The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 266

266. A Legend of a Bygone Era? (2)

‘Ah, now that I think about it, Harper must have been playing for the Phillies around this time.’

The great steroid era of the early 21st century began with Jose Canseco’s autobiography in 2005 and began to wane when Mark McGwire, baseball’s one-time hero, shed tears at a congressional hearing.

Thus, the hitter-friendly, high-scoring Major League Baseball gradually transformed into a pitcher-friendly league. Therefore, those who believed that the greatest joy of baseball lay in ‘explosive home runs’ looked forward to a new era icon who could end this boring period with his own power, not drugs.

And Bryce Harper, the ‘chosen one’ who appeared like a comet, was the man most likely to become the new era icon they had been waiting for.

Overwhelming athletic ability to run 100 meters in approximately 11 seconds.

A strong arm that throws up to 96 miles per hour.

Above all, the long-hitting power to hit a 173-meter (567 feet) home run at the age of 16.

At the time, Bryce Harper was a prospect who shook up the entire American sports scene. Beyond just being inducted into the Hall of Fame, he was evaluated as having the talent to aim for GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).

‘LeBron James is the only player with the ‘qualification’ to challenge Michael Jordan’s throne in basketball, and Bryce Harper can be seen as the LeBron James of baseball. Only he is qualified to challenge the throne of ‘God of Baseball’ Babe Ruth.’

This was the evaluation Bryce Harper received only about 20 years ago. Of course, now that he is thirty-five, wouldn’t Harper himself think that such exaggerated evaluations are a bit embarrassing?

Clearly, Bryce Harper was a great player who had built up achievements worthy of the Hall of Fame, but even at the age of 35, he had not achieved even half of the accomplishments comparable to the ‘God of Baseball,’ as they had said.

Well, in fact, the 42-year-old Bryce Harper I remember did find such evaluations a bit embarrassing.

Yes, before going back in time. In fact, I had a fairly close relationship with Bryce Harper. Of course, not as a player to player. Bryce Harper was born in ’92, making him a whopping 16 years older than me. When I entered the Big League in 2034, he was already 41 years old, having finished his 12-year long-term contract with the Phillies and even completed a 2-year extension.

The connection with Bryce Harper started from a talk show in the winter of 2034, my debut season in the Major League. It’s not the case now, but my batting form at the time was very similar to Bryce Harper’s early form. Well, it’s true that I referred to Bryce Harper’s form a lot when creating my batting form at the time. Anyway, for that reason, the talk show invited Harper, who had already retired, as a surprise guest, and I was able to get some useful advice from him.

In fact, Bryce Harper received some mixed reviews compared to other legends of the same era, but he was a player who had been in professional life 17 years earlier than me. At the time, it was no exaggeration to say that he was a step ahead of me in terms of hitting.

And that relationship continued afterward, and I often met him in the off-season to receive batting lessons. Later, I even coached his son, Kress Harper, in batting.

After Oswald Welt, I was happy to meet another familiar face. No, compared to Oswald Welt, who I only knew by face, he was a person I was really close to, so the joy was incomparably greater.

But being happy is one thing, and the game is another.
.
Bryce Harper, standing at the plate, looked at me with a familiar yet unfamiliar face. Thirty-five years old this year. It wasn’t a young age, but the first time I saw Harper was already in his 40s, and the last time I saw him was in his mid-50s, so he felt really fresh compared to that.

First ball.

A fastball on the outside low corner.

Bryce Harper’s bat, which started to swing, stopped.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!!”

It was an exquisite location.

Bryce Harper frowned and stepped away from the plate for a moment to adjust his helmet. And he came back to the plate, but what should I say? Yes, the intensity had changed.

-I’m going to hit it over.

Overwhelming emotion and will emanating from his whole body.

I was honestly a little surprised.

The Bryce Harper I knew was a great coach, a good father, and a devout religious person. But the man standing at the plate now was like a beast.

Just the first game of spring training. Such an intense expression of emotion against a pitcher who hasn’t even debuted in the Major League yet. The catcher who will receive my ball is visibly overwhelmed by Harper’s momentum just by looking at his back.

‘Let’s throw one more outside.’

I shook my head.

And with a slightly awkward gesture, I conveyed my intention according to the Yankees’ signs.

‘Curveball.’

The catcher’s face slightly lost confidence.

This bastard. He missed a curveball during practice earlier, so he must be worried about catching it in a real game. But whether he does or not, I decided on a curveball for the second pitch.

Second.

A fierce topspin curveball that drops sharply from a high release point.

In fact, the ball that was much more difficult to adapt to than the fastball while adapting to the Big League’s official ball was this curveball.

Well, there are many theories about the curveball, but the theory I learned from Coach Park Kwang-shik of Dongho University is the NPA [Non-linear Pitching Analysis] methodology, but that’s not really important. The important thing here is that the trick to creating a strong topspin is to make the tightly held ball come out upwards.

