episode_0176

“Concentration! Concentration! “I will say one last thing.”

The players’ attention is focused on Coach Lee Soo-hyun’s words. Lee Soo-hyun, accustomed to receiving attention, turned to the beam projector screen. The screen moves from a video analyzing future Buffaloes players to a simple table.

“Can you see the leaderboard?”

From 1st place UG Overlords to 10th place Volcano Falcons. The KBA league rankings were visible at a glance.

‘UG has 17 wins and 7 losses and Hyunseong has 16 wins and 8 losses. The battle for first place is fierce. Third place goes to Shilla Triggers with 14 wins. Hancheol and Charlotte are competing for 4th and 5th place with 13 wins and 11 losses, and below that… .’

“JT, ranked 6th, has 11 wins and 13 losses, and Mirae Buffaloes, who is ranked 7th, has the same record as us, 10 wins and 14 losses. Can you all see that we won yesterday and moved up to 7th place?”

“”yes!””

The voices of the players who answered were quite bright. It may have been because they won yesterday, but even though it was early in the season, the fact that the team’s ranking had risen after the manager was changed and by winning consecutive winning series also had an impact.

It seems like just yesterday that I was stuck in 10th place and playing with volcanoes, but I’m already in 7th place… . If the upward trend continues just a little longer, fall baseball will no longer be a dream. And I wasn’t the only one who thought that.

“It’s early in the season, but we’re catching up with one team a week. “We all know this is not an easy task.”

“Yes.”

“I definitely feel like I can beat anyone I meet these days. “I also caught UG, which was first place.”

“Yeah, they say it usually takes a month to catch up on three games, right? As the season goes on, it will be harder to catch up. So let’s catch up now. If we sweep here, there are already three teams below. Mirae, honestly, it’s easy, right?”

“you’re right!”

As Su-Hyun Lee said, the Future Buffaloes were an easy team compared to Charlotte or UG. However, it was inevitable that Jin-Hong Lee, who had a monster performance by hitting 38 home runs last year, was in the lineup for the 4th place finish. However, since Lee Jin-hong was injured in the WBC and had not yet returned, the batting lineup was inevitably weak.

In addition, the batting average was around .233, but Choi Jin-cheol, who had 28 home runs and 82 RBIs, also transferred to our team, so there was no weight in the future Buffaloes’ batting lineup. Well, it was natural for Choi Jin-cheol not to renew his contract as he was widely evaluated as an obsolete player, but it was painful for Mirae to not have Lee Jin-hong, who would anchor the batting lineup.

Actually, yesterday’s game was easy. Anyway, the Future Buffaloes are in 7th place this season, the same as us, but when they win, they often come from behind, so experts were also expressing concerns.

“Let’s go up the stairs one step at a time. “Everyone can do it, right?”

“You can!”

“Okay, let’s show the fans a good game today too.”

The players’ voices as they responded to the coach’s words were full of confidence.

“And Meng Hao.”

“yes yes?”

As the meeting was about to end, the director called me. Are you really trying to tell me to stay and train today?

“You know that today’s starter is Jang Woo-joo, right?”

“Of course I know.”

I just watched the video like that, and if you didn’t know it, it would be a dolphin.

“Are you aware that the Rookie of the Year candidates in the league right now are you, Jang Woo-joo, and Kim Won-ho?”

“yes? “Are they candidates for Rookie of the Year?”

I didn’t know that. Jang Woo-joo was my favorite in the high school league, and I didn’t know that Won-ho was doing well enough to compare to me. Because I was too busy just looking at my own articles.

“okay. Do you know what the most important thing is in Rookie of the Year?”

“skill? record?”

“That is also important. But more important than that is impact. Especially in a face-off, does the batter hit the pitcher? “If you do this, you will definitely get extra points, so please know that.”

“Hey, don’t worry. Jang Woo-joo, he’s a piece of shit.”

