The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 403

The Pitcher Is Just Good at Hitting Home Runs – Episode 403 (403/404)

Episode 403. Extra 7) There Goes Choi Su-won (2)

I already had a few players around me who had admirably overcome ‘aging.’ But even if you combined all the others, they wouldn’t measure up to the man before me. Yes, Domingo Rodriguez. And as soon as that guy saw me, he started hiccuping non-stop as if his lungs were full of air.

─Keuheuk keuha keuheuk kyakeukeukeuk

It took a little longer than I thought for the guy, who was almost out of breath from laughing so hard, to calm down.

“Sorry, sorry. Did I laugh too much?”

“If you knew that, why don’t you get rid of that smile on your face right now?”

“Haha, it’s not easy. Choi Su-won, the great, is now starting to worry about gray hairs. If you only look at his face, he doesn’t seem to have changed much from his smooth appearance at 20.”

“That’s because Domingo is an elder who is 9 years older than me, then and now.”

“That’s right, so you came to me now because you need the wisdom of that elder.”

“So, will you help me?”

“Hmm, what should I do? I have a lot of personal things to do these days. I’m so busy, I don’t know if I’ll have time for this?”

Certainly, a legendary player who has just retired from Major League Baseball might be short on time. In the usual case, a player with Domingo Rodriguez’s career would be desperate for any broadcasting station to hire him as a commentator or panelist for a huge sum.

Yes, in the usual case.

This guy. He was a legendary pitcher who boasted a solid fan base based on the Yankees and was like a public enemy to 29 Major League teams. Of course, since the Yankees’ fan base was so huge, it didn’t matter much if he was disliked by the fans of the other 29 teams.

The problem is that he went to the Mets in his later years and played for 3 years, ultimately playing the most decisive role in our failure to win the championship, and then said, ‘I’ve won a championship with a team other than the Yankees, so I think I’ve done everything I can do in the Major League. I’m going to retire,’ which drew the aggro [anger or hostility] of the Yankees fans and he really retired.

Thanks to that, fewer people than expected were looking for him. Well, there were some here and there, but I heard that he only received miserable offers that couldn’t even be compared to the fact that Anthony received a 7-year, $200 million offer and went as a commentator.

Thanks to that, he got angry and said that he would rather do personal broadcasting than go on such a broadcast!! And he’s really broadcasting on the internet……

“God Slayer?”

“Ahem… No, that’s because I got a little excited while broadcasting… But it’s good for you too, Su-won.”

“What’s so good about it? I suddenly became a person who died last November. Oh, my. Come to think of it, is it okay for me to walk around like this? I’m already dead? No, no. I guess it’s okay. Because I’m not a human, but a god. I can die and come back to life.”

Domingo made a poor excuse. Well, he’d be ashamed if he were a human.

This guy recently got excited while broadcasting on the internet and said, ‘Giant Killing? No, what I defeated wasn’t just a giant!! It’s the god of baseball!! Yes, if I had to say it, I’d have to say God Slayer.’ That statement also hit the world hard.

“Ahem… No, I got a little excited. Anyway, I’m sorry.”

“So, stop getting so heated on internet broadcasts and come and help me. You ran away after winning in the end, so you can do this much, right?”

“Run away!! I just retired because I’m too old and no one’s looking for me!!”

“I know you received an offer of $8 million for just one year, you know?”

“…Alex, that traitor.”

“It’s kind of refreshing to hear the icon of betrayal call someone else a traitor. Anyway, will you help me? Or not?”

Domingo paused for a moment, a serious expression on his face, lost in thought.

And asked back.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I can be of help. I didn’t have any special methods, it just happened that way.”

“That ‘just happened’ is ultimately the trick and the method. Besides, you can’t just do personal broadcasting like this forever. Honestly, Domingo’s fandom is all Yankees fans, so you need to do some image laundering now. If it ends like this, in the worst case, you can go to the Hall of Fame, but your Yankees permanent number retirement will be out of the question. You know that, right?”

“…Will helping you solve that?”

“I’m Choi Su-won.”

“Yeah, it’ll be solved. Okay. I got it. I’ll help you.”

Retired player Domingo Rodriguez has been added to the staff I personally drag around.

“Ah, right. I’ll give you a weekly wage like this.”

“Huh? Hey, wait a minute. I received an offer of $8 million a year from the Mets?”

“That’s the story when you were playing as a player. Now you’re an inexperienced new instructor.”

“No, wait a minute. Still.”

“Don’t like it? Your Yankees permanent number retirement is out of the question? Because of just a few hundred thousand dollars? You’re going to be a ‘God Slayer’ and play for $3 million?”

“…Okay, deal.”

That too, at the lowest level of salary.

***

People expected it.

As always, Choi Su-won would show a magical miracle. Although he suffered an unexpected blow in the 2044 season, the Yankees are a young team and can rise again like a phoenix.

-Boooom!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

The last ball was embedded in the catcher’s mitt.

And it was over.

45 season.

