Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 27

Mound Villain – Episode 27

Episode 27

“What are you talking about?”

A reporter asked.

Ha-sung stared at the reporter who asked the question and replied.

“Didn’t you hear me? Ask a proper question.”

“Are you saying we didn’t ask a proper question?”

“Honestly, isn’t that the case? Why are you asking a rookie who debuted just ten days ago about a perfect game and their salary?”

“Isn’t it a perfect game?!”

“Do you even know what a perfect game is? You have to play a whole game for it to be a perfect game. Why are you using the term ‘perfect’ for a relief pitcher? You should just say consecutive scoreless innings.”

The questioning reporter’s face turned bright red.

Then, a reporter sitting next to him stood up and shouted.

“Isn’t it okay to ask about salary?!”

There was anger in his voice.

He used honorifics, but his hostility was clear.

The reporters dispatched overseas were seasoned.

They knew how to handle young players.

‘A young punk being disrespectful to adults!’

But Ha-sung was different from other players.

“Don’t you know the Major League salary system?”

He rather raised the level of his attack.

“What… what did you say?”

“Don’t you know about Major League service time? You have to complete three years of service time to negotiate your salary. Isn’t that common sense?”

The reporter was speechless.

Major League Baseball has various policies.

The policies are so extensive that you can’t know them unless you know about Major League Baseball.

Even some fans and baseball experts didn’t know the concept of service time [the amount of time a player has been on a major league roster, used to determine eligibility for free agency and salary arbitration].

It was such an unfamiliar concept to Koreans.

‘Korea’s policies mostly came from Japan, which caused this.’

Korean baseball policies mostly came from Japan.

Thanks to that, it differed from Major League Baseball.

Above all, there were hardly any Korean players in Major League Baseball, so reporters had no reason to study how it worked.

‘Still, it’s unexpected that a reporter dispatched to the United States doesn’t know. I guess it’s a mess over there.’

Ha-sung didn’t stop his attack.

“And why do you keep calling me a monster? Every time I do something, you call me a monster. You say I’m going to devastate Major League Baseball, that I’m following in the footsteps of the Korean Express [a nickname for Korean pitcher Chan Ho Park].”

Some reporters’ expressions soured.

Someone’s neck even turned red.

Probably those guys.

The ones who wrote those kinds of articles.

Then, a reporter stood up from his seat.

Late 40s? Or early 50s at most.

His ID card, hanging around his neck, shook up and down from how hard he stood up.

“Isn’t that too much?! Everyone here has been in the baseball world longer than you! In some ways, they’re all your seniors in the industry!”

Just in time, the ID card stopped, and his affiliation and name could be confirmed.

(Today Baseball)

(Reporter: Kang Dong-soo)

A sneer formed on Ha-sung’s lips as he saw his name.

“Reporter Kang Dong-soo, you’re good at saying ridiculous things.”

“What… what?!”

“Since when has a baseball reporter been a senior to a baseball player? And you even make an ordinary person’s personal blogger a Major League expert.”

“How… how did you…?”

Kang Dong-soo’s mouth shut.

He didn’t expect him to know that.

Ha-sung, turning his gaze from Kang Dong-soo, glared at the reporters.

“Please write some proper articles! Huh?!”

* * *

Ha-sung’s remarks were enough to upset the reporters.

[Jung Ha-sung! Pours out abusive language to reporters!]

[Jung Ha-sung, who has become arrogant! Threatens reporters!]

The reporters all poured out critical reports about Ha-sung.

Baseball community sites were plastered with critical articles.

-What’s going on?

-Looks like Jung Ha-sung said something to the reporters lol [laugh out loud]

-Was there such an article these days?

-He told them to write articles properly?

-헐~ [Korean slang expressing disbelief or shock] To a reporter?

-Yeah, he said it directly lol

-This bastard is completely crazy.

-Crazy my ass. It’s a fact that the articles from those reporter trash were a mess these days.

-My insides feel refreshed.

The reactions were mainly that he was wrong. But there were quite a few reactions defending him.

