.

Dilton Dooley, who gave up two more points after getting one out, was taken off the mound. And Diego Rodriguez came up to the mound in his place. When the guy who came up like that struck out one as soon as he came up, those who watched the game would have had hope.

[As expected, Diego Rodriguez!! This is a pitch that proves that he has grown a lot while pitching in the KBO last year. In fact, there are cases where he played in the KBO and went back to the major league. He’s thirty now. He’s still young enough to grow.]

But only two consecutive hits.

So the score is 10:1. Two outs, runners on first and third.

“Seeing you again?”

“I know.”

It was already the third meeting.

It’s not very pleasant to enter the batting order even if you enter the batting order in 1 or 2 innings, but to finish the batting order and enter the third round means that there were as many as 14 on base while getting five outs.

People were starting to leave the stadium.

Yes, 10:1 in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Even with this difference in performance, it is understandable if the audience leaves the stadium.

“You seem to be swinging the bat a bit? I guess the saying that your major is baseball wasn’t a complete joke?”

“Why only swing the bat well? He’s good at hitting, throwing, and running.”

“But why are you standing here like this? Your team has a problem with the bat right now, but isn’t it more of a problem that you have oiled your gloves?”

-Bang!!

“Safe!!”

“Oh, not bad?”

“This is nothing. Your pitcher is too shabby to be caught stealing just because I’m chatting.”

Certainly, like the guy said, Rodriguez’s feint to throw to first was too obvious. I took my hand out of the mitt and lightly swung it at Rodriguez.

“I can’t help it. It’s too much for a major league pitcher to play in the KBO. Even a pitcher around the 26th man has a crazy salary.”

“How much do you get?”

“It depends on what you do. If it’s around Rodriguez, it’s about a million dollars?”

“What? A million dollars? You get that much? Wow, I should look into a foreign player spot in your country too?”

“Our league has a shortage of pitchers, so hitters don’t get paid that much.”

The guy, who shook off the dirt on his stomach and chest, continued chatting and slowly walked three steps again.

-Thud

“Out!!”

!?

“What? Why is the ball in your hand?”

“You should have paid attention. I told you, I’m good at everything in baseball.”

“Crazy······.”

It was a simple trick of pretending to throw the ball without taking the ball out of the mitt. He usually doesn’t fall for it, but the guy was so engrossed in talking to me, and the base coach didn’t watch the game closely in a relaxed situation of 10:1, so it worked.

[Oh my gosh. Choi Su-won!! Choi Su-won, who hit a home run in the top of the 2nd inning, gets an out with amazing wit. Bottom of the 2nd inning, three outs, change!! The game continues!!]

The game went on.

The Marines were no match for the Athletics. Even though the roster was largely replaced in the 3rd inning, it was still the same.

Josh Anderson showed an almost untouchable force until the 4th inning. He must have been very angry after being hit by me for a home run, and his speed went up to 101 miles per hour.

A guy who throws a 101-mile cutter was quite a difficult opponent for me too.

4th inning, two outs, no runners.

This time, I thought it was a cutter by feeling, but it was a fastball. If I hit it as it was, it would be a ground ball to the infield, so I twisted my body a little by force. The timing and the movement of the bat were not bad. Rather, it was better because my reaction was faster than in my prime. If it had been the power of my prime, it might have barely gone over the fence.

But I lacked strength.

The Athletics’ left fielder ran at a crazy speed to the ball flying to the warning track in front of the left fence and caught it as it was. It was a possible defense because he had seen my hit in the previous at-bat and had positioned himself further back.

It was a disappointing fly out.

Still, fortunately, Josh Anderson, who got me out with an outfield fly, was taken off the mound without regret, and we scored a few more points after that.

Final score 22:4.

It was a defeat that was more than appropriate to describe as a disaster.