The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 197

197. Crisis (3)

Lee Gyu-man sighed softly, watching Choi Soo-won circle the field with one hand raised high. He was filled with two conflicting emotions: frustration and envy.

The last two weeks had been quite difficult for him as well.

The pre-announced home run during the All-Star Game.

The crowd cheered, but that was it.

‘No, I can’t say it was just that…’

Yes, the crowd’s cheers are the biggest thing in professional baseball. After all, professional baseball is ultimately about entertaining those fans. However, the fact that the players are the ones actually playing is also not a negligible factor. And they are also human, and sometimes emotions take precedence over reason.

Choi Soo-won is a pitcher.

Moreover, he’s a pitcher who can throw a whopping 160 km/h fastball from the mound. With a little thought, it wouldn’t be hard to predict the retaliation he would face if he were hit by a beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter’s head].

But that pre-announced home run was so intense that it paralyzed such ‘thinking.’ Moreover, if Lim Gwang-hyung of the Phoenix had been sharpening his knives and planning to throw a retaliatory pitch, Lee Gyu-man might not have had so much trouble handling it. But controlling even the fiery youngsters of the Phoenix, who respected Lim Gwang-hyung, was simply impossible.

That it ended with just the Phoenix and the Blaze was only possible because Lee Gyu-man was a player respected by all teams, with the longest and most illustrious career in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization].

Of course, he didn’t blame Choi Soo-won.

It’s natural for rookies to be full of energy. When Lee Gyu-man was young, if someone in the stands got drunk and cursed at him, he would confront them.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike! Out!”

Noh Hyung-wook struck out.

Noh Hyung-wook’s performance tends to decline in the midsummer months of July and August. This year, he swung his bat fiercely until just before the All-Star Game, so it seemed like he had overcome it, but after the All-Star Game, his batting average plummeted as if by magic. Of course, he wasn’t worried. Noh Hyung-wook is already a top-class hitter in the league with his own routine. Eventually, he’ll find his pace again after September. The most important thing for the Marines, who are already in the lead, was after October.

[Top of the 1st inning, 2-0, two outs, no runners on base. Lee Gyu-man, the 5th batter, steps up to the plate.]

So, how about Lee Gyu-man himself?

Last year, he recorded a batting average of 0.222/0.296/0.418. It was the fifth-highest OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging] on the team. Of course, it was also the worst record since he started playing baseball. Enough to make him decide to retire.

And this season, so far, his record is 0.221/0.278/0.399. It was even worse than last year, when he thought there was no lower he could go. The only thing that hadn’t fallen was his batting average. He managed his body more thoroughly than ever. In fact, even now, in the hottest part of summer, his physical condition was excellent.

Kim Sae-han on the mound wound up.

First pitch.

A course that barely caught the outside edge.

-Thwack!!

“Strike!!!”

He let it go.

Lee Gyu-man couldn’t forget his prime.

He acknowledged that he was getting older, but he couldn’t let go of the perfect version of himself, who was flawless in every aspect except for baserunning. The fact that he could still see the ball and make decent contact helped.

Getting old is a sad thing.

Even a great hitter who has his name etched in almost every batting statistic in the KBO is reduced to below average in the league.

Second pitch.

Similarly, a course that barely caught the edge.

It was a slightly off-center ball.

But like the previous pitch, if it had been Lee Gyu-man in his prime, he could have pulled it and sent it over the fence.

Yes, like Choi Soo-won in the previous at-bat.

But he let it go.

-Thwack!!!

The umpire’s hand didn’t go up.

The count is 1-1.

This season, many players on the team were recording career-high numbers.

It wasn’t strange. The Marines had consistently recorded low rankings, and through that, they had gathered top-level prospects. Given a special opportunity, they could all explode simultaneously. Yes, Choi Soo-won, the greatest talent of all time, could certainly be such a special trigger.

And that was even true for that thirty-one-year-old Noh Hyung-wook.

He may have struck out in the previous at-bat, but his performance so far was definitely a career-high. It wasn’t about uncovering hidden talent. He’s an 11 billion won player at thirty-one. There’s no hidden talent left. Noh Hyung-wook was just running frantically, using that overwhelming sprint as a pacemaker. And that was enough.

So, how about Lee Gyu-man himself?

Third pitch.

A deep inside course.

-Thwack!!!

Lee Gyu-man leaned back sharply.

The count is 2-1.

Does he have something that can be stimulated by Choi Soo-won, a special genius, and used as a catalyst to move forward? Does he have the strength to run steadily, using that overwhelming sprint as a pacemaker?

Fourth pitch.

A slightly centered ball.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!!”

The count is 2-2.

Lee Gyu-man stepped out of the batter’s box for a moment to catch his breath.

The humid air of Daejeon filled his lungs. Even in that short time, his whole body was sticky as if he had entered a wet sauna.

‘No.’

The old man had nothing left to use Choi Soo-won, a special genius, as a catalyst. All of that had already been exhausted and remained in the past as ‘records.’

