The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 26

Development (2)

Cheonnam High School is a prestigious school.

While Joongang High School’s baseball team has around thirty members, Cheonnam High School’s baseball team boasts well over forty. This means that at least a dozen players have to watch the game from the stands instead of the dugout each time.

“Don’t you think Hamin is really cool? He’s going up against a batter who’s totally crushing the league, and with the [professional baseball] draft coming up, he’s still starting.”

“Well, I’m a little uncomfortable with him. I don’t know, he’s kind of weird? And it still feels like he’s being stubborn. Honestly, Sangyeop’s performance is on the line too. Wouldn’t it be better to just give this meaningless game to Sangyeop?”

“Hey, is it Hamin’s fault that Sangyeop didn’t meet his quota? Sangyeop started all five games in the second half of the league, but he messed up, so he hasn’t pitched enough innings yet.”

During the previous King of Kings tournament.

Cheonnam High School lost to Gyeonghago 4-3 in the finals.

Baek Hamin, who threw 105 pitches as a pitcher and had one hit as a batter, covered himself with his blanket and cried alone at home that night. It was the second time he had cried this year.

When he was young, his goals in life were grand.

Winning the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] MVP for three consecutive years, advancing to the majors [Major League Baseball in the US], winning the Cy Young [award for best pitcher], and even making it to the Hall of Fame. It was a goal that anyone would laugh at as absurd, and it was.
Friends, and even relatives, dismissed his dreams as nothing more than childish fantasies.

I think he cried then too. He was so angry that his dreams were being ignored.

Then one day?

His homeroom teacher once told him this.

“Hamin, everyone sees the world based on themselves. A great player once said, ‘The petty bourgeoisie laugh at those who challenge.’ Back then, I was young, so that player looked so cool? But as time goes by, most people in the world are petty bourgeoisie [middle class focused on material comfort and security]. A life that most people laugh at is too painful, no matter how great it is. So Hamin, let’s start with what we can see. Let’s show them things that even the petty bourgeoisie can say, ‘Wow, that’s amazing,’ rather than laugh at.”

After that day, Baek Hamin never openly told anyone about his goals.

And like the teacher said, he achieved the goals that were right in front of him one by one. For example, graduating from high school without allowing any home runs, or bringing the King of Kings tournament trophy to school before graduation.

Of course, every time he failed those goals, Baek Hamin would go into his blanket and cry like he did when he was a child, but those cries always made him stronger.

A monster entered the batter’s box.

It was the monster of three consecutive home runs that had completely shattered his goals.

‘He’s gotten bigger.’

The batter’s box felt full.

Where did a guy like that come from? But it’s okay. It’s not like Baek Hamin himself has been slacking off.

He is now eighteen years old. It’s an age where he grows differently every day. In fact, he felt that he had grown significantly during the first half of the King of Kings tournament. And after taking a full five weeks of rest, he fully absorbed the experience he had gained.

Baek Hamin could say for sure.

What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, so I am now one dimension stronger than I was four months ago.

He had already decided on the first pitch.

A slider that goes from inside to outside. It was the ball that made him the MVP pitcher in the last King of Kings tournament. And then immediately following up with a fastball in the same course. Use that to get two strikes, and then a curveball that drops sharply for a swing and a miss, strike three.

He didn’t think about what-ifs.

A perfect image of victory.

Cheonnam High School catcher Kim Bokyun’s eyes, looking at Baek Hamin beyond home plate, are full of trust.

‘That bastard is at it again.’

3 years.

The amount of time they’ve been working together is a whopping 3 years. Now, just by looking at his eyes, he can feel how much he trusts him.

It was different from the sliders he had thrown so far.

He suppressed the rotation of his wrist and put more force into his fingers. Originally, the speed of his slider was around 135km/h. But by eliminating the wasted power in his wrist, the speed increases.

142km/h.

A slider faster than most pitchers in the high school league, even faster than the average fastball in the professional league, sharply pierced the course.

Choi Suwon’s bat followed the course that slightly escaped the zone.

– Thwack!!

Got it.

It’s not a swing and a miss strike, but if it’s a foul, the conclusion is… Huh?

The batted ball stretched out.

It’s definitely a pushed hit.

It’s flying towards first base, not third base.

“Uh…, uh?”

Baek Hamin’s pupils shrank.

Excessive tension. His back is getting wet. No way…? No, right? No way, no matter what…

June, with scorching heat.

Baek Hamin fully experienced what unreasonable talent is.

A home run that barely goes over the fence.

Choi Suwon walked around the ground with his unique jogging-like light steps.

Baek Hamin’s gaze was fixed on him.

Slider, fastball, falling curve. The perfect image he had created was shattered at the start of the game.

***

“It’s a high-speed slider.”

“A high-speed slider?”

“Yes, that’s what they meant when they said the slider had become tricky. The angle is a little small, so I managed to hit it, but the speed is faster than most pitchers’ fastballs.”

Gyuhyuk nodded.

Of course, if he could just listen to an explanation and nod his head and then hit it, Baek Hamin wouldn’t have been the MVP of the King of Kings tournament.

– Clang!!

A mis-hit ball didn’t escape the first baseman’s mitt.

Three up, three down after my solo home run. Baek Hamin is definitely something else.

