The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 22

22. I Was Always Special (3)

“Oh my god.”

Exactly two days after submitting the report to his boss, Benjamin was in disbelief. “What the hell is this nonsense?”

Goldenlion Flag Tournament

From what he understood, the Golden Lion Flag was a prestigious tournament where all high school baseball teams in Korea were divided into 11 regions for league matches. The winners then competed to determine the true champion of high school baseball.

He’d also heard that the tournament was massive, with almost 48 high schools participating. So, he naturally assumed they would gather all the teams up to 4th place in the league and give seeds to the top team in each district or the previous year’s champion.

“What did you just say? Why isn’t Joongang High School participating in the tournament?”

“Ah, Benjamin. I think I explained it once before, but you weren’t listening properly.”

The speaker had a thick Australian accent.

“Tournament participation is fixed for the winning team of the first-half league. The remaining spots alternate between the 2nd, 4th, and 6th places or the 3rd, 5th, and 7th places in each district. So, Joongang High School is scheduled to participate in the King of Kings tournament in the second half as the 2nd place team in the district this time.”

“······.”

*I’m screwed.*

Just two days ago, he’d confidently told his boss that he would thoroughly examine and report on the King of Kings tournament… Three weeks since arriving in Korea, and after watching Choi Soo-won’s games three times, Benjamin had yet to properly observe Choi Soo-won’s batting.

***

It’s already been almost two months since I returned to this era.

And in the meantime, many things have changed compared to the original timeline.

The first change was the outcome of the games.

Originally, we win the game against Cheonnam High School and take first place in the first half of the region. Thanks to that, I had an absurd schedule of throwing 300 pitches each for a week in both the first half and second half King of Kings tournaments.

But in the first game against Cheonnam High School after I returned.

In that game where I was supposed to pitch well with 2 runs allowed in 7 innings and Mungae was supposed to barely hold on for 2 innings, that Mungae bastard committed a huge arson [baseball term for giving up a lot of runs], and we ended up losing by a 7-inning mercy rule [a rule that ends a game early when one team has a large lead].

And thanks to that, history changed. Cheonnam High School took first place in the region with an undefeated record. We took second place in the region with 5 wins and 1 loss. As a result, we did not qualify for the first half King of Kings tournament.

Thus, from the end of May to the beginning of June.

A full 3 weeks.

A long and massive break began.

Of course, that massive break wasn’t about days I could spend as I pleased, like the off-season in professional baseball.

I still woke up at 6 AM to go to school, trained, fought against drowsiness during classes, and devoted myself to training again after classes.

Yes, the second change I can point out is my body.

Before returning to this time.

At the age of 35, I was 193.1cm tall and weighed 120kg, possessing a tremendous physique that I feel sorry to compare to this skinny body. To exaggerate a bit, it was like a body that experts meticulously managed every muscle fiber.

But at this time, I couldn’t even imagine such a body.

Still, it wasn’t to the extent that people were saying that baseball players would ruin themselves if they did strength training like 10 years ago, but opinions were still divided regarding strength training for pitchers, so I was a pitcher who focused on running in a very old-school way.

But now it was a little different.

“Alright, let’s do one more.”

-Ugh.

The salaries I paid to the physical therapists I hired before regression were close to half a million dollars a year. It was the dignity of a player receiving an average annual salary of 30 million dollars.

And compared to that, Senior Gyu-hyeok, who is next to me encouraging me now, is an amateur himself. Basically, the types of exercises were a bit old-fashioned, and the knowledge related to training was more bodybuilding-oriented, so there were many parts that didn’t suit baseball players. But in one aspect, he was as ghostly as those experts.

“Alright, done!! That’s it.”

That was the point that he pinpointed my limits incredibly accurately. His ability to push me to the limit without breaking my body is extraordinary.

“Good job.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Sweat literally poured out of my entire body like rain.

Moreover, there was another good thing about exercising with Senior Gyu-hyeok, and that was because the place where I exercised was the weight room used by the baseball team.

It’s the same everywhere, but originally these facilities are used in order of seniority.