Hahaha, I can hear the players laughing. Are you laughing because you think I’m bluffing? Still, facts are facts. I wasn’t confident that I would lose to Jang Woo-joo.

*

“Swing strike! out!”

Kim Soo-ho, the number one hitter, strikes out after five balls and retires. The speed posted on the electronic display board was 158 km/h.

“fast. be careful.”

Kim Soo-ho spoke chicly and entered the dugout.

It’s fast… . I knew that Jang Woo-joo’s ball was fast. Because we met in high school. I had terrible ball control at the time, but I remember getting lucky and getting hit with the bat. However, the ball was like a feather and if it hit, it was a long hit, so I wasn’t particularly scared. The movement wasn’t very good either.

‘Let’s see how much you’ve grown. At that time, you threw a curveball as a breaking ball, but you said you learned the slider when you became a pro, right?

“hello.”

“okay.”

Give a brief greeting to the catcher and umpire. Jang Woo-joo, standing on the mound, seemed a little nervous.

“Wooju, are you throwing it in the zone now? “I couldn’t throw it before.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“I’m worried. “He’s my close younger brother.”

‘It’s a fastball.’

It looks like the battery just happened to exchange signs.

“You’re not going to throw a fastball at me, are you? “Even in high school, I whined like a dog.”

“Stop fluttering your snout.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Jang Woo-joo does the windup. I decided to hold off on the first pitch to see what kind of stance he would throw the ball against me. The ball he threw arrives at the mitt so quickly that you can’t see it.

“cheek.”

The speed posted on the electronic display board was 157km/h. It was a ball that went wide outside.

“Space, you bastard. “I was scared.”

“It’s scary.”

“He can’t put me in the strike zone? “If you don’t want to believe it, keep throwing it.”

“The cub… .”

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘Stubborn.’

The battery of choice is once again a fastball. But there is nothing to worry about. Jang Woo-joo, that bastard is definitely scared of me. The guy swings his arm and the ball leaves his hand. The trajectory is outward. This time, the ball… .

“strike!”

what? Referee, you bastard… .

“Did this come in?”

“I’m in.”

“Hmm… . “Did you not see it because it was too fast?”

“what?”

As soon as I made a sarcastic comment, the referee responded immediately.

“Oh, the ball was fast so I didn’t see it well.”

How dare you come to me? I checked the referee by looking at the electronic sign.

‘Sim Jin-hyung, is your name Sim Jin-hyung? If you come in as a first or second base umpire, you’re behind.’

For now, I put Boksik aside and focus on batting again.

‘It’s a slider.’

‘okay.’

Jang Woo-joo’s slider during analysis time was in the mid to high 140s. It’s fast, but even so, it’s only 140 rounds. Moreover, because it is fast, the change is small, so it is not a ball that you cannot hit if you know it. The reason other guys can’t hit it is because the fastball is so fast that they can’t get the timing right.

And those reasons had nothing to do with me knowing the pitch. In fact, it would have been better if it was a slider. Because it was the perfect pitch to watch and react to.

‘Come, universe. ‘I’ll give you some true education.’

*

What does it feel like to throw 160km/h? The speed that every pitcher dreams of, 160 km/h.

It was clear that any pitcher would sell their soul to the devil to get that velocity. It was said that it was a speed that was often seen in the major leagues, but even in the major leagues, if a prospect had thrown 160, it was common for the contract amount to be doubled, so there was no need to talk about his status.

That status will be even higher if you come to Korea. As a Korean, the number of players who have thrown 160 at least once can be counted on one hand.

That’s why Jang Woo-joo’s baseball life was a solid road full of flowers. Jang Woo-joo, who attracted attention by throwing 150 points since middle school, showed a steady increase in velocity in the high school league and reached the number 162 on the speed gun.

And in the draft that came to fruition, Jang Woo-joo received a contract deposit of 1.2 billion won. He was able to achieve the milestone of having the highest contract amount for a rookie in the history of the KBA League.

