The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 247

The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well – Episode 247

247. Korean Series (12)

Yes, we won.

But honestly, the process wasn’t smooth. Especially in the top of the 8th, with runners on first and third and only one out, it was nerve-wracking. After scoring a run with a bases-loaded walk after seven scoreless innings, it felt like, ‘Surely we’re not going to blow this, are we?’

But thankfully, Manager Kim Dae-cheol made a bold choice.

He brought in closer Park Jae-hyuk, who was about to become a free agent [a player eligible to sign with any team], a bit earlier than expected. Asking a bullpen pitcher to throw two innings is admittedly tough. But in a tournament, you have to be prepared for that kind of toughness.

Park Jae-hyuk struck out two batters in a row, successfully ending the inning, and then went back to the mound in the 9th to completely shut down the game. The FA [Free Agent] boost was definitely working. Go Seol-min and Tae Ji-wan, who are entering FA next year, don’t seem to have the same determination.

Anyway, bringing in the bullpen in exchange for Choi Min-hyuk and Choi Jin-woong was probably the best choice for the Marines. On the other hand, for the Braves, who probably never expected to meet the Marines in the Korean Series, it was the worst choice.

Park Jae-hyuk, who was their reliable closer at the beginning of the season, was now stopping them in the Korean Series… What must the fans have been thinking?

***

“What the hell is Gong Byeong-jun doing? Seriously, giving away the team’s winning formula to a Korean Series opponent? Considering that Jo Chang-hyuk is going to the US, this year is the last chance to compete for the championship!”

“I told you. These Braves guys have no intention of winning the championship. As long as they make it to the fall baseball season [playoffs], getting a main sponsor is no problem. That’s it. They’re not the type to focus all their power in one year to win the championship and then rebuild. They’ve completely established a style of consistently selling good players and buying promising prospects, somehow managing to make it to the fall baseball season. I guarantee they’ll never win the championship.”

It was definitely a shocking scene.

Game 2 of the series. In the top of the 8th, with a one-run difference and a golden opportunity with runners on first and third and one out, the team’s closer, who they sold off at the beginning of the season, comes out and shuts them down.

In fact, the Braves fans understood the team’s abnormal structure to some extent. Supporting a team that operates without a parent group in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] environment meant that. But even that understanding eventually has a limit.

“I’m boycotting the Braves now.”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“These guys charge high ticket prices every day, and we’ve been too lenient with them selling off players, so they’re crossing the line way too much. Huh? Park Jae-hyuk, Go Seol-min, and Tae Ji-wan are the closer and the core of the winning team, aren’t they? It’s like they sold off the entire bullpen except for the setup man.”

“Hey, but didn’t you praise the trade during the season? You said they brought in a solid battery [pitcher and catcher duo] that we can use for at least six years with players we couldn’t have kept anyway.”

“Because I didn’t know!!! I didn’t know we’d make it to the Korean Series, and that our opponent would be the Marines!! Honestly, who would have imagined that the Marines would make it to the Korean Series after taking Park Jae-hyuk, Go Seol-min, and Tae Ji-wan? Back then, I thought Choi Su-won was just a rookie who would shine briefly at the beginning. Who would have known he’d hit 74 home runs!!”

“But wouldn’t General Manager Gong Byeong-jun feel the same way?”

“Fans can feel that way, but the general manager can’t!!”

“Sigh, okay, okay. But are you really going to boycott the Braves? Then hurry up and sell your tickets. The ticket prices are completely insane right now.”

“Are you crazy? Why would I sell my Korean Series tickets? I have to watch it until the end.”

Of course, regardless of whether the Braves fans were disappointed or not, the Korean Series seats were already sold out, and the outfield reserved seats at Gocheok Dome, which normally sold for 25,000 won [approximately $20 USD], were going for over 100,000 won [approximately $80 USD], making it a huge score for scalpers.

A day of rest between Games 2 and 3.

Even during that short time moving from Busan back to Seoul, a lot happened to the players. Choi Su-won was no exception. He had to recover since he started as a pitcher, and he needed to prepare for Games 3 to 5, which would be held in Seoul. But an even more shocking event awaited him than all of that, and that was the appearance of a visitor from across the Pacific Ocean.

***

“Swan!!”

“Huh? Alex? No way. You actually came? When did you get here? Did you watch today’s game too?”

“Of course!! And not just today’s game. I watched yesterday’s game too.”

“You arrived yesterday? But why didn’t you contact me? Where did you sleep?”

“At a hotel near here. It wasn’t bad. The bidet was good too.”

“Still, weren’t you recognized and had trouble getting around?”

“Well… it seems my recognition in Korea is a bit lower than I thought. No one recognized me. One taxi driver even asked if I was Alex Rodriguez when I signed as Alex.”

Alexander McDowell.

He is definitely the hottest baseball player in the United States right now. If he were in New York, it would be impossible for him to walk around alone. But in Korea? It’s a country where even the star of a Hollywood movie that was released in Korea can ride the subway without being recognized. Well, people might at least look closely at a Hollywood actor and think, ‘Oh, he’s a handsome foreigner.’ But if it’s Alexander McDowell, they’d probably just avoid him, thinking, ‘Oh, he’s a scary foreigner.’

“Yeah, there are definitely fewer MLB [Major League Baseball] fans in Korea.”