It’s true, if someone who doesn’t know hears this, they might say it’s some dogshit outdated practice, but it’s not just our Joongang High School that’s like this. Even if you go pro, even if you go to the majors, it’s the same. It’s just that the competition is less intense because the facilities are a bit more abundant. Even in the majors, veterans get massages first, veterans can come out to training slowly, and even airplane seats and locker room spots with good locations are assigned to veterans first.

In fact, when you think about it, it’s natural. What’s different about other professions? My ex-wife said that the entertainment industry is worse than us, and salarymen also receive preferential treatment as they gain seniority.

The only difference is that in the majors, you get treated regardless of seniority if you have ‘skill’, but in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], that’s a bit less, and in high school, that’s very, very, very less.

But since I started exercising with Senior Gyu-hyeok, I’ve been completely free from that.

Senior Gyu-hyeok is a third-year and the team’s cleanup hitter [the batter who bats fourth in the lineup, typically a power hitter], and as you can see from his body, he was the master of the weight room. Who could possibly object to Senior Gyu-hyeok picking me as his workout partner?

“But Soo-won, you seem to have gotten a little bigger?”

“Really? I don’t think my height has changed.”

“No, not your height. Your thighs. Did you gain some weight?”

“Ah, if it’s that, it’s probably because I’m packing three lunch boxes as Senior advised. I gained about 2kg.”

Insane amount of exercise.

The calories I burn in a day must be at least 3,000 to 4,000 Kcal. That’s almost twice the consumption of an average person. In that situation, gaining weight is absolutely not easy.

But I did that difficult thing.

“Really? You’ve only gained 2kg so far?”

But it seems like even this is nothing to this monster who is 179cm tall and weighs 101kg.

Anyway, I was gradually building my body day by day, dripping waterfalls of sweat.

And the last third.

-Clang!!

A cool hit made the net of the stadium flutter.

It wasn’t just simple tee batting. Live batting against pitchers. Jo Yu-jin, who was wearing a catcher’s mask, whispered.

“Hey, stop killing the kids’ spirits and take it easy.”

“If they’re going to lose their spirits with this much, they shouldn’t be pitchers. Look at Mungae over there… I mean, Senior Byeong-yeong.”

“No, that guy is… Sigh. Anyway, do it moderately. Chan-hyeok is going to cry.”

Each pitcher faced four batters, and Mungae was definitely better than the other pitchers. Of course, if you’re just talking about the ball, Lee Chan-hyeok, who threw the ball from the mound now, was much better. A fastball that reaches up to 138 km/h is fast enough to be called a fastball at the high school level, and the slider that barely leaves the zone is useful as a decoy.

But the difference between the two was clear when you looked at their reactions after being hit hard on the first pitch, resulting in a hit that went straight to the fence. Lee Chan-hyeok, who repeatedly pitched to escape, losing confidence, and Mungae, who still stubbornly showed his teeth. Just like you have to buy a lottery ticket to win the first prize, you have to throw a strike to play baseball. A pitcher who can’t throw a strike can’t do anything.

All six pitchers’ sessions were over.

But there was still one pitcher left on the team.

That’s me.

I put down my helmet and bat and picked up my baseball cap and glove.

My body was already warmed up enough.

I went straight up to the practice mound.

Before returning to this time, I had a monstrous physique of 193.1cm and 120kg. It was a body that could stand shoulder to shoulder with decent NFL linebackers.

Even this frail body of 189cm and 84kg had an advantage that was no less than that monstrous body, and that was that this body was only eighteen years old.

It was much more flexible, and the recovery speed was incomparable to that of thirty-five years old.

And that also meant that there was room for ‘growth’.

I lightly threw the ball from the mound.

-Bang!!

The rotation of my shoulder was smooth. The movement of my center of gravity was natural, and there was power in the fingertips that caught the last ball.

I knew the limit I could reach when I focused on hitting.

It’s a hitting potential that can challenge the history of baseball.

But I didn’t know yet where the limit I could reach when I focused on pitching was.

-Bang!!

Was it thanks to the intense exercise for the past two months? My thighs felt much firmer, and there was no breakdown in the waist that supported them. With this, I felt like I could widen my stride a little more and catch the ball a little harder.

