The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 55

55. The Monster Rookie (1)

WBSC 2025 U-18 Baseball World Cup

Korea wasn’t the only country that had been sharpening its knives for this tournament.

The United States, for example, had experienced a major setback in the previous tournament, the 2023 U-18 World Cup.

The defending champion United States, which had won the 2022 Bradenton, Florida tournament, failed to advance to the Super Round, finishing fourth in Group B in the 2023 tournament.

Of course, the United States hadn’t always won medals. In the thirty tournaments since the competition began in 1981, the United States had failed to win a medal twice, in 2004 and 2010. However, the 2023 tournament marked the first time they had been eliminated in the preliminary round in those thirty tournaments, including the two in which they failed to win a medal. As a nation that prides itself on being the home of baseball, this was a major blow to their reputation.

Of course, the United States might not take WBSC [World Baseball Softball Confederation]-hosted tournaments very seriously, so it might not have been a big issue. However, there were always reporters looking for sensational articles, and this was especially true in the capitalist United States.

-Only Jonathan Thomas was drafted within the first three rounds out of 20 representatives!

-How did American baseball get to this point?

-The current state of American baseball: defeated by Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Cuba, and even the Netherlands.

In fact, it was common for top draft picks not to participate in the WBSC U-18 World Cup. It was only natural, as the WBSC even prohibited the selection of players within the 40-man roster for the Premier12, its biggest tournament.

But perhaps it was thanks to the recent strange atmosphere?

The first to draw his sword was Alexander McDowell, who was currently the most widely known name in the United States.

He had been nationally famous since his early teens, and he dropped out of high school at the young age of 15 to enter junior college through the GED [General Educational Development test, a high school equivalency test]. It was a year faster than Bryce Harper’s move 15 years prior. Many people told him he was being hasty, but he won the Golden Spikes Award, given to the best amateur player, at the young age of 16. As a result, at the age of 17 years and 3 days, when he would normally still be in the 11th grade of high school, he was drafted first overall by the Kansas City Royals.

Originally, an event like the U-18 tournament wouldn’t have been a hot topic at this time of year, when the league was in full swing. But this was Alexander McDowell, the man who was currently generating the most buzz among all amateurs.

Articles related to the U-18 tournament began to appear on the main pages of various media outlets, including ESPN. Thanks to this, the fact that they had been eliminated in the preliminary round of the previous 2023 tournament was once again highlighted.

And was it because they were stimulated by the news of Alexander McDowell’s participation? Or was it because the news of their elimination in the group stage of the previous tournament stimulated them?

Excluding Alexander McDowell, there were a total of eleven players eligible for the U-18 draft in the first round. Among them, five announced their participation in this U-18 tournament. Most of the remaining players were also within the first three rounds. The only player drafted outside the third round was Chase Allen, the team’s second catcher.

It was, in a word, the strongest team in any U-18 Baseball World Cup since 1981.

“What? Is winning the goal?”

Alexander McDowell smiled at the reporter’s question.

“Does anyone in the world aim to eat dinner? That’s not a goal, it’s just a plan. Well, if I had to set a goal for this tournament, it would be to go undefeated.”

There’s a saying that baseball is a game where you win one out of three, lose one, and the outcome is decided in the remaining one. This means that, at least for teams playing in the same level of league, a 30% win rate is normal. But despite this, no reporter laughed at Alexander McDowell’s statement, just as no one could laugh when the 1992 Dream Team talked about winning the gold medal.

***

Albany, New York.

A small city with no major sports teams, it was a place I had never been to before my regression. Well, it’s said to be the capital of New York State, but to me, it was just another unremarkable mid-sized city.

Although it was an international tournament, it was only U-18. There were no swarms of reporters welcoming us as we passed through the airport. Ah, in fact, that was mostly the case for other countries as well, but the situation was a little different for the Taiwanese team, which arrived at the same time as us. They were followed by reporters befitting the status of a typical international tournament, which we imagined.

“Why do they have so many reporters following them?”

“For them, the only international tournament where they have a chance to win is at the youth level,” Jung Byung-cheol said briefly in response to someone’s question.

Well, he’s not wrong. Taiwan occasionally wins in U-18 or U-23, but when it comes to adult teams, the level difference is quite significant. If NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s highest level of baseball] is AAA~AAAA level and KBO [Korea Baseball Organization, South Korea’s highest level of baseball] is AA~AAA level, then they are at best upper Single-A level.

The manager dealt with a few reporters appropriately and boarded the bus that had come to pick us up in advance. There were twenty-three people, but it wasn’t a three-row seat bus, but a four-row seat bus. Not only were the plane seats economy class, but even the bus was economy class level. Moreover, it rattled so much that even if you picked a bad bus from the ones chartered by the school, it would be better than this.

“Wow, Soo-won. Look over there.”

Gyu-hyeok, who was sitting next to me, looked at the passing buildings and was delighted.

Honestly, no matter how I looked at it, it was just a brick building that you could see anywhere. But since it was his first overseas trip, I had to understand.

