episode_0365

[Scoring three runs in both the 7th and 8th innings, Hyunseong Madcats showcased remarkable strength by turning the game around today. Isn’t today’s game truly thrilling?]

[Although Hyunseong is currently in 10th place, they are a formidable team, right? Despite being in 10th place, the gap with the 5th place Hanchul Grizzlies is only 3.5 games. Considering Hyunseong’s strong performance, especially in the summer, this season’s competition seems to be intensifying.]

[Indeed. An exciting ranking battle and the thrilling showdown between AT and Hyunseong. Now, in the top of the 9th inning, AT’s counterattack begins. The leadoff batter is the 6th hitter, Yoon Sungtae.]

The fourth matchup of the season between AT Thunders and Hyunseong Madcats at Daegu Madcat Park was heating up as it approached its conclusion.

The duel between Hyunseong’s ace and national team southpaw starter, Choi Junghoon, and AT Thunders’ veteran foreign mercenary pitcher, Bellingham, seemed intense from the beginning. Amidst this, Ji Maengho hit a two-run home run in his second at-bat, giving AT an apparent lead.

By the 6th inning, the score stood at 2-0 until Bellingham was replaced. Then, in the 7th inning, adding two more runs by targeting Hyunseong’s bullpen pitchers, AT seemed to have a comfortable lead of 4 runs against the 10th place team, Hyunseong. Just when fans were expecting AT to secure their first victory smoothly, AT’s bullpen started to falter.

Surrendering three runs each in the bottom of the 7th and 8th innings, the tense situation of 6-4 continued until the top of the 9th inning.

And in the top of the 9th, AT’s leadoff batter was the 6th hitter, Yoon Sungtae. Facing Yoon Sungtae was Hyunseong’s new closer, who had shown a grim reaper-like presence against left-handed hitters throughout his career.

[Kwon Yul, warming up.]

[Kwon Yul is indeed a good player, but he seems to be lacking in replacing Goh Yeonghwan’s position. Since transitioning to a closer, he has a record of 1 win, 3 losses, 5 saves, and an ERA of 3.86, showing a bit of a slump. Fortunately, he managed to get a save with a scoreless inning in the last game. Let’s see how he performs today…]

After Korea’s greatest closer, Goh Yeonghwan, left for the Major Leagues, Kwon Yul took over his spot, being considered the league’s best left-handed bullpen. Despite having a national team background and excellent breaking balls and speed, Kwon Yul’s performance hadn’t been exceptional.

Was it the pressure of being a closer? Experts attributed Kwon Yul’s lackluster performance to both his own struggles and Hyunseong’s overall decline.

[How do you see this match, sir?]

[Given that Kwon Yul has an advantage against left-handed batters, one could expect him to easily get outs. If this were last year. However, this season, Kwon Yul hasn’t been as threatening as before. And considering Yoon Sungtae’s improvement, it’s hard to predict the outcome of this match.]

“Huh, Coach said he can’t throw inside pitches?”

Yoon Sungtae looked at Kwon Yul on the mound, steeling himself. According to the scouting team and hitting coach Lee Gicheol, Kwon Yul was currently struggling to pitch inside to left-handed hitters. Believing the analysis that Kwon Yul had been consistently missing inside against lefties since coming up as a closer early in the season, Yoon Sungtae positioned himself on the outer half of the plate.

“Kwon Yul isn’t that intimidating when he can’t locate inside.”

Kwon Yul’s ability to handle left-handed hitters stemmed from his mid-90s fastball that ran inside. Without that pitch, he wasn’t particularly fearsome.

[Kwon Yul’s windup. First pitch…!]

Thrown first pitch. Yun Seongtae’s bat meets the eagerly awaited ball.

Thud!

[Yun Seongtae pushes from the first pitch! The hit escapes between the shortstop and third baseman! Trailing by 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th, Yun Seongtae records a hit, reaching base as the leadoff batter! AT’s lineup revs up once again! Now stepping up to the plate is the 7th batter, Baek Jeongjin.]

And as expected, Baek Jeongjin knew what Yun Seongtae knew. Baek Jeongjin, too, waited for the pitch outside the strike zone and took a breath at the plate,

Thud!

[In a full count situation, Baek Jeongjin swings! The hit goes to left field! Dropping in for a hit! The runner stops at 2nd base! Runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs! Creating an opportunity for the AT Thunders! Two consecutive hits! Manager Lee Soo-hyun sends a pinch hitter. The pinch hitter is Kang Ju-hyun.]

[Selecting Kang Ju-hyun here means they’re bunting, right? Kim Hyun-seong is still young and lacks experience, so it seems they’ve chosen Kang Ju-hyun, who is among the remaining batters and excels at bunting.]

As the commentator thought, Kang Ju-hyun laid down the bunt from the first pitch and successfully rolled the ball,

[Now with 1 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd. A crucial moment arrives. Up next is the 9th batter, Lee In-hyuk.]

[Lee In-hyuk, who recorded a .333 batting average last year and has a career average of .313. Although this season he has been mostly used as a pinch hitter due to competition from outfielders like Baek Jeongjin, Jung Hwi-cheol, and Williams, whenever he starts, he showcases his hitting ability. He has already recorded one hit today.]

[Looks like they’re intentionally walking Lee In-hyuk. He walks.]

“It’s probably easier to face Lee In-hyuk with 1 out and bases loaded rather than 1 out with runners on 2nd and 3rd, right? Moreover, the next batter, Jung Hwi-cheol, doesn’t have much power, so the strategy might be to draw the infield and outfield in to prevent scoring. They’re likely aiming for a double play. Hyun-sung probably wants to make a move here from his perspective.”

“Yes, the next batter is the league’s top hitter who also hit a home run today. Ji Maeng-ho is up next.”

