The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 211

211. New Record (7)

“Long time no see, Director Lee Jin-seung. This is Gong Jae-ho from Korea Daily. How’s life treating you in America?”

“Oh, Team Leader Gong. It’s been a while. American life is hectic, with so much to learn, but it’s rewarding enough to keep me going.”

“You’ve always been amazing, both as a player and now. Turning down the team’s contract extension and going to the States for coaching training… You always did things most people wouldn’t even dream of, and that hasn’t changed since retirement.”

Lee Jin-seung, the legendary KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] hitter, chuckled sheepishly from beyond Gong Jae-ho’s smartphone. Gong Jae-ho is the sports team leader of Korea Daily.

“You flatter me. I think the club offered the extension out of courtesy. Personally, I felt very limited while managing.”

“Wow, making the postseason three years in a row and feeling limited? Lee Jin-seung is truly on a different level as a player and a manager. Besides, you studied baseball like crazy even in Korea.”

“Studying in Korea alone wasn’t enough. Anyway, you didn’t set up this elaborate call just to rehash old stories… This is about Choi Soo-won, isn’t it?”

“Haha, you’re busy, but you’re still keeping up with Korean baseball.”

“Well, how can I not? The internet is full of him. I heard he hit three home runs in one game against Im Gwang-hyung.”

“Yes, and he’s added three more in just five games since then. He already has 53 home runs in 124 games.”

Lee Jin-seung clicked his tongue.

“Wow, he’s definitely going to break the home run record, isn’t he?”

“But aren’t you a bit disappointed? Your record is about to be broken after 24 years.”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But the season has been extended to 144 games, and if it’s going to be broken eventually, I’d rather it be broken cleanly by a Korean player, not a foreign player. Not that I’m racist or anything. But seeing the NPB’s [Nippon Professional Baseball] home run record held by a Dutch player made me wonder if that could happen in Korea too. And the title of most home runs in Asian baseball is a bit much… Anyway, if he’s hitting like this, I hope he breaks [Wladimir] Balentien’s 60 home run record. No, I hope he surpasses Aaron Judge’s 62 home runs and hits 63. That’s what I’m thinking.”

The interview continued for quite a while.

But Gong Jae-ho had already decided on the title of the article.

[Lee Jin-seung: “Choi Soo-won, go for a cool 61, no, 62, even 63!”]

***

A long, long time ago.

Americans used to greet each other with ‘Did DiMaggio get a hit today?’ That was back when baseball was several times more popular than all other sports combined.

And about 100 years later, in the fall of 2027.

In Korea, where the total attendance of all other professional sports combined couldn’t match baseball’s, people were saying this as if it were commonplace.

“Soo-won will hit a home run today, right?”

Even in Gocheok, a bit away from Jamsil where Choi Soo-won’s game was being held.

“Hey, if you’re so curious, you should have gone to Jamsil. Why are you asking about Choi Soo-won’s game at Gocheok?”

“Well, I’ve been a Braves fan for 12 years. I have loyalty…”

“Oh, so the loyal guy is at Gocheok, but watching the Jamsil game on his phone? Honestly, you just couldn’t get a ticket to Jamsil, right?”

“…Tickets were so expensive. The outfield seats were the price of table seats. No matter how curious I am about Choi Soo-won’s home runs, I couldn’t bring myself to pay that much.”

“Good, good. You wouldn’t be able to see the game properly even if you went there. Look at those bug nets. Seriously, bringing bug nets to catch home run balls in the 21st century.”

Like their conversation while watching the Jamsil game on their phones, the outfield of the Marins and Elitz game was full of people with bug nets. No, they were practically large fishing nets.

“Senior Jung-hoon, look at those colorful bug nets in the outfield. I don’t know if they came to watch baseball or catch balls.”

“Ji-woon, that’s nothing. A crazy guy asked if he could buy all the left outfield seats for the games next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.”

“Isn’t that completely insane? Did he really think that was possible? And even if Soo-won breaks the home run record and he gets the ball, the ticket price would be higher than the home run ball’s value.”

“Who knows? I heard someone in America actually did that for a Barry Bonds game.”

“Wow… Did he succeed?”

“No, he was aiming for the 700th home run, but Bonds hit it two weeks earlier, so he failed.”

“Serves him right.”

As numerous as those colorful, large bug nets were, the atmosphere in Jamsil Stadium was generally excited. Like before a festival. Of course, the current number of home runs was 53, so he still needed four more to break the record.

But the overall atmosphere in the outfield was closer to ‘you never know’.

Choi Soo-won had hit 3 home runs in a game against Im Gwang-hyung. And everyone knew that Choi Soo-won was especially strong against ace-level pitchers.

Even recently, as the new record got closer, it was becoming increasingly difficult for opposing teams to intentionally walk him. The more bug nets there were, the more fans wanted only Choi Soo-won’s ‘home run’ rather than the game’s outcome.

