The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 320

320. Maybe a Fluke? (1)

[56th game!! 56 consecutive games with a hit!! Choi Su-won celebrates his 56th consecutive game with a home run!!]

[I’ve said it before, but this player always shows star quality in crucial moments. 56 consecutive games with a hit!! At Fenway Park, no less!! And he starts it off with a leadoff home run!]

[It suddenly reminds me of something from around this time 17 years ago.]

[17 years ago…? Ah!!]

[Yes, most Yankees fans watching this broadcast will know. No. 2 Derek Jeter’s last hit to reach 3,000!! That’s when I felt Derek was a true superstar. To be injured just before his 3,000th hit, and then to record that 3,000th hit as a home run upon his return, that’s star quality.]

[That’s right. In fact, there have been several baseball stars since then, but Derek Jeter still comes to mind as the last national superstar in baseball, and that’s why.]

Yankees fans watching the game on TV or their smartphones in New York nodded in agreement with the commentator’s words.

“Yeah, that’s right. Honestly, there hasn’t been anyone who really stands out like that since Derek. Maybe Trout or Harper. Judge is okay, but…”

“Wasn’t Ohtani pretty good, though?”

“Hmph, if that guy really wanted to be good, he should have come to the Yankees and proved himself. Anyway, Choi Su-won is definitely the real deal.”

Of course, far more people were simply cheering and applauding Choi Su-won’s 56-game hitting streak, that incredible number that put him alongside the ‘Great Joe DiMaggio,’ than those having such rational conversations.

The game was temporarily stopped to acknowledge this incredible record.

“Fu······!!!!!”

“Mother!!!······.”

The Boston fans in the stands were constantly calling for their mothers in dismay. (A common expression of frustration or shock).

Why, of all places, at Fenway Park, and by a Yankees guy against Boston’s ace!! One middle-aged man even had tears streaming down his face, his face flushed red. For them, this moment was an unbearable humiliation.

Of course, not all the fans gathered at Fenway Park today were Boston fans. There were also quite a few Yankees fans. Boston is only a 4-hour drive from New York. An 8-hour round trip was absolutely worth it, considering it was Saturday and they could see the potentially historic 56-game hitting streak in person.

Of course, they also had to bear ticket prices that were more than three times the usual, but for the fans who witnessed Choi Su-won’s home run live, that wasn’t so important at this moment.

Amidst someone’s anger, someone else’s applause poured out generously.

Choi Su-won, who had returned to the dugout to the cheers of his teammates who rushed out, briefly came back to the field and took off his hat and waved to the cheering crowd.

Awkwardly.

Even the players from the Boston dugout gave him a somewhat subdued round of applause. Perhaps if the player who set this record wasn’t a Yankee, and if this wasn’t Fenway Park, the Boston players would have celebrated this great record much more enthusiastically.

And, of course, it wasn’t just the United States that was cheering for Su-won’s great record.

“Are you kidding me? Ah, no. Congratulations, CEO!!”

“Chairman Choi!! Congratulations!!”

“CEO!! We want a commemorative vacation today…”

A very old-fashioned screen composition.

That is, they sat facing the camera in a position that you would see about 30 years ago during the Olympic finals, or at a candidate’s camp on election day, and congratulated the man sitting in the middle with loud applause.

“Father!! Congratulations!!”

“Thank you.”

“You must be very proud. 56 consecutive games with a hit. No, in this case, it’s a home run. Anyway, your son is renewing a record that is 87 years old. How do you feel?”

“Good.”

“Ah, yes. And?”

“Really good.”

“······.”

A moment of silence.

Choi Kyung-shik’s friend, who was sitting next to him, interjected with a playful tone.

“Hahaha, Kyung-shik is usually not a man of few words. It seems like his brain has temporarily stopped working because it’s such a touching moment.”

“Ah, are you the father’s friend?”

“Yes, I’m a 50-year-old close friend. Ah, should I not say this on the broadcast? Anyway, I’m Park Kang-doo, the CEO of Korea’s best braised short ribs franchise, The Daebak Braised Short Ribs. When our Su-won, no, Choi Su-won, was playing for the Marines [a Korean professional baseball team], he always ate heartily in the morning before going to the mound, and that was our braised short ribs.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Actually, Kyung-shik went through a lot of hardship raising Su-won. Honestly, it’s never easy for a man to raise a child alone. Moreover, Su-won said he would play baseball instead of studying, so how worried would he be? Of course, I was watching from the side and said strongly, ‘No. Su-won has talent. It’s better to just let him play baseball than to make him study half-heartedly these days.’ But a parent’s heart is not like that.”

“I see. So, Mr. Park, have you been watching Choi Su-won since he was young?”

“Of course. When he was young, my wife often took care of Su-won instead of me and this friend because we were too busy working. I should have made my son play baseball at that time. Oh… Anyway, that guy is a college student who just drinks and wanders around all day. Compared to that, our Su-won is such a filial son.”

“Was there anything special?”