In any case, this incident was enough to attract public attention.

Amidst all this, Ha-sung’s performance continued.

[Oakland Athletics’ Jung Ha-sung’s performance continues.

In today’s game, returning to the home stadium, he appeared in the top of the 7th inning, recording one inning of scoreless pitching, continuing his consecutive scoreless games…]

Baek Joon-ki, who was writing the article, stopped typing and looked out the window.

“Hoo… I’m worried. Why did he provoke the reporters in such a way?”

Baek Joon-ki was worried about Ha-sung.

The events that happened today were likely to have a negative impact on Ha-sung.

Reporter Baek Joon-ki himself knew how much power the media had.

‘If the media starts to shake things up, even someone with a strong mentality will be shaken. I’m even more worried because he’s young.’

The younger you are, the more vulnerable you are to attacks from the outside.

Since mentality is the most important thing for a pitcher, it was the biggest concern.

‘What was he thinking when he started this?’

It was a bit different from the Ha-sung he had seen so far.

Even when he exposed the corruption in high school baseball, Ha-sung revealed it with a way to resolve the situation in mind.

But now, it seemed unreasonable.

Sports reporters were attacking Ha-sung en masse, and it was difficult to bury this attack with any ordinary incident.

“Hoo… I hope he doesn’t get shaken by this incident.”

It was a night of deepening worries.

* * *

As Baek Joon-ki feared, the media’s attack on Ha-sung continued.

And the level of the attack was getting higher and higher.

[Shock! Promising Major Leaguer Committed School Violence in His School Days?]

Just by looking at the title, you could see that a promising Major Leaguer had committed school violence.

But the content was completely different.

[The performance of Major Leaguer A, who exposed it, is dazzling.]

It was clearly a ridiculous article.

The title and content didn’t match at all.

But people who only saw the title started to spread the article on community sites.

-I heard a promising Major Leaguer committed school violence?

-Really?

-Is it true?

-Another one caught by the clickbait title.

There were also those who caught the content.

But there were people who didn’t see it and spread it again.

In that way, the rumors gradually added flesh and tore down Ha-sung’s image.

Meanwhile.

Ha-sung pitched at home for two consecutive days.

뻐어억-!! [Sound of a baseball hitting a mitt]

“Strike!! Batter Out!!”

“Waaaaa!!”

“Awesome!!”

The batter couldn’t move at all to the ball that stuck to his body.

The Oakland fans cheered at the sight.

[Jung Ha-sung gets his second out count with a strikeout today.]

[It was a very good ball. Speed, power, and control. It was a ball where all three elements came together evenly.]

[Recently, Jung Ha-sung has been showing his true worth by continuing 6 consecutive games of scoreless pitching.]

[It will be a point of interest for Oakland fans to see how long this record will continue.]

The Oakland commentators were also excited about Ha-sung’s performance.

Oakland fans couldn’t help but be like that.

In a small market, a rising star can be born at any time.

Because they were drafting the top rounds of the draft almost every year, there were a lot of promising players.

Although they knew that they would leave the team when the time came, the fans enjoyed the growth process of the promising players.

From the fans’ point of view, Ha-sung’s appearance was another joy.

“Wow~ I wonder where a guy like that came from.”

“I know, right? I heard he was called up to the Major League in just one year?”

“No, it’s only been 5 months since he was called up? And he skipped Triple-A [the highest level of minor league baseball].”

“Really? He must have been a really great guy.”

“I should bring Billy tomorrow. He originally likes relief pitchers.”

From mouth to mouth.

The name Ha-sung was gradually being engraved among Oakland fans.

뻐어억-!! [Sound of a baseball hitting a mitt]

“Strike! Batter Out!!”

And Ha-sung’s performance continued.

* * *

After Ha-sung made enemies with the reporters, the domestic public opinion began to worsen.

Articles were still pouring out, but most of them were negative or fishing articles close to tabloids.

Of course, there were some proper articles among them.

[Oakland’s Jung Ha-sung continued his 6-game scoreless pitching.

