The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 250

250. Korean Series (15)

[Braves dugout. There’s no hesitation. Automatic intentional walk! He struck him out once in yesterday’s game, but Choi Su-won is still Choi Su-won. That must be it.]

“Tsk······.”

Alexander McDowell clicked his tongue.

He had been watching the games closely since the first game.

“See? That’s why I told you I need to go to the big leagues instead of this small league. This league’s level is too low to contain Swan. At this rate, he will only regress instead of growing.”

“······.”

Choi Kyung-shik was silent.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Alexander McDowell’s rapid speech. He was quite capable, and even if his pronunciation was heavily accented, Choi Kyung-shik’s English skills might have been better than Alexander McDowell’s, who was born and raised in the United States.

So, this silence stemmed from the agony of whether his past decision, when he secretly opposed his son going to a foreign land, was right. And the worry about that nineteen-year-old boy who was said to be too big for Korea to contain.

“Actually, this old man didn’t really like baseball that much. But since his son fell in love with baseball and wanted to become a baseball player, he had no choice but to study baseball to some extent as a father. And in the process of studying baseball, I realized one thing. Perhaps this is a very important principle that can be applied not only to baseball but also to all other sports.”

“What is it?”

“That is, the player who doesn’t get hurt and plays consistently will eventually succeed. Now, it’s going to be hard enough for a nineteen-year-old to play a full season as a professional player, but to do that in a foreign country where the language and culture are different? It’s not like Korea doesn’t have a professional league? I think this was the right choice, even if our Su-won grows up a little later.”

Alexander McDowell paused for a moment.

Of course, regardless of his silence, the game continued. The Marlins were the Marlins, not much different from usual. No, you could say that the Marlins did a pretty good job, considering they scored at least one point with no outs and bases loaded.

“Uncle, I don’t know much about Asian culture. But I know baseball very well. What you’re saying is just right for a player who can aim for the Hall of Fame, moderately. But when you look at me or Swan, do we really look like that kind of player?”

Top of the 2nd inning.

Su-won went back to the mound.

“If Ohtani Shohei had come to the United States two years later, he could have come with a total of about 150 million dollars instead of the minimum wage. I’m sure of it. Anyway, I found out about it while investigating some bullshit clause about international prospects because of Swan. Anyway, Ohtani chose two years over that 150 million dollars. Because he knew how important one year, one year of his career was to a player like him. Oh, of course, Ohtani played in the NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball] for five years? But I don’t think Ohtani would have played in the NPB for that long if the two-way thing had been accepted in the United States. Besides, Ohtani was Superman… Well. When I look at it, the 19-year-old Swan now seems even more amazing than the 21-year-old Ohtani who smashed the NPB?”

Clearly, Su-won was lacking in polish as a pitcher.

He was the first to record a perfect game in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], but that didn’t mean he was the best pitcher in the KBO. There were ups and downs, and his repertoire was lacking.

-Bang!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

But his pitching on the mound now had a ‘power’ that went beyond that.

A fastball that intimidated the batter.

The number 162.1km/h was displayed on the electronic scoreboard. Considering that the current temperature in November was only 16.1 degrees Celsius, it was a hard to believe fastball.

“Yeah, amazing… Amazing… When did he get so big? Gee….”

When did that little kid who couldn’t even turn his body properly grow up like this?

In his eyes, he was a very lacking son. He looked like he had taken all the good things from his runaway wife and himself, so he was very handsome, but he was a bit slow, probably because he inherited his brains from his runaway wife. If only he had a good personality. But his personality happened to be just like Choi Kyung-shik’s, so it was even worse.

Ah, there’s no hope for him. So, he thought that the best role of a father for his son was to make a lot of money and pass it on to him.

But perhaps it would have been a better role for a father to eat with that child one more time, go camping one more time, and play catch one more time?

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

KKK.

It was truly an overwhelming pitching performance with the momentum to relieve all the stress caused by not being able to swing the bat on the mound. The Braves’ batters were helplessly knocked out.

The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th innings followed.

The Braves didn’t score.

What about the Marlins?

······.

Just the usual Marlins.

***

A packed crowd.

The last game of life.

The most glorious stage.

And home.

How many cases can satisfy all of these?

Lee Gyu-man didn’t know. In the first place, considering that the last thing most players remember about mathematics is the four arithmetic operations, Lee Gyu-man could be said to have done well enough just by knowing the word ‘number of cases’.

Noh Hyung-wook eventually failed to surpass Choi Geo-noh in the Korean Series.

He was tormented by that fact during the season, and he pretended to have overcome it to some extent, but in the end, he was tormented again. It was only natural. When you’re around thirty, you feel like you’ve grown up and realized the principles of the world, but you’re just standing upright. That’s all.

And Lee Gyu-man just listened to Noh Hyung-wook’s words as he struggled like that. It was also because there was no advice he could give, but he already knew from experience that sometimes just listening can be a great help to someone.

Lee Gyu-man stepped up to the plate.

Bases loaded.

Yes, it was bases loaded.

Choi Su-won was on first base.

Choi Su-won, who has walked out for the third time today.

Noh Hyung-wook failed to surpass Choi Geo-noh, but will Lee Gyu-man succeed in surpassing Choi Geo-yi?

