The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 115

115. Debut Game? (2)

[Jake Bore expertly handles the Marlins’ batters, retiring two in quick succession. Now up to bat is Choi Soo-won, the rookie with the hottest bat during this exhibition series. Frankly, looking at the Marlins’ lineup today, it’s quite bold. Two recent high school graduates are in the starting lineup. This is quite rare, isn’t it, Commissioner Park Dong-sik?]

[Yes, it is. Considering the gap between professional and amateur levels these days, and the pressure of the opening game, it must have been a difficult choice for Marlins manager Kim Dae-cheol. And he’s batting him third! Of course, Choi Soo-won showed a lot of promise during the exhibition games, but his professional debut is a different beast.]

[Are you suggesting it might have been a premature choice?]

[Haha, well, I wouldn’t go that far. Anyway, mentality is crucial in baseball. I wonder how this nineteen-year-old will handle the pressure of the opening game and his debut. That’s the key. Especially with Jake Bore, the ace who dominated the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] last year, on the mound.]

The Sajik Stadium was packed.

Honestly, it wasn’t my favorite stadium when I played in the KBO. Old, run-down, and noisy.

Jake Bore on the mound prepared the ball.

A player drafted 27th overall in the first round by a Major League team, who played for about two seasons. Of course, when he was drafted 12 years ago, he threw a fastball that topped out at 103 mph, but now it’s 93 mph. Still, in terms of overall player development, I’d say he’s better now.

He throws two kinds of fastballs.

The 93 mph fastball is one thing, but the real problem is the second fastball.

The speed difference is only about 1 km/h [approximately 0.6 mph].

He calls it a two-seamer, so I guess I have to call it that, but I think it would be classified as a sinker in the Majors.

But does the name really matter? The important thing is that the ball curves outward and drops.

And that’s not all.

He also has a decent curve and slider, and a changeup that gives him the highest strikeout rate against right-handed batters in the league. Most importantly, it’s hard to distinguish all those pitches just from his pitching form.

He’s the complete pitcher.

[Okay, Jake Bore, first pitch windup!!]

The first pitch comes as soon as I get into my stance at the plate.

It was pretty quick timing.

The ball shoots out of his fingertips.

It was a fastball.

The timing I practiced in the batting cage was perfect.

Now, the important thing was to distinguish between a sinker and a four-seamer.

It wasn’t difficult.

No, it was actually very easy.

Outside course.

This is a ball that’s going even further outside.

Should I swing?

No, it’s slightly out of the zone I set. And the count is 0-0 anyway.

I hold back my swing.

-Thwack!!

Sinker.

My prediction was correct.

Ball count 1-0.

Second pitch.

I prepared to hit, timing it for a fastball.

The ball flew from the pitcher’s hand.

Changeup.

Again, I didn’t swing.

-Thwack!!

Ball count 2-0.

Jake Bore on the mound frowned.

[Ball!! Choi Soo-won holds back again. Jake Bore seems to be wary of Choi Soo-won’s power, doesn’t he?]

[Well, he has to be. He hit 10 home runs in 8 exhibition games. Even if exhibition game results are separate from regular season results, that power is something to be wary of.]

[Haha, it’s been a while since I’ve heard Commissioner Park Dong-sik praise a rookie player like this.]

[Anyone would have to acknowledge that power. But he wasn’t without weaknesses.]

[Weaknesses?]

[Yes, as I’ve said repeatedly, that player tended to swing at everything. You could say he was greedy. He had a lot of balls caught on the warning track. He should have just let those balls go. A pitcher can’t always throw good pitches, and eventually, there will be mistakes. You just have to hit those mistakes for home runs.]

[But he seems to be holding back well now.]

[Yes, that’s why I said he *had* weaknesses. Of course, I don’t know if he’s overcome those weaknesses, or if it’s just because it’s the opening game, his first regular season debut, but Jake Bore is exploiting Choi Soo-won’s weaknesses from the exhibition games, and Choi Soo-won is holding back well.]

[As we speak, Jake Bore is preparing his third pitch.]

Fastball.

It was a somewhat ambiguous course.

Was it a mistake?

Or did he throw it aggressively after wasting two balls?

It didn’t really matter.

Just like it didn’t matter to me whether Jake Bore was throwing a sinker or a two-seamer.

-Clang!!

A high inside pitch.

The bat, held tightly under my arm, sent Jake Bore’s fastball flying far away.

Yes, Jake Bore was definitely a near-perfect pitcher by KBO standards.

But that near-perfect pitcher has been throwing in the KBO for three years. Surely he wouldn’t stay if he could go to the MLB [Major League Baseball]? No way.

By KBO standards, all of his pitches are above average. His two-seamer and four-seamer are plus pitches. His changeup is a plus-plus pitch.

But by Major League standards, it’s a different story. All of his pitches are below average. At best, his changeup is barely average.

And right now, my hitting is clearly beyond KBO level.

I lightly tossed the bat and ran towards first base.

-Waaaaaaaaah!!!!

The deafening cheers made the already noisy Sajik Stadium even louder.

The amplified sound from the cheering section pierced my ears. I stepped on first base and waved slightly to the enthusiastic crowd.

“Is this punk trying to die?”

Between second and third base.

I could see Kang So-gu frowning.

Seriously.

Is it because it’s an old sport? Baseball has so many *kkondae*s [꼰대: older people who are condescending or bossy]. It’s not just a Korean thing.

Jake Bore on the mound glared at me.

Yeah, Americans are even worse.

When I went to America, the atmosphere had changed a lot, but the players who played in the 2010s were still the same. Personally, I felt like the Latino guys were okay, but the guys from the southern and eastern US were even more *kkonkkon* [꼰꼰: even more *kkondae*] than Koreans.

