The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 72

“Hoo…”

Benjamin Palmer pressed his fingers firmly between his eyebrows.

He had been working tirelessly for days, barely getting any sleep, but no promising solutions appeared.

“It’s not like he’s a major FA [Free Agent, a player eligible to sign with any team], and the international amateur contract has a clear limit. Isn’t he pushing himself too hard?”

“He’s a rookie.”

Rookie.

That one word was enough. Those who were now laughing at Benjamin Palmer had similar experiences just a few years ago.

The Major League.

Like the entertainment industry, this field is special in many ways. It’s more than just a job where you can earn money. There’s something here that lures countless young people—a dazzling light. Some call it a dream, while others call it a vain hope that seduces humans.

“Rookie, is something not working out?”

“Ah, yes. A little…”

“He said he absolutely hates NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the highest level of baseball in Japan], and he has to be a two-way player. That only leaves Oakland or Tampa Bay.”

“Sigh… I thought there might be a way.”

“Sigh, well, keep trying hard. Who knows? Maybe your sincerity will move the commissioner and the union to revise the international amateur regulations in the CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement] this winter?”

“That would be great… But are you making fun of me right now?”

“Yeah. With the current talk of changing the international amateur system to a draft system, there’s no way anything will be resolved in favor of the players. Whether it’s the clubs, the league office, or the union, they’re all groups that move according to their own interests. In the end, it has to be beneficial to someone to go in that direction, but there’s no group that benefits from lifting the restrictions on international amateur prospects. Of course, it would be beneficial to the amateur players, but they don’t have any power. Right?”

Benjamin Palmer’s eyes widened as if he had been struck hard on the head.

“A beneficial group?”

***

-Boom!!

“This is much better than before! His form is still a bit unstable, but his pitches are so good… If he gets seasoned in the minors, he’ll be much better.”

“When he skipped the contract and went to the American pitching lab, I thought he was just a kid obsessed with money, but seeing him come back so improved, I can’t really say anything.”

850 million won.

Thanks to Choi Min-hyuk and Seo Gyu-tak’s record-breaking contracts of 1.05 billion won and 1 billion won last year, it felt a bit overshadowed, but it was still the fifth-largest amount in KBO [Korea Baseball Organization] history. This was the signing bonus for Baek Ha-min, who was drafted first overall by the Marines in the first round.

“So, can’t we use him right away?”

“Well, even so, he needs to learn how to handle a season, and frankly, his form looks flashy but a bit dangerous. We need to cut out the unnecessary parts and refine what needs refining. If you give me a few months, I can make him as good as you want.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and the slider needs some work. He throws both a high-speed slider and a regular slider, but the high-speed slider is good, while the regular slider is not so good…”

“Okay, I’ll leave that entirely to Coach Lee. Even if he’s only half as good as Coach Lee’s slider during his prime, that would be great.”

“Sigh, look at the condition of the kids these days. Their velocity is completely different from our time. If he just follows my coaching properly, he’ll be much better than my prime.”

***

“Did the machines arrive okay?”

“Yes. Thank you. I got them at a good price thanks to you.”

“It’s nothing. It’s my alma mater, so I should help with things like this.”

Currently, Choi Soo-won was the number one player to watch out for in all high schools nationwide.

As a hitter and as a pitcher.

In fact, finding an answer to hitter Choi Soo-won was very easy.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s easy to deal with. On the contrary. It means that facing him is impossible, so the answer is to just give up on facing him. Fortunately, baseball has a very good institutional device for dealing with an unbeatable hitter: the intentional walk.

So, what about pitcher Choi Soo-won?

As a hitter, he’s 1/9th. You just have to face the other eight players. But pitcher Choi Soo-won was different. Of course, if you ask whether pitcher Choi Soo-won is as untouchable as hitter Choi Soo-won, that’s not the case. He’s just a normal, top-tier high school pitcher. On days when his control isn’t good, he gets hit sometimes, and even on days when his control seems good, he still walks runners.

But that doesn’t mean you can just hope he’s in bad condition. Especially for schools in the same district as Joongang High School. Cheonnam High School, which was reorganized with mostly sophomores after Baek Ha-min and the other seniors graduated, was the same.

That’s why they had to find an answer.

And the answer they came up with was a new pitching machine that could adapt to Choi Soo-won’s fastball.

Of course, the machine they were originally using wasn’t bad either.

It was a school in Seoul that had produced several professional players recently. They had two machines, each costing close to ten million won.

But the machine they newly purchased this time was even more upgraded.

It could reach a maximum velocity of 170 km/h. It could also finely adjust the height of the release point and even the changes in breaking balls by connecting to a computer.

Of course, Choi Soo-won’s velocity was a maximum of 157, which was slower than the existing machine that could reach 160, but everyone knew that a ball thrown by a person was more difficult than a ball shot out by a machine.

Adjusting batting timing with a faster ball.

That was the decision of the Cheonnam High School coach.

Late September.

The National Sports Festival.

