The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 6

The Pitcher is Just Good at Hitting Home Runs – Episode 6 (6/404)

6. Life is Long (1)

The first thing I did after deciding to play baseball was measure my exact body size. As I recall, in high school, I was 192cm tall and weighed 87kg. But that was my size in my senior year.

“Wow, this is crazy…”

Let’s just ignore the fact that my height is 189.7cm.

The problem was my weight.

“I’m so skinny…”

Seriously, how can someone who is 189.7cm tall only weigh 82kg? Even the day after pitching, this is a bit much. Let me add that in my prime, I was 193.1cm tall and weighed around 120kg.

Johnson, who was in charge of my physical conditioning at the time, said that a person’s weight should be proportional to a number between the square and cube of their height.

It’s a bit of a difficult concept, but it basically means that the taller you are, the more you should weigh. In that sense, 82kg at my current height is similar to being 170cm and weighing around 57 or 58kg.

Of course, if I were a fashion model, I’d have a great body. But unfortunately, I’m a baseball player. I need to be very physically fit. I don’t need to be in the kind of shape I was in during my crazy seasons in the pros, so I don’t need to add excessive fat, but this body is really not where it needs to be right now.

“I need to start a diet right away.”

In fact, there were many other things to do. My muscles were tight in many places, and I was so stiff.

Of course, is it bad that this young and healthy body is like this? Absolutely not. I can fill in the gaps in the future. But the fact that things that could never be reversed are healthy is a tremendous blessing.

And the most touching part of all is my right shoulder and elbow, which show no signs of surgery. Of course, I haven’t thrown a single ball properly yet because I threw 105 pitches yesterday. But I can tell without even throwing. This is a fresh shoulder that hasn’t been torn yet.

My shoulder probably broke down decisively during the semi-final game of the New World Big Mart Cup National Tournament in my junior year.

When I think about how much I suffered because of that, I grind my teeth. I seriously considered quitting baseball and taking over my dad’s business. Of course, I casually brought it up and was immediately rejected by my dad…

Anyway, thanks to coming back to the present instead of a year later, I have many options now.

First, the easiest option is to quit pitching right away and focus on hitting. In fact, this is the most realistic and comfortable option. What was the reason I was undervalued in the first place?

Because I’m a designated hitter [a player who bats in place of another player, typically the pitcher].

Then why was I a designated hitter?

Because my shoulder was broken, I couldn’t play outfield, and similarly, I couldn’t play shortstop or third base. In the end, the only positions left were first base and second base, and to unleash my full potential as a power hitter, first base, which doesn’t require as much running around and is less burdensome for bulking up, is more suitable than second base, which requires a lot of running.

Anyway, that’s why I played first base in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], and when I went to the majors, they said my first base defense, which was decent in the KBO, was terrible, and they forced me to be a half-assed player who just held a bat and stood in the batter’s box.

The only good thing was that the NL [National League] also introduced the designated hitter rule in the 2022 rule change? Well, thanks to that, I definitely made a lot of money.

Anyway, now I can change my position to a corner outfielder. Of course, I don’t expect to be a great defender just because I change my position now. But I have a shoulder that throws 150km/h [approximately 93 mph]. Honestly, even if a corner outfielder makes a mistake in predicting the fall of the ball, this shoulder can cover most of it.

Well, if not, there’s also the option of just pushing forward as a pitcher. But honestly, this is a difficult path. I’ve already tried hitting once, so I can be sure of success. But pitching? I don’t know…

It’s the 21st century now.

The era of high velocity. Of course, Korea is a few years behind Japan and several decades behind the United States, so a high school student who throws 150km/h is treated like a natural monument, but in the United States, a high school student who throws 93 miles is nothing. Even in the neighboring island country, there are more than twenty high school students who throw a maximum of 150km/h in a year, and there are half a dozen high school students whose average speed exceeds 150km/h. Of course, this would be enough if I were only playing in the KBO, but if I think beyond that? No, even if I don’t think beyond that, the answer is too obvious.

A hitter with guaranteed success and a pitcher with an uncertain future.

If you ask players to choose between the two, 100 out of 100 will choose the former.

But I have a third option.

Two-way player.

In Korean, it’s called a two-way player. Or a two-sword style.

In fact, this was a path that could only be described as some crazy person having delusional fantasies until just a few years ago.

But it’s different now. There’s a monster across the water in Major League Baseball [MLB] who has turned that delusional fantasy into reality.

Shohei Ohtani.

People just thought it was because it was the NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest level of baseball in Japan] when he did that in the NPB. Even if the NPB is better than the KBO, it’s still just the NPB.

And when he said he was going to do that in the MLB, everyone thought he would give up soon and just pitch or just hit. And that thought was even stronger among experts. Honestly, I thought the same way.

Originally, the good ones are good at baseball, but the pros are just a collection of those good ones. There’s a reason why seniors who were ace pitchers and cleanup hitters in high school only do one thing in the pros.

But this guy broke all the experts’ predictions and succeeded in doing it just two years ago.

He competed for first or second place in the entire league in hitting, and although he lacked some innings as a pitcher, his ratios were comparable to those of an ace pitcher on any team.

Throughout the season, he constantly summoned Babe Ruth, who was almost baseball itself, and after the season, he was unanimously named MVP [Most Valuable Player].

In the end, Major League Baseball even changed the rules for him. And each team made a lot of effort to create the second Ohtani.

Of course, it was difficult. But there’s a big difference between assuming it’s impossible and trying with the mindset that it might be possible.

It didn’t have to be an MVP-level hitter or a starting pitcher.

In this era of high velocity, where players’ bodies have become glass cannons, a decent utility player can throw like a decent relief pitcher? That means he’s a player who can really make good use of the roster.

Of course, there was no such thing in the KBO.

Even when I came back, there were no two-way players. But you can’t blame the KBO for this. Even in the NPB, which can be seen as the origin of two-way players, no such player has emerged since Shohei Ohtani.

That’s an achievement that’s only possible because the United States, a country crazy about sports, grinds its players with the mindset that it’s okay if one out of a hundred succeeds.

The problem was that the successful ones popped up one by one and snatched my MVP away.

Anyway, when I think about it, I don’t think I can’t be a two-way player.

No, maybe this is the safest path. Of course, I have to overcome some difficulties to walk that path. But where in the world is there an easy job? In the world I’ve lived in, the most valuable things always shine only when you overcome difficult things.

Like how you can only know the importance of divorce after you get married.

Ah, is this not it?

Anyway, I decided.

The two-way player that has repeatedly screwed up my baseball career.

This time, I’m going to walk that path.

Then the start is…

Malingering [pretending to be ill, especially in order to avoid duty or work]?

***

-Bang!!

The fastball thrown from a tall height of 190 is always refreshing to watch.

Director Park was convinced that Choi Soo-won was the best work of his coaching career.

It’s not just physical conditions.

Of course, being able to throw 150 is thanks to the blessed body, but what makes him confident of success in the pros is his mentality.

How could he not know? The rumors about his father and himself are spreading in the team.

But instead of believing in it and being arrogant or complacent, he worked hard to silence the rumors with his skills.

“Good. Good ball.”

Besides, he’s full of fighting spirit.

Even though he threw 105 pitches on the mound, his eyes are always blazing. He’s the kind of guy who can throw 45 pitches for three consecutive days in a tournament. And even if he’s asked to throw 105 pitches on the last day, he’ll throw it without any excuses or complaints.

Yeah, that’s right.

“Um, Director.”

“Huh? Why? What’s wrong?”

“My shoulder feels a little strange.”

What?