The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 393

Party Recruitment (1)

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

9th inning.

It was the final swing and a miss strikeout.

The victor on the mound raised both hands high, and all cameras turned to the winner. And the foolish loser, who swung at nothing, returned to the dugout in solitude.

[Yankees win!! Yankees win!! 2041 season!! The New York Yankees have won their second consecutive championship, proving they have perfectly succeeded in their generational shift!!]

[Even at the beginning of the season, they showed a lot of shaky moments… Truly… A great team is a great team.]

[The players running out of the dugout are giving Choi Su-won a celebratory toss.]

[Choi Su-won, who pitched well with 7 innings and 2 runs allowed in the previous Game 2, but ultimately became the losing pitcher!! In today’s Game 6, he pitched a whopping 8 innings without allowing a single run, making a decisive contribution to the team’s victory.]

[12th career championship. He has won championships every year of his career except for one. There’s a saying in the league right now: ‘If you want to win, go to Choi Su-won’s team, or bring Choi Su-won over.’]

Yankee Stadium was a true festival.

The New York Yankees, already the most popular team in Major League Baseball, had reigned supreme for a whopping 13 years since 2028. Moreover, the central figure was none other than Choi Su-won, who could be called the reincarnation of the god of baseball. Also, the story was very compelling.

The team’s slump after 10 consecutive championships.

An aging roster.

Despite that, they managed to grind out a championship.

A team rejuvenated by a large-scale overhaul.

But with that, a lack of experience.

And another championship.

“I think the Yankees’ era will last for at least another 7 or 8 years, unless something happens to Choi Su-won.”

“Well, it’s Choi Su-won. Wouldn’t he show at least elite-level skills until his late 30s? And in the meantime, the young players will win a few more championships and gain experience, so wouldn’t they be able to continue the dynasty?”

“Yogi Berra [a famous Yankees catcher] wasn’t as great as DiMaggio [another legendary Yankees player], but he was a player who sufficiently represented the era. And the Yankees have already proven that’s enough to continue the dynasty. I believe that this Great Yankees team will last much longer unless there are any major problems.”

Many people love the underdog.

But at the same time, they follow the bandwagon.

For the past 13 years, there have been many underdogs among the 30 Major League teams. Very many. But there was only one bandwagon: the New York Yankees.

The 29 teams that shared the underdog effect and the New York Yankees that monopolized the bandwagon effect. That lasted for a whopping 13 years. Yes, a whopping 13 years. Thirteen years was long enough for a child who had just started 1st grade to go through 12th grade and enter college. And that meant that children who had first entered baseball as kids, led by their fathers or grandfathers, had grown up and started coming to the stadium themselves. Thanks to this, to exaggerate a bit, it was no exaggeration to say that more than half of the current Major League Baseball fans were fans of the New York Yankees.

“God damn it.”

Then the place that took the biggest hit from the opposite effect was too obvious.

The New York Mets, another baseball team that shares New York.

Steve Cohen, known as the king of hedge funds, was doing his best to revive the team by pouring astronomical amounts of money into it every year. If he hadn’t been a stubborn man, and if the amount of money he earned through finance hadn’t been astronomical, he would have collapsed long ago.

Alexander McDowell, who returned to the dugout, headed straight to the showers without saying anything. As he was washing his hair, soap got into his eyes, and tears streamed down his face.

He had won a total of five MVP [Most Valuable Player] awards throughout his 14-year career. In the process, the Mets advanced to the postseason 11 times and won the National League championship 7 times. But he still hadn’t gotten a single ring [championship ring].

Especially this year, many people said that 2039 was the last chance. That losing to Tampa Bay in the World Series in the only year the Yankees didn’t win in the past 13 years proved that the Mets didn’t deserve to win.

The strongest runner-up should rightfully take the place of the number one when the number one is slumping. But even when the Yankees were slumping, the Mets were still the runner-up. Alexander McDowell found all of that unbearably painful.

What does not kill me makes me stronger.

But Alexander McDowell didn’t get stronger with this defeat. No, maybe he hadn’t gotten stronger with the past defeats either, he thought. Then was he already broken? Was the person pouring cold water on himself here the remains of Alexander McDowell?

When he came out of the shower, the starting pitcher for tomorrow’s game, who had accepted the defeat without even playing in today’s game, handed him a towel.

“Wash your hair more diligently. You already have an unattractive face, but if you lose your hair, you’ll become even more unattractive.”

“Have you looked in the mirror to see what your face looks like before you talk?”

“Well, I don’t look in the mirror, but I’m watching people’s reactions. They say I’m the sexiest sports star, right?”

“Damn it, you’re still bringing up a story from years ago. That was before you became a bearded fatty like you are now.”

“That bearded fatty is still better looking than you. Anyway, wash your face well while you’re washing your hair. Don’t run into reporters, put on your hat, go home, cover yourself with a blanket, and cry. If you run into reporters now, it’ll be revealed that Alexander McDowell is actually a crybaby. The same article will come out.”

