Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 64

The Mound’s Villain – Episode 64

The Mound’s Villain 64

[Oakland Athletics’ Jung Ha-sung Achieves 30 Saves This Season.]

Ha-sung’s achievement was the headline of the sports news after the 9 o’clock news.

It was the familiar save milestone announcement.

[Jung Ha-sung, the first to reach 30 saves in both major leagues this season, maintained his undisputed lead in saves throughout Major League Baseball with an overwhelming performance.]

Ha-sung’s performance this season truly deserved the description ‘overwhelming.’

He recorded 1 win, 0 losses, and 30 saves with an ERA of 0.28 in 31 appearances.

This was a record with few, if any, precedents in Major League history.

[By recording a save today, Jung Ha-sung has updated his rookie consecutive save record and the rookie most saves record in the first half to 30 saves.]

Every time the announcer spoke, Ha-sung’s new record was mentioned.

It highlighted his continued tremendous performance in his debut season.

[Currently, Jung Ha-sung is only 8 saves away from the record for the most saves in the first half. Attention is focused on whether he will add 8 more saves before the All-Star break and etch his name in Major League history.]

That concluded the headline article.

But Ha-sung’s news wasn’t over.

After all the sports news ended, Ha-sung’s story reappeared in the closing segment.

[Today’s highlight video will conclude with Jung Ha-sung throwing a 102-mile fastball against Sandoval.]

The video played alongside the closing remarks.

The video that had captivated Korea since this morning was now broadcast nationwide.

-Is anyone watching Sports Today?

-Ha-sung threw 102 miles ㅋㅋ [Korean slang for laughing]

-Isn’t that CG [computer graphics]?

-I saw it live, and it was amazing.

-Is it real that an Asian is throwing 102 miles?

-He’s on a different level from other Asians.

-If you only look at his physique, you can’t call him Asian.

-A monster is a monster.

102 miles.

It’s a speed typically associated with the most dominant pitchers in Major League Baseball.

Even 100 miles is noteworthy, but 102 miles is exceptional.

It was something that would electrify Korean baseball fans.

-Didn’t Randy Johnson also throw 102 miles?

-That guy threw it even in his 40s, right?

-Randy Johnson is amazing.

-More than that, what’s the highest record in Major League history?

-Speed?

-Yeah, is 102 miles the highest speed?

-No, I think 104 miles is the highest?

The highest speed recorded in Major League Baseball was 104 miles.

The pitcher who threw it was a 21-year-old rookie.

-104 miles? Who is that?

-Isn’t 104 miles 167㎞ [kilometers]?

-Don’t lie.

-Don’t you know Joel Zumaya?

-Who is that?

A name from the past resurfaced.

* * *

Joel Zumaya is still active.

The problem is that he’s still plagued by injuries, a real ‘glass cannon’ [prone to injury].

Consequently, many Major League Baseball fans haven’t seen him play in a while.

However, he remains the pitcher who threw the fastest ball in Major League Baseball, an astounding 104.8 miles.

‘Wow…… That’s really a name from the past.’

Ha-sung smiled as he saw the name that hadn’t been dethroned until Aroldis Chapman came along.

‘Seeing things like this really makes me feel like I’ve returned to the past.’

Ha-sung, primarily a fastball pitcher, had occasionally searched online for the pitcher with the fastest ball in Major League Baseball.

That’s how he knew Joel’s name so well.

‘Still able to throw that fast.’

Throwing 102 miles was surprising even for Ha-sung himself.

He hadn’t consciously tried to throw harder.

He simply focused on channeling his power by increasing his concentration.

The result was 102 miles.

‘That must mean there’s still potential for growth.’

After throwing 100 miles.

Ha-sung had been satisfied with himself.

But today, throwing the ball, he surpassed his limits.

It was significant to have exceeded the boundaries he had set for himself.

‘I can go higher.’

Having no limits meant the potential to surpass his current abilities.

* * *

As June drew to a close.

The Athletics miraculously rebounded.

[Oakland Athletics Reclaim 1st Place!!]

[Athletics’ Closer Jung Ha-sung, Only 7 Away from the Most Saves Record in the First Half of Major League Baseball!]

[Jung Ha-sung Achieves His 31st Save of the Season! Where Is His Limit?]

Along with the team’s resurgence, Ha-sung’s save count also accelerated.

[The Oakland Athletics have regained first place in the American League West Division. Oakland residents are flocking to the stadium in response to the Athletics’ turnaround, after being considered a weak team this season.]

Oakland residents are visiting the stadium.

In other words, the club’s finances are improving.

“Sales have increased by 31.3 percent compared to the same period last year.”

“Good!”

Chris clenched his fist at Catherine’s report.

As the general manager responsible for the club’s operations, he was always attuned to the club’s financial performance.

Therefore, the news of increased sales was welcome indeed.

“What about uniform sales?”

“The pitching staff is trending upwards, while the batting lineup is declining overall. Oh, Arnold James’ uniform sales have been rising recently.”

“As expected, it’s directly related to performance. Arnold is doing better than I thought.”

“Yes. He was originally a player with potential, but I didn’t anticipate him adapting so well to the Major League.”

Arnold James was currently the key hitter leading the Athletics’ batting lineup.

Since being called up to the Major League, he has displayed the qualities of a hitter who combines accuracy and power, with a batting average approaching 40%.

“The batting average will likely decrease as he accumulates more at-bats in the future, but considering his performance so far, I think he will finish with a batting average of over 30%. He could hit up to 27 home runs.”

“Even that would be a great outcome. I was disappointed because Giambi was a mess, but I found a replacement.”

The return of franchise star Giambi was a failure.

