The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 242

The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well – Episode 242 (242/404)

242. The Korean Series (7)

[160.1!! 160.1 kilometers!! Choi Su-won!! He throws a 160.1 km/h fastball to the lead-off hitter in the first inning!!]

[Amazing. Kim Nara, who briefly went into a bunt stance, flinched.]

[Of course, Choi Su-won has recorded a fastball of up to 163.1 kilometers in the middle of the season, but he hasn’t shown many pitches over 160 towards the end of the season. But in the first inning of today’s game, against the lead-off hitter, he throws 160.1 km/h from the very first pitch!! Just like Dillon yesterday, the Marlins’ pitchers seem to have really honed their bodies during the past three weeks of rest. Of course, I’m a little worried that it might be over-paced, but still, today’s game is the Korean Series. It’s much better to over-pace than to have something go wrong in the early stages by starting slow.]

It was indeed a surprise bunt attempt.

Before going back in time [referring to the protagonist’s time travel], I knew it because I used to play for the Braves. Senior Nara often starts with a surprise bunt like this when he feels pressured.

He said he had faith that if he could just get on first base, I would take care of the rest.

Deep in the batter’s box.

Senior Nara, with a shortened bat, waited for my second pitch. It’s quite old-fashioned. It’s a fighting spirit to get on base even if it means getting hit by the ball. Frankly, it’s a difficult stance to show against a pitcher throwing 100 miles [approximately 161 km/h]. The special nature of the Korean Series must have made him like that.

School bully teacher Jo Dong-hyuk wasn’t exactly someone to emulate. But as the saying goes, “if three people are walking, there is one teacher among them,” and even dog poop can be used as medicine… Ah, that’s not it. Anyway, there was something to learn from Jo Dong-hyuk, and that was the attitude he showed me yesterday.

A bold nerve.

A refusal to give in.

The batter stands close to the batter’s box?

What if he gets hit by the ball?

Go ahead and get hit if you can.

I threw the ball with that strong mindset.

High inside course.

The fastest ball.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!”

A 160.4 km/h fastball attacked the zone. It was a pitch so close that the batter flinched. He didn’t dare swing the bat.

[Wow, that’s amazing control. A 160.4 km/h fastball that grazes the border line of the high inside course!! That’s a course you can’t throw unless you’re confident in your control, no, even if you are confident, you need a lot of guts. Especially in an important game like today. Only nineteen years old this year. Choi Su-won. He’s a really great player.]

I was lucky.

But luck is also a skill. Let’s just think of it as the result of extreme concentration.

Anyway, with this, the count is 0-2.

Jo Yu-jin asked me for the third ball. Frankly, it was a bit obvious. But there’s a reason why such an obvious repertoire is used so often.

A curveball with a big drop from a high course.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!! Choi Su-won!! He strikes out Kim Nara, the lead-off hitter for the Braves, with three pitches!!]

[Next up is the second batter, Jang Chan-min.]

Senior Nara and Hyung [older brother/male friend] Chan-min were talking to each other. I was very pleased that their expressions didn’t look good.

Hyung Chan-min’s weakness was very clear.

Fastballs over 155 km/h.

And a changeup linked to that fastball.

A fastball of 158.7 km/h on the high outside course from the first pitch.

Ah, but it slipped a bit from my hand.

Damn it.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!!”

But unexpectedly, the umpire called a strike.

He’s calling that a strike?

It was a call that the batter who sent the ball was naturally surprised by, the catcher who received the ball was a little surprised by, and even I who threw the ball was surprised by.

Frankly, if I were holding a bat and standing in that situation, I would have glared at the umpire. But now I’m wearing a glove and standing on the mound.

Whether Jo Yu-jin’s framing [skillful catching to make pitches appear as strikes] was good or the umpire bet on our team’s victory in today’s Toto [sports betting pool], whatever it was, it wasn’t bad. In fact, isn’t that the charm of baseball?

Hyung Chan-min frowned and straightened his stance.

Second.

Low outside course.

This is a course that Hyung Chan-min likes. But it was quite a bit outside, though not as much as the course he called a strike on earlier. It was truly exquisite. Almost a divine command. If he swings, it’s a ground ball, or a foul even if he’s lucky.

-Thwack!!!

The bat didn’t come out.

But the strike call didn’t come out either. Frankly, it was closer to the zone than the previous high course, but he’s not calling this?

This time I frowned.

No, is that umpire’s zone a trapezoid that’s upside down? The umpire’s zone is like this in an important game like the Korean Series. Korean baseball can’t develop because of umpires like that. Anyway, it’s not for nothing that people say the umpires should all be replaced with AI.

Ball count 1-1.

Anger and annoyance are originally strengths for pitchers like me. I need to show one more fastball and strike him out with a changeup.

Despite the chilly November weather, my shoulder, which I had warmed up nicely, moved exactly as I wanted. I caught the ball with my fingertips very cleanly.

It was a fastball.

I could tell instinctively. This is the fastest ball I’ve thrown today. So, I’ll earn one count with this and then strike him out with the next changeup…

-Clang!!!

The batter’s bat hammered the fastball.