Baek Ha-min.

A player from Korea like Choi Su-won. They first met at the Youth Baseball World Cup, but I don’t really remember what kind of player he was back then. But what is certain is that he was definitely not the same pitcher as he is now. If he had been, there’s no way my memory of him would be so vague.

“Would it have been different if we had gone until tomorrow?”

“Well, we don’t know since we didn’t go. But at least our starting pitcher would have been much better.”

A 34-year-old pitcher and a 33-year-old hitter collapsed once again in front of the barrier that had always blocked them. The barrier was so high and so hard that it seemed impossible to overcome or break.

But even so, they didn’t give up.

And for them, the old owner, who turned 86 this year, once again loosened his purse very aggressively.

“I can’t take the money with me when I die anyway, and I can’t end it like this.”

“Father!!”

The New York Mets had been holding the top spot in Major League Baseball payroll for nearly 20 years. The unreset luxury tax [a tax imposed on teams whose payroll exceeds a certain threshold] was putting pressure on them with astronomical costs. The Major League Baseball market itself had grown even bigger thanks to Choi Su-won, an icon of the era, and the Yankees’ rise, but the Mets’ financial structure was so weak that it could not be maintained without the owner’s investment.

For the past 10 years, the Mets’ ranking has not been low. Prospects were not being supplied, and they poured more money into free agents to acquire good players.

And the 2042 season Winter League.

The Mets signed another symbolic player.

─New York Mets!! Signs Domingo Rodriguez to a 2-year contract!!

─43 years old this year. Domingo Rodriguez. 2 years, 38M [million]!!

─New York Mets succeed in signing the Yankees’ longtime pillar!! Will this year be different?

From 2028 to now, for 13 seasons, against the New York Mets in the World Series, he pitched 81.1 innings in 13 games with an ERA [Earned Run Average] of 2.55. If Domingo Rodriguez had been on the Mets instead of the Yankees, the Mets would have lifted the championship trophy at least three or four times.

“The Yankees are the best team. It was a great blessing to spend my career there. But sometimes I think, did the Yankees win because I was on the Yankees? Or was I lucky enough to get a ring because I was on the Yankees? I think this contract will be a good answer to that question that I’ve had my whole life.”

Domingo Rodriguez’s interview became a very hot topic.

─Moving from a winning team to a runner-up team, does he think he’s taking on some great challenge?

─JudasJudasJudasJudasJudas

─It would have been cleaner if he had just said it was too much money to refuse.

─He’s ugly because he’s old.

─Old man, you should have just retired from the Yankees.

─Everyone except him knows the answer, so why did he bother to find the answer and move teams? Even if you grab a random person on the street and ask them, they’ll answer that it’s thanks to being next to Choi Su-won?

─Look at the Wak-dels [Korean slang for extreme fans] manipulating public opinion. Honestly, if it weren’t for Domingo, at least four championship rings would be deleted.

─I agree. Domingo did it all in 30, 34, 36, 41.

─Yeah, if it wasn’t for Domingo, they would have signed another ace pitcher in that spot with that money.

─Among the pitchers who receive as much as Domingo every year, there are only a handful who pitched as much as Domingo. If you look at the entire contract period with a long-term contract, it’s safe to say there aren’t any. Honestly, Choi Su-won is a great player, but Choi Su-won’s extreme fans are downplaying Domingo too much. It seems like fans are creating haters?

─Yeah, he’s signing a 2-year, 38M contract when he’s a player who won’t be able to receive 15M a year anywhere else, and he’s pretending it’s not because of the money?

─Domingo, that attention seeker, said he was going to retire every year, but in the end, he’s not only not retiring, but he’s even transferring to another team.

As much as the Yankees’ status was what it was, most of the reactions were naturally very negative. In fact, even if that wasn’t the case, the Mets’ core fans were also not happy with Domingo Rodriguez’s transfer.

“No, now they’re giving a 43-year-old old man 2 years and 38M? They really have too much money. Too much. They should have added some money to that and bought James Newberg from Tampa Bay.”

“Leave it alone. It’s not like our team is senselessly spending money for just a day or two. The owner probably ordered it again.”

“If they’re going to spend it like this, they shouldn’t spend money at all. If they had waited a few years and then spent it, wouldn’t it be better?”

“Then what about Alex? Just sell him? We have to win during his prime too.”

“Ah… I’m really going crazy.”

That wasn’t the only thing the Mets signed.

They succeeded in signing Brian Willcock, famous as the most powerful two-way player since Choi Su-won, for 8 years and 290 million dollars. Last year. 2042 season. If Choi Su-won hadn’t been there, the AL MVP [American League Most Valuable Player] might have been his.

151 innings with a 3.01 ERA. 237 strikeouts. As a hitter, 177 hits and 41 home runs.

Based on the 2042 season, Brian Willcock recorded a performance that was truly worthy of being called the post-Choi Su-won.

─New York Mets!! Is this year different?

After such a stormy winter, the 2043 season finally began.