In addition, Jung Ha-sung struck out all three out counts, increasing his Major League strikeouts record to 11.]

The proper article was Baek Joon-ki’s.

He wrote a detailed article, saving all the data on the ball Ha-sung threw.

And there was one more person.

[Oakland’s Super Rookie Jung Ha-sung! 6 Games Consecutive Scoreless Pitching!!]

The reporter was Kang Da-bin.

She was the one who had written favorable articles before.

Everyone else was hostile except for those two.

As the media kept attacking, the public’s reaction began to flow in a bad direction.

Unlike Korea, where that was happening, the atmosphere in Oakland was getting better day by day.

[A Super Rookie Has Appeared in the Athletics.]

[A Rookie from Korea Protects the Mound of the Athletics.]

[How Far Will Jung Ha-sung’s Performance, Continuing 6 Games of Consecutive Scoreless Games, Go?]

You could find articles about Ha-sung in the Oakland local newspapers without difficulty.

“Oh ho, it looks like an interesting friend has appeared.”

“Where?”

“In the Athletics.”

“They’re all going to leave anyway. What’s the point of an interesting guy appearing there?”

“That’s true, but aren’t you curious? What kind of guy is he that he’s playing 6 consecutive games of scoreless games?”

“Hmm…”

Even fans who had antipathy toward the Athletics team were moving to the stadium.

Thanks to that, the admission fee revenue in September was showing a trend of increasing by 7 percent compared to August.

As Ha-sung’s performance continued, even the mania layer who enjoyed Major League Baseball began to pay attention to him.

-I heard a rookie appeared in Oakland?

-Oakland? There are quite a few good kids there, right?

-Not those kids, but a kid from Korea. I heard he passed all the minor leagues in 5 months and was called up.

-WTF! [What the f*ck] He passed all the minors in 5 months?

-If he came from Korea, didn’t he come through posting like Japan [a system where Japanese teams can offer their players to MLB teams]?

-Then he was a pro, so he’s not a rookie.

-No no, I heard he’s 19 years old this year.

-19 years old? No way.

-It’s true. The game against the Red Sox this time will be broadcast on ESPN. Take a look.”

Ha-sung’s name began to be mentioned on Reddit, a representative community site in the United States.

And just in time, the battle with the Red Sox, which was broadcast throughout the United States through ESPN, came to him.

Ha-sung, who arrived in Boston on a private plane, began to warm up with his teammates at Fenway Park.

* * *

The Boston Red Sox were a traditional powerhouse in Major League Baseball.

Because they were a popular team throughout the United States, they were often broadcast nationwide through ESPN.

The biggest reason why this game with Oakland was broadcast nationwide was the Red Sox.

[This is Fenway Park, where the final series of this season between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics is being held.]

Along with the broadcast, the players’ appearances were broadcast throughout the United States.

[Oakland, which has been on a good run recently, will definitely want to win this series. It’s because of the wild card [a playoff berth given to the best non-division winner in each league].]

[That’s right. It’s a good opportunity to raise their winning percentage while cutting the winning percentage of the Red Sox, who are likely to advance to the wild card, so they will definitely want to win this series.]

[The Red Sox also want to win this series because it’s too early to give up on winning the division. Now, let’s take a look at the lineups of the two teams.]

While the broadcast continued.

Reporters were taking their seats one by one in the media room.

Baek Joon-ki had taken his seat early and was preparing to write an article.

Then, a group of people came in all at once.

“Yo, Reporter Baek. You’re working hard today too?”

“Are you going to write an article sucking up to Jung Ha-sung again today? Suck up to him moderately and write it roughly.”

“That’s right. Your articles are all good, but they come up too late.”

“By the way, Jung Ha-sung has been quiet these days.”

“Hahaha! It’s natural because he’s become the nation’s punching bag.”

“That’s right, who told him to mess with us?”

It was a group of reporters who had trouble with Ha-sung.

Baek Joon-ki knew how they were harassing Ha-sung, but there was nothing he could do.

