The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 79

79. The Beginning of the End (5)

In American sports, February is for the Super Bowl, the final of the NFL [National Football League]. And March is the season for college basketball, known as March Madness. But in Korea, it’s a bit different. In Korea, March is the season of exhibition games for all the baseball fans who have been waiting for baseball.

“Crazy… Seriously, we’re screwed this year.”

“Seriously, why do you always act like this around this time every year? You’re just going to be gloomy again in a month anyway.”

“This time is different, okay?”

“Yeah, you said that last year, and the year before that.”

And as always, the Lotte Giants were strong in spring.

“Spring Lotte is practically a science at this point, isn’t it? I think it’s a conspiracy by Busan Bank. They boost expectations in the spring to get people to sign up for savings accounts and then give them terrible interest rates. It’s a national interest rate scam.”

“Hey!! This time is really different, okay? Did you see Baek Ha-min? He’s throwing up to 153km/h [approximately 95 mph]? The gallery is going crazy sending him gold-rimmed glasses as gifts.”

“Ugh, that glasses ace is something else. Aren’t we done with the ace arm replacement history? Besides, Baek Ha-min’s face is the whole point, so why are they making him wear glasses? He doesn’t even have bad eyesight. And those old-fashioned glasses, too.”

***

“Hey, can’t you clean properly?”

“Why don’t you do it properly? Your spot is the dirtiest. And shouldn’t we clean the seniors’ spots together?”

“Hey, I pitched yesterday. Starting pitchers need delicate care, you know? Oh, right, you’re from a junior club, so you wouldn’t know about that, would you?”

“Hey!! What do you mean I don’t know? Seriously, that’s ridiculous.”

“If you know, then clean up. Huh? Don’t you know the seniors are coming tomorrow?”

Ko Han-gyeol from Baekseok Middle School tapped Joo Ji-min on the shoulder.

‘Damn it.’

Joo Ji-min clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He was so angry that his cheeks were trembling, but he couldn’t swing the fist he was clenching. Either way, Ko Han-gyeol was a pitcher who had made a name for himself since middle school baseball and was one of the team’s top two or three starting pitchers, even though he had just entered.

Moreover, although it was only for one semester, he had attended Wonkwang Middle School in the neighborhood, so he had good relationships with the 2nd and 3rd year seniors who graduated from Wonkwang Middle School and were attending Joongang High School. Joo Ji-min himself, who had played baseball in a junior club rather than middle school baseball, couldn’t compare in terms of his position within the team.

“Okay. Okay, so clean your own spot.”

“Jeez, you’re going to do it anyway, why are you complaining? Hey, throw this trash away on your way. I pitched yesterday, so it’s hard for me to carry heavy things around.”

Holding two trash bags on either side, he headed towards the back of the dorm. In the distance, he could see an old incinerator that had been built a long time ago but was no longer in use.

“Seeing you here at this hour, I guess you’re from the baseball team? Right? I don’t recognize your face, so you must be a freshman? You’ve got a good build. Are you a pitcher?”

“C- Choi… Choi, Choi, Choi Su-won, Senior?”

“So you are from the baseball team. Are you going to throw away the trash?”

“Yes, yes!! I’m a pitcher, a pitcher!!”

“Okay, good work. See you tomorrow.”

He had hesitated a lot.

Should I continue playing baseball in the future? No, even if I continue, is there any possibility? No, more than that, will I even be able to continue playing baseball?

Of course, he doesn’t hesitate now. The very fact that he is standing in this place was the answer to all those questions.

Chilly weather.

Joo Ji-min quickly put down the trash bags and headed back to the dorm.

***

“Senior, you’ve arrived!! I heard you were coming tomorrow, so it’s not quite ready yet… Ah!! Give me your luggage. I’ll carry it.”

“Oh, yeah, so you’re…”

“Freshman Ko! Han! Gyeol! I look forward to working with you.”

“Okay, okay, Han-gyeol. I heard a lot about you from Jjoyu [Jo Yu-jin’s nickname]. I heard you’ve improved a lot recently?”

“Yes!! It’s all thanks to Coach Yang Se-jun’s guidance and the consideration of the seniors!!”

What should I say?