“That’s right. Especially Ji Maeng-ho’s performance with runners in scoring position is outstanding, so Hyun-sung’s dugout is banking on this.”

Facing a capable hitter like Lee In-hyuk with a chance to tie the game, Hyun-sung’s bench decided to pass on Lee In-hyuk and face the rookie Jung Hwi-cheol instead, a decision also made by AT Thunders’ manager Lee Soo-hyun.

“Pinch hitter! Williams!”

-AT Thunders, pinch hitter, Don Williams.

As the player substitution is announced to the umpire and the stadium announcer’s voice echoes through the ballpark,

“Oh, Williams is coming in!”

“Please! If he gets a hit here, it’s a tie game, and Ji Maeng-ho is up next.”

“You can trust Williams in this situation.”

The fans watching the game were filled with anticipation at the choice made, feeling victory within reach. Though sidelined due to injury with 1 out and bases loaded, Williams, currently hitting .400, stands at the plate. And following him, the league’s best, or rather Korea’s baseball history’s best hitter, Ji Maeng-ho.

On the brink of victory, the hearts of AT’s fans began to race.

[Bottom of the 9th, 1 out, bases loaded. Here, AT Thunders substitute their leadoff batter Jung Hwi-cheol with their saved pinch hitter card, Williams.]

“Williams, who returned with 2 hits and 2 RBIs in yesterday’s comeback game, showing that his pre-injury hitting form is intact? He was on standby for a pinch-hit today due to thigh pain from yesterday’s game, but Manager Lee Soo-hyun made the call.”

*

“Please. Stop messing around and follow through. If you’re going to die, die alone. I’ll take care of it.”

Williams steps into the batter’s box. But watching him, I couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.

‘His stats are good, so why do I feel so uneasy?’

Currently, Williams’ performance showed a batting average of .413 in 25 games with an OPS of a whopping 1.041. Despite having only one home run, his slugging percentage was decent at .575 due to hitting many doubles. Judging by the stats alone, Williams was the next best batter on our team after me.

However, Rossby’s comment about it being entertaining made me uneasy.

“Hmm, I’d rather cleanly strike out than have him drive in runs.”

Honestly, I didn’t want him to score here. No, I was hoping for a scenario where I could face a full count with the bases loaded.

“A grand slam when we’re down 6-4? How am I supposed to endure that?”

Just imagining it was enough to make my stomach churn.

“Ball.”

As I entertained such thoughts, Kyun-yul’s pitch began, with the first pitch being a ball outside.

“Tsk, Kyun-yul was solid when I saw him on the national team, but this season seems off. Well, he’s getting older. Still, please put a little more effort into it.”

I watched the game, hoping Kyun-yul would only muster enough strength for a strikeout, but his next pitch also missed high and was called a ball. The count quickly became two balls. Then, the third pitch dropped low and was declared a ball.

“He’s pitching all over the place. Is this some strategy to get that guy out and face me?”

Intentional walk with the bases loaded. It was an absurd strategy, but I had been on the receiving end of it before. Of course, it wouldn’t happen against Williams, but Kyun-yul’s control was so poor that I couldn’t help but think about it.

“Tsk. 6-5, bases loaded with one out? Less satisfying than bases loaded with two outs, but an overturn is always good. Should I start getting ready to go out?”

Three balls, no strikes with the bases loaded and one out. There was nothing more to wait for, so I stretched and prepared for the hit. Then came Kyun-yul’s fourth pitch.

Crack!

“Huh?”

Williams swung the bat.

“What the hell?!”

And the hit headed towards the second baseman playing in.

“Run! Yoon Sung-tae! Run!”

Upon hearing the hit, Yoon Sung-tae, the runner on third base, took off, but a person can’t outrun the ball.

“Out!”

“Damn it!”

Then, Park Jung-hyun threw the ball towards first base. Hyun-sung, our first baseman, failed to catch the ball cleanly in one go. A perfect fielding error. However, our score didn’t increase because Williams, who was at bat, hadn’t even reached halfway to first base. Furthermore, the guy who was walking towards first base suddenly limped as Hyun-sung fumbled the ball.

“Wil… What the hell, why aren’t you running?!”

Swearing erupted in frustration.

“Out!”

And the first baseman who fumbled the ball picked it up again and stepped on first base. Our final offensive play ended in disappointment.

“What? Damn. What’s going on?”

My head was spinning.

“No, it could have been a double play. Why did that guy suddenly limp?”

“Maybe his leg suddenly hurt. Heh heh heh.”

“Rossby! Do you think that makes sense?”

“Well, what can you do? Pack your stuff. Hmm, was this the place? Daegu girls are pretty, though.”

Now, Rossby, who has memorized Korean landmarks, mutters as if he doesn’t care.

“We lost the game now, what the heck.”

“When did losing mean no sex?”

“That’s not it… No, damn it. This is different!”

In the ninth inning with the team trailing, hitting into a double play with one out and walking to first base? That was unheard of. Even I, who usually walks on a ground ball to the infield, would run to first in such a situation. And it was a three-ball count?

“Is he crazy?”

No, you can walk a hundred times in this situation. But why would the first baseman suddenly limp after making an error?

“This is bullshit, the intention is too obvious.”

“But why are you getting mad at me?”

“Sigh… Is this how it’s going to be? Fine. Looks like I’ll have to swing a bat all night. If I had hit one more home run, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m so pissed off, what should I do?”

“…Find out if that guy is betraying us or not.”

“Since we shouldn’t run into any gangsters at this bar, let’s pick a fan to take with us today.”

Having Rossby’s help was truly reassuring.

“Dare to ruin my stage? Once this damn evidence comes out, you’re finished.”