The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 93

93. Two Billion (7)

Those watching the game leaped from their seats.

The Sangdong Baseball Stadium has fewer than 250 seats. And most of those seats are occupied by KBO [Korea Baseball Organization] officials or broadcasting personnel.

The general spectators sitting in the standing area in the outfield also looked at them with expressions asking what was going on, due to the unusual reaction.

And among them, some who were simultaneously playing the broadcast from TV even at the field, opened their mouths wide.

“157.1km/h?”

“Crazy? 157 in November?”

Even though Sangdong is in the southern region, the weather turns chilly beyond cool around early November. In fact, the temperature today is 16.5 degrees Celsius, and most people who came to watch the game are wearing thin padding. But in that weather, he suddenly throws 157km/h from the first pitch?
Of course, most people knew that Choi Soo-won could throw a maximum of 157. But that’s just the maximum speed.

Usually, even a pitcher who throws a maximum speed of 155 doesn’t reach that speed until the 2nd or 3rd inning when his body is completely warmed up, averaging around 152. Especially in the early innings, it is common to throw pitches in the 140s from time to time.

“Hey, he’s worth 2 billion, he has to do at least that much.”

“No, but throwing 157 from the first pitch means he might even throw 160 in today’s game?”

“Would he? He’s just a rookie. And since it’s an educational league, he won’t be pitching for long, so he’s just going all out from the start. And have you only been watching baseball for a day or two? What’s the point of just having a speed of 157? There are plenty of guys rotting in the minor leagues because they can’t control their pitches.”

A man with glasses kept spouting negative stories. But judging from his flushed skin and flaring nostrils, he was clearly excited by the speed of 157 as well.

Of course, baseball is not simply a game of throwing the ball fast or hitting the ball far. Whether you strike out with a 100-mile fastball or an 80-mile fastball, a strikeout is the same strikeout, and whether you hit an out-of-the-park home run or a home run that barely clears the fence, a home run is the same home run. But nevertheless, from the perspective of the fans watching the game, they are never the same. No, they can’t be the same.

Choi Soo-won on the mound prepared for his second pitch.

-Gulp······.

It wasn’t just Jo Byung-jin at the plate who missed the timing. Jung Young-shik, who was in the waiting batter’s box, was also the same.

21 years old this year.

Two years junior to Jo Byung-jin, who is currently at the plate, and a draft contemporary of Marines’ Choi Min-hyuk and Phoenix’s Seo Gyu-tak, who recorded the highest draft amount before Choi Soo-won. There were so many good pitcher resources that year that his draft order was pushed back to 6th overall, but he was the overall number 1 among hitters. If his defense had been a little better, he could have been drafted even higher.

With the talent that would have allowed him to be a fixture in the first team by now if he had been on a team like the Marines or Phoenix, he has been consistently moving between the first and second teams for the past three years. The reason he didn’t choose Sangmu [the athletic corps of the South Korean Armed Forces, offering an alternative to mandatory military service for athletes] is probably because he thinks there will be an opportunity for military exemption as a national representative someday.

One.

Two.

Yes, this is the timing!

-Whoosh!!!

And

Three.

Four.

Five.

-Bang!!

“Strike!!!”

Jo Byung-jin’s bat cut through the air.

And it was the same for Jung Young-shik, who was swinging his bat with a batting ring in the waiting batter’s box.

“Crazy······.”

Profanity flowed out of his mouth without him realizing it.

It was a curveball. But he didn’t recognize it. At least from his perspective, it was the exact same form as a fastball. More importantly, the person currently at the plate was Jo Byung-jin.

He was a lacking hitter in many ways, but in one aspect, his ability to pick balls was arguably the best in the team. But such a person thought a curve was a fastball and swung and missed?

The expression on Jo Byung-jin’s face at the plate was not visible. But you can tell just by looking at his back.

It’s difficult.

And Jung Young-shik’s thoughts were not wrong.