Also, he no longer had the strength to keep up with the overwhelming sprint that Choi Soo-won was showing. That too had worn out and been exhausted over time, leaving only the empty ‘reputation’ that spoke of how great he had been.

Fifth pitch.

A full course.

-Thwack!!!!!

So he endured.

With the strong feeling that it didn’t matter if he struck out.

The only number that could prove he was still a useful hitter.

Prepared for the batting average of 0.221 to collapse further from there.

[A ball slightly outside the zone!! The umpire’s hand doesn’t go up.]

[The count is 2-3. Full count.]

So, what is left for Lee Gyu-man himself?

The record that tells of the great hitter ‘he’ was in the past.

The overwhelming reputation that record creates.

So, is that all that’s left for him?

Sixth pitch.

The pitcher on the mound gripped the ball.

Full count.

In the past, pitchers who faced Lee Gyu-man didn’t consider it shameful to avoid him in such counts.

Yes, just like it’s okay not to be ashamed of giving a walk to a monster like Choi Soo-won.

But what about the pitchers who face Lee Gyu-man now?

In 2027, when the average fastball speed in the league exceeds 147 km/h.

Kim Sae-han, a starting pitcher who can throw a maximum of 151 km/h fastball, threw the ball with all his might.

A 149.7 km/h fastball.

If you divide the zone into four parts, it’s a low outside course.

But somewhere closer to the center of it.

He abandoned the contact that could hit any ball coming in.

He also abandoned the idea of defining his identity as a gap hitter rather than a home run hitter.

He abandoned his obsession with that great record and reputation.

And in the empty space where all that greatness had disappeared, what remained was a pitiful old franchise player who had never won a championship in his 23-year career.

Clearly, Lee Gyu-man no longer had the talent or the overwhelming power that talent creates.

All that was left for him was the base desire to experience a championship, even if it meant riding on the back of a genius who was sprinting towards the goal of winning without looking back.

He narrowed the zone.

He had long since abandoned the past glory of hitting balls outside the strike zone. And he abandoned one more thing there. It was the pride of being able to give up even balls that came into the zone.

Narrowing and narrowing, he narrowed the small zone to the size of a person’s head.

He swung his bat at the ball that grazed somewhere in that small zone. It was an old hitter’s struggle to not let go of the hand holding onto the end of the championship train.

-Clack!!!

[He hit it!! Right fielder Carlos Edwin runs quickly!!]

It was a little low.

It wasn’t the desired hit.

But Lee Gyu-man didn’t give up. He was famous for ground balls to the right fielder, but not all hits to the right fielder become ground balls.

Even though the Griffins’ right fielder today was a well-known foreign mercenary with excellent defense, and the first baseman was Chae Chang-sik, who was known as a catching ghost.

He ran towards first base with all his might.

He was slow.

Very slow.

He was slow to begin with, but his damaged knees, the result of injuries accumulated over the course of setting so many records, made his slow feet even slower.

The mercenary from South America cleanly caught the one-bounce ball in the same posture as he was running out. There was no hesitation in his movements. The expression ‘fluid’ is fitting.

Three steps.

The speed of his run was added to the ball that was pulled out of his glove.

A lightning-fast throw.

First baseman Chae Chang-sik caught the ball very smoothly.

-Thwack!!!!

His whole body was soaked with sweat from the short 27.432-meter run. But what was more important than that now was the result of that short sprint.

“Safe!!!”

It was a close call.

A single that he barely managed to make on a hit that others would have easily made, and that Lee Joo-hyuk or Jo Yoo-jin would have easily scored from second base.

Lee Gyu-man raised his clenched fist high.

It was similar to Choi Soo-won’s home run ceremony, but no one found the ceremony unpleasant. It was respect for something that Lee Gyu-man had achieved by exchanging everything he had.

Bottom of the 1st inning.

The Marines’ attack ended with one runner left on base without adding any additional points.

***

“Alright, let’s shut them down cleanly!!”

The 42-year-old veteran, drenched in sweat, shouted loudly.

In fact, as Seo Kyung-joon, who came up to bat right after Gyu-man, was retired with an infield fly, Gyu-man’s sprint was, in the end, meaningless.

“Come on, fighting!!!”

But who could say that the sprint was meaningless? On the last day of July, when it was hot, humid, and the discomfort index seemed to be breaking through the ceiling.

Not one of the teammates leaving the dugout frowned.

I guarantee that Gyu-man will have a hard time becoming a good coach or a good manager. He was just good at playing baseball and wasn’t the type to study hard. So, it was a bit awkward to give his juniors any tips about baseball.

But not all veterans need to pass on their ‘experience’ to their juniors.

Sometimes, a veteran who has built up a legendary career can fulfill his role just by rolling around on the ground. Now, all that’s left is for me to make this burning atmosphere even more intense.

“Ah, but seriously, isn’t the weather just too damn dirty?”

38.1 degrees Celsius.

Humidity is 72%.

I went up to the mound in the crazy heat.