“Oh my god…”

Ah, I unintentionally blurted out my thoughts. The accommodation we arrived at was the very two-story motel that represented the tear-soaked bread [a metaphor for hardship and struggle] of minor leaguers when I lived in the United States.

“Alright, everyone get off. The room assignments are as we discussed in advance. Unpack your bags and rest until dinner. Don’t wander around where you don’t know the way, and if you need anything, come to my room. Got it?”

“Yes!!”

The good thing was that the building was relatively new. The bed sheets were crisp without any stains, and there was no strange smell.

“I was worried, but the room is good? Is this America? I’m using the window-side bed?”

“Yes.”

My roommate was Baek Ha-min.

I secretly wished I could share a room with Gyuhyeok, but it was a shame. Considering that pitchers usually share rooms with pitchers and hitters with hitters, it seemed that the manager was planning to use me as a pitcher as well.

-Knock knock

Just as I was about to unpack my bags and stretch my stiff body, someone knocked on the door and burst in. Why are you knocking if you’re not going to listen for a response?

“Coach?”

“You’ve unpacked your bags. Good. The Korea Daily wants to do an interview and wants to hear from the team’s youngest member.”

“Yes.”

Korea Daily was the company Ji-yeon worked for.

Well, according to the original history, she would be quitting her job around this time and preparing to enter a terrestrial broadcasting station [a major national TV network]. Of course, with Jung Byung-cheol going to Seoul Elites instead of Busan Marines and Gyuhyeok joining Changwon Blaze, there was no guarantee that Ji-yeon would move exactly the same way as in her previous life.

“Hello.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, Choi Soo-won. I’m Lee Young-joo from the Korea Daily. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Yes?”

“Ah, I have a junior who is a fan of Choi Soo-won. If you look at our newspaper, we publish quite a few articles about Choi Soo-won. It’s all because of him.”

“Haha, thank you.”

“Oh, we should be the ones thanking you. Those articles and photos will be cited a lot later.”

After exchanging brief greetings, the Korea Daily reporter asked a few routine questions. Starting with how I felt as the team’s only sophomore, I just answered appropriately and conventionally.

“This is your first international tournament, how is your condition? Are you very nervous?”

“Not bad. I’m not particularly nervous. But I wish the bus was a little better. That’s about it?”

“Hahaha, I see. Oh, by the way. Alexander McDowell, the youngest player to participate in this U-18 tournament, said that winning the U.S. team is like eating dinner, and if he had to set a goal, it would be to win undefeated. Do you have anything special to say about this?”

“Alexander McDowell?”

“He’s the player who was picked first overall in the MLB [Major League Baseball] draft this year.”

“Ah, I know who he is. I was just thinking about whether he’s the kind of player who can say that. But is McDowell on a diet these days? It would be better to eat three meals a day and exercise moderately than to skip dinner while dieting.”

Lee Young-joo laughed loudly at my answer.

And the interview, which was nothing special, ended like that.

***

The WBSC U-18 World Cup is played with a total of 12 countries divided into 2 groups for the opening round, from which the top 3 are selected and then the super round is played again. Then, the results of the opening round and the super round are tallied to play the final and the 3rd and 4th place games. In the end, the top 4 are in a league format, and the final ranking match can be seen as a single-game tournament.

In this tournament, Group A included Korea, the United States, Japan, Cuba, China, and Australia, while Group B included Taiwan, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Netherlands, making it a truly hellish group.

Our first opponent was Australia.

The manager looked at us and said seriously.

“Although the level of Australian baseball is a little lower than ours, it has improved a lot recently. In particular, the top teams in the Australian league are not far behind the KBO first team. And all of those kids are going to be playing in the Australian league starting next year. Especially the pitcher who is starting today is a player who signed with Pittsburgh for $1.2 million, and after this game, he’s not going back to Australia, but he’s going to be playing baseball in the United States right away. So don’t let your guard down. Let’s definitely bring home the victory.”

“Yes!!!”

Leading hitter swinging strikeout.

Second hitter single to center field.

And it was my turn.

The face of the pitcher on the mound for the Australian team today was not in my memory.

The pitcher on the mound threw the first ball.

Full fastball on the outside course. It was a good ball.

As expected, he signed with Pittsburgh for $1.2 million, and he was a promising prospect.

-Clang!!

Of course, good and bad are always relative, and unfortunately, the ball thrown by the Australian team’s starter today was just right for me to hit.

Top of the 1st inning. 2-run home run.

I leisurely circled the ground and stepped on home plate.

2:0.

Is there a hit better than a home run?

Well, you never know. But at least for today’s Australian starting pitcher, there was no hit better than a home run. After being hit by a home run by me in the top of the 1st inning, he gave up a back-to-back home run to Jung Byung-cheol, who came up next.

The game didn’t last long.

Today, our team sent out Han Min-joon from Baekwon High as the starter. He was the very Han Min-joon who had a no-hitter in the second round of the Wangjungwangjeon [a prestigious high school baseball tournament] in the second half of last year, and was eliminated in the third round without throwing a single ball to us.

7th inning, 13:0, called game [mercy rule].

We easily defeated the team we should have won against.