episode_0170

Charlotte’s starting pitcher Minhyuk Kim is an orthodox right-handed pitcher who throws a ball in the mid-140 km/h range. He was a pitcher with a curveball and changeup that were about league average. There’s at least one pitcher on each team. According to the power analysis, it was said that the pitch control was not particularly good in the first inning, but that was not the important thing.

‘Mr. Rossby, please.’

The important thing is that this guy is the perfect partner for me to practice with.

‘It’s a change-up.’

Changeup? Didn’t you analyze me? My favorite pitches were changeup and curveball. It was a slow ball and pretty easy to hit if you knew the ball. I don’t know, but it’s probably a pitch that has a batting average of easily over .500.

‘Well, I’m a mess.’

‘Hit it right away?’

‘yes.’

I was a little anxious because it was my first training in real life, but I thought I could easily hit the changeup of the guy I saw in the video.

After Minhyuk Kim performs a windup, his hand comes out of his glove and swings like a whip. His changeup flies along a familiar trajectory. At this angle… !

‘now… !’

If you didn’t know, it would be a missed swing, but if you know how to hit a changeup, it’s no different from a batting ball. The 120 km/h change-up was clearly visible. Hit a changeup flying outward.

Ta – evil!

The batted ball headed toward the left wall while making a cheerful sound. After throwing the bat with a familiar touch and raising my hand to our visiting fans, I slowly started walking to first base.

“bastard! What are you doing! run!”

“yes?”

At that time, the first base coach suddenly yelled at me. what? When I looked toward left field, I saw that the left fielder was making a throwing motion. Fuck, I’m screwed. What was Charlotte’s left fielder’s shoulder like… ?

About 1/3 of the way past first base, I heard the coach yelling at me again to go home. Ugh, it seems like I might survive if I run… .

‘I can’t help it. ‘I have to go back.’

Don’t do it. It’s still the first inning. It was clear that I would be thrown cold water if I got called out at second base for no reason, so I hurriedly turned around and stepped on first base. I took a quick look at Kim Su-ho, and like a veteran, he advanced to third base.

‘Fuck, I thought it was a home run… !’

“hey! “Are you out of your mind?”

“sorry. I thought it would pass… .”

“Bitch, you have to watch until the end. But for now, I did well.”

“sorry.”

‘But it was a touch that was overlooked? Mr. Rossby, what happened?’

I’m sure it was this much in the last game… .

‘I hit the fence and fell.’

‘yes? ‘A fence?’

They say the fence about resigning is high, but I was sure of my taste… .

‘Did you pull the outside ball too far?’

‘Well, that could be why. Or it could be a problem with the launch angle.’

‘Fuck, if it was literature, I would have passed it on… .’

If it were literature, it would have been a no-brainer… . under… . If this is the case in Sajik, it is a warning track in Jamsil.

‘Then shall we change the swing form?’

‘It’s still just one at-bat, so why not watch a little more? ‘I’m not sure it’s a swing problem yet.’

‘All right.’

As I was reviewing the previous at-bat with Rossby, the first base coach grabbed my shoulder.

“Meng Hao.”

“Yes, coach.”

“For now, let’s forget about the at-bat we just had and stick to the plan. got it?”

“… yes.”

The first base coach reminds us of the strategy in a whisper. Our operation against Charlotte.

The plan was to somehow get to second base. The reason for going to second base was simple. Because Charlotte was the team with the weakest autograph security among the 10 teams.

The Charlotte Blue Mariners’ weaknesses are shortstop and catcher. In particular, they tended to use three young catchers, and I don’t know if it was because the catchers were young or stupid, but Battery’s signatures were very monotonous.

In other words, as long as you go to second base, you can give the sign at any time. Of course, they say they throw fast because they are young catchers, but that had nothing to do with me. No matter how fast the throw was, I was confident that even Molina wouldn’t catch me if I jumped at the timing of the breaking ball.

‘Then, please do this again. Mr. Rossby!’

After talking to Rossby, I looked at the pitcher and saw sweat dripping from the pitcher’s face.

‘That bastard is going to shower with sweat. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t hit a home run, but there’s nothing I can do about it.’

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘okay.’

“cheek.”

The pitcher’s fastball missed the strike zone by a wide margin, as if Ki Ki-joo didn’t have the guts to hit the strike zone from the first pitch.

‘Sweet, but now that I think about it, does it make me angry? Anyone can see that I have better grades than Sangju senior, but how dare you throw the first pitch at me with a changeup? You didn’t even analyze it, right? It won’t work. ‘Let’s work hard today, Minhyuk.’

‘It’s a curve.’

‘okay.’

As soon as he got into set position, I ran to second base.

“Before!”

‘miss!’

At Rossby’s shout, I was able to stand and enter second base. When I stepped on second base and looked toward the home side, the weatherman was signaling me to stop and not go any further. I probably didn’t see the situation exactly, but looking at the call from home or the weather warning sign, it seemed like the catcher threw a curveball.

‘Still, it’s fortunate that Jeong Yun-cheol is a veteran, so there are almost no defensive mistakes.’

If there was a catcher like that on our team… . Maybe I drop-kicked the catcher without realizing it?

“Meng Hao, can you please help me? “Han Beom heard it from Ham.”

“Do you know me? “Why do you speak informally when you first meet someone?”

As the lead widened, the shortstop smiled and spoke to me. There was a saying that you can’t spit on a smiling face, but seeing the split in front of you made me want to spit… .

“… “I’m sorry.”

Where are you being friendly? I quieted the shortstop and listened to Rossby.

‘It’s a curveball.’

‘okay.’

