episode_0223

-Ji Maeng-ho! Home Run Derby Winner! Raising anticipation for the All-Star Game!

… … In the home run derby held on this day, Ji Maeng-ho (AT Thunders) became the home run king. Ji Maeng-ho, who hit 17 home runs in the finals alone, showed why he is the KBA League leader in home runs. Ji Maeng-ho recorded the most home runs in the history of the home run race with 17 home runs. Meanwhile, Ji Maeng-ho is leading the team with 40 home runs as of the end of the first half of the season. … …

ㄴThis guy’s strength is really amazing haha.

Is it because I broke up with my girlfriend? I’m going to be like a bat out of anger haha.

ㄴHonestly, if Woo Gwan-hyung had thrown a little better, I think I would have surpassed 20.

ㄴㄴㅋㅋㅋBut how can you ask the most senior member of the team to be a batting pitcher?

ㄴㄴThey were glaring at my brother because he wasn’t good at throwing it, haha. My brother just smiled haha.

Because the team atmosphere is good, the youngest and most senior members do that.

-[Photo] AT Ji Maeng-ho, enjoy the All-Star Game!

On Saturday, July 15, 2023, a packed crowd gathered at Daejeon Hwasan Falcons Park despite continued heavy rain. Although it was Daejeon Hwasan Falcons Park, the home stadium of the Hwasan Falcons, the players filling the stadium were not Hwasan Falcons players. The players filling the stadium were 50 professional baseball all-stars from 10 teams based on fan votes and manager recommendations.

The All-Star Game, held after the first half of the season, was enjoyed by fans of all teams and was the best festival in the KBA League. And at the festival, the AT Thunders also achieved good results in the first half of the year, allowing many players to participate in the All-Star Game.

In particular, 6 players were selected to the All-Star Game through fan voting. Let’s look at the list: third baseman Su-ho Kim, who had a batting average of 0.324, an OPS of 0.931, and hit 11 home runs. Left fielder Ki Ki-ju recorded a batting average of 0.347, an OPS of 1.015, and 16 home runs. Choi Jin-cheol had a batting average of 0.276, an OPS of 0.913, and hit 25 home runs, and designated hitter Woo Kwan-hyung had a batting average of 0.316, an OPS of 0.855, and 9 home runs. And second baseman Ji Maeng-ho ranked first in all batting records, with a batting average of 0.404, OPS of 1.462, and 40 home runs.

In addition, although catcher Jeong Yun-cheol’s performance was low, he was able to participate in the All-Star Game thanks to the fans’ vote thanks to the team’s good performance.

Unfortunately, in terms of pitching, he was unable to play due to future starting pitcher and rookie star Jang Woo-joo, Shilla’s closer Ryu Tae-hyun, and Kim Won-ho, who is active as Shilla’s setup man.

Even so, thanks to the manager’s recommendation, mercenary pitcher Bellingham and native ace Jang Yoon were selected for the All-Star Game, producing a total of eight players.

Unlike the past All-Star Games, which produced about five players at most over the past 10 years, or at most two players including Kwan-Hyung Woo and one player who had good results that year, the number of AT Thunders players selected for this All-Star Game shows how the AT Thunders will perform this season. It was telling me if I was getting good results.

And at the center of that good performance, of course, was Ji Maeng-ho, who ranked first in fan voting.

Ji Maeng-ho’s performance during the first half of the season far exceeded that of Joo Hyung-jin, the best hitter in KBA history, or Kang Han-beom or Choi Joo-tae, who advanced to the majors and showed meaningful results.

Ji Maeng-ho played in all of AT’s games except for the two games he missed due to suspension and one game where the manager gave him a break, and recorded a batting average of 0.404, an on-base percentage of 0.515, a slugging percentage of 0.947, and an OPS of 1.462, exceeding common sense. He recorded 86 runs and 115 RBIs, exceeding 100 RBIs in the first half alone.

In addition, he recorded 130 hits, 40 home runs, and 36 stolen bases, ranking first in all batting categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, hits, home runs, runs scored, RBI, and stolen bases. He was in the position of 8 crowns.

Of course, not all fans expected Ji Maeng-ho to maintain these results until the end of the season, but even so, there were no fans who disparaged the skills of Ji Maeng-ho, who achieved results worthy of being nominated for MVP even if the season ended like this.

-What is that guy? Why are rookies so good?

-Wow, why is there no Ji Maeng-ho on our team?

-When is that bastard major coming? Shouldn’t this be sent at the league level?

-Why can’t we elect a guy like Ji Maeng-ho?

-Fuck, our team’s home runs combined barely exceed Ji Maeng-ho’s home runs.

-How many years are left for Ji Maeng-ho’s free agency?

I think it would be quicker to wait for the major posting.

-You fucking bitches, why are you the only ones using Ji Maeng Ho?ㅡㅡ

Ji Maeng-ho recorded results that would be the envy of fans of all 9 teams except AT Thunders. And fans of four of those nine teams today, the only day of the All-Star Game, were able to feel what Ji Maeng-ho felt like on his team.

[hello? We will tell you about the All-Star Game between the Dream Team and the Sharing Team with a packed audience at Daejeon Hwasan Falcons Park.]

[Can you see that the stands are full despite the morning rain?]

[That’s right. Moreover, in the home run race held yesterday, Ji Maeng-ho hit 17 home runs and really lifted the mood, right? In addition, there was a super race held right before the All-Star Game.]

[That’s right. I think fans were satisfied with both the Home Run Race and the Super Race.]

[But there are still bigger events ahead. Dream Team and Sharing Team. The war of professional baseball stars. Starting now.]