-Whoosh!!!!

Was it because I was too focused on myself? I realized it only when the batter at the plate swung his bat. That this was live pitching.

Three strikes and out.

Jo Yu-jin, who received the ball, raised his thumb towards me.

Senior Gyu-hyeok came to the plate.

Again, he has a truly massive physique.

-Whoosh!!

And the bat speed coming from that massive physique is amazing. That’s why he sends the ball to the fence even with a bad hit.

First, I have to aim for the strike zone.

Looking at my condition today, if I aim for the strike zone, it hits the strike zone most of the time.

-Bang!!

Jo Yu-jin caught my ball lightly.

Come to think of it, I keep teasing that guy for not being able to hit, but even just looking at this catch, he has the talent to go pro.

I’m not measuring it with a speed gun right now, so I can’t know exactly, but the perceived speed seems to be 150 km/h, and he catches this ball, which I don’t even know where it’s going, really stably.

This belief that the catcher will never drop the ball I throw. What could be more reassuring to a pitcher than this?

Second.

-Thwack!!

Senior Gyu-hyeok’s bat hit my ball.

Of course, it wasn’t a properly hit ball. The bat was clearly late. But thanks to his tremendous power, the ball flies over the foul line on the first base side to the net.

Senior Gyu-hyeok looked at the ball with a disappointed expression.

And third.

Thanks to the manager cherishing my shoulder much more than I thought, unlike other pitchers, I was only going to face two batters today.

Senior Gyu-hyeok, who is at the plate now, was the last.

In fact, even the balls I’ve thrown so far were very good.

But there was one ball I wanted to try.

I slightly moved the foot that wasn’t on the pitching plate back and raised both arms high. I raised the foot that had been moved back high and pulled my body back greatly as if drawing a bow.

And I made a slight change in this part.

If our pitching coach had a keen eye, he would have noticed that my pitching had changed a little here. But fortunately, our pitching coach didn’t have that much of an eye.

I boldly moved my body forward without stopping for a moment at the maximum point of raising my legs.

I had originally been taught that I had to pause here for a moment. But the theory of the pitchers who threw 100-mile balls in the majors was a little different. Of course, there were many other differences besides this, but this was the only thing I could safely try right now.

A bold stride with no waste of energy.

Almost simultaneously, I pulled out the hand I had put in my glove and vigorously raised it behind my head.

The enormous power created by the advance is transmitted to the arm through the rotation of the upper body.

And my right arm, which was holding the ball with the sensation of whipping a whip, cut through the air. The feeling was a little different than usual. And even in that different feeling, I tried my best to accurately throw the ball from the same position where I usually released the ball.

And at that moment

-Boom!!!

Of course, in reality, such a cannon sound didn’t explode just because I threw the ball. But that’s how I felt. Yes, if the balls I’ve thrown so far were rifles, this is a cannon.

-Boom!!!

And a huge catching sound that couldn’t even be compared to what I’ve heard so far rang out.

Of course, Senior Gyu-hyeok didn’t even dare to try to hit this ball. No, maybe even Barry Bonds wouldn’t be able to hit this ball.

“Hey······, Choi Soo-won.”

“I’m sorry!!”

Because there is no batter in the world who can hit a ball flying towards his head.

I quickly bowed my head to Senior Gyu-hyeok.

It seems like I need to practice a little more to get control of this.

***

Manager Kim visited Joongang High School’s practice again today.

Of course, the draft is determined by the team’s ranking this season, and if Choi Soo-won continues to perform like this, he’s almost guaranteed to be the overall number 1 pick next year, but he couldn’t neglect building a relationship with him.

The reason was simple.

The draft order is determined by the team’s performance, but it is Choi Soo-won who decides whether to participate in the draft.

*That bastard is here again······.*

Recent game.

A consistently visible brown-haired foreigner.

And even a foreigner who looks like he’s from NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest level of baseball in Japan].

Choi Soo-won hit well again today.

Although the level of the pitcher was very low, so I was very curious about what would happen if he met a real pro, he hit very well anyway.

And······.

-Boom!!!

Ah, of course, this cannon sound didn’t explode in reality.

But Manager Kim saw it.