Jo Byung-jin at the plate shook his head. The timing of pulling out the ball was fast. It wasn’t just the speed of 157 that was the problem. In fact, that pitching motion is a bigger problem.

Third.

Choi Soo-won on the mound went into his pitching motion. An absurdly fast tempo. There was no time to think. It was difficult to keep the center of gravity behind and try to watch the ball as long as possible. To Jo Byung-jin, the 157 fastball was that kind of ball.

It takes only 0.35 seconds for the ball that left Choi Soo-won’s hand to reach the catcher’s mitt.

0. 35 seconds is too short for a person to judge the ball. Even more so when considering the approximately 0.2 seconds it takes for the bat to rotate.

The problem is that Jo Byung-jin is not even able to properly grasp the timing of when Choi Soo-won releases the ball. Winding up, kicking, taking a stride, going from flex to cocking, and then release······.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!! Out!!!”

Jo Byung-jin’s bat stirred the air.

A strikeout on three pitches. It was truly an overwhelming pitch.

The number of people gathered at Sangdong Stadium was too small for the stadium to erupt. And even then, most of them were officials, and only a handful of pure fans were in the outfield.

But the fans watching the game on TV and the internet were different.

The chat window was going crazy.

Among them, the most talked about story was, of course, about a legendary pitcher from Busan.

─8888577: Hey, did you see that curve just now?

─Choigang Dongwon: Ma, Dongwon hyung [hyung is a Korean term used by males to refer to older male friends or brothers], are you watching?

Looking at it now, there were many pitchers in the KBO who recorded better results than him. There were also pitchers who advanced to the upper leagues and set remarkable records. But even so, if you are a Busan fan who remembers that day in 1984, you will not hesitate to name him as the greatest pitcher in KBO history.

And the signature pitches of that legendary pitcher were his fiery fastball and his waterfall-like curve, so it was inevitable that the hearts of old baseball fans would flutter at the sight of Choi Soo-won’s performance.

Jo Byung-jin stepped down from the plate and returned to the dugout.

“How was it?”

“It’s crazy. I stood there with the intention of cutting it, but I couldn’t. It’s not just the ball, the deception is crazy, and I can’t even grasp the timing of when he throws the ball. Besides, what’s with the pitching tempo······. No, he throws it so quickly without even giving me time to think······. Ha······. It’s much worse than what I saw in the data. Besides, that curve is a ball I’ve never heard of before.”

It was utter nonsense. Usually, he would give the batter in the waiting box a tip that would help him hit, but this was not helpful at all. I guess that means his mentality was shattered that much.

Jung Byung-seok firmly gripped his bat and stood at the plate.

He made it to the All-Star Game in the second league last year. And this year, he played in the first team for almost half the season, and he was aiming to be a fixed member of the first team next year.

A 157 fastball.

And a suddenly emerging, highly complete curve.

It’s clear that Jo Byung-jin was flustered. But that was also because he didn’t have the option of a curve in his head at all.

Then discard the curve.

Aim for the fastball.

Maybe the reason he said he couldn’t grasp the timing of throwing the ball was because of the heterogeneous speed of the curve.

If I swing the bat one beat earlier than I thought, then surely······.

Choi Soo-won on the mound went into his windup.

Match the timing of the fastball!!

-Clang!!!

Immediately after the ball left the pitcher’s hand.

No, that’s not accurate. He just started swinging the bat with a sense of rhythm engraved in his body. As expected, the first pitch was a fastball. But the course was sharp. Pain that resonated throughout the palm. The mis-hit ball went far beyond the foul line.

Ball count 0-1

Choi Soo-won on the mound smiled.

***

Was his name Jung Byung-seok? He was a reckless hitter. Of course, he was two years older than me, but looking at that reckless batting, I couldn’t help but say he was reckless.

Because the level difference was so great at the high school level, it wasn’t very noticeable because the ball itself was overwhelming, but even at that high school level, the carefully selected rough stones were different at the professional level, where they collided and polished each other for several years.

