The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 295

295. Look Over There (4)

“Wow, our Suwon is pulling a ‘Choi Suwon’ again after a long time.”

“Honey, what does that mean?”

“Look. Four plate appearances, one at-bat, three walks. Doesn’t it seem familiar? When he was in Korea last year, he had over 500 plate appearances and almost 140 walks.”

“Ah… Right. The Marines’ lineup was practically brain-dead, so they always walked Choi Suwon, right?”

“Hey, it wasn’t just because of that. No Hyung-wook hit a few home runs last year, too. And ‘Choi-Geo-noh’ [a portmanteau of the names of three prominent hitters, implying a strong batting order] showed up a few times. Even considering all that, Choi Suwon was so insane that they had to walk him. Honestly, last year, Choi Suwon was a batter you had to walk no matter who was behind him, even Baek Kang-ho.”

Yankee Stadium.

A couple wearing newly bought number 0 jerseys exchanged words. A large, elderly gentleman sitting next to them spoke to the man.

“Are you two from Korea?”

“Yes.”

“A couple?”

“Married. We’re on our honeymoon.”

“Oh, a honeymoon at a Yankees game. That’ll be a great memory.”

“Yeah, I hope so, but the opposing team isn’t helping. It looks like they’re just going to give him another walk and go for the bases-loaded play.”

“If Swann hadn’t been on an 8-game hitting streak since his debut, they might have. But not now.”

“Hey, they already gave him three walks.”

“That’s exactly why they won’t now. They tolerated it twice, and the third time they retaliated with a beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at a batter]. If they do that again here? Even if the damn front office or the tainted coaching staff is leaning that way, the players will never allow it. Besides, baseball isn’t a game where everything is decided in one day. A team that does something that cowardly can’t continue the season in good spirits. If the coaching staff is sane, they can’t possibly do that here.”

The man was quite confident in his English, but the old man’s words were hard to understand from the middle because he was so excited and spoke so fast. But one thing was certain: this old man firmly believed that Choi Suwon would do something here.

─Swann Hit!! Swann Hit!! Swann Hit!!

It wasn’t a chant started by someone from the cheering squad like in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]. But that’s why the roar that filled Yankee Stadium was even more magnificent.

Yankee Stadium’s premium seats.

It was the biggest splurge of the honeymoon expenses. The man prayed.

‘Please, show them what you’ve got. Huh?’

Just like someone proudly talking about watching Michael Jordan’s debut season, how wonderful would it be to say that he was breathing the same air as Choi Suwon at that moment when Choi Suwon was standing alongside 20-year-old Ted Williams far in the future.

Amid the huge chant that filled Yankee Stadium, Choi Suwon, standing at the plate, adjusted his stance.

***

Victor Francois.

A great closer. If you were to pick the greatest closer in history, it would naturally be Mariano Rivera. And Victor Francois has almost the same pitching repertoire as Mariano Rivera.

“Moe’s prime and Victor Francois now? Hmm… Well, Moe was born in ’69 and Victor was born in ’04. That’s a difference of 35 years. And if you look at how much baseball has developed during those 35 years, it’s a really unfair comparison. Back when we played, if a pitcher threw 96 miles per hour, people would say, ‘Wow, you throw really fast.’ 100 miles per hour was a dream speed. But now? You have to throw 100 miles per hour to be called really fast, and you often see pitchers throwing 105, 106 miles per hour. Human genes haven’t changed dramatically in 35 years. What’s changed is the training method.”

That was Andy Pettitte’s answer when the media asked him to compare his teammate Mariano Rivera with Victor Francois. And this answer was essentially conveyed to people as meaning that Victor Francois’s skills were better than Mariano Rivera’s in his prime.

Without historical correction, most past players are inferior to current players in terms of skill. This isn’t a story that demeans them. After all, everyone rides on the shoulders of giants, and the greatness of the giant who lent his shoulders isn’t diminished even if the height of the person riding on those shoulders is lower than the giant.

However, even such great players can’t always be good.

Even Mariano Rivera, who recorded an absurd record of 1.38 ERA [Earned Run Average] in 78.1 innings over 71 games in his prime, had a day when he recorded 5 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits in 0.2 innings.

In my opinion, today’s Victor Francois is the same.

One strikeout and one hit and one walk in 0.2 innings.

That’s enough to attack.

Victor Francois on the mound threw the first pitch.

A low 101 mph fastball.

-Crack!!!

[Choi Suwon!! First pitch swing!!]

It was a cutter that slipped slightly outside.

A batted ball that went far beyond the first base foul line.

[He touched a cutter that was slightly out of the zone, but it didn’t lead to a hit.]

Victor Francois in 2035, whom I experienced before the regression, was also one of the best closers in the league. But if you only consider the power of the ball, I feel like it’s more powerful now.

The reason was simple.

-Crack!!!

A 102.4 mph fastball that dug deep inside.

The mis-hit ball slammed into the fence behind the catcher this time.

Great spin rate.

The ball comes in half a ball higher than I predicted while watching from the on-deck circle. Above all, it’s almost indistinguishable from the cutter. It’s the same form and the same trajectory, but near home plate, some balls come in high, and some go outside. It can’t help but be difficult.

[Ah, foul!! It’s a foul!!]

[Bottom of the 9th. The score is 2:1. Two outs, runners on first and second. And the count is 0-2. Choi Suwon. He’s swinging the bat aggressively, but they’re all leading to fouls.]