A concentrated smell of men? A smell that permeated the entire dorm building that wouldn’t disappear no matter how much you ventilated or sprayed Febreze. And this room was no exception. Well, perhaps as a sign of their will to get rid of the smell, there were traces of burnt incense sticks and five sticks stuck in the diffuser, but it was no use.

“Hey, don’t bother cleaning up. I can use this bed and locker, right?”

“No!! Feel free to order me around. And if you’re more comfortable with another spot, just let me know.”

“No, I really don’t like people unpacking my stuff. By the way, where’s Jae-cheol?”

“Senior Jae-cheol is in the indoor practice field right now. Shall I go call him?”

“No, there’s no need to do that. So, who else uses this room besides Jae-cheol, you, and me?”

“Ah!! There’s a freshman pitcher named Joo Ji-min. He’s from a junior club, and he got in through the entrance exam this time.”

“Really? A kid from a junior club got in?”

Junior. It was an unusual occurrence.

Amateur baseball in Korea can be largely divided into two categories.

There’s school baseball, which aims to produce professional players, and Little League, which is enjoyed as a hobby.

In fact, at the elementary school level, it doesn’t really matter whether you play school baseball or Little League. But the middle school level is a bit different. Whether you started playing baseball in elementary school or in Little League, if you have some talent, you naturally enter the middle school baseball team.

It’s a natural thing. How much can your skills improve by taking classes at school and playing baseball after school? In the end, Little League, and by extension, Junior League, can only be in the realm of hobbies.

“That’s interesting. A kid who played junior baseball is coming to high school baseball. How are his skills?”

“He’s just at the level of kids who played junior baseball. You don’t need to worry about him.”

“Really?”

“Yes, that’s how juniors are. More than that, Senior, I heard you were at a pitching lab in the United States. Could I hear a little bit about it?”

“Just… slowly. We’ll be living together for a year anyway, so there’s plenty of time.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, you must be tired from the long trip!! I’m just such a fan.”
“No, anyway, leave my luggage as it is. Is Jjoyu’s room still the same? Is he in his room now? Or in the indoor practice field?”

“If it’s now, he’ll be in the indoor practice field. Shall I go tell him that you’ve arrived, Senior?”

“It’s okay. I’ll just go take a look. Rest up.”

Certainly, as I felt when I saw him once before, he has a bit of a fox-like side, but he is very sociable.

Just as I was about to open the door and go to the indoor practice field, I ran into the guy who was taking out the trash again.

“Oh? You are?”

“Joo… Joo Ji-min, Senior!!”

“Joo Ji-min? Ah, so you’re the freshman who’s going to be using the same room as me. The one from the junior club.”

“Yes!!”

“Okay, I look forward to working with you for the next year. Ah, don’t touch my luggage in the room.”

“Yes? Ah, yes, yes!! I understand.”

Even when I saw him again in the light, he certainly had a decent build. His personality seemed a bit frustrating, but it’s normal to be intimidated when you see a senior around this time, so there’s nothing particularly strange about it. Rather, I should say that guy Ko Han-gyeol is being too overly sociable. I couldn’t even talk properly to Ahn Byung-young, who was only one year my senior.

-Thwack!!!

-Whoosh!!!!!

The sound of a baseball hitting the pitching net and the sound of a bat swinging could be heard.

“Choi Su-won?”

“Oh? Senior Su-won?”

“Senior!!!”

The guys greeted me enthusiastically as soon as they opened the door.

“Hey, what’s up? Weren’t you coming tomorrow?”

“I guess I’m not adjusting to the time difference? I can’t sleep, and I have to go to school tomorrow anyway, so I just came a little early.”

“Did you tell the coach?”

“Yeah, I told him on the phone. By the way, are you guys training until this hour? Aren’t you overtraining?”

“We were just about to finish up anyway. We’re just having the guys who didn’t get to play in today’s practice game warm up a bit.”

“You didn’t get to play in the practice game either?”

“If I don’t play, who’s going to catch the ball?”

“Then?”

“I’m just the captain.”

Just three months.

In the eyes of a thirty-five-year-old man, the eighteen-year-old baseball boy still looked young. But there was a sense of heaviness, a leader’s gravitas, on that youthful face that hadn’t been there before.