Originally held in 1920 under the name ‘All Joseon Baseball Tournament,’ this competition has evolved into a festival for all amateur athletes over the course of more than 100 years.

The National Sports Festival’s U-19 baseball Seoul regional representative selection tournament.

As one of the most prestigious baseball schools in the country, Cheonnam High School advanced smoothly, defeating other schools by cold game [a game ended early due to one team having a large lead].

Of course, even so, Cheonnam High School was not the top dog in this tournament.

Looking at the overall composition of the team, no one could keep up with Cheonnam High School.

But with just one person.

Due to just one player, they were considered the strongest championship contender.

Joongang High School.

One season.

Or even a series of tournaments, but in a single game, they were clearly the strongest in the nation.

The National Sports Festival’s Seoul regional representative selection tournament.

Cheonnam High School met Joongang High School in the semi-finals.

The starting pitcher was Choi Soo-won.

And it was Choi Soo-won, who was as fresh as could be, having last thrown a ball a whole week ago.

“You heard from Ha-min, right?”

“Yeah, Choi Soo-won got stronger. Ha, that crazy talented bastard. If he was going to play baseball like that, he should have come to Cheonnam. Why did he go to Joongang?”

“He said he didn’t want to live in the dorm and wanted to commute.”

“But their house is in the Hyundai apartment anyway, which is only one stop away from Cheonnam.”

“He must have just liked Joongang High School. You know how some kids are? They’re so confident in their skills that they imagine carrying a weak high school to the championship like a manga protagonist.”

It was a sweet fantasy that any ace pitcher would have had at least once.

Of course, that sweet fantasy was almost impossible to realize, so everyone tended to make realistic choices.

But someone was making that fantasy a reality right before their eyes. And from the position of watching it, especially when you were on the opposite side, it was truly maddening.

“Hey, don’t be too scared. Choi Soo-won is nothing special. It’s not like he has four arms. And we’ve been training like crazy while he was training in America. Honestly, there’s no one on the team who can’t hit 165 right now. Right? Young-in, you hit a 165 ball over the fence yesterday. Two of them. Right?”

“That’s right. Even if Choi Soo-won trained in America, it’s not like his velocity suddenly skyrocketed to 165. He used to throw 157 kilometers, so even if he got stronger, it would be 158 or 159 kilometers. We trained with much faster balls than that.”

The players encouraged each other.

-Boom!!!

“Strike!!!”

The ball thrown by Choi Soo-won on the mound passed through home plate.

If you ask whether it was a perfect location, no. Rather, it was close to the middle.

The batter briefly stepped out of the batter’s box to recall the timing of the previous pitch.

Second.

-Thwack!!!

The batted ball soared high into the sky from its spot.

Jo Yu-jin took off his mask and jumped up from his seat.

-Thud.

“Out!!”

The timing and hitting point were both ridiculously off.

The first batter of Cheonnam High School headed to the dugout.

“How was it?”

On the way back.

The batter who was walking from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box asked briefly.

“Well…”

What could he say?

As someone who was often criticized for lacking vocabulary and expression, he couldn’t think of the right words. So, all he could say was, “The timing is a bit different.”

Choi Soo-won on the mound breathed lightly.

William Washington couldn’t do much for him.

A month was too short to overhaul his pitching.

“Make sure to come back during winter break. You need to do it for at least three months to touch anything. Ah, and if you have the chance, be sure to bring Baek with you.”

“Aren’t you being too aggressive in attracting customers? Besides, this place is too expensive. You should move the studio to the suburbs. Who puts a pitching lab in New York? This place is unnecessarily expensive with the rent.”

“But it’s good for the players’ accessibility.”

But one thing.

Choi Soo-won’s left leg soared high.

In some ways, it was a violent leg lift that resembled Baek Ha-min’s bold form. The raised leg stretched straight out. Similarly, a huge stride.

If a coach from a certain club saw it, they would demand a correction, saying it was an unnecessarily long stride.

But despite the bold stride, Choi Soo-won’s innate physical balance and sense of equilibrium stably moved his body.

The hand came out of the glove. The lower body, where the stride was completed, and the upper body, where the rotation had not yet taken place, were in perfect balance, as if the bowstring was tightly drawn.

And at this point, the effect of William Washington grabbing and kneading Choi Soo-won’s body for a month shone.

From the early cocking phase to the late cocking phase. In that situation, where the greatest load was placed on the shoulder and arm, making it the most prone to injury, Choi Soo-won’s arm drew a beautiful curve.

Of course, that didn’t mean the ball flew with a faster and stronger speed than before.

The second batter of Cheonnam High School, who was standing in the batter’s box, swung his bat.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

A refreshing swing and a miss.

The one who had a little more expressiveness than the previous batter could say it like this.

“Is this ball faster? No, is it constantly fast?”

It wasn’t about the old debate about initial velocity and final velocity.

Everything started with the 6 inches that William talked about.

-Whoosh!!!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

Thus, the Seoul representative selection tournament for the National Sports Festival.