[In my opinion, the balls are slightly on or off the border line. I think it would be good to watch a little more. Choi Suwon seems to be swinging the bat too aggressively.]

[I guess it can’t be helped given the situation… Still, I think it would be better for Choi Suwon to play the game a little more calmly and coolly.]

It’s 0-2.

Once we’ve come this far, we should assume there won’t be any more intentional walks. If he’s a moron who’s afraid to throw a strike and gives up a walk instead, he doesn’t deserve to be on the mound at this timing.

Third.

If it’s Victor Francois that I remember, he might throw a decoy here. Yes, Victor Francois in 2034 that I remember. The 29-year-old Victor Francois, that is.

-Crack!!!

A foul ball that flew toward our team’s dugout on first base.

It was a cutter that barely caught the inside of the border line. Even in a situation where the 29-year-old Victor Francois would have taken a break, the 24-year-old young Victor Francois rushes in as is.

Fourth.

It was definitely difficult.

An indistinguishable fastball and cutter.

A fast speed ranging from 102 mph to 104 mph.

Very special movement that is not normal at all.

But.

Fastball, and cutter.

Cutter, and fastball.

The story that there are two choices.

When I think about it with my liberal arts mind, if you keep increasing the number of cases, it’s not much different from saying that the probability of guessing correctly is 50%.

-Crack!!!

He pulled the low-pitched 103.7 mph fastball as is.

‘Ah, is it a bit high?’

But it was okay.

No, it had to be okay.

Because superstars shine brighter in moments like this.

***

[He hit it!! Choi Suwon!! A fast hit!!]

[Left fielder Cameron Jones runs in the direction of the hit!!]

Toronto’s left fielder, Cameron Jones, was a decent corner outfielder. His hitting was okay, his shoulder was great for a left fielder, and his speed was pretty fast. There was a slight sense that his judgment of the batted ball was a little slow, but if he had good judgment of the batted ball in a state where he had all those conditions in the first place, he would have to be a center fielder, not a corner outfielder. Clearly, Cameron Jones was a decent left fielder.

The batted ball that Choi Suwon pulled flew to the left.

It’s the last out.

If he catches it as is, the game is over.

He wasn’t at the level of running out right away just by hearing the sound like some great fielders, but Cameron Jones’s start wasn’t bad. What was bad was something else.

‘Ugh…’

In the bottom of the 7th inning.

The Blue Jays walked Choi Suwon, who was setting a record. It wasn’t an automatic intentional walk, but anyone on the bench could tell it was an intentional walk.

And in the top of the 8th inning, the lead batter was Cameron Jones.

So it was just bad luck. The fact that Cameron Jones was a batter worth retaliating against. And the fact that he happened to be the lead batter.

Cameron Jones willingly endured the beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at a batter].

Thanks to that, his thigh, which was hit by a 94 mph fastball, was bruised so badly that it was almost black, but baseball players are baseball players who continue to play baseball even in such situations.

A slight discomfort caused the distance that would have arrived in less than 5 seconds to take more than 6 seconds. The left outfield. A location with more than ten steps left to the warning track. Thanks to that, the batted ball, which could have been caught without difficulty, was quite precarious.

Give up 1 point safely and go to extra innings?

Try to catch the ball by throwing your body?

It wasn’t a choice that was calculated and chosen with the head.

Cameron Jones threw his body in the direction he was running. Because, based on his long experience, it was a distance where a sliding catch was possible.

Of course, on the premise that his body is intact.

[It fell!! It fell!! Hit!! The runner on second base passes third base and heads home!! In the meantime, the runner on first base also goes to third base!!]

[Third base!! Passes third base!! To home!! To home!!!]

Cameron Jones quickly got up from his seat and picked up the ball rolling over there. And he turned his body half a turn and threw the ball straight home. It wasn’t a laser-like throw like some right fielders, but it was a very strong throw for a left fielder.

Yes, if only his left leg, which was the stepping foot, had been fine, he might have been able to get an out at home.

The direction of the throw was disrupted.

The catcher, who moved three steps to the side to receive the ball, turned around, but Anthony Volpe’s foot was already safely stepping on home plate.

“Safe!!!”

The Blue Jays fans who were watching the game on TV from across the northern border in Canada were spitting blood at Cameron Jones’s absurd defense and throw. They had no way of knowing that his thigh, which had been hit in the bottom of the 7th inning, was not normal.

[Bottom of the 9th, 2:1 situation!! Reverse two-run walk-off timely hit!! Choi Suwon!! Choi Suwon brings the 3rd game of the series!! And with that, he extends his consecutive game hit record since his debut to 9 games.]

[Wow, what is this player? It’s really amazing. No, he hits a walk-off double here.]

[Choi Suwon. With this, he is now tied for 3rd place with Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox in 1939 for the consecutive hit record for debut players under the age of 20.]

Three consecutive wins in the series.

The game is over.

***

─Yankees sweep the series!! 4 consecutive wins!! Overwhelmingly ranked 1st in the division!!

─Questions are pouring in about Choi Suwon’s absence in the 4th game. Is it really necessary for Choi Suwon to rest the day before the game?

─Subway Series Game 1!! Alexander McDowell and Choi Suwon!! The long-standing rivals’ match is set!!

─A match to determine the king of New York!! Who will be the winner?