Aged, he hasn’t been able to break out of a 10% batting average so far.

“He needs to be traded in the second half.”

“Hoo…… I don’t know who would want to acquire Giambi.”

“It’s your job as general manager to package it well [make the deal appealing].”

Chris nodded heavily at Catherine’s blunt assessment.

“I appreciate you making me face reality, but it stings sometimes.”

“Shall I comfort you with a lie?”

“Sigh…… Never mind. How are Matt’s sales?”

“They’ve dropped further. His performance isn’t good, and his fan engagement is poor. Plus, he makes too many unnecessary comments in press interviews.”

“It’s a headache. I thought he would be the guy to lead our team this season.”

Expectations for Matt Holliday were high.

That’s why they scraped together the money to cover his high salary before the season.

But he performed below expectations.

In addition, he was causing problems off the field.

“I think it’s because he knows he’s only playing for our team this year. There’s a lack of professionalism.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that…… But I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

Matt will leave at the end of this season.

That was a fact known to the player himself and everyone else.

This is because the Athletics’ finances are insufficient to retain Matt Holliday.

But they believed he would perform well enough because he was a professional.

They discovered that wasn’t the case before half of the season had passed.

“I’ll have to trade him away too.”

“Can you bring in a better player?”

“With his salary, we can bring in a hitter with a WAR [Wins Above Replacement, a baseball statistic] higher than 3.0.”

“That’s true. What we expected was Matt, who would exceed at least 4.”

Matt Holliday’s WAR in the 07 and 08 seasons was 6.0 and 5.9.

By giving him a huge salary of $13.5 million, they expected him to record at least 4 or more WAR.

But with that prospect fading, there was no reason to maintain his salary.

It was necessary to reduce the salary as much as possible through a trade.

“How about the pitching side?”

“As expected, Jung Ha-sung’s uniform sales are overwhelming. It’s ranked 20th even when considering the entire Major League.”

Ha-sung’s popularity was very high.

Uniform sales, a key indicator of popularity, ranked 20th overall.

Considering he was a rookie, it was a remarkable figure.

“In particular, the number of uniforms sold to Korea is enormous. It’s about the same as the sales sold offline.”

“I heard that Koreans have a strong loyalty to their own players, is that really true?”

“Yes. And I think the number of Koreans visiting Oakland has also increased a little.”

“What? Isn’t Korea very far away?”

“It’s far. It takes 12 hours by plane. Nevertheless, they are coming. Of course, it’s not a significant number.”

“This is amazing.”

There are few reasons for Koreans to visit Oakland.

And if you’re a Korean who’s recently visiting, there’s only one purpose.

It’s to see Ha-sung.

“Let’s adjust the direction of our marketing in the second half.”

“Are you still going to put Jung Ha-sung as the main focus?”

“I have to. And prepare Arnold and Davis on the hitter side. Rookies can falter at any time.”

“I understand.”

In his debut year.

Ha-sung was already at the center of the Athletics’ attention.

* * *

뻐어억-! [Sound of a strike]

“Strike! Batter Out!!”

[Strikeout! Jung Ha-sung strikes out the last batter and extends his save record to 32 consecutive games!]

[Already 32 saves. Now, he’s within striking distance of the most saves record in the first half of Major League Baseball!]

On the last day of June.

Ha-sung recorded another save against the LA Dodgers.

The number of saves left to achieve the record was only 6.

With 15 games left until the All-Star break, if he was given a save opportunity in just half of them, he could achieve a new Major League record.

Interest in Ha-sung’s record pursuit was focused not only in Korea but also in the United States.

-Is it possible for Jung Ha-sung to achieve the record?

-It seems possible.

-It’s just that the Athletics shouldn’t do anything stupid.

-Honestly, if Ha-sung was a Yankee or a Red Sox, he would have already recorded 40 saves.

-I agree

Netizens also speculated about him having to leave the Athletics, comparing Ha-sung playing for other teams.

But it was an unrealistic scenario, so it quickly faded.

And July began.

딱-! [Sound of a hit]

[Well-hit ball! But it doesn’t go any further, and the right fielder catches it in place! Jung Ha-sung achieves his 33rd save of the season!]

The Athletics won the first game in July.

Ha-sung achieved his 33rd save of the season, leaving 5 saves until the new record.

With 12 games remaining, Ha-sung got another chance.

[Score 3 to 2, two outs. With the tying runner on first base, Jung Ha-sung gets a favorable count with two strikes.]

34th save opportunity.

Ha-sung threw the ball with all his might to seize that chance.

뻐어억-! [Sound of a strike]

“Strike! Batter Out!!”

[Strikeout! He allowed a hit, but struck out the next batter to achieve his 34th save!]

[A very good pitch! Now, he only has 4 left until the tie record!]

A new Major League record that seemed impossible.

But now, with only 4 left, he’s within reach.

And Ha-sung increased his speed to achieve the record by securing saves every time an opportunity arose.

[Jung Ha-sung Achieves His 35th Save of the Season!]

[Only 3 More to Go to Achieve the Record!]

[It is possible to achieve not only the tie record but also the new record!]

[The Athletics have 8 games left in the first half!]

Following the 34th, he also succeeded in his 35th save, chasing the record with only 3 remaining.

As his momentum continued to build, Ha-sung finally had a new Major League record in sight with 3 games remaining.

[Jung Ha-sung is on the mound.]

[If he achieves a save in today’s game, he will tie Francisco Rodriguez’s 38 saves record in the first half of the 08 season.]

[Will Jung Ha-sung get a save in today’s game and set a tie record, facing the first batter.]

Ha-sung went to the mound to achieve the tie record.