The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 394

394. Extra Story 6) Recruiting Party Members (2)

—What is absolutely necessary for sports to be a hit is emotion, and what brings about that emotion is a grand story.

That was Joaquin Perez’s motto. He succeeded Rob Manfred as the MLB commissioner.

While his approach seemed a little different from his predecessor, Rob Manfred, who focused on star marketing, it wasn’t that different in reality. Rob Manfred focused on stars because, ultimately, a protagonist was needed to create a compelling narrative.

Fortunately, Joaquin Perez had a protagonist named Choi Su-won.

The story centered around him had been very successful for the past 13 years. In particular, the popularity that had dipped slightly when the Yankees’ victory was thwarted, rebounded even more when they overcame it. The real-time viewership for Game 6 of last year’s World Series was a staggering 89.71 million, clearly surpassing even the NFL’s Conference Championship. The only broadcast that recorded a higher number of viewers in the United States last year was the Super Bowl.

A panel on a TV broadcast evaluated the 2042 season like this:

“The New York Mets are the strongest candidate for the championship. Then there’s the traditional powerhouse, the Dodgers. I think the Yankees are third.”

“The Yankees are third… Isn’t that a bit harsh for a team that has won the championship ring for two consecutive years? Especially since Choi Su-won, the best player in Major League Baseball, is healthy and playing.”

“Haha, that’s why I gave them the third spot. Frankly, if it weren’t for Choi Su-won, the Yankees would have a hard time winning the division. Personally, I think the Yankees’ front office didn’t do their job properly this past offseason. And I think the biggest mistake among them was missing out on Domingo Rodriguez.”

“Speaking of Domingo Rodriguez, is it because of the symbolism of being one of the only two remaining original members of the Great Yankees, excluding Choi Su-won?”

“The symbolism is important, but in the case of Domingo Rodriguez in the ’41 season, he pitched a decent ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of runs allowed per game] of 4.17 while pitching a whopping 179.1 innings. Moreover, in the postseason, he recorded an ERA of 2.61 with 9 runs in 31 innings in 5 games, clearly proving why he is a big game pitcher. Of course, giving a 2-year contract, even a contract close to 40 million, to a 43-year-old pitcher is something only the Mets can do. But if so, the Yankees should have secured a starter to replace him, but the fact that they failed to do so is a very big problem.”

A team that has clearly weakened compared to last year. On the other hand, the Mets, who were the runner-up team, have definitely strengthened their team. If you simply think about it arithmetically, the result was too obvious.

“But I think this way: there is no emotion in the Mets’ baseball. A super team may win the ring, but it can’t give the fans who watch the game emotion.”

“Well. Isn’t this a bit different from LeBron James’ super team in the NBA? No one calls the Evil Empire [nickname for the New York Yankees, referring to their high payroll and dominance] a super team, right? This is happening within the system without things like pay cuts.”

“Well. There are often cases where the dictionary definition of a word and the emotions people feel are different. Anyway, until now, the Yankees have reigned as the top dog. The teams facing them were able to enjoy the underdog effect. But this season, the Yankees, despite being the top dog among top dogs who have won for 12 years out of the past 14 years, will be able to fight from a position similar to the underdog. And if the Yankees can properly slap the top dog in the face here, I think that moment will be the moment when the myth of the Yankees team is completed in this era.”

Of course, this was a blessing for the Yankees and Choi Su-won from the panelist who was most favorable to the Yankees.

However, considering that most of the MLB fans in this era are fans of the Yankees, it is not surprising that it took only half a day for this short conversation to dominate various online communities.

“Damn it, all I did was get beat up every day, but I’ve become the villain?”

“That’s why I told you to lose some weight. Hamin, you were Princess Peach who was kidnapped 5 years ago, but now you look like a Koopa [a turtle-like enemy from the Mario franchise] to anyone.”

Baek Hamin laughed.

As Alexander McDowell said, it was definitely a laugh that sounded more like a villain now.

“Koopa is much better than Princess Peach who gets kidnapped and cries. By the way, does this mean Domingo is doing a face-heel turn [a wrestling term for a good guy becoming a bad guy]?”

“Face-heel turn? What’s that?”

“A champion of justice who has been seduced by a villain?”

“Ah, like Darth Vader.”

Whether the media saw them as villains or protagonists, it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that their power looked overwhelming to the Yankees to everyone.

“Don’t be too happy about it. I know because I’ve been beaten up a lot, but Choi Su-won is a complete madman.”

“Isn’t that something Rodriguez, who boasted a strong friendship until just last year, shouldn’t be saying?”

“Huh, if you pick the person who is least close to Su-won here, isn’t it me? One is a guy from the same hometown who has been friends since he was a teenager. The other is someone who shares turkey every year, saying he’s a lifelong rival or something. Isn’t that right?”

