episode_0202

“Did it turn?”

“It didn’t turn?”

‘It’s a body fastball. be careful.’

There is only one case where Rossby, who did not disclose the location, does so. When the bean ball flies.

“under… . “Have I seen such a smart-ass?”

I could feel the catcher’s anger rising to his head. Even if Rossby hadn’t told him, it seemed like he could have guessed the empty ball based on the catcher’s tone.

“cheek.”

Because it was a ball I was expecting, I was able to easily avoid the ball coming towards me.

“If you throw it one more time, I won’t be able to stand it.”

My temperament made me want to kick the catcher right away, but I had no choice but to hold back because I thought that if I got disciplined, my chances of receiving this shout would decrease.

“… “If I don’t hold back, I’ll get upset.”

“If you want to see it, try throwing it one more time.”

“You bitch… .”

Even while talking to the catcher, the pitcher kept shaking his head. Well, you probably don’t want to avoid the game after seeing a home run in the middle of the map.

‘Slider.’

‘okay.’

Does the slider fall out? Or is the first pitch thrown toward the body, so the ball enters the zone from the body? Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. Because I had the confidence that I could hit any ball.

-Ji Maeng-ho~! Ji Maengho~! Ooooh! Thunders Ji Maeng-ho! Fly it to the sky!

‘Okay, I’ll fly it to you.’

When Cho Young-ju, the opposing starting pitcher, made a pitching motion, I took a deep breath and concentrated. The ball left his hand,

Ta – evil!

The batted ball flew away with a sharp bend to the left. A large batted ball flying toward the pole.

“Did you go?”

-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!

I looked at the third base umpire’s hand at the ambiguous hit, but the result was a foul.

“Oh, was it a little fast?”

‘I got hit by the end of the bat.’

‘Kabi.’

“Whoa… .”

The catcher also took a deep breath, probably embarrassed.

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘There are a lot of fastballs coming these days. Was it also analyzed?’

‘That’s very likely.’

Since I have good results with slow breaking balls, most of the batteries that play against me these days are mixing fastballs and high-velocity breaking balls. However, the idea that he would be weak against fastballs just because he was strong against slow breaking balls was a bit funny.

‘I heard you’re cute.’

Rather, pitches in the mid to high 140s, which most pitchers in the KBA League throw, were easier for me. Since most of the pitchers that Rossby faced in the past threw balls with that speed, the pitch for which the most data was accumulated was the fastball at 140 km/h.

Is it clearly visible now?

‘… ‘Hmph!’

Ta – evil!

‘Do it right this time!’

The moment it hit, I felt it hit the center of the bat. Thinking that there was nothing to see, I threw the bat after finishing my follow swing.

“Y-th!”

-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!

-Ji Maeng-ho~! Ji Maengho~! Ooooh! Thunders Ji Maeng-ho! Fly it to the sky!

After waving once to the fans who were calling out to me in a loud voice, I walked straight to the base. Looking at the expressions on the faces of the Charlotte infielders as they circled the bases, it seemed like they had rotten faces that really suited them.

“nice!”

“Ji Maeng-ho! You crazy bastard! “You really surpassed that!”

“no way! If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t even hit a home run! Hehehe.”

“Really, you idiot!”

With a 3-point lead, it felt pretty good from the start.

*

-Wow, Ji Maeng-ho is crazy haha. Even against Colot, he’s so damn good haha.

ㄴㄹㅇ But hitting a preview home run and a real home run is a mess haha.

ㄴMaeng Ho-ham C DA C

-Is that guy crazy?

I feel like shit because I got beat up.

ㄴUG, how can you guys tolerate that?

-Aggro power is at max level haha.

ㄴIf I had done something like that at my resignation, I would have been behind.

“Jumma, what is it?”

“Don’t eat cheap food.”

“Haengnim, are you going to leave Jumma alone?”

“Shiba, are you going to hit the ship?”

