The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 62

62. If You’re Frustrated? (4)

Before today’s game, Gyu-hyuk was worried about his position. And with good reason. His performance in this tournament had been terrible.

“Hyung, how many infielders who can actually play are here? Unless you’re digging holes with your glove at first base, you’ll have plenty of chances.”

That was Su-won’s way of encouraging him. Su-won, with his mature understanding of how the team was run, also knew that the coach had chosen Jo Gyu-hyuk despite the other coaches’ opposition. So, he would continue to get opportunities even if he made some mistakes.

But the young Gyu-hyuk didn’t have the *yeoyu* [mental余裕; composure or余裕; leeway] to consider such adult circumstances.

‘Idiot.’

Negative emotions welled up from deep within him. ‘Unless you’re digging holes with your glove at first base, you’ll have plenty of chances?’ But what was he supposed to do now that he had messed up even his defense?

Huan Martinez on the mound went into his windup.

He had come in during the third inning with two outs and had now pitched 1.1 innings. His body was already warmed up.

-Whoosh!!

99 miles per hour.

The ball slammed into the catcher’s mitt in the blink of an eye.

“Strike!!”

It was a bit center-ish, but it was okay. The Korean team’s hitters were struggling with fastballs today. Of course, American hitters didn’t hit balls close to 100 miles per hour out of the park all the time, but they weren’t this helpless.

-Clang!!!

The weakly hit ball went foul. The bat was late. Even if they read the pitch, the reaction was slow. The 99.7-mile fastball had that kind of power.

In an instant, the count was 0-2.

Huan Martinez’s gaze briefly swept toward the dugout on the third base side. Even without trying to focus, one hitter immediately caught his eye.

Choi Su-won.

In this tournament, he was the man who was becoming the hottest topic, surpassing Alexander McDowell, who everyone had expected to be the star. He was swinging the bat like Barry Bonds reborn. And that was true even for the American national team. Even today’s starter, Zack Johnson, had to be pulled after giving up 1 home run and 1 hit.

He could tell from Zack Johnson’s sacrifice. All the other hitters on the Korean team couldn’t generate power against fastballs over 95 miles, but Choi Su-won was different. It was extremely dangerous to let runners get on base in front of that hitter.

Third pitch.

Huan Martinez showed off his 99-mile fastball once again.

Gyu-hyuk’s eyes didn’t leave the ball. He gripped the bat with both hands. Huan Martinez doubted his eyes.

‘A bunt?’

A bunt with two strikes.

Even if it went foul, it would be an out due to the three-bunt rule. That’s why, if you fail to bunt twice, you usually switch to a full swing even if you have to grit your teeth.

Above all, the bunt itself is being questioned for its productivity in modern baseball. The other players were also taken aback by Gyu-hyuk’s choice. It was a choice that was hard to see in the baseball they had played so far. Because of that, their reactions were slightly delayed.

It was scary.

Yes, bunting a ball that was close to 100 miles per hour was a very scary thing. But what was even scarier than that was the helplessness of not being able to do anything.

Gyu-hyuk’s bat softly met the 100-mile ball -thud!!

The ball rolled along the foul line toward first base.

Gyu-hyuk’s large body moved quickly toward first base, uncharacteristically. The American team’s first baseman, who had been a little slow to react, ran out to pick up the ball. Huan Martinez also belatedly came to his senses and ran to cover first base.

-Thump!!

“Safe!!”

The helmet that had come off Gyu-hyuk’s head as he ran was rolling far away.

Safe.

Jo Gyu-hyuk raised his right hand as if he had hit a home run.

***

“What? He’s acting like he hit a home run?”

“Leave him alone. He has to find a way to feel good about himself. Look at what he did today. Don’t you think?”

“Well, how could he miss a ball like that? Honestly, if it were Young-jae, he would have caught it with one eye closed.”

My brow furrowed involuntarily.

When Gyu-hyuk was around, those guys at least pretended to be considerate and whispered among themselves, but now that he was far away, they were openly criticizing him. It was truly absurd.

The leadoff hitter, Park Jin-kyung, went to the plate, and the second hitter, Kang Chang-wook, went to the on-deck circle. Since I was next in line, it was time for me to start preparing.

“Alright!! It’s been a while since a table has been set. Shall I do my job with a good mood?”

In fact, I didn’t necessarily have to say that. After all, they weren’t cursing at me. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t say it. Honestly, how can you get only one RBI [Runs Batted In] with one home run and one double? This isn’t the Daejeon Phoenix.

The mouths of the two guys who had failed to get on base in two consecutive at-bats and were mocking Gyu-hyuk’s bunt snapped shut. Well, their eyes looking at me became quite fierce, but they couldn’t really say anything. Experience was important in this field, but skill was just as important. Honestly, the only ones who can really say anything to me on the team right now are Baek Ha-min, Jo Gyu-chan, and Jung Byung-cheol. Well, if I had to add one more, it would be Park Jin-kyung.

-Clang!!!

As if on cue, Park Jin-kyung hit a 98-mile fastball.

A fairly hard hit.

Park Jin-kyung’s swing had also spread out while hitting against the Chinese pitchers, but he was also the fastest to correct it. He was definitely a flawless infielder except for his shoulder.

[A well-hit ball!! Toward the shortstop!! Ah!! George Taylor!! George Taylor catches the ball with an amazing play!!]

But he was unlucky.

A ball that he would never have been able to catch under normal circumstances did not escape George Taylor’s glove. The only good thing was that George Taylor’s balance was completely broken in the process of catching the ball, and Park Jin-kyung’s feet were very fast.

