Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 19

The Mound’s Villain – Episode 19

“You son of a bitch!!”

The Rockhounds players stormed out of the dugout.

“Stop them!”

As if waiting for this, the Missions players also charged out of their dugout.

Both teams’ benches emptied in an instant.

‘A bench-clearing brawl from the first inning…’

Baek Joon-gi’s face hardened.

It was extremely rare for both benches to empty during the first at-bat.

The players were clearly agitated by the unprecedented event.

“Wow~ Start a fight!!”

“Knock him out!”

Some excited spectators egged on the players.

However, it didn’t escalate into a full-blown brawl.

“Stop it, all of you!!”

“What are you doing? Are you trying to throw punches?”

The coaches from both sides restrained the players, and the commotion seemed to subside.

At that moment, Baek Joon-gi spotted Ha-sung being helped up by Jack.

“How’s your shoulder?”

“I’m… fine.”

“Fine? It looks like you collided pretty hard. How does it feel?”

“Uh? I think you should get a thorough checkup.”

Ha-sung nodded at the coach’s words.

It was a slide attempted at full speed.

The acceleration was inevitable.

There was no way he’d be unscathed after such an impact.

Hopefully, it would end with just a bruise.

If he had a fracture or break, he’d be out for at least a few months.

Considering Jack’s age, that would be devastating.

Ha-sung stood up and glared at Barton.

“You son of a bitch, did you do that on purpose?”

“Huh? What are you talking about, you monkey?”

The coaches quickly intervened in their exchange.

“Jeong! Don’t make this any bigger!”

“Barton! What are you saying?! Shut up!”

The two were pulled away by the coaches.

However, Ha-sung didn’t take his eyes off him, glaring intently.

* * *

‘Don’t mess with me, and I won’t mess with you.’

After his regression [reversion to a previous state], Ha-sung had lived by that motto.

But this time, he couldn’t stand it.

‘Deliberately targeting a fellow player’s shoulder in the same industry?’

For a baseball player, their body is their livelihood.

Especially the shoulder, which is one of the most valuable assets.

Whether pitcher or batter.

Yet Barton targeted and hit that shoulder.

‘A mad dog needs…’

Bottom of the 1st inning.

Ha-sung went up to the mound.

‘A good beating.’

He had a bat in his hand.

If it had been another player who got injured instead of Jack? And if it was an accident rather than intentional?

He wouldn’t have swung this bat.

Jack, who had shown him kindness.

And Barton’s actions that intentionally caused him injury.

These things combined led Ha-sung to decide to swing the bat.

“Hoo…”

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the pitcher’s plate.

The Missions’ leadoff hitter was, coincidentally, Barton.

As Ha-sung glared at him, Barton also raised his bat and pointed it at Ha-sung.

‘Come on, you yellow monkey.’

Although he couldn’t hear the words, he could read Barton’s mind.

Provoking him even in this situation.

‘You’re a crazy, properly mad son of a bitch.’

No more mind games were needed.

After exchanging signs, Ha-sung went into his windup.

‘When you hit, hit properly.’

If he hit him half-heartedly, the son of a bitch would try to bite him again.

‘Unwritten rules…’

There are unwritten rules in Major League Baseball.

Rules that are only followed among players and coaching staff.

People call them unwritten rules.

Among them was the rule not to throw at the head, even when throwing a beanball [a pitch intentionally thrown at the batter].

But.

‘So what?’

Ha-sung kicked and stepped forward.

His gaze was fixed on Mad Dog Barton’s head.

And he threw the ball with all his might.

Whoosh-!!

The ball left his hand and flew with fierce speed.

Barton saw the ball flying towards his head and sat down on the spot.

Whoosh!!

The ball narrowly passed over Barton’s helmet.

The catcher didn’t react in time, so the ball flew straight back and hit the safety fence.

Clang!!

The ball bounced up with a tremendous sound.

Silence momentarily filled the ground.

“You son of a bitch!”

It was the mad dog who broke the silence.

He barked wildly and charged towards Ha-sung.

“Danger…!”

Baek Joon-gi, who was watching the scene from the stands, was startled.

Ha-sung was quite large, but he was a newly debuted player.

There was a high possibility that he would be surprised by this bench-clearing and not respond properly.

