The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 208

208. New Record (4)

[He hit it… he hit it!! Choi Su-won’s second home run of the game!! His 49th home run of the season!! Choi Su-won launches his forty-ninth home run against the Phoenix’s ace, Im Gwang-hyung!!]

[With about a month left in the season, he hits back-to-back home runs in two at-bats!! Wow, it feels like he’s determined to set a new Korean record no matter what.]

─ChoiSuDongWon: I can feel it. He’s on track to break the record of 56 home runs in 133 games.

─96thFloorSkyIsBlue: All this hype just because he hit a multi-homer game, tsk tsk tsk.

─NoHitsJustHomers: It’s not just a multi-homer game. How many multi-homer games has Su-won had this season? But more than that, Su-won seems strangely strong against Im Gwang-hyung. Im Gwang-hyung has given up 17 home runs this season, and 5 of them were hit by Su-won.

─ChoiSuDongWon: It’s not just that our Su-won is strong against Im Gwang-hyung. If you look at it, he hits well against all the ace pitchers in the teams, except for the Griffins.

─SajikYagaDa: That’s because those Griffin guys only throw walks to our Su-won. Ace or whatever. Honestly, they’ve only struck out Su-won once as a team. Cowardly bastards.

─HomerunKingLeeJooHyuk: That’s why Lee Joo-hyuk is hitting the Griffins hard.

─HomeApplianceIsGoldStar: Ah, so Choi Su-won hits home runs better against aces?

─MarinesWin: So, anyone who hasn’t been hit by Choi Su-won isn’t an ace?

─UndevelopedHitter: All this fuss just because Choi Su-won hit a multi-homer… So, according to that logic, Choi Su-won himself, who hasn’t been hit by Choi Su-won, isn’t an ace?

─SajikYagaDa: Ah!! What a paradox!!

The internet communities were naturally in an uproar over Choi Su-won’s multi-homer game. Whether they were favorable to him or not, everyone agreed that he was setting amazing records in real-time.

Some of the more favorable communities were even talking about whether he could surpass the Korean record of 56 home runs and challenge the Asian record of 60.

“See, I told you we should watch all of Su-won’s games, whether it’s a weekday or not. You did well to listen to me, right?”

“Yeah. Wow, I didn’t think he’d really hit a multi-homer here. If this happens, we’ll have to follow him to away games too. Hey, but then we’ll have to get outfield seats from now on, right? To try and catch a home run ball.”

“I don’t know. Will that work?”

“Whether it works or not, we have to try. You need to try to have a chance. Didn’t that home run ball sell for over 100 million won before?”

“Oh, that youngest-ever 300th home run ball was sold for over 100 million won and donated to the Griffins, and the 55th home run ball was auctioned off, but the buyer canceled the purchase, so it wasn’t sold.”

“Really? Then even if he sets a new record, it won’t go up to 100 million won?”

“I don’t know. In Major League Baseball, there are home run balls worth 1 billion or 2 billion won. Maybe Su-won’s last home run ball of the season will be worth hundreds of millions someday?”

“That’s only possible in Major League Baseball. Americans are crazy about sports and spend a lot of money. I saw that it costs six to seven million won per game to sit in a table seat like the one we’re in now.”

“That’s right. The scale of capital is different there. But if you think about it differently, maybe Su-won’s will be worth hundreds of millions later?”

Many people shared similar thoughts to the conversation between the two men who visited the stadium.

No, in fact, it wasn’t that important whether the home run ball was worth hundreds of millions or not. What was more important was that this moment was KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] history. Perhaps, beyond just KBO, it was a very important page in the history of a sport with nearly 150 years of history. To share that very important moment together in the field. That was an emotion that any baseball fan couldn’t help but have.

‘I didn’t think it would happen…’

Im Gwang-hyung groaned.

The famous Greg Maddux also said it. There are hitters who can read the spin of the ball, and hitters who can recognize the type of pitch by the difference in the release point. But if you can vary the speed, you can get any hitter out. Except for that fucking Tony Gwynn.

In the early part of the season, Im Gwang-hyung’s changeup was getting hit a bit by the Marines hitters.

Okay, let’s concede that Choi Su-won is as irregular as that Tony Gwynn. But the other Marines players couldn’t be like that. Then there was only one answer. There was a problem with his form.

Fortunately, the Phoenix’s equipment wasn’t bad.

Anyway, KBO has come a long way. There weren’t as many skilled people as in the majors, but the equipment itself wasn’t far behind MLB [Major League Baseball]. Anyway, after analyzing his pitching form in detail using that equipment, a slight problem was found in the angle of his elbow when throwing the changeup. It seemed like the problem arose because he was trying to throw the ball slower.

And now.

The other Marines hitters couldn’t distinguish his changeup at all anymore.

Except for that damn Choi Su-won.

From 1st base to 2nd base. And past 3rd base to home.

Choi Su-won lightly stepped on home plate.

Bottom of the 4th inning.

0:2.

His teammates all rushed out to celebrate his forty-ninth home run. He had already surpassed Lee Gyu-man’s single-season home run record for the Marines a long time ago. 49 home runs is the 6th highest single-season home run record in KBO history. The 1st and 2nd place are the same person, and the joint 3rd and 5th place are the same person, so now there are only three players in KBO history who have hit more home runs than him.

Lee Jung-hoon approached him with a smirk as he returned to the dugout amidst the enthusiastic cheers of his teammates.