At the bottom of the first inning, after the AT Thunders had finished speaking and the short inning shift was taking place, the Charlotte Blue Mariners’ dugout was in an uproar due to Ji Maeng-ho’s antics. Most of Charlotte’s players are tough Busan guys. They were not the kind of people who would endure such insults.

And the eyes of those tough Busan men were focused on the team’s spiritual leader, Kang Han-beom.

“Chiara, do you know what the ugliest thing is?”

“ham… ?”

“It’s a shameful thing to say and to get angry. “Have a kamai, Ham will show you.”

After saying that, Charlotte’s fourth batter, Kang Han-beom, picked up the bat and headed to the plate. Charlotte’s players, who were very angry with Ji Maeng-ho’s predicted home run, had no choice but to look back quietly at the rough energy felt in Kang Han-beom’s body.

[In the top of the second inning, Kang Han-beom comes to bat.]

[The returning Kang Han-beom is ranked third in home runs after Ji Maeng-ho and Choi Jin-cheol with 14 home runs, right? He also ranks second with 46 RBIs. He is performing tremendously in his first season back.]

[Park Jun-hyung’s first pitch, uh, uh! Toward Kang Han-beom’s face! Kang Han-beom does not blink an eye.]

[It’s a battle of momentum, right? Usually, batters don’t show any pain even when hit by a ball, but they say, ‘I’m not afraid of your ball at all.’ It’s about expressing this will. Especially in the major leagues, if you complain of pain by rubbing the area where you were hit by a ball, there is a disparagement.]

[Still, it wouldn’t be easy to stare at a fast ball coming towards you like that. As expected, he is a strong criminal.]

[He’s not a strong criminal for nothing, right? haha.]

[Kang Han-beom’s eyes are unusual.]

An atmosphere that everyone who watches baseball can feel. Kang Han-beom felt like something was about to happen.

“Isn’t this unusual?”

“Ha, I guess that’s right.”

And AT fans sitting at first base were also feeling that atmosphere.

-Kang Hanbeom! Blow it away!!

Of course, not everyone who had that kind of momentum hit a hit or hit a home run. However, the batter standing at bat is Kang Han-beom. He has been a hitter who has made the anxious imaginations of opposing fans come true through countless at-bats so far.

Ta – evil!

[Kang Hanbeom! The third ball was kicked up! This batted ball! Solo shot of the chase! The 15th home run of the season hits here. Kang Han-beom’s solo shot pours cold water into the hot atmosphere of AT! Park Jun-hyung lowers his head!]

Kang Han-beom, who was quietly appreciating the hit, threw the bat indifferently. And cheers erupt from third base. The cheers of the Charlotte fans, who were filled with anger at Ji Maeng-ho’s arrogant behavior, were as passionate as their reputation.

-Wow!

-Kang Hanbeom! Strong Beom! Strong Beom!

Ji Maeng-ho, who was crossing his legs with his hands on his hips next to second base, and Kang Han-beom, who was running slowly after hitting a home run, made eye contact. Kang Han-beom smiled and said to Ji Maeng-ho, who had a grumpy expression on his face.

“Don’t be fooled.”

Kang Han-beom knew Ji Maeng-ho well as they had talked to each other several times while on the national team. His pride is so strong that he can be tormented by Koo Jin-mo, his personality is easily agitated to the point where he speaks harshly to the pitcher standing on the mound when the game is not going well, and his performance is greatly influenced by his emotions.

It was clear that if Ji Maeng-ho’s swing was scratched like this, his swing would increase due to his personality, and it was a provocation based on the idea that if such a big swing occurred in Jamsil, it would be easier to solve the game.

“… Tsk. “We’re winning, right?”

And just as Kang Han-beom thought, the response came quickly.

“Did you hit a home run?”

“Let’s see each other after the game, right? “Who will win?”

‘They say it’s easy for them to understand.’

Seeing Ji Maeng-ho clicking his tongue, Kang Han-beom chuckled again and took a step forward. And Ji Maeng-ho looked at Kang Han-beom’s back with passionate eyes.

