The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 236

236. Korean Series (1)

Baseball is, at its heart, a local sport. To illustrate just how local, consider a Major League MVP whose social media following tripled after a strong showing in the World Baseball Classic [WBC, an international tournament]. Furthermore, in Major League Baseball [MLB], with its 30 teams and packed schedule, it’s common for fans to primarily follow their own team. Keeping up with every game is a commitment.

Given this, it’s understandable to ignore happenings in foreign leagues, be they independent or professional. Even if a national baseball show or a hyped prospect mentions it on social media.

However, the number 74 made a significant impact.

“74 home runs? He hit 74 home runs? I vaguely remember hearing about someone breaking 62 recently…”

“He’s hitting multiple home runs like it’s routine. And he only played 114 games out of a 144-game season.”

“Seriously, how weak is that league if he’s hitting 74 home runs in just 114 games?”

“Well, the commentators say it’s a step above Double-A [AA, the second-highest level of minor league baseball in the US], but not quite Triple-A [AAA, the highest level of minor league baseball in the US].”

“Really? Isn’t that similar to the level of leagues in Latin America?”

“The pitching might be worse than AA, sure. But did you know he’s only nineteen?”

“What? Nineteen? So, he’s the same age as that phenom Alexander McDowell from the Mets?”

“Yeah, they say they’re friends. Alexander McDowell is always talking about him on social media, calling him a rival and all.”

“But why isn’t he in the big leagues yet?”

“Something about international prospect rules. Anyway, he’s supposed to come over next year. Teams are throwing money at him.”

“Could our team get him?”

“Well, we didn’t sign Murray last year, so we have some payroll flexibility. If he’s really McDowell-level, we’d have to offer $300 million.”

“Come on, he hasn’t even played in the majors. Not for $300 million.”

“Hey, do you think Alexander McDowell could hit 74 home runs in AA? And he pitched 159 innings as a two-way player?”

“Oh, right, he’s a two-way player. But the pitching in that league is weak, right?”

“That’s true, but it’s also debatable. His ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] is only 0.1 points different from Lim, who played for the Phillies until two years ago.”

“Oh, Lim is playing there now? But Lim is past his prime. He wasn’t great at the end of his time with the Phillies, so being 0.1 higher means his pitching isn’t major league caliber yet.”

“Still, considering he’s nineteen, he definitely has major league talent. Pitching like a league ace in AA at 19.”

As expected, like most fans who primarily follow their own team, they were misinformed about international prospect rules, Choi Su-won’s KBO innings pitched, and his ERA. But that made the attention even more significant. The fact that casual fans were starting to notice Choi Su-won meant his reputation was spreading nationwide, even before he played in the United States.

Of course, not all the talk was positive.

─I watched the games closely, and something felt off. At first, I thought, ‘How can there be so many errors? It doesn’t make sense.’ But I was sure of it in the last inning. They were giving him easy pitches to pad his stats. Anyone who watched that game would agree.

─I saw it too. It was ridiculous. Those players make an average of $100,000 a year. It doesn’t make sense. How can players making $100,000 make those kinds of plays? Right?

─Well, you could see it that way. But even if that’s the case, you can’t dismiss 74 home runs in 516 plate appearances and 364 at-bats.

─If they’re blatantly manipulating plate appearances, how can you be sure they’re not manipulating home runs? I know that league has a history of match-fixing. Isn’t that right?

─That makes sense. 74 home runs is an unbelievable number.

─Hey. I know you’re not the sharpest, but don’t be so obvious about it. If you have fingers, go look up how many home runs were hit in those home run derbies from 10 years ago where they were practically begging them to hit it. Then you’ll shut up. And do you know who Swan hit multiple home runs against in his last game? Lim. Lim, who was second in the Cy Young voting [an award for the best pitchers in MLB].

Perhaps because the final Chikkollasico [likely a rivalry game, needs more context to adapt] of the season was so unbelievable, some people suspected the game was rigged. And given the KBO’s history of two match-fixing scandals in the last 20 years, that claim had some weight.

─Oh my god… Rigged? You guys are misunderstanding. The Marines and Phoenix are always like that. What you saw is just a typical play from the Marines Phoenix highlights this season.

─Don’t talk nonsense. Sure, mistakes happen in baseball. But so many errors in one game? By professional players making over $100,000 on average? Even our high school baseball team doesn’t make so many ridiculous mistakes.

─Why are you guys even arguing about this? Swan is coming to the big leagues next year anyway. We’ll see what happens then.

Korean fans who belatedly learned about the debate on Reddit tried to explain, but unfortunately, the Redditors were too convinced to understand the Marines’ and Phoenix’s bizarre performance.

─Seriously, if you watch other Marines games, you’ll understand.

