The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 305

305. Look Over There (14)

[Following a triple, he gets a single. Am I the only one getting a ‘hit for the cycle’ vibe here?]

[Of course not. Actually, when it comes to a hit for the cycle, the hardest part is the triple. But when someone gets it right off the bat in their first at-bat, you naturally start to expect it.]

[Sometimes, you see people asking what the point of a cycle is. Wouldn’t two home runs and two extra-base hits be more meaningful? And yeah, they have a point. That’s more valuable for a win. But we don’t just think about nutrition when we eat, do we? We look at the color, the shape, we smell it. It’s all part of the experience.]

[Exactly. Pro sports needs that romance. And I think the hit for the cycle has that.]

[Anyway, this hit for the cycle is a pretty rare feat, so I hope Choi Su-won can add another record to his name today, having already gotten a triple and a single.]

[I think it’s definitely possible. Choi Su-won is a man of records, isn’t he? He always seized opportunities when he played in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]. So, a cycle? I think he’ll definitely do it today.]

“Domingo.”

“Huh?”

“Why do you dislike Cole so much?”

Defensive inning.

I asked Domingo, who was sitting next to me in the dugout, making small talk.

“Me? I don’t know. You should ask Gerrit Cole that. I don’t particularly dislike him. He just hates me for no reason and acts like a jerk, so I’m just returning the favor.”

“Ah, so you’re the type to create a reason for someone to dislike you if they hate you for no reason?”

“You could say that. But why? Are you hoping we’ll reconcile and become best buddies, and our team chemistry will explode, leading us to a ‘We Are the World’ World Series win?”

“Are you plotting some Hollywood movie in your head? Why so detailed? Don’t tell me you’re actually still bickering with him because of that…”

“No way!!”

Domingo said there was no reason for Gerrit Cole to dislike him, but I could think of plenty. There could be jealousy, a power struggle. And after talking to him, it seemed like Domingo knew it too.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike! Out!!”

Gerrit Cole’s sixth strikeout of the game.

“Is it because he’s a free agent next year? His pitches are definitely good. But if he pitches a shutout today, won’t our ERAs [Earned Run Averages] be almost the same?”

Domingo muttered in Spanish. I understood everything, but I didn’t bother to join in his monologue.

Well, how can everyone get along when 26 people are living together? It’s unrealistic, thinking back to my school days. Some people are awkward with each other, and some are close. And the top one or two compete with each other. It just shouldn’t get too out of hand. In my experience, the worst teams are the ones where everyone is laughing and joking, heading towards last place together.

The game continued.

***

Top of the 5th inning.

Two outs, runner on first.

“Ugh!! Why does Choi’s at-bat keep coming up at times like this?”

“Why? What’s wrong? Runner on first is good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but his at-bat keeps coming up with two outs. Even if Choi gets a hit here, Tyler Wade is just going to swing wildly after him. How are we going to score?”

“Then he just needs to hit an extra-base hit…”

“Anthony Volpe just struck out, and José Treviño, who’s on first, doesn’t have the speed to score from second.”

Two hours away from Boston.

Yankees fans gathered in a New York pub, frustrated by the lack of additional runs.

“The best thing would be for that number 0 to just knock it over the fence.”

“How many home runs does he have now, five?”

“No, seven. He hit multiple home runs in the game against the Mets the other day.”

“Oh!! Right. He hit multiple home runs the day Alex hit three home runs, didn’t he? I remember.”

“What? Are you switching to the Mets? You forgot our player hit multiple home runs, but you remember Alexander hitting three?”

“No, that was all over the news, so you couldn’t miss it. But I know that Swan guy has a hit streak of 11 games. What was it? They said it’s the third-longest streak ever for a rookie starting from their debut? Baseball really counts everything. But it’s still not even 20% of Joe DiMaggio’s record, is it?”

-Crack!!!

[Choi Su-won pulls the fourth pitch!!! Towards the left field wall!! Towards the left field wall!!!]

“Oh!!!”

“It’s going over!! Get over it!! Yes!!!!!”

“Yeah!! Break that damn Shrek’s head open!!”

[It’s gone!! Two-run home run!! His eighth of the season!! Choi Su-won hits his eighth home run in just 11 games!!]

[The score is now 3-0. The Yankees extend their lead by two more runs.]

“Yes!!!”

“See!! What did I tell you!! That number 0. I said he’d do something, didn’t I? I said he’d hit it over the fence!!”

The pub instantly erupted in excitement.

Yankees fans watching the game downed their beers.

[Wow, Choi Su-won is really on fire today. His batting average briefly dipped below .500, but he’s back to hitting consecutive blasts.]