In a society where school ties and regional ties are intricately intertwined, all he could do was write proper articles.

‘If today’s game goes well, the reaction will be big in Korea too.’

If he catches the big name Red Sox, Ha-sung’s name value will rise.

Then he can reverse the current atmosphere.

And Ha-sung had the same thought.

‘The only thing that can shut the mouths of the lying reporter trash is the truth.’

Ha-sung was stretching in the bullpen, waiting for his time to come.

And that moment came from the first game.

딱-!! [Sound of a baseball being hit]

[He hit it! Boston’s leadoff hitter Jason’s well-hit ball directly hits the Green Monster [the nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park]!]

[He’ll get to second base without any problems.]

As the commentator said, the batter safely arrived at second base.

[It was a hit that could have gone over the fence if it wasn’t for the Green Monster.]

[That’s right. It would be difficult for Oakland if the score widens any further.]

Bottom of the 6th inning.

The score was 2 to 1, with Oakland trailing.

If the score widens further here, it becomes difficult to turn the game around.

In the end, the Oakland bench had no choice but to move.

[Oakland is finally changing the pitcher. Which pitcher will they send out here?]

[Rookie Jung Ha-sung, who has been in good shape recently, looks like a good card.]

[I also know about Jung Ha-sung. He’s a pitcher who throws a fastball with a top speed of 98 miles, right?]

[Yes. He drew attention by passing the minor leagues in 5 months. And he’s showing good results as much as that attention.]

Ha-sung’s name began to be mentioned through the ESPN broadcast team.

In other words, his name was currently spreading throughout the United States.

In addition, the scene of him practicing pitching was also being broadcast live.

Of course, his story was also coming out on Reddit.

-Who is Jung Ha-sung?

-They’re putting a rookie in this situation.

-Has Oakland given up on the game?

-He’s a rookie, but his pace is no joke these days.

-He’s the most reliable man in Oakland right now.

The reaction was to the point where even people who didn’t know Jung Ha-sung at all could know his name.

In the media room, reporters other than Baek Joon-ki frowned at that reaction.

“Reliable man my ass.”

“He’s going to show his bottom soon anyway.”

“What can he do to catch the Red Sox hitters?”

“That’s right.”

Baek Joon-ki showed a dumbfounded reaction as he listened to their words.

And one more person.

“Those people are really too much. Right? Senior Baek.”

The female reporter sitting next to him also shook her head.

The name Kang Da-bin was written on her ID card.

“I know, right. What are adults doing to a child?”

“Sigh, if Jung Ha-sung pitches well at times like this, he’ll be able to break those people’s noses.”

“Yeah.”

But he knew very well that it wasn’t easy.

The Red Sox, who are second in team batting average.

In addition, the hitters Ha-sung had to face were the Red Sox’s core hitters.

‘He’s going to face Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, who are hitting in the .300s, in a row.’

What’s even scarier is that both hitters have a slugging percentage in the .500s [a statistic that measures a batter’s power].

They were stronger hitters than any hitter Ha-sung had faced so far.

That’s why Baek Joon-ki knew better than anyone that it would be a difficult fight.

[Jung Ha-sung’s practice pitching is over. Red Sox’s second hitter Kevin Youkilis is entering the plate. He is recording an OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging, a sabermetric baseball statistic] of 0.962 and an SLG of 0.572 this season.]

[I’m curious to see what kind of ball rookie Jung Ha-sung will throw against Kevin, who has been showing good results since last year.]

Kevin Youkilis finished preparing with his unique batting form and glared at Ha-sung.

‘On the first pitch…’

촤앗-! [Sound of throwing a baseball]

Ha-sung stepped on the slide step and threw the ball with all his might.

‘I’ll take the lead!’

“Gasp!!”

쐐애애액-!! [Sound of a fastball]

The ball that left his hand flew at a fierce speed.

And it was instantly stuck in the mitt.

뻐어어억-!! [Sound of a baseball hitting a mitt]

“Strike!!”