The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 273

273. The Legend of a Bygone Era? (9)

[Kuroda Hiroki’s Advice Was Great? Choi Su-won Pitches 3 Innings with No Runs Allowed!!]

[Choi Su-won: ‘Advice from a player with a respectable career is always useful, transcending eras. Kuroda is a very excellent mentor.’ ]

[Kuroda Hiroki: ‘Mentor? That’s an overstatement. Actually, I didn’t really give him any advice about pitching. He’s a pitcher with special talent like Greg or Clayton.’ ]

The articles are going crazy again. This time it’s even more intense.

For the record, what I actually said about Kuroda was:

“He gave me some tips while watching my pitching, and I think that was helpful. I definitely think some aspects of experience transcend eras.”

That was it.

Where did the word ‘mentor’ even come from? I imagine Kuroda Hiroki’s interview was similar in tone.

But the real frenzy this time wasn’t just from the Korean or New York media.

[3 Innings, No Runs Allowed!! The Secret Was Tutoring That Transcended the Borders of Japan and Korea? There Are No Borders or Age in Yakyu [Japanese word for Baseball]!! Choi Su-won’s Excellent Pitching, a Late Starter in Dual Position, Further Developed with Kuroda Hiroki’s Appropriate Advice!!]

That’s right. Japan. A country even more obsessed with baseball than Korea.

As of last year, the NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball] had 12 teams, 858 games a year, and a total attendance of about 27 million. This is the second-highest record in the world for any sport, following MLB’s 70 million.

Considering that the KBO [Korea Baseball Organization] has 10 teams and 720 games, and barely exceeds 10 million in a good year, the average attendance is more than double. This phenomenon occurred because the J-League [Japan Professional Football League] collapsed and star players such as Otani Shohei were produced in succession, focusing the attention of the population of 120 million almost entirely on baseball.

Relations between Korea and Japan are, admittedly, not always smooth. This stems from a complex mix of unresolved historical issues and economic competition between an early industrial power and a later one.

But capitalism always finds a way to smooth over even the most complex problems.

“Swan, you’ve received a CF [Commercial Film, i.e., advertisement] offer from Japan. It’s contingent on you doing it with Kuroda.”

“A CF from Japan?”

In the first place, a CF is a means of promoting a company or product’s image. Naturally, they wouldn’t use someone with an unfavorable image as a model. It’s like how we used to use Hong Kong actors in commercials in the 80s, but now we’d never use Chinese child actors. For reference, before my regression, I was a hitter who finished 2nd in MVP voting, but I never received a single CF offer from Japan.

“Yeah, first, they’ll release game footage and AI-edited videos, and then later, when you return to Korea or leave the US, you’ll briefly stop by Japan to participate in events. The specific schedule seems to depend on the negotiation.”

Actually, even if I *had* received one, I probably would have refused. That’s because I don’t particularly like Japan.

“And from now on, you’ll only wear watches from that brand. And if you ever ‘do that’ [pitch a perfect game], you’ll gift them the watch they provide instead of a Rolex.”

“Eh… That’s a bit difficult. Gifting a Japanese watch instead of a Rolex after a perfect game…”

“They’ll provide a high-end line of at least $50,000 or more, with seven watches. And one top-of-the-line watch worth $150,000 or more. And apart from that, the bonus you’ll receive is also negotiable. Currently, their offer is $1.2 million. But I think it’s possible to get around $1.5 million depending on the negotiation.”

“I think Japanese watches aren’t so bad. If I want a Rolex, I can just sell the $150,000 Japanese watch, unopened and brand new, and buy a Rolex myself. Don’t you think?”

It was too good of an offer to refuse. Frankly, isn’t this earning foreign currency rather than being a traitor to the country? Yes, capitalism is originally about overcoming complex emotions from time to time.

“So, we’ll proceed with it?”

“Okay.”

That’s how my first endorsement deal after advancing to the major leagues was decided as luxury watches, not baseball equipment.

***

Everyone has their own circumstances.

The first 71 people.

And the 26 seats that will remain in the end.

Each time luggage disappeared from the locker room, the bustling locker room became a little more comfortable. But that comfort ultimately meant that someone with their own circumstances was disappearing one by one.

“Let’s definitely see each other soon.”

“……”

Oswald Wells.

A red-haired catching prospect with freckles all over his face from the 17th round.

He was demoted to the minor league camp after enduring as many as 29 days in the major league camp for the first time this year.

‘Roughly the fourth option?’

Now there are only two catchers left in the camp.

Oswald Wells became the last catcher to be eliminated. Perhaps he imagined that he would be the last one left. Since there is one dual-position player, there might be 12 pitchers instead of 13, and he imagined that they might use three catchers.

But considering that Jack Chandler, who went down to the minor league camp before him, was actually more skilled than him, the result was obvious. They showed the taste of the major league camp to the talented guy until the end.

“Oswald seems pretty disappointed?”

“I know. It was pretty obvious, to be honest.”

Donald and Josh muttered a word each, watching the guy pack his bags and leave without any special response to my greeting.

“Originally, when it becomes your own business, even obvious things don’t become obvious.”

In fact, that was the same for me.

I didn’t realize that I also needed the advice that I could give to other players without any hesitation until I met Kuroda.

Kershaw at twenty.

Greg Maddux at twenty.