“Of course. This time, for the 56-game hitting streak, Su-won said, ‘Hey? You have to come see me.’ He said he would prepare a first-class plane ticket and the best seat in the stadium. If necessary, bring this Park Kang-doo with you. But this frustrating guy flatly refused, saying he was busy with work? No, the company is doing well enough now that you can leave it alone for a while. Even if that’s not the case, huh? Soon, my son’s salary will be higher than the company’s sales. He said he couldn’t be indebted to his son. Anyway, he’s so stubborn. He’s got too much. He’s got too much. I just want my son to go to school properly and not ruin the company.”

“Ah, yes. I see.”

A moment of historic record.

The ambitious plan to interview the player’s family was filled with nonsense from a strange person called a friend, but it wasn’t without its gains.

A stubborn father who refuses to rely on his son’s financial resources despite his son’s success.

A superstar who grew up under such a single father.

It’s a fact that people who know already know, but this kind of story conveyed through TV is always in demand.

“Father. Then, may I ask if you have any plans to go to the United States to see Choi Su-won’s game this year?”

“I’m thinking of going during the summer vacation.”

“Ah, if it’s summer vacation?”

“Mid-July. So, it will be around the All-Star Game.”

***

You can’t always do everything you aim for.

That’s how baseball is. It’s not like if I try to throw outside, it goes there, and it’s not like if I try to throw inside, it goes inside.

The same goes for hitters.

It’s not like if I aim for it, the ball comes in, and even if the ball I was aiming for comes in, I can definitely hit it.

But this time it worked.

It’s a well-known fact that hitting is a sensitive task, and even more than the experience of failure, it is the experience of success that changes people.

Why are there so many stories like that? In Silicon Valley, habits created by past successes lead to current failures. What about those stories?

Anyway, we had a very big success at Coors Field [known for being a hitter-friendly ballpark].

Two games in a row. Of course, the form can’t help but get a little bigger. This is something that most players know. If there had been time, other players would have received more intense form corrections from the hitting coach. However, thanks to the fact that the next game was quickly followed without a day off after the game, and even a day game, there was no time to do so physically.

And Juan Montero of Boston, who came up as the starter today, was a league ace-level pitcher. His most confident pitch is a 170 km/h fastball [approximately 106 mph], and he’s a pitcher who can easily notice that our hitters’ forms have become a little exaggerated with an upper swing today.

So the answer was obvious.

Of course, it wasn’t obvious that the correct answer would lead to a home run that went over the Green Monster [the iconic left-field wall at Fenway Park].

Sometimes there’s something like that in baseball.

Originally, a hitter who hits about 20 home runs on average in his career hits about 30 home runs, or even 40 home runs, for about 1 or 2 years while playing for about 20 years. A 28% hitter hits 33%.

And we call that a ‘fluke.’

No, of course, I basically have the skills, so it’s a bit much to call this a fluke, but strictly speaking, my skills are about 30% and 50 home runs.

But even when I’m not in good condition, I’m still getting hits, and I’m hitting the highest ever at Coors, and I’m hitting it like this and it’s going over the fence. In many ways, I’m lucky.

So, to put it bluntly, I’m already an MVP-level player, but I’m also getting a fluke?

“Maybe I’m at 120 percent right now?”

“What are you talking about? Have you broken through 100 percent now?”

The game went on.

Despite being hit with a two-run home run, Juan Montero managed to get the game going well against the follow-up hitters.

It was a bit of a shame.

Originally, after being hit with a surprise home run like this, you’d be a little dazed for about an inning, but he was definitely showing the skills of a pitcher who was in the running for the Cy Young Award [an award given to the best pitchers in each league].

In addition, our hitters, who had a slight tendency to swing their bats loosely due to the huge success at Coors, and the guy whose specialty was high fastballs, didn’t get along very well.

Today, our starter, Andric Nava, was just pitching at the level expected of him. A step short of solid.

-Ttaak!!!

And Boston’s fourth hitter, Masataka Yoshida, hit a two-RBI timely hit, bringing the game back to square one.

2nd inning.

And the 3rd inning.

2:2 One out, no runners.

My second at-bat came around.

***

He had been doing a great job of shutting down the Yankees’ hitters until just now, but strangely, his heart was pounding strongly.

Juan Montero took a deep breath.

‘It’s okay. I can do it.’

He grabbed the baseball and looked at the hitter.

And suddenly, he realized that the hand holding the ball was a little damp. He hurriedly patted the rosin bag on the floor several times. The rosin mixed with sweat stuck to his palm.

And once again, he glared at the hitter.

He was still preparing to hit in the same posture.

But why?

‘Damn it.’

A large strike zone of 55cm wide and long.

The place where there were so many places to throw until just now had become so narrow for some reason that he couldn’t see any place to throw the ball anymore.

Juan Montero gritted his teeth and threw the ball.

-Bbeoeoong!!!

The result was a straight walk.

Choi Su-won walked to first base.