“I know. I was expecting a bit more since baseball is the most popular sport in Korea. But it seems a bit much that even the people at the baseball stadium didn’t recognize me. I guess I need to work harder.”

“Well, the people who come here are fans of the KBO, not the MLB. That’s why no one recognized you at all.”

“No, some male couple recognized me, so I signed a baseball and took a picture with them. They seemed to like it. What did they say? They said they wanted to get your autograph on my signed ball later, so I gave them another one. So if you see a male couple asking for your autograph on my signed ball later, give them another one.”

“Really? It’s still not easy to come out in public in Korea. That’s amazing. Anyway, contact me as soon as you come up to Seoul. Did you get a ticket for Gocheok? It won’t be easy.”

Alex nodded.

“Yeah, the tickets here are definitely cheaper. I bought a ticket a few days ago, and it was a pretty good seat for less than $2,000.”

Tickets are definitely much cheaper compared to the major leagues.

For Yankees games, even if it’s not the postseason, if it’s a game against a popular team like Boston during the regular season, premium seats that are similar to the table seats in Korea can easily exceed $1,000, and even in relatively cheap places like Arizona, you’d have to pay $500.

In fact, that $2,000 is probably close to the maximum amount for a scalped ticket because the team that made it to the Korean Series is the Marines and the stadium is Gocheok. The Marines’ Korean Series game was a big event that most people would only see once in their lifetime.

“Korea is cheap, but the US is too expensive. No, come to think of it, that’s not entirely true. Considering the average quality and value of the games, maybe it’s an appropriate price difference?”

“Whoa, Swan. Don’t underestimate your value too much. Your games are worth paying $2,000 for to someone.”

“No, it’s not that I’m underestimating my value too much…”

Game 3.

Diego Rodriguez went up to the mound.

Last year and this year, he had slightly better than average results against the Braves. Considering that the Braves’ lineup is better than average, it’s an unexpected result.

[Korean Series Game 3!! The Marines’ attack in the top of the first inning ends without a hit, and Diego Rodriguez goes up to the mound. Diego Rodriguez, who has been performing well as the second starter throughout the season, is surprisingly making his third appearance in the Korean Series. Before the game, Manager Kim Dae-cheol said that Diego Rodriguez’s record at Gocheok Dome was very good. What do you think, Commissioner Park Dong-sik?]

[I’ve done some research on this. In Diego’s case, he gets a lot of strikeouts, but if you look at it, the ratio of ground balls is also quite good. It’s not surprising since the ball he mainly uses is a cutter that clocks in near 150 km/h [approximately 93 mph].]

[Ah, so you’re saying that he’s a ground ball pitcher, so he has a good record at Gocheok? But as far as I know, it’s the opposite. Is that not right?]

[That’s right. In fact, Gocheok Dome is not a good environment for ground ball pitchers. In the case of artificial turf, the speed of the batted ball inevitably increases. And the story that the speed of the batted ball in the infield increases also means that the probability of a ground ball being connected to a hit increases.]

[Then why does Diego Rodriguez have a good record at Gocheok?]

[I think it’s thanks to Oh Hyung-won, the shortstop of the Elitz, where Diego played last year, and Kang Ra-on, the shortstop of the Marines. It’s possible because the players in charge of the hot corner [third base and shortstop] have some of the best reaction speeds in the league.]

Now, let’s take out a 500 won coin [Korean currency, worth approximately $0.40 USD] from your pocket and flip it.

Assuming this is a very normal, ordinary coin, the probability of getting heads or tails is 1/2. Of course, there is also the astronomical probability of the coin standing on its edge, but let’s just think of it as roughly 1/2.

Since the probability is 1/2, if heads came up this time, will tails definitely come up when you flip the coin again? No. It’s still 1/2. Then, conversely, you flipped it about four times in a row. But only heads keeps coming up. Then is this coin a coin that always comes up heads when you flip it? Well, if this is not a normal coin but a scam coin, that might be the case.

-Clang!!!

[Strong hit!! Kang Ra-on dives, but it’s a little far!! Left fielder Lee Jeong-hoon runs quickly!! But in the meantime, the runner on second goes home!! Bottom of the 1st!! The Braves score the first point.]

Last year and this year, the games that Diego Rodriguez played at Gocheok were good in content and the results were excellent. But the number of games was only four. It’s like flipping a coin four times and getting heads every time.

And Korean Series Game 3.

Manager Kim Dae-cheol believed that the pitcher Diego Rodriguez was a scam coin and threw the coin again, expecting heads once more. But unfortunately, Diego Rodriguez was a very normal, ordinary coin, and this time, tails came up instead of heads.

[The beginning of the counterattack? Korean Series Game 3!! 11:4 Braves win!!]

[2.1 innings, 6 runs. Kim Dae-cheol’s judgment was fast, but too late!!]

[Korean Series Game 4. A match between colleagues who used to eat together? Baek Ha-min vs Choi Min-hyuk!!]

[Why can’t a hitter dominate a game in baseball? Choi Su-won, who hasn’t swung his bat once since the first at-bat of Game 1!!]

[Is it a strategy? Or an evil law that needs to be revised? Choi Su-won, 13 at-bats, 0 hits, 13 walks.]

─100% on-base percentage. What kind of baseball is it where you lose a game even with a hitter who always gets on base!! You motherfucking bastards!!