Lee Gyu-man glanced at the electronic scoreboard.

The score was still 1:0. The Marlins had several good opportunities, but they still hadn’t advanced from the one point they squeezed out in the top of the first inning.

That’s because Jang Yao-xun, the Braves’ starter today, is that kind of pitcher. Getting old is like living with a lot of past. That’s why Lee Gyu-man felt the scent of another person from Jang Yao-xun on the mound.

Taiwanese Special Wang Chien-ming.

Born in 1980. He was a pitcher six years older than him and left a huge mark on the Major League from Taiwan.

He was already a Yankees starting pitcher when Lee Gyu-man was a rookie. At the time, he was such a great pitcher that even during the 2006 and 2009 WBC [World Baseball Classic] and the 2008 Olympics, there was public opinion in Taiwan that Wang Chien-ming should be left to do bigger things in the Major League and that they should play the national team game among themselves.

He first appeared in an international competition in 2013, when his skills had declined.

Lee Gyu-man met Wang Chien-ming there for the first time.

27 years old.

The match between Lee Gyu-man, a hitter who was at the peak of his skills, and Wang Chien-ming, who was 33 years old but hampered by several injuries, ended in Lee Gyu-man’s overwhelming victory. However, apart from Lee Gyu-man winning the match against Wang Chien-ming, Taiwan won the tournament itself, with Korea being eliminated in the first round and Taiwan advancing.

Lee Gyu-man shook his head at the plate.

The old man’s useless reminiscence was too long. Anyway, that Taiwanese Special’s scent was strongly felt from Jang Yao-xun. The funny thing was that the situation was now completely reversed.

A pitcher whose skills have not yet declined.

A hitter who is getting old and ruined by several injuries and is about to retire.

Wang Chien-ming on the mound glanced at first base.

‘No, it’s not Wang Chien-ming. It’s Jang Yao-xun.’

He didn’t pay much attention to Lee Gyu-man.

-Lee Gyu-man home run!! Lee Gyu-man home run!!

The Sajik Stadium was filled with the voices of those cheering for Lee Gyu-man. It was an environment where you couldn’t help but be sentimental.

The pitcher on the mound wound up greatly.

Jang Yao-xun’s pitching had been very good since the second inning, as if the shaky appearance in the top of the first inning was a lie.

Lee Gyu-man knew.

That it would be difficult to get a hit.

Of course, it’s not absolutely impossible.

Anyway, baseball is a sport where you can guarantee about 20% if you play in the same league. Because if you swing in five at-bats, you’ll get a hit at least once.

But strictly speaking, wouldn’t it be difficult to see an old hitter who is about to retire and a pitcher who still has some skills left as being at the same league level? Especially if it’s an old hitter who has already burned all the way to the core with that magnificent last home run in the regular season.

Perhaps Lee Gyu-man’s baseball ended with that championship in the regular season. So, this is just a bonus stage. It’s not much different from wandering around a playground where the sun has set because you’re too sad to go home.

So, it was a choice he could make.

The score is 1:0.

Lee Gyu-man’s right hand slid to the end of the bat.

It was a bunt.

-Tap.

Lee Gyu-man doesn’t bunt. There’s no reason for the KBO’s all-time leader in hits, home runs, and RBIs [Runs Batted In] to bunt. He’s even a slow hitter now. There’s even less reason for a hitter whose hits falling in front of the outfielders turn into ground balls to bunt.

That’s why people didn’t know.

How good Lee Gyu-man was at bunting.

Yes, the guy who’s good at baseball is good at it.

And Lee Gyu-man was once the best baseball player in Korea.

It was a perfect bunt that killed the power of the ball.

-Bang!!

“Out!!”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Lee Gyu-man, who hits a ground ball in front of the right fielder, could have survived with a bunt. But that bunt could have created runners on second and third with two outs instead of a double play with one out and bases loaded.

[Wow, I really couldn’t imagine Lee Gyu-man bunting here.]

[That’s right. Two consecutive bunts before. Manager Kim Dae-cheol is really showing us how to squeeze out baseball properly since the Korean Series started. In fact, this kind of small ball, that is, strategy baseball, is not a popular style these days. Statistically, the return is small compared to the risk. But anyway, if you’ve succeeded to this extent, you have to acknowledge it.]

[Well, bottom of the 6th inning. The Marlins squeezed out one more precious point, and the score is 2:0. They are one step closer to winning the Korean Series.]

People applauded. It wasn’t because Lee Gyu-man chose the extraordinary strategy of bunting at this timing. The reason they applauded Lee Gyu-man’s play was because the end of the greatest hitter the Marlins had produced was very close to what they wanted.

On a boundary line connecting home and first base, a helmet was lying around.

It was a trace of the slowest hitter in the KBO running with all his might instead of jogging leisurely, satisfied that he could squeeze out one point with this instead of hitting into a double play after bunting.

Someone will say that it’s a meaningless waste of energy.

But the reason why the meaningless ball game called baseball can become history beyond records is because these meaningless wastes have moved the hearts of ordinary people.

Why didn’t someone say it?

Romance originally comes from waste.

The Marlins ‘romanced’ the last out count in the bottom of the 6th inning.

And top of the 7th inning, the score is 2:0.

Choi Su-won threw the ball again.

The Braves still didn’t score.