And that down payment was a measure of how much the Buffaloes expected of Jang Woo-joo in the future, and Jang Woo-joo was meeting those expectations 100%. until now.

Jang Woo-joo’s current record is 3 wins and 1 loss in 4 games. He struck out 30 batters and allowed only 4 runs in 26.2 innings, recording an ERA of 1.37. Most batters couldn’t even pass his ball, and the ones that did touch it didn’t make it past the outfield.

Jang Woo-joo has hit only one home run so far. It happened in literature. Even Koo Jin-mo, the batter who hit that home run, admitted that he hit the ball without realizing it, so there is currently no batter in Korea who was conscious of Jang Woo-joo’s ball and hit it. Even if he accidentally gave up a point, the fans did not blame Jang Woo-joo. Most of the hit balls were lucky hits.

The emergence of an all-time great rookie worthy of an all-time contract. All baseball fans cheered at that appearance… It should have been It definitely should have been that way.

-The best rookie ever! Ji Maeng-ho, home run again today!

However, Jang Woo-joo’s appearance was overshadowed by the name ‘Ji Maeng-ho’. Ji Maeng-ho’s record was not a good record for a rookie, but a record that could change the history of Korea. Now, less than a month after the league started, Ji Maeng-ho has hit 13 home runs. And several first-place records supporting that home run.

The spotlight was placed on Ji Maeng-ho, who appeared in games every day and set new records every day, rather than a starting pitcher who pitched once a week.

However, Jang Woo-ju did not curse Ji Maeng-ho. Because Ji Maeng-ho was a grateful person who woke me up from being a frog in a well.

In high school, when he thought he was the best, that home run he hit at the Blue Dragons changed Wooju Jang. The humiliation of missing Ji Maeng-ho with an intentional throw after hitting a home run was deeply engraved in Jang Woo-joo’s mind. Therefore, Jang Woo-ju continued to work hard and study from that day on.

-“Hey, the slider is already top-notch? The talent is definitely great. “I didn’t give you 1.2 billion for nothing.”

Praise from the pitching coach for quickly learning a breaking ball. Jang Woo-joo responded humbly to that compliment.

-“Oh, no. “There are so many people in the world who are better than me.”

The home run hit by Ji Maeng-ho and the monsters of the major league seen at the WBC. Thinking about that, Jang Woo-ju could not help but be humble.

However, Jang Woo-joo is also a pitcher and baseball player who is responsible for the team’s mound. I didn’t intend to lose just because I was humble.

And now, I wanted to show it to Ji Maeng-ho, who is standing at bat. I’m not the same person who hit a home run a year ago. I have grown this much. Since we became close friends while working together as youngest members at WBC, I wanted to be recognized more.

A slider honed with that in mind. The fastball he boasts of has once hit a home run, but this slider has never resulted in a hit. Although the throwing frequency itself was low, it was more effective.

That’s why I chose the slider. Jang Woo-joo threw the ball with all his might.

“Whoa!”

The sound of Jang Woo-joo’s spirit spreads out from the mound.

‘I threw it right!’

A slider that enters the zone from the batter’s side. Feeling more refreshed than ever.

Ta – evil!

And the hitting sound sounds louder than ever.

[I hit it! I hit it! I hit it! It’s big! It’s big! It’s big! This batted ball goes to the left wall! Left fence… !]

Jang Woo-ju hangs his head.

‘Fuck, how did you hit this? iced coffee… . Jamsil, this is Jamsil.’

I turned my head back with some hope, but all Jang Woo-ju could see was the scene of him going over the fence. I make eye contact with Ji Maeng-ho, who is slowly passing by first base.

Ji Maeng-ho grinned.

‘You are no good to me.’

I feel like saying that.

“Seed! foot!”

Jang Woo-joo threw his glove like the day he met Ji Maeng-ho in the Blue Dragon Cup finals.