In fact, Charlotte’s signs are said to be simple, but there wasn’t enough time to memorize them all, so with Rossby’s power, she sent a sign called a breaking ball to the weatherman. Well, the old saying was that he wouldn’t look at the autograph, but it was a promise whether he saw it or not. You’ll figure it out.

“cheek.”

I don’t know if he saw my sign or not, but the meteorologist filtered out the curveball.

‘Fastball.’

‘okay.’

When trying to signal a fastball like that,

“Wow, are you squirming around like this?”

“… yes?”

The shortstop called me.

“You’re just squirming, kid. “Come to second base.”

“Oh, I have a tic. Sorry. And let’s focus on the game. “Don’t talk to me.”

Ah, I was embarrassed because you suddenly spoke to me. Wow, this bastard couldn’t send a sign because he was talking… .

Ta – evil!

“run!”

I ran toward third base when I heard a shout I didn’t know who it was. Third base runner Kim Su-ho was watching the batted ball until the end. I glanced behind me and saw that the center fielder and right fielder were chasing the batted ball, but according to over 10 years of baseball experience, that ball was impossible to catch. Kim Su-ho must have thought that too, as he was slowly running into the groove.

‘There’s nothing more to see.’

I slowly slowed down and stepped on home plate while listening to the away fans’ cheers.

‘First of all, 2 points!’

“Nice running!”

High five with Choi Jin-cheol, the next batter. It was a pleasant start. Of course, it was a pity that I couldn’t see the ball longer, but there were many opportunities anyway. No matter how much he practiced, it was impossible not to punish him for coming in with a change-up arrogantly from the first pitch.

*

[Minhyuk Kim is shaking. As expected, the hit from Ji Maeng-ho was a big one, right?]

[you’re right. Actually, even if it went over, it wasn’t a strange hit. Plus, a weather warning double hit. Kim Min-hyuk is clearly shaking.]

[Oh! Even the fourth ball ended up outside the strike zone. Minhyuk Kim gives up a straight walk to Jincheol Choi! Now the situation is 1 out, 1st and 2nd bases. And Boer comes to bat.]

[Boer is currently hitting .298 with 2 home runs and 9 RBIs.]

[Actually, Bohr is recording very ambiguous results, isn’t he? First of all, the batting average is 0.298, which is close to .300. The on-base percentage was 0.379. slugging percentage of 0.440. The OPS is 0.819, which is quite respectable, and this is the result of a mercenary hitter. Considering the designated hitter position, you can’t help but worry from the AT Thunders’ perspective, right? If it’s good, it’s good, and if it’s bad, it’s a bad grade.]

[There is a designated hitter position… .]

[Yes. In fact, Woo Kwan-hyeong has been the designated hitter for the AT Thunders for the past three years. It is said that Woo Kwan-hyung is showing good results when he plays right field, but considering the defense and physical problems as the season progresses, it will be a lot of trouble to play Woo Kwan-hyung in right field. Moreover, considering the many outfielders waiting on AT’s bench.]

[you’re right. Currently, Kim Joo-yeop is playing as the starting center fielder, but Han Sang-gyu and Lee In-hyuk are also playing. And even Baek Jeong-jin, who came up in the second division by hitting .400. There are a lot of prominent players, right?]

[Yes. That’s why Boer has to show something. In particular, 9 RBIs in 21 games while playing as a cleanup player is a bit disappointing.]

‘Ha, you’re a mercenary here. Was AT’s batting lineup originally this strong?’

Minhyuk Kim’s body was already drenched in sweat. Soo-ho Kim, Maeng-ho Ji, Ki-joo Ki, and Jin-cheol Choi. And even a mercenary batsman. And even if he caught this batter, a rejuvenated Woo Gwan-hyeong was waiting for him at the next at-bat.

‘It wasn’t like this until last year… .’

Last year, they only had to pay attention to Kim Su-ho and Jang Hyun-ho, but this season AT’s batting lineup was so crowded.

-Kim Min-hyuk, that bastard is spilling the beans again.

ㄴThat bastard can’t do it.

-Ha, I wasn’t even expecting the first episode.

I want to kill you. Kim Jong-seok, what are you doing? You’re not replacing that bastard.

-But what are those guys’ batting lineup? The pressure is crazy.

If we had known it would be like this, we should have bought Choi Jin-cheol.

ㄴㄴWho knew that old bastard would go to Jamsil and be rejuvenated haha?

And the Charlotte fans who were watching Kim Min-hyuk were also on the verge of vomiting. A pitcher who has been in the starting rotation consistently for several years still hasn’t been able to overcome the first inning upset. Minhyuk Kim is now twenty-seven. He wasn’t old enough to be called a prospect.

-Seeing that bastard spilling his juices, he must be beaten again, right?

Are there any bastards who don’t know that?

And the eyes of the fans, who watch all 144 games a year and perhaps follow the games in more detail than the baseball general manager, were almost accurate.

Ta – evil!

Boer’s batted ball clears the sky of Sajik.

“uh? uh? no way?”

“what? “Boer hits a home run in scoring position?”

“what? what?”

“Did you go?”

And as the batted ball flew through the sky, AT’s dugout was almost in a festive mood. Seeing Bohr’s long ball in the scoring zone was a dream come true.

-Wow!!!

-Bo~! uh! See~! uh!

As Boer’s cheering song rings out, Boer enters the dugout with a majestic appearance. A decisive three run in the first inning. AT Thunders started to take the lead with 5:0.

[Boer’s three run! AT’s batting lineup explodes from the top of the first inning! The score is 5:0!]

[Wow, Director Lee Soo-hyun has lost his mind with this. Now, if we show these kind of results even in the scoring range, there is no need to worry.]

-Fuck, what’s wrong with our team? Even the mercenaries who were dying were saved.

Haha, cancer now?

-I turned off the TV.

See you at the end of episode 1.