The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 78

78. The Beginning of the End (4)

To be honest, most of Alexander McDowell’s stories weren’t even worth listening to.

But one thing stuck with me.

The phrase, ‘a mission given by the god of baseball.’

Perhaps, just like he said, I, who was once called the greatest hitter since Ted Williams, was sent back to my seventeen-year-old body to break the tainted records of baseball.

But I quickly shook my head.

Honestly, that’s crazy. Seriously, 73 home runs in a season? How does that even make sense? I vaguely remember the media frenzy when I was chasing 60 home runs, and that guy must have had around 180 walks that season, so he probably had less than 480 at-bats.

In this world, you’re considered a good hitter if you bat .300 [getting a hit 30% of the time]. But this guy hit almost half of his hits as home runs. That’s just insane.

No matter how much the god of baseball wanted, he wouldn’t want me to break that record. Frankly, to do that, you’d need a skill like ‘the speed of every hit ball increases by 10 miles,’ something you’d only see in a game.

However, one thing did pique my interest.

The story about the popularity of baseball. To be honest, I was a superstar in Korea. Baseball is the most popular sport in Korea, and I was the greatest baseball star Korea had ever produced.

But if you ask if that was the case in the American mainland, where I was active… well… Of course, I had never reached the top of Major League Baseball, the MVP [Most Valuable Player award]. But didn’t some great runner-up say something like this?

‘The world only remembers the first place, but if you come in second a lot, people will remember you too.’

I don’t know if it’s the same meaning, but I was quite famous on the internet with memes like, ‘I don’t know who the MVP was in 203x. But what’s certain is that Choi Su-won was second.’ Of course, even then, I had fewer SNS followers than NFL [National Football League], NBA [National Basketball Association], or even MLS [Major League Soccer] superstars.

“Swan, what are you thinking so hard about?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about this and that. By the way, when did Mr. Washington start liking baseball?”

“Well… I think it was when I was very young, but I don’t remember exactly. But I remember fighting with my brother over who would be Mark McGwire when we were kids. Then, after Barry Bonds came out, we fought over who would be Barry Bonds.”

“How did you feel after the drug scandal?”

“It was a bit much. It felt like the superhero I liked and supported was actually a villain. I think my brother burned all of his Barry Bonds merchandise at that time.”

I already knew that the Washington brothers loved baseball.

After all, they graduated from Ivy League [a group of prestigious American universities] and reached the level right before senior management at a global distribution company. In Korean terms, that means they were talented individuals who reached the level of department head in their early forties. The only way to explain why such people would be so obsessed with baseball, even while worrying about rent, was that.

“Oh, but one thing was fortunate.”

“Fortunate? What is it?”

“Barry Bonds didn’t lead the San Francisco Giants to the championship. Personally, I think it was really God’s help.”

“Barry Bonds not leading the San Francisco Giants to the championship was God’s help?”

“Yes, the irony that even Barry Bonds, who took drugs and surpassed the god of baseball, couldn’t lead the team to victory. And the story of the long-haired ace [a team’s best pitcher] and the man of autumn [a player who performs well in the playoffs] meeting and finally winning the championship after 56 years. That’s when it must have been. That’s when my brother and I became interested in pitchers.”

“Ah… then, could it be?”

“Yes, the reason my brother is disappointed that Hamin couldn’t visit is also because of that. In fact, Tim Lincecum was the biggest reason we became interested in pitchers, and his not-so-great later years were the reason we decided to start this someday.”

“I see. So, occasionally talking with Hamin wasn’t just simple customer management.”

No wonder William looked noticeably disappointed when he heard that Hamin couldn’t come, to the point where it was hard to believe it was just about the money.

“But why did you suddenly ask when we started liking baseball?”

“Oh, I just heard a story about the popular appeal of baseball.”

“If it’s about the popular appeal of baseball, hasn’t it been getting better lately? There are a lot of exciting young hitters, and the Yankees have been doing well.”

“The Yankees?”

“Yes, there’s something special about the Yankees. They’re America’s Team, aren’t they?”

Even now, with the NFL boasting overwhelming popularity, it’s a glorious name that they haven’t given to the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL’s most popular team. Thanks to that, some people even cite Derek Jeter’s successor as an important factor in the resurgence of baseball’s popularity in the United States. Well, in my past life, I didn’t like those idiots who said such stupid things.

“Okay, if you’ve rested enough, let’s start training again.”

The adjustment of the stride width was completed with the training of the past month. In fact, that alone was a very different form from the recent trend in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]. Recently, the KBO has been focusing on narrowing the stride width and balancing the body.

“Of course, that would be the case normally. But Choi Su-won’s sense of balance is extraordinary.”

And the effect was sufficiently proven by the recent National Sports Festival. I only gave up two walks during the tournament. In addition, I was able to gain a lot of advantage in timing as the distance to pull the ball out became longer.

And again, 3 months.

William asked me for deception.