But an unexpected situation followed.

“Huh?”

Ha-sung, who was standing on the mound, began to walk towards Barton, who was running towards him.

“Come on.”

Ha-sung said to Barton, who was running towards him.

“You son of a bitch.”

The two did not collide.

“You son of a bitch! Who are you charging at?!”

Thomas, who had put on a new mask, physically restrained Barton.

“Do you want to die too?!”

Barton was about to throw a punch at Thomas.

Once again, both teams’ benches were emptied.

The players gathered on the ground, and an even bigger scuffle broke out than before.

However, it did not escalate into a full-blown brawl.

‘Bench-clearing twice in the first inning…’

Has this ever happened in Major League Baseball?

Baek Joon-gi couldn’t recall.

‘But what’s with that guy? When a batter charges at him, he could cower and back down. Instead, he moved forward.’

He wasn’t mistaken.

Thanks to the camera he had set up to record, the scene was accurately captured.

Ha-sung was clearly walking towards Barton.

He was even mumbling something. He couldn’t hear what he was saying because he was too far away.

But that alone was enough to know what Ha-sung was trying to do.

‘Where did that guts come from? It’s like Baek Young-ho is on the mound.’

Baek Joon-gi shook his head, thinking of the legend Baek Young-ho.

Meanwhile, the second bench-clearing on the ground was coming to an end.

Fortunately, there was no violence this time either.

It was a miraculous event.

Despite being the second bench-clearing that occurred in a state of uncontrolled emotions, no violence broke out.

But the umpires had no intention of letting it go.

“If there is another bench-clearing, beanball, or intentional unsportsmanlike play, the player will be immediately ejected, and a forfeit game will be declared depending on the situation.”

It was the maximum warning the umpire could give.

If a forfeit game is declared, both teams will be recorded as losers.

It was a disgraceful record.

The two team managers urged their players to be careful, and the game resumed.

‘You monkey…! Just try throwing the ball at my face one more time.’

Barton gritted his teeth.

He wanted to show him what’s what, but if he forfeited the game, he would likely be disciplined.

‘I have no choice. I’ll show you next time we meet.’

Even a mad dog feared discipline.

If he was disciplined, the higher-ups would be contacted. That could ruin his future.

Of course, this was what Barton was thinking because he didn’t know that scout team leader Robert was there.

‘It’s a real mess. To think I considered that guy the future of our Padres.’

He knew Barton’s personality because he had seen the reports.

That’s why he took the time to visit this place on his business trip.

To see and confirm with his own eyes. And he made a decision.

‘I have no choice but to use him as a trade card.’

There are many promising prospects in the minor leagues.

‘To do that, I need to hide it from the outside first. Reduce his number of appearances and manage his stats…’

That’s when it happened.

Ha-sung on the mound threw the second pitch.

‘Huh?’

But the trajectory of the ball was bad.

This time too, the ball was flying towards Barton’s head.

Barton was startled and leaned back.

‘That pitcher Jeong is also a terrible person. Prioritizing revenge over the team…’

Just as he was about to evaluate Ha-sung.

Swoosh!!

The trajectory of the ball changed.

The ball, which was flying towards Barton’s head, swerved sharply sideways and entered the zone.

Thwack!!

With a heavy sound, the ball was embedded in the mitt.

“St… Strike!!”

Even the umpire was surprised, and the strike call was a little late.

‘He throws that kind of breaking ball?’

* * *

Ha-sung chuckled at Barton’s constipated expression.

‘Why? Did you think I couldn’t throw this kind of ball?’

Maybe that was natural.

Ha-sung had only thrown cutters [a type of fastball that breaks slightly] and fastballs until now.

‘Not throwing and not being able to throw are worlds apart.’

Ha-sung had been saving his breaking balls [pitches that curve or move erratically].

The reason was simple.

‘The body is a consumable. If you keep pushing it, it will eventually break down. The less I throw breaking balls, the better for me.’

But now there was something more important than that benefit.

‘You son of a bitch! Try it on me too…!’

Whoosh-!!

With a kick, Ha-sung threw the third pitch.

‘Keep barking!!’

Whoosh-!!

The ball left his hand and flew towards the center of the zone.