Besides, Elitz, today’s opponent, was in 8th place with a chance of making the fall baseball season, but only in the realm of possibility. In fact, it was generally believed that it was almost impossible for them to advance to the fall season. This meant that there was a very high probability that they would face Choi Soo-won head-on.

“Alright, everyone, let’s fight!”

“Fight!!!”

Elitz’s shortstop, Oh Hyung-won, tried to rally everyone, but it was no use. Last month, Ra Chan-myung, who had been the team’s core hitter for a long time, was out for the season due to injury, and Elitz’s atmosphere completely died after a series of losses. Oh Hyung-won was clearly a shortstop who was arguably the best in the league, but he was not yet ready to take over the clubhouse leader position from Ra Chan-myung, who was Elitz itself.

Today’s starting pitcher for the Marins was their second starter, Diego Rodriguez.

He had a successful season with Elitz last year, pitching 141.2 innings with an ERA [Earned Run Average] of 2.87, but failed to re-sign. He was the only player, along with Phoenix, who was allowed to move to the Marins under the initial contract terms.

He had consistently performed above his salary of $850,000 this season, but he had never kept his promise to himself to win against Elitz, which he had made before the season started.

And today was his third chance.

Unless a miracle happened, this was his last chance to compete against Elitz this season.

Diego Rodriguez failed to re-sign last year not only because of the considerable amount of $1 million, but also because there were doubts about his ability to pitch innings, as he had only pitched 141.2 innings in a year.

And in September now.

Diego Rodriguez has pitched 152.1 innings in 26 games so far, successfully erasing those doubts. The Marins’ dugout, which strictly adhered to the rotation, played a big role in his ability to pitch that many innings. But it was also fair to say that Elitz’s impatience was greater, as they expected him to become an inning eater just one year after switching to a starting pitcher, after playing only as a reliever throughout his career.

Facing his last chance, Diego Rodriguez gritted his teeth and threw the ball.

Strikeout, hit. And inducing ground balls using cutters.

“Out!!”

He cleanly blocked Elitz’s attack in the top of the first inning.

And Jake Bohr came up to the mound for Elitz.

He was a fourth-year foreign pitcher, last year’s Choi Dong-won Award winner, and arguably the strongest pitcher in the KBO.

Jake Bohr on the mound threw the ball.

***

-Clang!!!

A fast hit.

The course was pretty good.

But Elitz’s shortstop, Oh Hyung-won, handled the hit more easily than expected.

“Out!!!”

[It was a very good hit, but Oh Hyung-won’s wonderful defense!! In the bottom of the first inning, Elitz quickly accumulates two outs.]

Kang Ra-on, who was retired with a ground ball, returned to the dugout with an annoyed expression. Well, he had a sense of rivalry with Oh Hyung-won, so he wouldn’t be happy with the situation where he stood out.

[Now, bottom of the first inning, two outs, no runners. Choi Soo-won comes to the plate.]

[The response from the spectators in the outfield is really amazing. It’s almost like a festival. Seeing this, I think the flower of baseball is definitely the home run.]

Jake Bohr is now thirty-three years old.

Of course, he was still young. But the fact that his current top speed, which was only 93 miles, was only 93 miles, compared to the top speed of 103 miles when he was drafted 14 years ago, was due to the effects of accumulated injuries. And that effect was closer to being in progress than completed.

147.9km/h

It was the fastest ball he had thrown since August. It’s almost 2km/h slower than his top speed. But even so, his performance was still top-notch in the KBO. No, in some ways, it even got better.

The reason was simple. The speed of the fastball was slowing down, but the speed of another fastball, which is a sinker in my standard and a two-seam in his words, hardly slowed down.

Jake Bohr on the mound glared at me intensely.

So I glared back with the heart of ‘so what’.

[Jake Bohr, first pitch windup!!]

A smooth pitching form.

And two kinds of fastballs and changeups coming out of it.

As I said before, he is a pitcher who throws only three kinds of balls that are all above plus-pitch based on the KBO.

-Clang!!

And those three balls are all below average based on the MLB [Major League Baseball].

The hit went slightly over the fence.

[Center right!! The pushed hit went over the fence!!]

[Ah!! A spectator with a short bug net caught the home run ball!! Is the child with the small bug net next to him his son? The two fathers are very happy.]

[Haha, I know it well because I went to the baseball stadium with my father when I was young, and it is a memory that is hard to forget to come to the baseball stadium with my father at this age and experience this event.]

[Commissioner Lee Joo-hyung said that all he caught was a foul ball?]

[It wasn’t just a foul ball, it was a huge foul home run. It was an event that was memorable enough.]

Season 54.

Only three more to the new record.

Jake Bohr’s eyes were still burning as he looked at me.