[So, with that, his slash line is… Holy… No, this is absurd. 0.543/0.600/1.400. His OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging] is back up to 2.0.]

[With April already more than 60% over, an OPS of 2.0 is just insane.]

“Yeah, who counts home runs these days? OPS. It’s so scientific. Alexander McDowell. He probably doesn’t even have 1.5, let alone 2.0. So our Swan guy is several times better?”

“What does that matter now? He hit a home run. Let’s just have another beer.”

“Hey!! Look at this.”

“What is it?”

─Unbreakable records since 1941. Perhaps we are about to witness a miracle after 87 years.

“Jonathan Wells? That baseball columnist for the Daily News? The one who wrote about Volpe being Derek Jeter’s true successor? What grand nonsense is he spouting this time?”

“Nonsense? Jonathan Wells’ columns are high quality. And the writing is good. This sentence is particularly good in this column. ‘It only took 86 years for the Boston Red Sox to win a championship, which everyone thought was impossible. So, isn’t it time for the unbreakable records set 87 years ago to be broken? This writer thinks so.’ What do you think?”

In fact, the content wasn’t that important.

What was important to them was that the column was mocking the Boston Red Sox in a cool way.

“But still, for a guy who’s only on an 11-game hitting streak to be mentioned in the same breath as the great DiMaggio… It’s only April. Even if you need clickbait, this is something you should mention in June. Or at least May. But I guess a .400 batting average is definitely possible at his current pace…”

Even though 87 years have passed since Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams set those great records, not many fans, even the older ones, remember that time. But paradoxically, the stories of those great seasons have been passed down from father to son, and then to their sons.

Of course, it was the same history, but the stories passed down were subtly different.

To New York Yankees fans, it was the story of the great DiMaggio, who beat the last .400 hitter.

To Boston Red Sox fans, it was the story of the greatest hitter in history, who was robbed of the MVP.

Fenway Park.

A man who had invoked those two great names simultaneously at such an early stage came to the plate for his fourth at-bat of the game.

[Top of the 7th inning. Yankees’ attack. One out, no runners on base. Choi Su-won at the plate. It’s Choi Su-won.]

[Choi Su-won is having a great game today. So far, he has a triple, a single, and a home run. He only needs a double for the hit for the cycle.]

[On the mound for Boston is Noah Kennedy.]

Tanner Houck’s pitching was excellent today. In fact, almost no hitter was able to properly attack him except for Choi Su-won. But Choi Su-won beat him up and shook him, and his pitch count increased too much. He had already thrown 107 pitches by the end of the 6th inning. The Boston dugout had no choice but to bring in the bullpen.

Fourth at-bat.

Many people ask.

If a hitter only needs a single for the hit for the cycle and hits a ball to the outfield, should he stay at first base? Or should he run to second base with all his might?

Fortunately, Choi Su-won is not in that situation right now. Anyway, the game is 3-0, and what he needs to hit is not a single but a double. Besides, hitting a double is definitely not easy…

-Crack!!!

[He hit it!!! A long, soaring ball!! To the left!! Towards the left field wall!!]

‘Oh, crap. Is this going over?’

In the top of the 1st inning.

Choi Su-won ran towards first base with a speed that seemed to be a spoonful less than his best, inwardly cheering for that damn Green Monster, the 11-meter-high wall that had stolen his home run. Anyway, it’s good to set records when you can.

-Thud

The 11-meter-tall giant’s head was hit for the second time today.

And Boston’s left fielder, Masataka Yoshida, made a great catch of the ball bouncing off the top of the Green Monster.

Choi Su-won’s foot touched second base.

The third base coach’s signal was obviously not there. It probably would have been the same even if he had arrived a little faster. Because it wasn’t just the person setting the record who thought it was important.

[A great double!! Hit for the cycle!! Choi Su-won records a hit for the cycle at Fenway Park!!]

***

1941 was a year that would go down in baseball history. Joe DiMaggio, who was skilled but caused noise every time he negotiated his salary, finally walked the path worthy of Santiago’s praise as the ‘Great Joe DiMaggio’ through the ‘Great Journey of 56 Steps.’

Also, his rival Ted Williams contributed to heating up 1941 even more by recording the last .400 batting average in Major League history.

(Omitted)

This writer thinks so. It only took 86 years for the Boston Red Sox to win a championship, which everyone thought was impossible. So, isn’t it time for the unbreakable records set 87 years ago to be broken?

Just as it was a young man who crossed the Pacific who broke the record of the great Ruth, isn’t it possible that this young man, no, this boy, who also crossed the Pacific, has the potential to break the great records of 1941?

And if this writer were asked which of the two records the boy is more likely to break, I would like to answer like this.

“Both.”