***

A fairly long break was given after the last game of the season.

Three weeks.

However, the vacation given was only four days. Personally, I thought it would be better to rest a little longer and then start training, but the others didn’t see it that way.

“Okay, everyone, don’t do anything stupid. Just rest at home for four days and come back. This vacation is for you to recover, so don’t do anything weird.”

“Yes!!”

A vacation that was long if you considered it long, and short if you considered it short.

But it was like rain after a drought for the players. Of course, in the KBO, there is a day off every Monday, so it’s not a 7-day work week, but there are often training sessions on those days off, and when away games overlap, the day off is often not a day off.

Well, you get about 3 months of rest after the season, but no matter how you look at it, being a baseball player is definitely not a job with good work-life balance.

“Hey, Choi Su-won, what are you going to do during your vacation?”

“Well? Get a massage, do some conditioning training. Why?”

“I was going to ask if you were going to Seoul, we could go together.”

“Jjoyou, are you going to Seoul?”

“Yeah, it’s a vacation, so I want to see my parents and my kids.”

At that moment, I almost nagged Jjoyou about whether he should be doing that with his performance, but fortunately, I was able to stop myself. People don’t improve just by constantly being pressured. Surprisingly, relaxing for a while and then tightening the reins again might be more effective.

“Okay, don’t be late for your return. And don’t drink alcohol anywhere. If you get caught drinking and someone takes a picture, you could really be torn to shreds.”

“Don’t worry. I’m just going to go home, eat my mom’s food, see my kids, and come back.”

***

Daejeon.

The Phoenix lost to the Marines in the last game of the season. As a result, they finished the regular season in 4th place and failed to advance directly to the semi-playoffs. The blow was huge. They used Im Gwang-hyung as their ace starter and even used their bullpen, but they lost the game.

Naturally, it was the worst possible result for Phoenix fans. But Phoenix fans, as always, didn’t focus on that worst possible result.

“How many years has it been since we made the fall baseball [post-season play]?”

“It was in 2018, so it’s been exactly 10 years.”

“Well, we do make fall baseball every 10 years.”

They celebrated the fact that they had advanced to fall baseball for the first time in 10 years.

-Clang!!!

The KBO’s wild card game is basically very advantageous for the 4th place team. Since the wild card game was created in 2015, the 5th place team has never upset and advanced to the semi-playoffs in 12 years. The reason is that they play both games at home, and even if they tie one of the two games, they advance to the semi-playoffs. If they are upset, it would be a great record in itself.

“Ah…”

[Top of the 7th, one out, Park Dong-seok’s three-run homer!! The score is now 11:4. The Jaguars are leading by 7 points.]

[The Jaguars’ batting lineup is very fierce today.]

[The Jaguars’ pitching and concentration are very good today. They know that today’s game is their last chance. It seems that the Phoenix’s bullpen and fielders used too much energy in the last game.]

It was a truly decisive three-run homer.

Top of the 7th. Fans who had been cheering for the Phoenix, staying in their seats even with the score at 8:4, began to leave one by one.

“No… We can do it. We still have two more chances to attack.”

Park Eun-jin, who had tried to clear her schedule as much as possible to watch the game, but still couldn’t make it to the stadium, screamed while watching TV.

But regardless, the Jaguars added three more points in the 7th, creating a score difference of 14:4, which was impossible to catch up to. And as much as that large score difference, the number of empty seats in Daejeon Phoenix Park gradually increased.

Game 1.

16:5 loss.

But despite that dismal result, the Phoenix fans stubbornly attended the second game the very next day.

Although they lost yesterday’s game, the Phoenix were still more advantageous. Yes, they don’t even have to win the second game. The Phoenix will advance to the semi-playoffs just by tying. There has never been an upset in the 12-year history of the wild card game.

And the promised top of the 7th.

A young fan who visited Phoenix Park shed tears. Park Eun-jin, who was watching the game on TV, also cried so much that her eyes were swollen. Of course, the difference was that the young fan’s tears were of sadness, while Park Eun-jin’s tears were of anger.

They should have remembered.

That Daejeon Phoenix is a team that is responsible for new records in the KBO along with the Marines.

[Seoul Jaguars!! First upset since the start of the wild card game!! Advance to the semi-playoffs!!]

Thus, the post-season continued amidst someone’s tears and someone’s joy.

Just as the Phoenix, who had put all their strength into the 144th game, lost without any strength in the wild card game, the Jaguars, who had put all their strength into the wild card game, were unilaterally defeated 3:0 in the semi-playoffs.

“Will this be a bit advantageous for the Marines?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the Braves went up to the playoffs with almost all their strength preserved. So, whoever goes up to the Korean Series will likely be in tatters.”