“Of course, it’s not really necessary at the high school level. If you want to explode in high school baseball right away, it would be more advantageous to install another breaking ball instead of adding these hidden movements. But frankly, with Swan’s level right now, conquering high school baseball is enough. The important thing is what happens after that. A fastball with a maximum of 98 miles is powerful, but it’s not enough to play in the big leagues. The timing when a 98-mile fastball can be really powerful is when you’re wondering if the ball coming in now is a 98-mile fastball or an 85-mile changeup. And the first step is a great deception.”

It was never an easy task.

“Your right arm is slightly twisted inward. That increases the risk of injury.”

“Your command is shaky. It seems like you’re too impatient to hide your arm and then release it. Theoretically, Swan’s hand speed is sufficient. You don’t have to be impatient.”

There were several ways to give deception.

What the Washington brothers recommended to me was a slightly modified form of my existing form, specifically the posture of throwing the ball at the end.

“Good. Like that. But you’re still impatient. You’re not fully catching the ball at the end. The spin rate has dropped by 200. I’ll say it again, there’s plenty of time. You don’t have to be impatient.”

Again, it wasn’t like I was particularly impatient.

Honestly, to keep the feeling of pressing the ball back from the original form, and then suddenly swing the arm quickly, while the angle of the arm has to move the same, and you have to pay attention to catching the ball at the end. Moreover, they say that if you do it without thinking, there’s a risk of injury.

-Hahahaha

“Is that story that funny?”

“Of course, it’s funny to see Choi Su-won, the baseball prodigy who seemed to have fallen from the sky, struggling with baseball. I thought you’d go to the United States and do everything you were told, and you wouldn’t even need three months. But seeing this, you’re just a person too.”

Hamin laughed heartily and enjoyed it.

“How about you, hyung [older brother or male friend]? I see you talk to William often.”

“Oh, but I can’t do it for that long. Usually, it’s evening when training is over, so it’s still too early in the morning there, and if it’s a little later, I’m too busy sleeping.”

“Is the training tough?”

“Well, training is all like that.”

I’ve felt it since a long time ago, but Hamin is a very transparent person. Even now, just by listening to his voice, I can tell that the training isn’t all that.

“Hyung, take good care of your body. Our body is our wealth after all. Don’t force yourself if it’s too hard. You know that not getting injured is the top priority, right?”

“I know everything. Did William tell you to say that? I hear it every day, and I’m tired of it, and you’re saying the same thing. I’m eating well, resting well, and exercising well, so you take care of yourself and come back. I have to win the championship once next year without you.”

“Why just once? I’m going to sweep all the national tournaments next year.”

“Hey, hey, my breakfast time is almost over. Should I hang up now?”

“Yes.”

A 13-hour time difference.

It wasn’t easy to talk to acquaintances in Korea.

But is it a substitute for that?

“Hey, Swan. I found out through my acquaintances that there’s a system called posting [a system that allows KBO players to negotiate with MLB teams]. If you use it, you can go straight to the big leagues after playing for only one year. It’s the same whether you play in the minors or there. If you do that, our Mets can offer you a signing bonus of about $5 million because the penalty is over. Of course, it’s not a satisfactory amount, but you can put up with it because you can play on the same team as me, right?”

“No, I don’t.”

A cafe in front of my house where the sandwiches are good, so I have breakfast there every morning.

I lightly ignored Alexander McDowell, who had clocked in again today, and opened my smartphone to roughly scan the news from Korea that had happened overnight.

“No, don’t reject it without even thinking about it. I heard that it’s a form of receiving a signing bonus from the originally drafted team and then receiving a signing bonus again. If that’s the case, the total amount will be almost the same as mine, right?”

“No, it’s not. And could you tell your acquaintances that I’m not Japanese, I’m Korean, and our league isn’t NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball], it’s KBO?”

“Huh? Huh?”

I packed a sandwich to eat for lunch and headed to the pitching lab.

And again, a slight correction of posture.

The same routine was repeated.

-Smack!!

“Yes!! Swan, that was good!! That’s it!!”

About two months of that time.

Finally, William clapped his hands with a satisfied expression.

“Okay, let’s do it one more time.”

I accurately remembered the posture from before.

It was strangely uncomfortable, but according to William, that timing would make the opponent more uncomfortable than I was.

The timing of the arm coming out was slightly delayed.

A little more load was applied, but thanks to that, when viewed from the front, the right hand was completely hidden by the torso. And the right arm moved faster by the delayed timing. The baseball was pulled out from the tip of the powerfully extended hand.

-Thud!!

The baseball was accurately embedded in the practice net.

“Ah, good job!! Almost similar. It seems like you’ve gotten a feel for it. Let’s throw a few more.”

So, about two months.

It’s enough time to get used to William’s way of speaking. And according to William’s way of speaking that I’ve gotten used to, what he just said was ‘I don’t really like it, but it’s not entirely wrong.’

That’s how three months flew by.