But the problem here was that the Big League’s official ball was so slippery compared to the KBO’s [Korean Baseball Organization] official ball. As a result, not only was there not enough spin with the same grip, but the sense of the drop I had learned was messed up from the start.

Bryce Harper’s bat chased my curveball.

It’s a curveball that starts from a high release point and falls as if it’s about to hit the ground the moment it enters the catcher’s mitt. Of course, Harper’s posture was messed up.

But surprisingly, even in that posture, his bat barely touched my curve.

-Clack!!

But only up to there.

The batted ball completely deviated from the foul line.

Ball count 0-2.

‘The count is good, so let’s throw one more outside.’

I shook my head once again at the catcher who had been saying to throw it outside since earlier.

‘Curveball.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea?’

‘Curveball.’

‘Trust me once. Your fastball was really amazing today.’

‘Curveball.’

‘No, the batter is Bryce Harper. Showing the same pitch two times in a row is not a good idea. Let’s throw one outside. The first pitch was good.’

‘Curveball.’

Usually, if a pitcher and a catcher disagree, the pitcher wins 8 or 9 times out of 10.

It’s really rare for a catcher to win against a pitcher. It should be considered almost impossible with the same career standing, and it’s only possible when a really experienced catcher faces rookies or relatively agreeable pitchers.

And Josh or Hush, whoever that guy is who’s catching my ball today, wasn’t a catcher with an overwhelming career, and I wasn’t such an agreeable pitcher either, so the result was obvious.

‘Okay, let’s go with one more curveball.’

There is no batter easier to target than a batter who clearly intends to hit. There’s no need to throw a good pitch from the start when the bat is swinging wildly at the breaking ball.

-Throw it. I’ll hit it over.

And Bryce Harper at the plate conveyed his intention very strongly in a non-verbal way.

Third.

Curveball.

Bryce Harper’s body moved.

Presumably, his current skill is comparable to my 34-year-old season before regression. So maybe he noticed that the ball I just threw was a curveball…

‘He noticed.’

His bat stopped.

Despite showing a strong will to hit it and hit it over, he watches the ball until the end and stops the bat. It was truly the skill shown by a Major League MVP contender.

It was exactly what I thought.

-Thwack!!!

“Strike!!! Out!!”

Half swing?

No. No way. Harper’s bat didn’t turn. It’s a check swing.

Clearly, readjusting the curveball in the process of adapting to the Major League ball last winter was a very difficult task. I had to hold the more slippery ball more firmly, and in the process, I had to re-learn the drop of the ball that fell more or less depending on how firmly I held it.

But at some point, I was able to feel that the ball that came out of my hand more easily was somehow more suitable for throwing a ‘curveball’. Or maybe that’s because I use the curveball according to the NPA theory.

When using KBO’s official ball, there was difficulty in making the ball come out of my hand while giving the arm swing at the same speed as the fastball. In the middle of the season, I sometimes added a little rotation to my wrist, unlike the NPA theory. But this slippery MLB official ball made it possible for the ball to come out of my hand simply by swinging like that.

The important thing is the strong grip of the middle finger holding the ball and the contact area of the index finger adjusting the number of rotations.

My second curveball.

The curveball that passes through the strike zone struck out Bryce Harper.

Three-pitch strikeout against a Major League top-class hitter.

Bryce Harper at the plate stepped back with a look full of regret.

The game continued.

I took a curveball-oriented approach to pitching and the result was 2 innings, 3 strikeouts, 1 wild pitch, and no runs allowed. Yes, Ash or Hush, or whatever that similar catcher bastard is. In the end, he missed one ball.

But it was okay.

Although today I was with a catcher who couldn’t properly receive the curveball, he was not the starting catcher or the second option, but probably the third option who I would not see all season.

Yes, this is not the Marines where the starting catcher couldn’t receive my curveball, but the Yankees where Jose Trevino, who has won two Platinum Gloves [award given to the best defensive player in each league], is the starting catcher.

Grapefruit League [spring training games played in Florida].

First away game.

In this game, Bryce Harper recorded 2 hits and 1 home run in 3 at-bats.

And we lost neatly 15:3.

But it was okay.

Anyway, today’s game was the Philadelphia Phillies’ home game and they sent out a large number of starting players, but none of our guys who could be called starting players came out.

Yes, anyway, it was okay.

[Choi Soo-won, who can’t put down the autograph pen until the end despite starting.]

[Major League pitcher Choi Soo-won’s overwhelming debut!! Three-pitch strikeout against Bryce Harper!!]

[Major League MVP 3-time winner Bryce Harper!! Kneels to Choi Soo-won’s curveball.]

[Choi Soo-won’s more mature pitching!! Silences the Major League veteran!!]

That’s how the first away trip ended.

Three players took their luggage out of the Yankees’ clubhouse locker room.

The full-scale spring camp had begun.