“What? Alex, didn’t you tell me that grilling turkey on Thanksgiving is something only the Yankees do?”

“Yeah, that’s what the Yankees do. But my wife is a Yankee. Anyway, that’s not important right now. What’s important now is that we have to unite this year and pull Choi Su-won down from the throne.”

A very long defeat.

A defeat that has continued since high school.

Or a defeat that has continued since the second year of his professional career.

And the sense of inferiority and jealousy that exists in their hearts.

They didn’t hide that feeling.

No, there was no need to hide it. It was not just one person’s feeling, but a feeling that everyone shared, and the target was the same.

The season passed.

***

Brian Wilcock thought.

It’s a bit of an overreaction that the old men on the team are obsessed with Choi Su-won.

Yes, of course, he is a great player.

The reason Brian Wilcock himself is successfully performing as a two-way player is because he has the innate talent, but also because there is a ‘path’ that Otani Shohei pioneered and Choi Su-won expanded.

But at the same time, that’s why he didn’t think of Choi Su-won as the ‘only player’. If it was 10 years ago, he was a player worthy of that, but now, 14 years after his appearance, there are already more than 30 players in the league who are playing as two-way players, and among them, there are as many as 13 players who are performing as starters.

Now Choi Su-won is just the two-way player with the most outstanding career. Not even the most powerful two-way player.

‘Yes, at this point, the most powerful two-way player is me.’

I was a little behind last year.

Both as a pitcher and as a hitter.

But this year will be different. At least Brian Wilcock thought so.

-Buuuuuung!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

The changeup that he successfully added this season further boosted his confidence. Domingo Rodriguez was an unlucky old man, but the changeup he taught him definitely helped a lot.

-Ttaak!!!

Alexander McDowell was a conceited king, but when he watched him hit, he sometimes thought that his conceit might not be conceit.

And every time he had such thoughts, a weak heart sometimes sprang up, wondering if he could really surpass Choi Su-won, who has the pitching of Domingo in his prime and the hitting of Alexander McDowell, but every time that happened, he thought about Choi Su-won’s age of 34 and his own age of 26 and calmed his mind.

Well, if not this year, next year will be fine.

The old men act like this is the only chance they have to beat Choi Su-won, but Brian Wilcock himself still has a bright future.

[It’s over!!! It’s gone!!]

[A three-run homer by Carol Button that turns the game around in the bottom of the 7th with two outs!! Ah, the Mets’ dugout is moving now.]

[Brian Wilcock is a really good pitcher, but it’s a shame that he sometimes allows home runs out of the blue like this.]

Yes, Brian Wilcock himself still has a bright future.

***

2042.

Since last winter, I have been in a very small confusion. Is it because Domingo Rodriguez moved teams? Yeah, well, that’s a bit confusing too. But there are more than one or two players in this industry who want to go to a team where they can play a little more instead of retiring at the end of their careers, and that’s understandable enough.

The reason I’m confused is because from now on is the future I’ve never experienced.

Yes, the winter I went back in time was 2041.

At the time, I hit 61 home runs and was narrowly pushed out of the MVP vote by Brian Wilcock, and I pretended to be cool on the talk show, but in fact, I was so upset that I didn’t know what to do. And when I woke up after a good night’s sleep, boom!! Surprisingly, I was back in the second year of high school before my shoulder went out.

In fact, it’s so long ago now that my memory is a bit hazy.

But Hank Aaron’s autographed card, which says NEW ALL-TIME HOME RUN KING in the deepest part of my drawer, is still smiling brightly without fading at all.

But whether it did or not, time passed quickly.

Inevitably, the season started and I played baseball again.

It wasn’t that difficult to build a team with a generally younger roster.

I was a player with an overwhelming career, and the guys who were just stepping into the major leagues were chicks who grew up watching my play as children.

Maybe if the chicks in my house listened to me even half as much as these guys, I might have easily won the title of the world’s best dad.

Of course, baseball is not a sport that can be solved with teamwork alone.

Unlike sports such as American football, soccer, or hockey, where organic tactics can surpass individual skills, baseball is ultimately a sport that starts with a 1:1 match between a pitcher and a batter.

However, the degree to which you win one out of three fights, lose one, and dramatically increase the probability of winning the remaining game that you will take with a close game is possible with that close teamwork.

We won the games we could win, lost the games we could lose, and stubbornly brought the ambiguous games. And as we spent the season like that, we were already recording about 25% more wins than losses.

90 wins and 72 losses.

2nd place in the Wild Card win rate.

It wasn’t too bad, although we had to play a few more games than going straight to the division. During the season, the rookies were further trained, and because they were young blood in their early to mid-20s, they didn’t get tired easily. No, rather, it felt like each of these big game experiences was making them even stronger.

Wild Card Series.

Division Series.

And up to the Championship Series.

My 13th win was fast approaching.