The deception created by the Washington brothers [likely referring to the pitching coaches or mentors] was effective. The hitter couldn’t properly grasp when the ball was coming out of my fingertips. But even so, such reckless batting. Still, his sense of rhythm was quite good, so he somehow managed to get the bat to the ball.

But with that, the aim is too obvious. A guess hit that thoroughly aims for the fastball. It’s a guess hit that swings at the fastball without even properly grasping whether it’s coming into the zone or falling out.

Generally, if it takes 0.4 seconds for a 144km/h fastball to pass through the zone, it is generally assumed that it takes 0.1 seconds for a hitter to recognize the incoming ball. After that, it takes 0.075 seconds to grasp it, and 0.075 seconds to decide whether to hit it or not and for the body to move. And the time it takes to swing the bat for the last time is 0.15 seconds. Only when this is done can you become a hitter who hits 30% in the KBO.

Then what about a 157km/h fastball? It takes only 0.35 seconds for a 157km/h fastball to pass through the zone. You have to reduce it by 0.05 seconds from there. It’s very difficult. Among the hitters who conquered the KBO, there are more than one or two players who returned from the MLB [Major League Baseball] because they couldn’t do that.

Whether the swing speed is absurd or the cognitive ability is absurd, at least one of the two must be possible to hit a 157km/h ball.

In that sense, Jung Byung-seok’s choice now may be the smartest choice he can make.

Of course, apart from that, it was inevitable that the pitcher would be too comfortable if he was facing such a hitter. It’s simple. There’s no need to give a good ball to a hitter who comes out like that.

Second.

A fastball that hooks out of the low outside course.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!!!”

As expected, the hitter’s bat followed.

Even if you look at it favorably, it was hard to say it was a good course. It was a ball that was falling out by two ball counts to the outside.

The guy who briefly raised his hand and stepped away from the plate adjusted his helmet.

It would have been better to have pushed him without giving him that kind of time here, but in fact, it didn’t matter if I gave him some time.

Third.

Even if I don’t have telepathy, I could tell. This time, he’s going to watch it until the end. Even if the bat timing is a little late, he’s going to cut it. I guess that’s the kind of determination he has.

Fast tempo. As soon as the hitter took his stance, I threw the ball.

It was a curve.

-Whoosh!!!

“Strike!! Out!!”

The hitter’s face was greatly distorted.

The problem of timing? That can’t be.

He just didn’t distinguish it. He only aimed for the fastball, and he swung the bat thinking it was a fastball, but it was a curve that fell sharply. Maybe he just feels hopeless. I understand it well enough. In the major leagues, was it 2038? That crazy guy who received the Cy Young [award given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball] that year······. Anyway, that’s exactly how I felt when I met that guy.

“Wow!!!!!”

Cheers erupted from the outfield. Of course, the sound was not very loud.

At most a hundred people. I waved my hand once towards that not-so-loud cheer. It’s just an educational league. These are fans who have bothered to come to this place, which is almost impossible to get to without a car. That means they are the core of the core fans. It’s only natural to provide a service like waving your hand once.

Of course, the expression on the hitter’s face entering the plate was not very good.

I understand. A 19-year-old brat who just graduated is being arrogant after striking out twice on three pitches. I guess that’s what it means.

But you know what······.

Even if the opposing team is like that, why do you guys have bad expressions too?

The second baseman and the shortstop.

The expressions of the two ‘seniors’ are very uncomfortable.

-Bang!!!

“Strike!!! Out!!”

Of course, the game flowed regardless of their discomfort, and in the top of the first inning, we. No, I perfectly blocked the Blaze’s hitters.

It was truly a successful pitch.

But the service for the hundred or so fans who came to Sangdong today was not over yet. I, wearing a glove, chose the KBO as a practice stage to improve my skills as a still immature pitcher.

But I was different with a bat in my hand.