The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 17

Opportunity Doesn’t Come Often (5)

They say people lose their words when they’re too surprised, right?

Jo Yu-jin could feel that was true.

The moment Choi Su-won connected with the slightly inside fastball, Jungang High’s dugout froze.

He swung the bat with practiced ease and dropped it behind him. Then, he glanced at the soaring ball for a brief moment. After that, he lightly jogged towards first base as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Choi Su-won’s connecting motion was so natural that it felt like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west – an inevitability.

‘He’s so cool, seriously.’

So, setting aside the potential bat flip, the fact that admiring the hit ball could be seen as provoking the pitcher, or that Lee Kyung-seok, the pitcher from Pungcheon High on the mound, was a senior while Choi Su-won, who swung the bat, was a sophomore. Moreover, in Korean baseball, especially amateur baseball, they emphasize running to first base 0.1 seconds faster instead of admiring the hit ball. None of that even crossed my mind.

Jo Yu-jin ran like crazy towards Choi Su-won, who was rounding third base again.

“Wow, is this guy crazy? He hits five home runs in a row? He’s insane. Insane.”

To be honest, when he hit two home runs, I was envious and jealous. But what should I say? It’s like being envious of someone in the Gold tier in a game, but when they’re in Grand Master or Challenger, you’re not just envious, but overwhelmed? Anyway, now, rather than being envious, I just feel awe.

I was actually a bit worried.

No matter how severe Senior Byung-young’s nagging was, Su-won’s words and actions had clearly crossed the line.

Was he doing this with the determination to quit baseball? I wondered. Of course, a pitcher who throws 150 km/h is valuable, but that doesn’t guarantee success in the pros. Just like fastball speed is a talent, control is also a talent, and Su-won’s control was clearly lacking.

And that’s not all. A pitcher’s shoulder is like chalk. Eventually, it wears down, and no one knows how durable it is.

Besides, Choi Su-won’s family is well-off.

I don’t know exactly, but his father’s company has about 500 employees. Usually, if you get to this point, you have no choice but to stick with baseball, but if you’re from a family like that, it doesn’t matter if you quit baseball, retake the college entrance exam, and inherit the business.

But looking at him now, I realized that all those worries were useless. Choi Su-won was acting like that simply because he didn’t need to endure it anymore.

What about the senior-junior relationship, the potential ostracization, or the controversy over his character?

Yes, those things could come up. Senior Byung-young’s nagging was definitely severe, but Korea is a strict Confucian country, and there are plenty of people who believe that anything that goes against the principle of respecting elders is unacceptable.

But with that level of skill, he’s a guaranteed first-round pick, regardless of any controversy.

I reached out and tapped his helmeted head.

He’s tall.

I’m not short myself at 181cm [approximately 5’11”], but he seems strangely tall. Is it because of his skill?

No, that’s not it. The height difference isn’t even 10cm [approximately 4 inches], but the shoulder height difference is well over 10cm.

This guy has everything…

Jo Yu-jin’s hand, which was tapping Choi Su-won’s helmet, unconsciously put a little more force into it.

***

Bottom of the 3rd Inning

-Whoosh!!

“Strike! Out!”

The slider went in on a really close course.

Ahn Byung-young clenched his fist after striking out the lead batter. That’s his second strikeout of the game already.

“Ahn Byung-young’s got good stuff today.”

“He’s got a competitive spirit. He must have been grinding his teeth after messing up so badly last game.”

Coach Park nodded.

He was a guy they had really high expectations for when he first entered the school. If his growth hadn’t stopped…

Next up is Pungcheon High’s ninth batter.

He’s about 180cm tall? He’s got a decent build, but there’s still a youthful look on his face. He’s just a freshman. His eyes were full of tension as he looked at Ahn Byung-young, who had only allowed one hit against his seniors today.

“Kim Joo-yeon? 0.200/0.182/0.500? His batting average is decent for a freshman. Two of his hits are doubles and a triple? I saw him playing third base well earlier. How did he end up at Pungcheon High?”

“He didn’t stand out much in middle school, I think. I heard he grew a lot during winter break. Besides, if he had gone to another prestigious high school, he wouldn’t have been able to play as a fixed starting member from his freshman year.”

If you compare the league’s average ERA [Earned Run Average] between middle school and high school leagues last year, the middle school league was 5.19, extremely hitter-friendly. The high school league, on the other hand, was 3.58, extremely pitcher-friendly.

Why is there such a difference? There are several factors, but the biggest one is the bat. In Korea, middle schoolers use aluminum bats, while high schoolers use wooden bats. And the difference is much bigger than you think.

Unlike wooden bats, which require you to hit the baseball accurately with the sweet spot, aluminum bats have a very high repulsion force throughout the bat. Even weak hits can turn into long hits. That’s why it takes a while for a hitter who used to use aluminum bats to switch to wooden bats. It’s not easy for a hitter to play as a starter from their freshman year, unlike a pitcher.

Ahn Byung-young on the mound prepared to pitch.

The best pitch he’s got today is the slider. But it’s not easy for a right-handed pitcher to throw a slider against a left-handed batter.

Then…

Suddenly, Jo Yu-jin remembered the conversation he had with Choi Su-won right before the game today.

‘The best way to handle a guy who just came up to high school is with breaking balls. He’ll never hit the center of the bat if you throw breaking balls. All his hits were off fastballs, right?’