The Yankees finished the regular season in second place in the American League East Division and came up through the wild card, but suffered a setback in the Division Series.

“This feels so weird?”

“What is?”

“No, it is. The Yankees should be going to the World Series, but they just fell in the Division Series.”

“The Yankees have failed to make the postseason before.”

“That’s true, but it was obvious that there was a problem with the team during the season. But this time, there wasn’t anything like that.”

Was it because they had watched the Yankees play in November for too long? Many people felt empty when the Yankees’ season ended in October.

Clearly, the postseason is not over yet. No, far from being over, there are more important series left, such as the Championship and the World Series. But for some reason, they felt like the postseason was already over.

Yes, like the failed movie franchise of the 2020s that was forcibly maintained for more than ten years, even though the main characters, Iron Man and Captain America, had retired.

In a market where content providers and consumers communicate bilaterally, consumer needs are reflected very quickly to suppliers.

Traditional media still focused a little more on the remaining Championship Series and World Series, but non-traditional media focused more intensively on the reasons why the Yankees’ season ended and why the Yankees failed to get past the Division Series this regular season.

“In my opinion, the biggest reason is Choi Su-won’s aging.”

“But considering the number of innings Choi Su-won has pitched, and especially his batting, hasn’t it rebounded slightly compared to last year and the year before?”

“Of course, you can see it that way if you only look at the numbers. But you have to look at the details. Strikeouts have decreased significantly and BABIP [Batting Average on Balls In Play] has been slightly lower than average. The Yankees’ defense was second among 30 teams this season, so it’s not a strange thing. Besides, if you look at the batting, you can see that the number of walks has decreased significantly. Of course, even though the number of walks has decreased, the on-base percentage has actually increased slightly, but the slugging percentage has decreased slightly. In terms of pure slugging percentage, the decrease is significant. This is evidence that the teams in the league are starting to overcome their fear of ‘batter Choi Su-won’ little by little. I think this is the reason why the Yankees couldn’t get past the White Sox in this Division Series.”

There were many stories, but the most common story was about Choi Su-won’s aging. In fact, the Yankees team itself felt close to being a team by Choi Su-won, by Choi Su-won, and for Choi Su-won, so it was inevitable.

And Choi Su-won himself was keenly aware of that.

“I’m sorry, but I think I’ll have to focus more on training this winter. Winter vacation trip…”

“Okay.”

“Huh?”

“I said okay. I’ll go to Miami for this winter vacation. You train. We’ll spend some time there. Let’s go eat something delicious together in your spare time.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“Of course, I’m okay with that. You’re doing this because it’s an important time for you. Ah, let’s call Mom and Dad, and Father to Miami instead. The kids will want to see their grandparents.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, right. Should I call Father’s girlfriend too? It seems like they’ve been dating for a long time this time.”

“Eun-jin… That’s a little too Hollywood.”

“It’s not that I’m too Hollywood, it’s that you’re too conservative? Even Koreans are a little more open to this kind of thing now. You’re just getting into American ways… Anyway, I’ll let Father take care of Father’s girlfriend.”

Winter season of 2045.

Choi Su-won decided to make ‘very special efforts.’

Of course, Choi Su-won had never prepared for the off-season in a half-hearted way. But this time, with the help of people around him, he spent the winter even more specially.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Wait a minute. I’ve already had surgery on this area once. It hasn’t even been 10 years yet. Is the test wrong?”

Over the past 2044 and 45 years, Choi Su-won had pitched more innings than usual. And as a result of the more special efforts in the winter season, he was diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament during spring training in the 46 season.

“There are two options. Surgery and non-surgical treatment.”

An absurdly difficult choice was given to him.

If he had been only 3 years younger, he would have chosen surgery without hesitation. But in 2046, Choi Su-won was now thirty-eight years old. Assuming he plays for another 5 years, 1 year is a whopping 20 percent of his remaining career. It was not an easy choice.

“What do you think is the best thing to do?”

“Well. Hey, wait a minute. Shouldn’t you ask your family or agency about this? Or even a psychological counselor? I’m an instructor. Instructor.”

“The weekly wage I give you includes consulting fees for listening to the experiences of senior players who have gone before.”

“You’re really trying to use me too frugally with the minimum wage?”

“Instead, I appeared on the broadcast three times for free. Honestly, one appearance fee for me is several times the annual salary of an ordinary instructor, you know?”

“I think it’s better for you to rest.”

“You mean I should get surgery and rest this season?”

Certainly, Domingo, who played as an active player until the age of 45, thought that 38 years old was still young?

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

Domingo shook his head.

“Get non-surgical treatment. How precious is one year in your late 30s? Don’t waste a whole year.”

“Yes? You clearly told me to rest just now?”

“That’s because pitchers should rest a little. You’re better at something other than throwing the ball.”

Full-time hitter.

Domingo Rodriguez brought out an option that Choi Su-won had temporarily forgotten in his head because he had been a two-way player for so long.

***

The deepest part of the drawer.