[First of all, as explained earlier, UG Overlords and Hyunseong Mad Cats are currently in first and second place. And the 4th place Hancheol Grizzlies, 6th place Charlotte Blue Mariners, and 7th place JT Gold Eyes are the dream team clubs. And the sharing teams are 3rd place Shilla Triggers, 5th place AT Thunders, 8th, 9th, and 10th place NV Rex, Mirae Buffaloes, and Hwasan Falcons.]

[Commissioner, what do you think of this All-Star Game?]

[First of all, it is true that the Dream Team appears to be stronger in terms of rankings. However, we cannot ignore the sharing team. In my personal opinion, it can be seen as a dream of pitching ability and sharing of batting.]

[is that so?]

[yes. As for the dream team’s pitchers, the one-two punch of UG’s ace Kim Seong-gyeol and Hyunseong’s ace Choi Jung-hoon seems quite powerful, and the pitching skills of Kwon Yul, Ko Young-hwan, and even Yun Jung-hwan, who is showing off his hot performances this season, are quite strong. The Nanum team’s batting is quite strong as many batters have been selected from the AT Thunders, the current top batting team, and at the center of it all is Ji Maeng-ho, who is the 4th batter of the AT Thunders and looks like a monster.]

[Just looking at the rankings, the Dream Team seems quite strong, but the Nanum Team is just as strong, right?]

[That’s right. This is an All-Star game in which only star players from each team participate.]

[As a baseball fan, I am also really looking forward to it. The All-Star Game you’ve all been waiting for will begin in a moment.]

-I think the dream team will change haha.

ㄴHonestly, how can Kim Seong-gyeol and Choi Jung-hoon win when they are both national team contenders?

ㄴBut the Nanum lineup is also really great, Eun-chong Lee, Su-ho Kim, Gi Ki-ju, Maeng-ho Ji, Jin-cheol Choi, Kwan-hyung Woo, and Hwan-young Kim. Just looking at the name makes me sick.

-ㅅㅂ Ji Maeng-ho I was so fucking scared when I was on the enemy team, but now that I’m on our team, I feel so reassured haha.

ㄴㄹㅇㅋㅋㅋㅋ Because Ji Maeng-ho is in number 4, it feels heavy.

-Wow, you idiots are coming in 4th place with this batting lineup? Looking at the lineup makes me want to vomit. Aren’t they all AT except Eunchong Lee, Hwanyoung Kim, and Beth? Anyway, the catchers on all five teams are just fine.

What do you mean how bad a pitcher is?

I think we’ll win if we just combine Silla and AT.

Haha, what team can’t win if two teams combine together?

ㄴI don’t think any team will be able to combine with Hwasan haha.

Please refrain from pack width.

-ㅅㅂ Ji Maeng-ho is stuck at number 4, so I don’t think he’ll lose. Do AT fans always feel this way?

Well, the 4th place team haha.

ㄴLast year’s 7th place team did this well haha.

Honestly, if Ji Maeng-ho wasn’t there, I think I would have failed again haha.

-If you are looking forward to today’s league’s superstar ‘Ji Maeng-ho’, ㅱㅊ!

Bah!

Bah!

ㄴWhat will I show you today?

*

“Brother, I heard you’re also going to the Asian Games? “You’re not as old as I thought, huh?”

“What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden?”

“I think we will get together at the Asian Games, so please take care of us today.”

The All-Star Game, where five clubs become one team, my partner today was Kim Hwan-young, shortstop of the Shilla Triggers. I wasn’t particularly worried about today’s match because I had a lot of chemistry with Kim Hwan-young during training during the last WBC.

There’s even Jang Woo-joo on the mound.

‘This is totally like the Asian Games?’

Considering it was an All-Star game, I would pitch one or two innings before going down, but it almost felt like a preview of the Asian Games.

“Hey, but aren’t you nervous? “I was really nervous when I first came to the All-Star Game.”

“I wasn’t that nervous about the WBC either.”

Plus, a lot of my teammates came, and there were people I saw on the national team, so it didn’t feel awkward or anything like that.

‘It would have been nice if Seongtae Yoon was here. It’s great to kill time by teasing Seongtae.’

It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing I can do because I can’t play baseball. Seongtae Yoon also achieved good results during the first half of the season, but he seemed to be lacking in name value and skills to push out Kim Hwanyoung, the national team player. A lot of our batters came there and came as recommendations from the manager.

“Well, I guess you will.”

“What does that mean?”

“If you were the kind of person who would be nervous here, you wouldn’t have held a ceremony like that.”

“A ceremony like that? Oh, that? “Did you see it too?”

“Is there any player who hasn’t seen that? It was funny. Should I try it too?”

Kim Hwan-young said with a smile. The last time I saw him on the national team, he was rather quiet, but seeing him talk like this makes me think that my ceremony was definitely impressive. After that ceremony, I thought about doing it again, but I couldn’t because it didn’t come from the heart, but seeing that the players liked it so much, I felt like I had to force myself to do it.

“Brothers, let’s stop laughing and focus on our balls. “It’s just the beginning.”

At that time, Jang Woo-joo, who was standing on the mound, spoke to us.

“Yes, yes. I’ll focus. “Just throw the ball well.”

“Okay, just watch. “I’m talking about pitching with all my heart.”

… Did this guy watch the cartoon yesterday? Why is this happening all of a sudden?

Then the game started and Jang Woo-joo threw the first pitch.

“cheek!”

The speed shown on the electronic display board is 163km/h. Although it was far outside the strike zone, it was the best velocity in KBA League history. It seemed like he gave up his control and increased his velocity.

-Wow!!

-Jang Woo-joo! Jang Woo-joo! Jang Woo-joo!

With Jang Woo-joo speeding at 163 km/h, enthusiastic cheers began to come out from the stands from the start of the All-Star Game.

‘Baby, you know how to cheer up the mood.’

And I, who was watching the ball from behind, also felt hot.