It was the right timing. I was so surprised that I pointed at the direction of the hit without realizing it. But even so, I could tell instinctively. This is a hit.

And as often happened, my intuition was wrong this time too.

Anyway, as far as defense is concerned, my intuition never seems to be right in this Marlins team. A hit that I expected to be a ground ball out or a fly ball out becomes an absurd hit, and a ball that I intuitively felt was a hit often doesn’t escape the outfielder’s glove.

It was Lee Joo-hyuk again.

Simply put, Lee Joo-hyuk did Lee Joo-hyuk again. Not the negative meaning that is often used, but the positive meaning of Lee Joo-hyuk that sometimes comes out.

[Wow, Lee Joo-hyuk’s super play!! That was a really great defense!! He caught that again from there.]

[It can’t be a moment without regret for Jang Chan-min and the Braves. He pulled the 162.4 km/h fastball properly, but…]

I was definitely in good condition today, but strangely, I feel like I’m getting tangled up from the beginning. In the case of Hyung Chan-min, based on before I regressed [referring to the protagonist’s time travel], his batting average against fastballs over 95 miles [approximately 153 km/h] was about 20%? If the opposing pitcher knew how to throw a changeup properly, that batting average was less than 10%. Of course, there weren’t many pitchers in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] who threw such balls, so it was a small sample, but anyway, that was the case. Because he was aware of the changeup of a fastball pitcher, which was originally his weakness, he also had difficulty with fastballs.

So, did he overcome his weakness?

No, that can’t be. This was a weakness that he himself clearly recognized, but it was a weakness that he couldn’t fix until he retired. Even if a butterfly in Beijing flaps its wings and a tornado might form in New York, what great things have I done that that guy suddenly fixes a weakness that he was aware of but couldn’t fix until he retired?

So, this is just luck.

Saying that it’s less than 10% means that it’s still a few percent, so it’s just that a few percent probability happened to be right.

‘Okay, I was just unlucky… No, wait a minute. That’s not it either. Strictly speaking, the probability of Lee Joo-hyuk making a good play here is even lower than that, so I should see this as good luck.’

With a positive mindset, I threw the ball towards the third batter.

I was aiming for the low outside course. The ball was a little off and moved a lot towards the inside, but it still went in low.

-Clang!!!

A high fly ball.

“My ball!!!”

Senior Gyu-man’s mitt lightly caught the ball.

[Out on a fly ball to the infield on the first pitch!! Choi Su-won perfectly shuts down the Braves’ lineup in the first inning and finishes the inning.]

***

“Su-won seems to be in really good condition today?”

“Yeah. Choi Su-won definitely seems to be better when he throws 100-mile balls.”

“That’s because Choi Su-won’s pitching is a bit aggressive despite his monotonous repertoire. It’s a pitching style that overpowers with the force of the ball, so it’s not good if that drops. When he was doing really well in the early to mid-season, he threw fastballs right in the middle a lot.”

“Right. So, back then, there was an article on the internet analyzing why Choi Su-won’s performance was declining, and the top comment was that Choi Su-won was a pitcher who couldn’t be analyzed in the first place, so what nonsense was that.”

Change of attack time [switch from defense to offense].

One of the two people who had been talking about Choi Su-won’s short and impactful pitching suddenly lowered his voice.

“Hey, but that person over there.”

“That person? Who?”

“No, the big foreigner diagonally in front of us.”

“Ah, the foreigner who looks like Alexander McDowell?”

“What? You thought so too? But Alexander McDowell and Choi Su-won are close. Could it really be Alexander McDowell?”

“Hey, talk sense. The World Series is still going on there, why would Alexander McDowell show up? He has to receive the Rookie of the Year award when that’s over. Besides, even if we concede a hundred times and say he came to Korea, then there should be articles and a fuss about it now. Alexander McDowell would naturally have bodyguards around him.”

“Is that so?”

“From the beginning, Alexander McDowell is a attention seeker who uses SNS very diligently. If he came to Korea, he would have posted on SNS that he came to Korea…”

“What? Why?”

“Crazy…”

“No, what is it?”

Oh Gyu-hwan quietly held out his smartphone.

There, over the shoulder of Alexander McDowell, who was making his signature expression, was Choi Su-won, a batter with the number 79 on his back, holding a bat.

“Damn… What is this? Alexander McDowell came to Korea, but why isn’t there a single article on the internet? He even openly posted a picture on his SNS?”

“I guess Korean reporters didn’t follow Alexander McDowell. And they’re busy with the Korean Series and the World Series these days.”

“Is that so? Ah, right. Oh Gyu, didn’t you score over 900 on the TOEIC [Test of English for International Communication]?”

“Yeah, I did. But why… Don’t tell me? Hey, are you crazy? It’s been a long time since I forgot all that. It’s already been 15 years.”

“Still, you’ll have some foundation. It’ll be better than me.”

And so, that day. Oh Gyu-hwan was able to obtain a very rare autographed ball, an official KBO ball with the signature of the National League Rookie of the Year, and 1079 followers on SNS, which originally had only 79 followers.

#AlexanderMcDowell #KoreanSeriesGame2 #MajorLeagueRookieOfTheYearConfirmed #Alexandermcdowell

The game continued.