George Taylor, who had rolled once on the ground, tossed the ball in his glove straight to second base.

“Out!!”

Gyu-hyuk, who had interfered with the second baseman’s throw with a bent-leg slide, shook the dirt off his butt with a look full of regret.

“Good job.”

“Good job, my foot… If I had been a little faster, we would have scored one more point.”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t that right? If I had just made it to second or third base, you would have brought everyone in with a home run anyway. So, we need to narrow the score gap here to win. To do that, Chang-wook needs to get on base too.”

“Should I feel pressured by this?”

“Why? Are you feeling pressured?”

“No. They say a scholar will risk his life for someone who recognizes his worth, so I’m starting to wonder if I should risk my life for you, hyung.”

“Forget about risking your life. Go and hit a nice one. That Martinez guy over there seems to be watching you.”

Gyu-hyuk patted me on the back once and returned to the dugout. I was worried because he looked like he was about to die after making a throwing error at first base earlier, but he doesn’t look too bad, maybe because he played some baseball.

One out, runner on first. The score is 2:7.

Kang Chang-wook stepped up to the plate.

-Thump!!

“Strike!!”

I feel it every time I stand on the mound, but a fastball is bound to be a powerful weapon in itself. Especially if the hitters aren’t used to the fastball. In fact, many hitters who dominated the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] struggled the most with fastballs over 95 miles when they advanced to the majors.

It was reasonable to see that as a difference between players who had experienced fastballs over 95 miles a lot from a young age and those who had not, rather than their natural talent being that different. In that sense, Kang Chang-wook’s conditions weren’t bad.

His alma mater was Kyungbu High School, a prestigious school that shared the Gyeongnam area with Kyungha High School, and the pitcher he had to face for three years was Jo Gyu-chan, a left-handed pitcher who threw a maximum of 150 km/h [93 mph].

-Clang!!

The slightly mis-hit ball went over the shortstop’s head. A lucky Texas-league hit [a bloop hit that falls between an infielder and an outfielder] that fell between the infielder and outfielder.

Park Jin-kyung on first safely reached second, and the hitter Kang Chang-wook safely reached first.

It was my turn.

***

One out, runners on first and second.

That was perhaps the situation that Huan Martinez wanted to avoid the most. His gaze briefly turned toward the dugout. If there were runners on second and third, the choice would have been easy. He could fill the bases and aim for a double play from the next hitter. Of course, the next hitter was also Jung Byung-cheol, who was not an easy hitter, but to compare the risks, if Jung Byung-cheol was about a wolf, Choi Su-won was a hungry dragon, not a hungry lion. The genre is completely different.

The dugout did not instruct Huan Martinez to intentionally walk him. However, they demanded that he make the at-bat as difficult as possible, even if he gave up a walk.

“Damn it.”

A 5-point difference.

It was still a comfortable score difference. If they scored 10 more points here, the game would end immediately by the mercy rule, and if they scored only 5 more points, the game would end in the 7th inning. But that comfortable score difference didn’t feel comfortable at all.

He came to the plate. He adjusted his helmet with his left hand and tapped his head twice. Then, he gripped the bat strongly twice with his right hand, tapped the home plate once, and straightened his posture.

He exuded an aura that was no less than that monster Alexander McDowell.

“Damn it.”

Huan Martinez cursed quietly once again. Some stupid guys don’t understand how monstrous Alexander McDowell is. But he was different. His older brother had already faced Alexander McDowell in college league. And that brother, whom Huan Martinez had never beaten since he was born, had not struck out Alexander McDowell even once throughout the season.

And that Su-won guy at the plate is a monster that Alexander McDowell is burning with competitiveness.

A difficult at-bat as possible, even if he gave up a walk?

Then he would just throw with the mindset of not giving the ball inside the strike zone from the beginning.

Outside high.

Toward a place slightly out of the zone, he threw the fastest ball he could.

And the moment the baseball left his hand, he sensed it.

‘Ah…’

I’m screwed.

It’s a ball that goes out of the way up, down, left, and right even if you aim for the center. The same was true for the ball he aimed for slightly out of the high outside corner. It might have been better if it was a higher place further outside where the catcher’s hand couldn’t reach.

But the ball he threw was sucked into the full high outside corner. A perfect pitch that he would have been very satisfied with in normal times.

Choi Su-won swung his bat like lightning.

-Clang!!!

A very high fly ball to right-center.

Center fielder Alexander McDowell quickly tracked the ball. It wasn’t that big. Of course. It’s impossible for even a current Major League All-Star to perfectly hit a ball that went into such a perfect location.

With an absurd running speed of 40 yards in 4.5 seconds.

He stepped on the fence and flew high into the sky with that speed. The tip of his outstretched hand. The end of the glove that soared a little higher than that. The baseball grazed the end as if it were teasing the glove -tap.

Home run.

It was a three-run home run.

5:7

Choi Su-won raised his right hand. Just like Jo Gyu-hyuk had after succeeding with his bunt.

***

Continuing in the 5th and 6th innings.

Baek Ha-min didn’t give up any additional runs. And in the meantime, Korea scored an additional point against the second American pitcher who had been brought in, finally catching up to within one point.

Thus, in the 6th inning, with two outs and runners on first and third.

Baek Ha-min, who had just allowed a hit, handed the ball full of his lingering feelings and regrets to the pitcher who was newly coming to the mound.

“Good job, hyung.”

“……”

It was Choi Su-won’s turn.