‘Huh? How do you know that, Su-won?’

‘Oh, uh? No. Well, I’m the starting pitcher. I naturally expected to be on the mound, so I did some research in advance.’

‘You did research?’

Jo Yu-jin called for a curveball as the first pitch.

Ahn Byung-young shook his head.

‘Don’t talk nonsense. I’m on a roll after getting a strikeout, why would I throw a curveball against the ninth batter? Don’t waste ball count for no reason.’

His eyes are fierce. I didn’t hear it directly, but it felt like I could hear Ahn Byung-young’s voice in my ear. Actually, no matter how I think about it, throwing a curveball here seems like the answer, but there’s nothing I can do.

Inside low fastball.

Well, his overall speed hasn’t been bad today, so maybe Senior Byung-young is right.

Winding up.

The baseball left his hand.

A slightly inside pitch.

But it was okay. It’s still a fastball close to 130 km/h [approximately 81 mph]. Even if it’s a little inside, it’s still hard for a freshman to hit…

-Clang!!!

The white ball soared high.

Ahn Byung-young’s face twisted. His finger pointing at the ball goes past the second baseman and towards the outfielder in the back.

A close hit.

Is it going over? No, it’s not. It would have been different if it was to the right, but it’s the deepest part of right-center.

The hit ball, cutting through the headwind of Anyangcheon [a river in South Korea], hit the fence.

Pungcheon High’s first base coach waved his arms like crazy.

The batter-runner was fast.

He might have been curious about his own hit ball flying far, but instead of watching it, he ran to first base with all his might as soon as he hit the ball. The outfielder still hadn’t caught the ball when he passed first base.

Triple.

Ahn Byung-young stomped on the mound roughly.

***

I told you to be careful so many times.

As expected, since the pitcher on the mound is a ‘멍게’ (sea squirt) [a Korean slang term for someone naive or clueless], he doesn’t understand.

Kim Joo-yeon.

I knew him well. He’s the guy who won an MVP [Most Valuable Player award] in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] after I advanced to the MLB [Major League Baseball], and then advanced to the majors at the age of thirty. I remember he received a pretty hefty signing bonus thanks to my success in the majors. Of course, he returned after two years because his performance wasn’t good.

Anyway, to have such a naive match against such a hitter.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Besides, just looking at the ‘멍게’ (sea squirt)’s expression, I could see right through him. That guy nagged me last week when I made a perfect defensive play, asking if I couldn’t throw properly. He’s probably blaming someone else right now instead of blaming his own bad pitch.

Maybe he’s blaming the outfield for not making a super catch, or maybe he’s blaming Jo Yu-jin for calling for a weird pitch as the first pitch, disrupting the flow, or some other strange kind of blaming.

Surely a person can’t think like that, right? It doesn’t make sense?

Surprisingly, it makes sense in the ‘멍게’ (sea squirt)’s head.

I don’t know what’s wrong with that guy’s processor, but when there’s a problem, he tries to find even the smallest flaw in someone else. He acts like something terrible will happen if he admits he’s at fault.

Of course, if you ask if that kind of personality is very bad for a starting pitcher, well… If we’re going to talk about that, we can’t help but talk about the summer of 2036. At that time, I…(omitted).

-Boom!!

“Strike!”

Anyway, if you spend a long time in professional sports, you’re bound to meet all sorts of strange guys.

Of course, there are exceptions, but if you think about it, it’s hard for professional athletes to develop proper character in the first place. They only focus on exercising without learning anything else from a young age, and the guys who become pros are all so great that they’re among the best in that group. It means that guys who haven’t learned anything are used to being pampered.

The few decent guys you see are mostly guys who have struggled a bit, not those who have been successful prospects from the start. It seems that people need to suffer to mature.

-Clang!!

Sacrifice fly, 1 run scored.

Look at that ‘멍게’ (sea squirt)’s eyes. He’s glaring as if the left fielder can’t make a laser throw, even though he messed up. Even though he, the pitcher, wouldn’t be able to make a laser throw if he was standing in that position.

Anyway, maybe that extremely self-centered and petty personality is a necessary quality for a starting pitcher in some ways.

As I said before, professional athletes are full of conditions that make it difficult to develop proper character, and among them, starters are even more extreme. Starters have the biggest role in a game. That means the pressure is enormous.

But if you have that petty and annoying personality and blame everything on others, it’s a big help in overcoming that pressure.

Oh, so you’re saying I understand the ‘멍게’ (sea squirt)’s pettiness?

No way.

That’s that, and this is this. Besides, that ‘멍게’ (sea squirt) isn’t just annoying when he’s on the mound, he’s also very annoying in everyday life.

-Clang!!

Ground ball out.

The ‘멍게’ (sea squirt) on the mound roared with fighting spirit as if he had achieved a triple play like the KKK [Ku Klux Klan – likely a hyperbole for emphasis].

And so, now it’s the top of the 4th inning.

-Clang!!

A big single that falls in front of the left fielder on the first pitch.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike! Out!”

-Clang!!!

Another ground ball right to the shortstop, double play.

Five minutes.

Our offensive inning was neatly wrapped up in just eight pitches.

“Ah, damn… He doesn’t give us any time to rest.”

And seeing that, the ‘멍게’ (sea squirt) went back to the mound, boasting a personality worthy of a starting pitcher.

The score is still 2:1.