This time, Barton also swung his bat.

The moment the trajectory of the ball and the bat were about to become one, the ball once again moved sideways and away from the bat.

Whump-!!

“Swing! Strike two!!”

Barton, who had stuck out his bat, awkwardly listened to the umpire’s call.

“Damn it!!”

The umpire warned Barton, who was cursing again, seemingly angry that he had taken such a humiliating stance.

Ha-sung chuckled as he watched.

‘He keeps barking like a mad dog.’

Sometimes you need to hide your teeth. But that guy had none of that.

He was baring his teeth no matter who the opponent was or what the situation was.

‘That’s not always a good thing.’

Ha-sung hid his teeth.

He threw the fourth ball as if he were making a normal pitch.

Whoosh-!!

This time it was a full-force pitch.

The ball passed over home plate in the blink of an eye.

The mad dog tried to swing his bat but flinched and stopped.

‘Okay. He has some talent.’

Thwack-!!

“Ba… Ball!!”

He aimed for a space that barely grazed the outside zone.

But the final control wavered, and it went out of the zone.

If that guy had swung his bat, the first inning would have ended like this.

Would the game have ended?

No.

I’m talking about the first act of revenge for Jack.

‘If I drag the revenge to the second and third acts, it will be boring.’

Ha-sung had no intention of dragging it out any longer.

Remembering Jack, who was clutching his shoulder and returning to the locker room earlier, he clenched his fist.

‘I can’t let the game be forfeited. That would be causing trouble.’

When he was in high school, the baseball team guys were bystanders, so he didn’t care whether he got hurt or not.

But the Rockhounds teammates are colleagues who threw themselves to protect him, not bystanders.

He didn’t want to cause trouble for them.

‘So I threw out the bait.’

The three balls he threw earlier.

They would think it was a normal pitch.

On top of that, the umpire had a bad feeling about him because of the mad dog’s barking.

‘In times like these…’

Ha-sung went into his windup.

‘Even if there’s a mistake…’

With a kick, he twisted his body and stepped forward with all his might.

‘The umpire will think it’s real!!’

And he swung his arm with all his might and threw the ball.

The ball, freed from a different grip than before, flew with a fierce speed.

Barton saw the ball coming towards his body and swung his bat with all his might.

‘This time…!’

Since the previous four pitches were fastballs, his swing timing was fast this time.

He quickly stepped forward and swung his bat with all his might.

At that moment.

Swoosh!!

The trajectory of the ball changed.

Barton, surprised by the trajectory of the ball that was digging further into his body, desperately bent the trajectory of the bat inward.

That was the worst mistake.

Clang!!

Originally, the ball should have just hit his body.

That’s what he intended.

But because he bent his bat, the ball hit the inside of the bat.

And the ball that was hit there and refracted, struck his third leg hard.

Thud!!

“Oh sh*t…!”

Every man who visited the stadium cringed.

* * *

Thwack-!!

“Strike! Batter out!! Game set!!!”

The final out count went up.

With this, the game ended with the Rockhounds’ victory.

Robert, who had been watching the game until the end, stood up.

An instructor followed him.

‘I’m glad that normal play was made except for the first inning.’

Barton was replaced due to injury.

After that, normal play was made, and the game could end.

If a forfeit game had come out while even the club’s higher-ups were watching, he wouldn’t have been able to hold his head up.

Then Robert, who was walking ahead, said.

“Restrict Barton from playing in the future.”

“Yes? But the talent he has…”

“The talent is a shame, but his personality is too trashy. It will be a good material to use as a card, so we have to be content with that.”

“I understand.”

If Robert made a decision, it would be so.

The Padres still have a strong general manager, but Robert was like a king in the minor leagues.

“And find out about the Rockhounds’ starting pitcher.”

“The Rockhounds?”

“Yes. He threw a good ball.”

“I understand. I will submit a report soon.”

After hearing the answer, Robert recalled Ha-sung’s appearance in the first inning.

‘An unrefined fastball in the late 90s, a cutter that breaks like a knife, and a slider with a big change. Lastly…’

He recalled the fifth ball he threw.

‘That was definitely a sinker [a type of pitch that drops rapidly].’

Greed appeared and disappeared in Robert’s eyes.