Perhaps the moment I thought of the twenty-year-olds of pitchers who would go down in Major League history as my competitors, my mind became surprisingly comfortable.

Yes, I’m a hitter who deserves to go straight to the Hall of Fame as a hitter, but as a pitcher, I haven’t even properly stepped onto the major league pitching scene yet. Moreover, I’m not even fully adapted to the hard mound and slippery ball, so there was no reason to be too stressed about barely being able to compete for the 5th starter position.

Anyway, I’m a pitcher who throws balls over 100 miles per hour, and even though the average speed of the major leagues has increased, there are only about thirty starting pitchers in the league who record an average speed of 95 miles per hour while playing a full season.

“By the way, are all three of us pitching tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it’s the last away game of the exhibition game.”

Now there are only three exhibition games left.

“Oh, right. Swan, you’re going up as a hitter tomorrow too, right?”

Until now, I had never played as a hitter on the days I pitched. For the past month or so of exhibition games, I had been appropriately adjusting the intervals between pitching and hitting and gradually reducing rest days, and finally, now at the end of the exhibition game, I was able to challenge myself to a true dual position. And this was actually thanks to the pitching performance being quite good since the conversation with Kuroda.

“Yeah, starting pitcher and 4th designated hitter.”

“Huh? Haven’t you been hitting second as a hitter these days?”

Even now that the starting fielders were gradually narrowing down, I was consistently playing as the second hitter. Recently, the atmosphere in the big leagues was shifting from a strong 3rd hitter to an even stronger 2nd hitter, so this was also a batting order that proved that my hitting was currently at the highest level in the Yankees.

“That guy is scheduled to return tomorrow.”

“Ah! Now that you mention it, it’s already been that long.”

***

The away game that will be my last appearance in the exhibition game.

Should I call this a coincidence? Or should I call it fate? The opponent was the Philadelphia Phillies, the first opponent in the exhibition game.

The bus heading to the Phillies’ camp.

Unlike when we went with almost no starting players in the early exhibition games, the three buses were full of starting players. This was thanks to the fact that those who were going down had already been sent down, and only about thirty people remained in the camp. The players who were absent from today’s away game were the team’s one-two punch, Domingo Rodriguez and Gerrit Cole. And Dylan Lee and Andric Nava, who are scheduled to start in tomorrow’s and the day after tomorrow’s games.

As the starter for today’s game, I was entitled to the best seat on the first bus, regardless of seniority or anything else. In the three-row premium bus, the seat with two seats attached. That’s the seat one space in front of the very back. But there was a huge head towering over the best seat I was supposed to sit in.

‘Huh?’

I could tell who it was right away.

How could I not know?

If Anthony Volpe, who the Yankees are currently pushing as their next franchise player, is boarding the bus right behind me, then the franchise that represented the Yankees for the past six years was that man right there.

Aaron Judge.

Until he won the Rookie of the Year award in 2017, the Yankees’ last Rookie of the Year was Derek Jeter in 1996. Also, until he won the MVP in 2022, the Yankees’ last MVP was Mariano Rivera in 2013.

The Yankees’ franchise player was the first to be born since the Core Four [Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada] that the Yankees are so proud of.

And one of the strong reasons why I couldn’t win the MVP in my life before regression.

Frankly, even if that guy hadn’t hit 62 home runs in 2022, my 61st home run in my 34th season would have been evaluated much more greatly. Of course, I didn’t harbor any resentment towards him for that. After all, it was my fault for not setting a new record.

However, that’s that, and this is this.

“Swan!! Wait!! Just a moment!!”

Anthony Volpe, who was following behind me, hurriedly grabbed my sleeve as I was about to walk towards Aaron Judge.

“Why?”

“Swan. I know your personality well. Please bear with it just this once. Huh? I’ll talk to him later.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I already know that you ran into Gerrit.”

“Ran into? Me? When?”

“Hey, seriously. It’s understandable for starting pitchers to be like that, right? But this isn’t it. Aaron’s position in the Yankees is completely different from Gerrit’s.”

Certainly, Gerrit Cole was being ignored a lot compared to his career due to various circumstances. Basically, he was also being overshadowed a bit by Domingo Rodriguez. But Aaron Judge seemed to be exerting overwhelming charisma among the fielders, and even throughout the entire team.

“Oh, come on. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t know!! You’re going to go to Aaron right now and tell him to move, right?”

“Hey, that’s not it.”

“It’s not?”

“Of course. Right now, my heart is filled with pure goodwill to kindly inform the person who found the wrong seat of their mistake.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!! Sit here in my seat today. You know that Aaron didn’t sit there to fight with you either. Would he have thought that a dual-position starting pitcher would ride the fielders’ bus?”

I glanced at Aaron Judge a few spaces behind me.

His appearance of leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and earphones in his ears was a bit unpleasant, but still, even if the starter is absolute, this is an exhibition game, and if it’s a franchise player from a local boy like Aaron Judge, I have to acknowledge what I have to acknowledge.

“A fancy dinner at the best restaurant in New York when we get back to New York.”

“Okay.”

My last appearance in the exhibition game.

I stood on the perfectly groomed mound of Bright House Field.

The opponent was Bryson Stott.

The Phillies’ starting shortstop and a veritable A-class major league hitter who is facing free agency this season.