The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 113

113. Different This Year (3)

Choi Soo-won clenched his teeth.

The answer was clear.

Like a pine caterpillar should live on pine needles. Nonsense about team harmony or leadership for winning didn’t suit him.

Jo Yu-jin had told him that even old poop could become fertilizer.

But that’s only if you properly spread the aged poop in the field. Here, the poop just clumps together and rots, turning into poison. There’s no point in hanging out with those guys. Choi Soo-won just needs to play baseball well, win two MVP awards, and escape quickly. And that was what Choi Soo-won did best.

[Now, in the 7th inning, with the Marines leading 11-3, Choi Soo-won steps up to the plate again.]

[He’s been the hottest player in this spring training. No, to be precise, he’s been the hottest player since last winter. From the 2 billion won contract to his amazing performance against the Oakland Athletics, a Major League team. And now, he’s played in five games and hit five home runs, continuing his pace of one home run per game.]

[Since the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] officially started collecting spring training records in 2002, there have been players who hit 6 home runs in spring training in 2016 and 2022. Maybe Choi Soo-won will break that record this year.]

[At this pace, it’s almost certain. But I’m a little curious about the players who recorded 6 home runs before Choi Soo-won.]

[Ah, unfortunately, both players didn’t perform well in the regular season.]

[How bad was ‘didn’t perform well’?]

[Both players played about 20 games and had about 70 at-bats in the first team. That’s what spring training is like. It’s just practice games. If you look at the pitchers who are coming out now, you’ll see that a pitcher whose main pitch is a slider is trying out a cutter, and a pitcher who has a good two-seamer is trying out a sinker. They’re also checking how well the changeup they learned in the winter works against other players. In that process, there are bound to be a lot of mistakes that aren’t really mistakes, and the hitters who have the power to hit those mistakes end up hitting more home runs.]

[So, you’re saying that the pitchers in spring training aren’t fully showing their skills. Is that what you mean?]

[Well, I’m not necessarily saying that. But there is some of that influence. That’s what I mean.]

Today’s game was a weekday spring training game. So there were plenty of seats in the stadium.

But despite that, two young men, sitting side by side in the outfield seats they always sat in, had their smartphones out and perfectly set up to watch the broadcast.

“Ah, that Dong-shik is doing it again. He can’t stand to see any promising Marines prospects without trying to tear them down.”

“The person you loved the most becomes the scariest when they turn their back on you. Dong-shik became a Marines fan during the No Fear era [a period of success for the team]. He’s just tired after being a Marines fan for 20 years. Let’s just understand him.”

“Understand, my ass. My dad has been going to Sajik Stadium for 35 years. When the Changwon Blaze won the championship seven years ago, two of my dad’s friends switched to them. My dad said they were kicked out of the group chat. They cut ties.”

“Hmm… Maybe those who didn’t take the red pill [a reference to choosing truth over comfortable delusion] until the end were so frustrating that they cut ties themselves?”

“Bullshit. Why would someone who says that come to watch the spring training games?”

“Well, that’s because I’m anti-Marines, unlike Dong-shik. If you support the Marines, most of the year is miserable, but if you start to enjoy the Marines’ defeats, most of the year is happy.”

“Anyway, the Marines are different this year. Choi Soo-won shows promise.”

“You saw promise in Baek Ha-min last year, and you saw promise in Choi Min-hyuk the year before. You even saw promise in Lee Joo-hyuk five years ago, didn’t you?”

“No… Just wait and see about Baek Ha-min and Choi Min-hyuk. They’re definitely going to break out.”

“What about Lee Joo-hyuk?”

“Well, him…”

-Clang!!

The commentators were saying that the pitchers were in the process of trying out different things.

But they were overlooking something.

That the hitters were too, and that Choi Soo-won was facing KBO pitchers for the first time this season (although, strictly speaking, it wasn’t the first time, but it had been 17 years + 2 years. At that point, it was the same as the first time).

And that unfamiliarity is more advantageous to the pitcher in the battle between the hitter and the pitcher.

The ball that Choi Soo-won hit soared.

To the outfield. To the outfield. And over the fence.

The baseball that flew that way shattered a plate of pork belly that was between the two men.

Scattered pork belly. And a broken plastic plate. A greasy home run ball. The two men reached out at the same time.

“I caught it!! Wow. Crazy. I caught a home run ball here.”

“Hey, give me the ball back nicely.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I picked it up.”

“I bought this pork belly, okay? And you’re anti-Marines and don’t like Choi Soo-won anyway.”

“That’s just what I say. What crazy anti goes to over 40 games a year?”

“Hey, I’ll give you that Royster bobblehead you wanted back then.”

Choi Soo-won, who unintentionally ruined the two young men’s food and friendship for a moment, leisurely circled the field.

That made it 12-3.

And his 6th home run, tying the record for the most home runs in spring training.

[Wow… He hits it over again.]

[What did you think of that one?]

[It was a slider that was slightly outside. Of course, it was a little bit of a mistake, but if you look, he pulls the ball perfectly before it goes any further out, before it even reaches home plate. Here, well ahead of his knee. And what’s amazing is that even though he pulled it like that, the hitting point wasn’t perfect. If he didn’t have enough power, it would have just been a normal outfield fly, but even though he’s tall and thin, his wrist strength is amazing.]

Park Dong-shik, who knew that he should talk about Marines prospects as negatively as possible to avoid disappointment, praised them one after another without realizing it. It couldn’t be helped. That hit was definitely worth it.

[He’s played in five out of six games and already has 6 home runs. Considering that there are still four games left…]

Obvious arithmetic calculation.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Even if it’s just spring training, can that happen? That’s a home run race, no, a batting practice pace.