“Hey, what’s up? I heard you fixed something about your elbow with the changeup. Did you find anything else?”

Today, his record was 2 at-bats with no hits, one double play, and one strikeout.

It wasn’t that Lee Jung-hoon’s performance was particularly bad. Kang Ra-on and Lee Gyu-man were the only two players besides Su-won who got a hit against Im Gwang-hyung today.

“No. I couldn’t find any special tells [distinctive movements or habits that betray a pitcher’s intentions].”

“What? So you’re saying you just saw it and hit it?”

“About half of it.”

“The fact that you saw half of Gwang-hyung’s changeup and hit it is already a bit unlucky, but since you’re always unlucky, let’s just skip that. So what’s the other half?”

“I guessed.”

“Guessed? What do you mean?”

“Gwang-hyung is so good at commanding the ball that it comes in really close to the edge. For right-handed hitters, he mixes in two-seamers and changeups on the outside low course, and then throws a fastball inside. And then he throws a surprising slider too. But I saw that his slider wasn’t very good today. So I thought it was either an outside two-seamer or a changeup. I thought it might be an inside fastball, but he showed me two two-seamers in front, so I just guessed it was an outside changeup and waited.”

“What if it was an outside two-seamer or an inside fastball?”

“If it’s an outside two-seamer, I’ll try to make a foul, and if it’s an inside fastball, I’ll strike out or get out with a ground ball. It’s a bit arrogant to think that I’ll definitely hit against a pitcher like Gwang-hyung.”

“It’s also arrogant to think that you’ll definitely hit if the pitch you’re looking for comes in… But you’ve always been arrogant, so let’s just skip that for now. So what about left-handed hitters?”

“I don’t know. But they talk about it in the meeting before the game. They also hand out data.”

“Oh my god… Don’t tell me you read all that?”

“Oh my god is what I say. I’ve heard that many seniors don’t read it, but you didn’t read it either? I heard you got a grade 4 in language, though.”

Lee Jung-hoon quickly backed away with an awkward expression.

It wasn’t that he was particularly lazy. In fact, very few players always read the data from the scouting team that was handed out every day. Apart from the scouting team distinguishing the balls as curves, two-seamers, sinkers, and sliders, most hitters just distinguished the balls as dropping balls, balls going out, and balls coming in, and the pitchers’ patterns were mostly balls coming to the center anyway. It’s rare to see a pitcher who can persistently throw the ball on the borderline even in MLB.

And Choi Su-won chuckled at the sight of Lee Jung-hoon, who had quickly backed away, starting to read the data piled up in one corner.

Well, reading that won’t dramatically change a person. In the first place, if types like Lee Gyu-man, Noh Hyung-wook, or Jjo Yu get confused after reading that, it might be even worse. But for Lee Jung-hoon, it would be better to use his head a little.

The game continued.

Bottom of the 4th inning.

Im Gwang-hyung gave up another hit to Noh Hyung-wook, but he got a double play from Lee Gyu-man. And then he struck out Seo Kyung-joon.

Kwak Jae-young gritted his teeth.

The second at-bat was even more difficult. Like an old pitcher with a reduced speed, he touched on many different changeups, but in reality, the only pitches he could properly use in a real game were the fastball and the slider. The rest were just for show. Of course, like many pitchers in KBO, he also had more than one type of slider. There were two types of sliders: one that moved greatly horizontally and one that dropped greatly vertically. But anyway, a slider is a slider. Now, left-handed hitters were starting to get tough.

The game progressed a little further.

Jo Yu-jin hit Im Gwang-hyung’s ball hard.

And sprinted like crazy. But Oh Min-yeop proved that he wasn’t called one of the league’s top 3 shortstops for nothing.

And then another Phoenix attack.

Now, the third at-bat was beyond difficult. What should I call this? Kwak Jae-young thought. Yes, this is Diablo. The normal, nightmare, and hell difficulties have the same configuration, but the difficulty is incomparable. Kwak Jae-young persevered on the mound with the heart of a gamer who was struggling to challenge the hell difficulty even though the farming wasn’t properly finished in the nightmare difficulty.

5.2 innings, 1 run allowed.

And runners on 1st and 2nd base.

Manager Kim Dae-cheol brought in the winning team.

Bullpen Go Seol-min, who has pitched 64.1 innings so far this season, came to the mound. He is currently the second-most innings pitched among the league’s bullpen, and it was predicted that he would pitch close to 80 innings by the end of the season. It was certain that he would break down someday.

But that wasn’t today.

A clean ground ball with one pitch.

Top of the 6th inning, the Phoenix missed a chance to tie the score.

And bottom of the 6th inning.

The Marines’ attack starts again from number 1.

Im Gwang-hyung came to the mound again.

Kang Ra-on failed to record a hit this time.

He predicted that the outside changeup would only come as a finishing pitch, but the outside course that came in at a 0-1 count was a changeup, not a two-seamer.

Out with a fly ball to the infield on the second pitch.

‘That senior changed his pitching pattern again.’

Next up, number 2 hitter, Lee Jung-hoon.

He perfectly remembered Im Gwang-hyung’s pitching repertoire in the data book.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

Of course, that just means he remembered it.

In the first place, it was never easy to attack a pitcher who only threw balls cleanly on the borderline.

“Ah… That senior. Why doesn’t he have a single mistake when it’s my turn?”

Two hitters were out.

And the number 3 hitter at the plate.

Choi Su-won, who is challenging for 50 home runs this season, came up.