‘Okay, let’s see who wins.’

However, unlike Ji Maeng-ho, who had a burning desire to win, there was also a player whose heart was pounding with nervousness. That was Park Jun-hyung, a pitcher who had one win against Charlotte in seven years since his debut.

[Batter number 5, Campbell comes to bat. His batting average is .204.2, but his slugging percentage is .409.8, making him a capable hitter. 11 home runs. Watch out for the one shot… I’m doing it! Campbell walks up the first pitch! This batted ball… !]

[Oh, it’s big? Is it big? Right fielder Lee In-hyuk follows.]

[Lee In-hyuk Back, back, back! There is no place to retreat anymore! A home run followed by Kang Han-beom! Campbell’s back-to-back home runs! The score is now 3:2! Charlotte Blue Mariners chasing by one point!]

[This is a loss, right? The slider went into the middle of the strike zone. I think it was meant to be thrown into a backdoor castle, but the trajectory was clearly visible to Campbell, a left-handed hitter.]

[Campbell runs around the field smiling brightly!]

*

“Fuck Yeah!”

“… Are these bastards crazy? “I keep scratching.”

You looked at me and screamed, right? I was dumbfounded, so I looked around and made eye contact with Seongtae Yoon.

“What you looking at?”

“Seongtae, that bastard screamed while looking at me, right?”

“I did that damn thing, but it’s natural, kid.”

“… “Are you siding with Charlotte just because you’re from Busan?”

“… “Is it me?”

“… “I think that’s right?”

“… “It’s a child.”

“Traitor Shack. Don’t talk to me bro. “I’m going to tell all of this to my senior resident.”

“… “Just focus on the game.”

“There was Prakchi on the team.”

There was no one in the world I could trust. After all, I have to be on this team. I came to my senses and focused on Park Jun-hyung’s pitch. Charlotte’s sixth batter, catcher Chan-Woo Yang, hit Jun-Hyung Park’s fifth ball, and the ball headed toward the shortstop.

“Short!”

The batted ball bounced at the boundary between dirt and grass, and the ball flew to a place where Yoon Seong-tae could not catch it. Jamsil’s infamous irregular bounds had exploded. Kim Su-ho, who had come running, quickly picked up the ball, but Yang Chan-woo had already stepped on first base, so Kim Su-ho was unable to throw the ball away.

“… Ah, Shiba, Jamsil really.”

“Bro, it’s not really true, is it?”

Fuck, this guy isn’t really a spy, is he?

“… It was an irregular bounce… .”

“… … .”

“… “I’ll show you when I attack.”

… I didn’t believe it at all.

‘After all, I have to be on this team.’

After thinking like that, all the puzzles fell into place. Kang Han-beom had already recognized me. That I am the only proper player on this team. The Kang Han-beom I knew was a serious man who was not someone who provoked others or did anything like that. Even on the national team, he was like a mental supporter of the hitters who kept the team focused.

But such a strong criminal is trying to provoke me? It meant that Kang Han-beom also thought that I was the most dangerous person.

‘After all, does the big hitter recognize the big hitter?’

Perfect!

At that moment, a batted ball rolled toward me, and I immediately caught it and threw the ball to second base.

“out!”

“First base!”

“out!”

“nice!”

A clean double play. Charlotte’s spy seemed to have realized that he couldn’t make a mistake, so he neatly hit a double play. Park Jun-hyung, perhaps helped by my defense, cleanly handled the remaining out counts, and Charlotte’s attack in the top of the second inning ended with 2 points.

However, perhaps because he gave two points, Park Jun-hyung’s shoulders slumped as he came off the mound. That guy looks like that after conceding a few goals.

“Park Junhyung!”

After all, this body should be responsible for encouraging the pitcher.

“… “Why are you calling my senior’s name so carelessly?”

… To be picky.

“… Seniors. You said you would make him a winning pitcher, right? Just trust me. “I will do it.”