Choi Soo-won, who stepped on third base, finally returned home, lightly raised his right hand, and returned to the dugout.

A light home run ceremony. But it wasn’t light to those who received it. Of course, the KBO is a little more lenient in this area than the MLB [Major League Baseball], but there is bound to be a difference in temperature between what a veteran player does and what a rookie does.

-Spit

Which team is the Marines’ rival?

Of course, in 2027, the team that most people pick is the Changwon Blaze. In fact, the most heated games in the Marines are often the Nakdong River Series [games between teams in the same region].

But if you ask people in their mid-40s or older, that is, those who watched baseball directly in the 90s, the story is a little different.

The Daegu Griffins, who were founded in the same year as the Marines and are based in the same Yeongnam region, are the main characters. In the 45 years since its founding in 1982, the two teams have clashed a lot. Especially in the 80s and 90s, before the Marines became what they are now.

However, since the 2000s, the Daegu Griffins have succeeded in building an era that can be called a ‘dynasty’, following the Gwangju Hawks, while the Marines have steadily continued the worst period, which is not enough to be called a ‘dark age’. However, among the rivalries for the popularity of professional baseball, the games between the Marines and the Griffins are being highlighted under the name of the Classic Series.

And in the world, there are times when the cause is reversed because of the result, and the cause is created because of the result. The Classic Series between the Marines and the Griffins was created to promote professional baseball, but as a result, a sense of competition arose among the players.

Kim Sae-han, who was the pitcher for the Griffins today, muttered.

“That rookie is so cocky.”

He was already having a bad game and the score was so far apart, but he had to add another point with a home run. It’s just a spring training game. And if he hit a home run, he should have gone in quietly, but he had to do a ceremony?

Of course, nothing changed even if he muttered alone.

The Griffins were beaten by the Marines in the spring, and the game ended with a 17-6 victory for the Marines.

[Just overwhelming!! Undefeated streak in spring training!! The Marines without a title. Will they finally make something happen this year?]

[Pay attention to this player this year!! ‘Choi Soo-won’ Most home runs in spring training with 4 games left!!]

***

“Hey, it was definitely Senior Gyu-man.”

“Huh?”

“What ‘huh’? You said you wanted to win the championship.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“No, that’s why you took me last time. To figure out the atmosphere and think about what to do.”

That wasn’t it.

Well, I took Jo Yu because he’s good at coordinating relationships, but I didn’t expect anything that grand.

“Looking at it, Senior Gyu-man seems a bit out of place, but he’s definitely the core. And listening to what those seniors say, Senior Gyu-man is like… a Choi Soo-won who’s a bit jaded? There’s a bit of that feeling. Especially when he was younger, his personality was as bad as yours… Anyway, that’s what they said. So, I think the best thing to do is to stimulate Senior Gyu-man. And the timing is perfect because Senior Gyu-man is about to retire. He doesn’t have a ring [championship title] in his entire career, so how much would he want to wear one and retire? Right?”

“Well… I thought so too before I went to the meeting. To be honest, I was so disappointed after going to the meeting. Hey, it’s a bunch of losers getting together, it’s a sight to see. But what’s so different about a guy who plays the boss while hanging out with those guys?”

Jo Yu frowned.

“Hey, that’s a bit harsh?”

“Harsh? It’s not like I said anything wrong. Anyway, I’m just going to play my baseball. What championship? This team is screwed anyway.”

“Are you running away?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“That’s right. You’re running away because you don’t think you can win the championship. Why? Because the level was so low in high school that you could win the championship if you just ran wild, and this time you can’t see the answer, so you’re just going to take care of your records?”

I raised my voice.

“Then what? Hey, I’m a rookie now. A rookie just needs to play his baseball well. What else am I supposed to do? In this shithole.”

“Bullshit. What rookie takes business class to spring camp for the first time? Don’t talk nonsense about being a rookie only when you need to. Would you have fun playing baseball like that? If you’re going to do it anyway, wouldn’t it be more fun to clear a game that you don’t know if you can clear while getting some stress, rather than a game that’s guaranteed to be cleared even if you do it with your feet?”

Jo Yu took a deep breath and continued.

“Choi Soo-won, I know why you were annoyed in that place. I can’t understand it. Being like that. But hey. That’s normal people. They stick together because life is uncertain, and they think about insurance in case they fail. You didn’t say anything about Senior Jin-woo giving up and preparing for the college entrance exam. These people are just like that.”

“Don’t treat those piles of shit and Senior Jin-woo as the same level with the word ‘normal people’. Senior Jin-woo burned all the way to the last wick, and these guys are just playing around.”

“That’s just because they’re too used to losing. Winning and succeeding is unfamiliar to them. Would Senior Jin-woo have been any different? The only reason he was able to do that until the end was because you were on the team. There was something worth trying for a beautiful ending. But this team doesn’t have that. That’s all.”

Jo Yu-jin’s words definitely had power.

But honestly, I wasn’t convinced.

“Do you think that makes sense in a professional team right now?”

“Well, it’s not like it can’t make sense. Anyway, I’m not going to tell you to understand those people, so let’s just do it like last year.”

“Like last year?”

“Yeah, you just play baseball really well as you did and hang out with the people you like. Originally, pitchers throw as they please. But instead, try to like the people I tell you to. Okay?”

But I still felt it was worth a try.

Anyway, Jo Yu was the best at coordinating relationships among the people I knew, and it didn’t seem like I would be tired.

[‘Marines with an overwhelming 9 wins and 1 loss in spring training!!’ Will the opening game ring the victory bell?]

[Choi Soo-won 10 home runs in 8 games. Predicting the birth of an all-time home run king?]

The season has begun.