“Okay, guys, let’s end training here for today.”

“Yes!!”

The second-year students began to clean up the practice field with the first-year students.

“Then we’ll go shower first. Su-won, see you later.”

“Yeah.”

The third-year students, including Timon and Pumbaa [reference to characters from ‘The Lion King’], left first.

Jo Yu-jin was still in the indoor practice field, watching the kids.

“Jjoyu, aren’t you going?”

“Oh? I’m going to check if the kids are cleaning up.”

“Wait a minute, don’t tell me you’ve been staying behind like this every day?”

“Of course. I’m the captain.”

Uh… um…

I gently grabbed Jo Yu-jin’s arm.

“Hey, responsibility is good, but that’s too much. What are you doing making the kids feel burdened? Hey, think about it. Imagine Ahn Byung-young staying behind and watching you clean up with the kids.”

“Hey, that’s not right. Why are you comparing me to Senior Byung-young? Ugh, it’s terrible just hearing it.”

“That’s the same thing to them. You have to do it FM [field manual – meaning by the book] because you’re going to clean up roughly and you have things to do.”

“Really?”

“It’s not ‘Really?’, it’s totally true.”

I definitely saw it. The gazes of the second-year students who were looking at me when I grabbed Jjoyu were full of gratitude.

As a result of my many years of professional experience, I felt that seniors who don’t care about me too much are a bit much, but seniors who care about me too much and bother me with this and that are also a bit much.

Moderation is always the best.

Of course, that’s the most difficult thing.

“How was the training camp? I saw a lot of faces I hadn’t seen before. Ah, and how were Han-gyeol and Yu-jun?”

“They were both okay. Ko Han-gyeol is a bit cocky, but he still keeps the line well, and Park Yu-jun is just working hard in training.”

“How are Jae-cheol and the second-year pitchers?”

Two years ago, memories came flooding back.

At the time, I was a highly anticipated prospect. What should I say? I was like Seo Tae-woong who fell into Buksan, which had neither Chae Chi-soo nor Song Tae-seop? That’s not an exaggeration. At the time, I threw the fastest ball even among all the second and third graders.

Even in the pros, if a player comes in through a trade or free agency and threatens your position, you get edgy. What would it be like for high school students who are still mentally immature? Of course, unlike then, there is an absolute ace named me in the team now, but the second graders won’t be very happy with the first graders who suddenly came in and throw the ball better than them.

“They’re struggling to death. They can’t show their juniors that they’re falling behind. But it doesn’t seem like they’re secretly bullying them like you were worried about on the phone.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“They’ve seen what they’ve grown up with, haven’t they?”

“What they’ve grown up with?”

“Senior Byung-young and Senior Jin-woo. They saw which of the two was more like a senior, didn’t they?”

“Ah…”

“So don’t worry too much.”

Is this a negative example?

Certainly, Ahn Byung-young was a person who was perfect to be taken as a negative example.

“Ah, and Choi Su-won.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“No, I’m saying thank you for coming into the dorm.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t come in because of you? I just came because I was too lazy to take the bus to commute.”

***

The New World Big Mart National High School Baseball Tournament has no preliminaries. All 90 high school teams from across the country participate and play a tournament for 18 days. If you receive a seed, you have to win six games in a row, and if you don’t, you have to win a total of seven games in a row, which is a grueling schedule. As the number of teams decreases as you go up, the game intervals become tighter.

And in this tournament as well, Joongang High School’s luck in the draw was the same as ever, and they narrowly missed out on receiving a seed.

“I thought we were unlucky again this time, but this is actually good, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

The Wangjungwangjeon [King of Kings] and the National Sports Festival in the second half of last year.

Clearly, Joongang High School was very unlucky. But is it really true that the total amount of luck actually exists? This tournament was a bit different.

A seeded high school that was scheduled to receive a bye declared its absence due to a lack of personnel.

As a result, Joongang High School ended its first game, which was no different from the second game, and had a fairly long break.

And so, that first game.

With a generous schedule that allowed him to come back for the next game no matter how many pitches he threw, even if he filled all 105 pitches, Choi Su-won took the mound.