Sometimes when I see internet debates, there are stories about hits being better than home runs. The story is that it’s better to keep putting pressure on the pitcher with hits in a bases-loaded situation than to hit a grand slam. But from my point of view as a pitcher, the worst thing for a pitcher’s mentality is not a bases-loaded situation, but a home run. If you get hit with a home run, you really get dizzy.

But both in the last game and in today’s game, he must have taken quite a blow to his mentality, but it’s not normal to recover from that and finish the inning. There are quite a few pitchers who throw well. There are few pitchers with good mentality, but there are some. But it’s really hard to find a pitcher who throws well and has a good mentality. That’s why there are so few pitchers in the league who can be called aces. In that sense, Baek Hamin has enough qualities to be an ace. If his shoulder hadn’t been ruined by overwork when he went pro, he probably could have made a name for himself as a much greater pitcher.

Mungae went up to the mound.

Looking at that guy’s face, I suddenly remembered what happened yesterday. That is…

***

“Hey, Ahn Bang, just go and say you’re sorry.”

“Sorry? What do I have to be sorry for?”

Lee Jinwoo sighed deeply.

“You know better than anyone what you have to be sorry for.”

“Ah, forget it. Get lost. Why would I apologize to that Choi Suwon? And if you knew what that bastard said to me, you’d be horrified.”

“Why don’t you have anything to be sorry for? You’re so desperate right now that it’s obvious.”

It’s been almost 10 weeks since Choi Suwon, Jo Gyuhyuk, and Jo Yujin started hanging out together. And although Choi Suwon’s hitting is so absurd that it’s not highlighted, Jo Gyuhyuk and Jo Yujin’s hitting has also improved quite quickly during that time.

But what Lee Jinwoo and Ahn Byeongyeong paid attention to was not their hitting. What they paid attention to was Choi Suwon’s speed, which had become even faster, even though they spent most of their time practicing hitting.

Of course, it was Lee Jinwoo who mainly played in the second half of the league to fill his quota. And because Joongang High School ended most of the games with a cold game [mercy rule] thanks to Choi Suwon and Jo Gyuhyuk’s explosive hitting, they couldn’t see Choi Suwon’s pitching in real games.

But it was undeniable that the power of Choi Suwon’s pitches had become stronger.

Why?

Simply because of his natural talent? But it was too sudden for his speed to increase so quickly. In the end, it means there’s some kind of trick. Of course, whether you can apply that trick even if you know it is still in the realm of talent. But when you’re drowning, you want to grab at straws.

With only a few games left until this year’s draft.

Ahn Byeongyeong was so curious about that trick.

“So just apologize for everything so far and ask him to tell you. Seeing how he treats Gyuhyuk and Jo Yujin, he tells them everything without holding back.”

“Forget it. If you’re so curious, Jinwoo, why don’t you go ask him?”

“Why? You want me to go ask him and tell you?”

“What are you talking about? I’m telling you because you’re more desperate than I am right now.”

“Me? Forget it. Forget it. I’m already screwed. Honestly, if I could have gone to college with my SAT score, I would have given up baseball and taken the SAT a long time ago. I’m doing this now because I can’t do that, but I’m going to go to a sports-related department in college and do something else. Honestly, I don’t have the talent to go pro.”

Ahn Byeongyeong, who was about to refute Jinwoo’s words, swallowed his words in front of his pathetic smile.

Talent.

Yeah, what can you say to a friend who’s talking about that cursed word? Even if you comfort him with sweet words, it’s just an empty lie. The best he can do now is just be silent.

“So stop being so proud and go apologize and ask him to tell you. Who knows? Maybe your speed will increase by 7km/h like Suwon? Then you’ll be throwing 139km/h. Honestly, that’s close enough to 140km/h, and if Ahn Byeongyeong is throwing 140km/h, then you’re definitely going to get drafted.”

“Ah, you son of a bitch…”

140km/h

It’s a speed that someone can throw without even trying, but it’s a dream speed for someone.

If I could throw that fast… Of course, just because you throw 140 doesn’t mean you can definitely go pro. But the pro draft values a player’s potential for growth the most. In that sense, what if your speed suddenly increases at the end of your senior year? Wouldn’t there be a team that would take a chance on you in the lower rounds?

So, after a light practice to prepare for tomorrow’s game, on the way home.

Ahn Byeongyeong quietly approached Choi Suwon.

“Hey, Choi Suwon. I’m sorry for everything so far.”

Mungae’s sudden apology.

Choi Suwon tilted his head at the incomprehensible apology that came out of nowhere. Of course, he didn’t leave any room for the possibility that Mungae had suddenly turned over a new leaf, realized his mistakes, and come to offer a sincere apology.

If he was that kind of guy, he wouldn’t have been able to say that he should throw the ball straight in front of that great defense.

So, the only reaction Choi Suwon could show was this.

“Again, based on the six principles.”

“Huh? What? The six principles?”

“Who, when, where, what, how, why. It’s the basic principle of apology and the common sense of a cultured person. Now, senior. I’ve told you, so try again.”

I had forgotten because it had been quiet for the past few weeks. Choi Suwon is a crazy bastard that he can’t handle.

Ahn Byeongyeong’s face turned red.