Of course, I didn’t care whether Jake Bore glared at me or not, and I lightly stepped on second and third base and firmly stepped on home plate.

1:0

I didn’t run all the way to home plate like I did in high school. But when I returned to the dugout, some players held out their hands. Several high-fives followed. And among them, Lee Jung-hoon, the king of nightlife who was reportedly spotted in Seomyeon [a district in Busan known for its nightlife] yesterday despite today being the opening game, patted my butt.

“Damn, you’re really good. Jake’s pitches were really good today. What’s the secret?”

“I just watched the ball until the end and swung as I practiced.”

“Yeah, yeah, focus on English and math. Thoroughly preview and review. It’s important.”

“Yes, I tend to preview thoroughly.”

“Ouch, hey, I felt a bone hidden in your words just now? I guess I have to prove that someone with my experience doesn’t need to preview as much, even if it’s embarrassing.”

Said Lee Jung-hoon, the second batter who was out on a routine fly ball.

“To say that, wasn’t your first-pitch fly ball to the infield too anticlimactic in the previous at-bat?”

“Haha, Senior Kyung-joon. Well, I thought it was a two-seamer, so I swung at that angle, but it was a four-seamer. So I hit the bottom of the ball. Just you wait. He’ll throw a two-seamer eventually, and I don’t know about a home run, but the ball will fly far into the outfield.”

“Tsk, if only you could keep your mouth shut.”

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!!”

“Oh my, Senior Gyu-man’s bat has a lot of power. I can hear the sound of the wind cutting through the air all the way over here.”

“What?”

“Haha, why are you getting angry? I’m just saying Senior Gyu-man is strong. That’s all.”

“Ha, this punk is really pushing it.”

“Whoa, whoa, Senior. The kids are watching. And we’re winning the game 1:0, so focus on the game. Senior Gyu-man is retiring this year, so you should at least experience fall baseball. Right?”

-Clang!!!

A huge hit at that moment.

The ball flew.

The Sajik Stadium erupted once again, just like when I hit a home run.

No, even more than that. The expression “erupted” is more appropriate than “boiled over.” It was respect for a franchise hitter who had hit over 200 home runs in Sajik Stadium.

Center-right.

Ellitz’s center fielder ran very quickly.

Born in ’86.

The 41-year-old hitter, who recently celebrated his 41st birthday, dragged his heavy body towards first base. He wasn’t fast. No, he was clearly slow.

The loud screams subsided. And what replaced the diminished noise was a sigh full of disappointment. The fans who first came to Sajik Stadium 20 years ago remembered the prime of that aging hitter.

Back then, when that young hitter swung his bat like that at that course and made that sound, the baseball invariably went over the fence.

But now.

Ellitz’s center fielder caught the ball without much difficulty near the warning track, but not quite on it.

The score is still 1:0.

The Marlins’ aging fourth batter failed to clear the fence.

The game continued.

For the past three years.

Jake Bore, who had reigned over the KBO, was a great pitcher. He was now slowly passing his prime as a pitcher, but he was so angry about the home run I hit in the first inning that he was throwing pitches close to his top speed of 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph], even though it was only early April.

And Dilton Doily, in response, screamed strangely every time his pitch was hit for a hit, somehow blocking Ellitz’s lineup without giving up a run.

Thus, in the bottom of the 4th inning.

Lee Jung-hoon, who had just made a fine play in the previous defensive inning by catching a ball that was going to left-center, picked up his bat with a very tired expression.

“Ugh, this is tough. So that’s why outfielders aren’t very good. The distance to the dugout is so far. It takes forever to walk back, and it takes forever to walk out again. If you’re the lead-off hitter, you don’t even get to rest properly and have to go out right away. Soo-won, never be an outfielder. Just say you’ll only play first base and designated hitter. Got it?”

“Are you afraid of losing your spot, Senior?”

“Ahem… Anyway, you’re a quick learner. You just wait until your birthday passes. Oh, right. And I’m really tired right now, so try to let me walk.”

“Are you going to get on base?”

“Of course, I want to hit a home run if possible, but I ran too hard just now, so my lower body strength is a bit weak, so that’s impossible. Instead, I’ll give you another RBI [Run Batted In]. It’s a bit bitter to have 2 home runs and 1 RBI. It’s not like the Marlins are like the old days when Gyu-man was playing baseball alone. Right?”

Lee Jung-hoon entered the plate, pretending to be cool.

Honestly, if I were really nineteen, I would have thought, ‘That senior is kind of cool?’ But now, instead of thinking that, I thought, ‘He must be really nervous?’

Because I had said something similar when I was in the position of a ‘senior.’ Of course, I didn’t say, ‘I’ll get you an RBI,’ but, ‘Just get on base. I’ll take care of the rest.’ But honestly, the essence is the same.

If you succeed, you’re a really cool senior, but if you fail, you’re a complete joke.

-Clang!!

Foul.

-Thwack!!

Ball.

-Whoosh!!

Strike.

In an instant, the ball count was 1-2.

A sense of desperation slowly began to appear on Lee Jung-hoon’s face.

A compact form.

And a concise swing that starts half a beat late.

It was a posture that was clearly intended to just get the ball in play.

6 pitches, 7 pitches, 8 pitches.

And 9 pitches.

The battle had become prolonged to the point where it was no longer a loss to strike out.

-Clang!!

10 pitches.

Still a compact form, a concise swing that starts half a beat late.

And the batted ball barely crossed the third base foul line.

Infield hit.

Lee Jung-hoon, standing on first base with a flushed face, looked at me, pretending to be cool. Well, it wasn’t as cool as he thought, but it wasn’t too bad.

Runner on first with no outs.

It was my turn.