episode_0391

“Coach, what should we do? Wonho and Wooju are warming up in the bullpen for now.”

“…Let’s have Jung Woosung pitch until the 6th inning for now.”

“Understood.”

Pittsburgh’s third starter, Jung Woosung, had a weakness in stamina. Pitching a full season as a starting pitcher with an underhand pitching form was tough. He was a pitcher with good control and strikeout ability, but due to this issue, Jung Woosung himself took meticulous care of his body even within the team.

This season, Jung Woosung’s average innings per start were 5.1 innings. He was gradually surpassing the average innings, and in fact, his condition seemed worse than usual.

“If Woosung can pitch at least 6 innings, it would make things easier for the tournament…”

However, the coach didn’t want to use the bullpen too much from the first game, trusting Jung Woosung, who was considered the best pitcher in South Korea.

But,

[A hit towards second base! Ambiguous hit! Jimyeongho!]

With two outs, the fast hit by Bernardina was heading towards the second baseman. Well, it wasn’t exactly heading towards the second baseman from the start; it was closer to the first baseman. However, Goo Jinmo was positioned for a left-handed batter, so despite his dive, he couldn’t catch the ball. Now, only Jimyeongho, the second baseman, remained.

“Get it!”

Someone shouted desperately from the dugout. And as if acknowledging that shout, Jimyeongho, who was running from afar, leaped towards the hit. In that brief moment, judging the direction of the hit and his incredible reflexes,

“Damn it!”

…but no matter how good his reflexes were, he couldn’t defy the physical distance. After the ball bounced off the ground, it touched the edge of the glove before slipping out as if mocking the glove.

“Oh, he missed the ball!”

Bernardina was an experienced hitter. Although past his prime enough to still be watching the outfield, if thrown slowly, it could still be handled. Jimyeongho looked around, then picked up the rolling ball on the ground.

“Take it easy! Take it easy!”

“Damn, screwed!”

However, the Bernardina Jimyeongho remembered was a player who stole 30 bases in the KBA league like eating rice. He hadn’t particularly enjoyed watching the KBA league, but a player who recorded 20-20 stats remained in his memory.

In the situation where the ball bounced off the glove, rather than analyzing, the first thing that came to Jimyeongho’s mind was the old image of Bernardina in his memory. His mind filled with the thought of catching the hitter, and his throwing arm exerted force.

“Jimyeongho! Find the ball, throw to first base! Ah! It wasn’t caught by Jung Woosung. Fortunately, Lee Yonggi covered it, and the runner stops at first base.”

“Oh, slightly disappointing defense, right? The throw was a bit rushed. If he were a professional first baseman, he could have caught it, but since the pitcher was covering, it’s a bit regrettable. Still, if Jimyeongho hadn’t caught the ball, it could have been a hit. The attempt was good. However, if he had been a bit slower, he might have been able to get the out…”

“This hit will be recorded as an error in Jimyeongho’s throw.”

Despite Jimyeongho bombing the league, he was still a young player in his second year. While it was a throw that a professional first baseman guarding first base could have easily caught, it was difficult to distinguish in such a critical situation.

“Darn, can’t even catch that.”

Furthermore, Rossby, who was helping Jimyeongho’s judgment, also believed that a pitcher should be able to catch that level of play, so he didn’t give any warning.

“Ah… Senior, I’m sorry.”

“No, I should have caught it. Just catching the ball alone was good.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Now, Vogats is stepping up to the plate. Here, the pitching coach visits the mound.”

At the crucial moment when it was necessary to end the inning, an error was recorded, leading to an ominous atmosphere as the opponent’s star batter stepped up to the plate. To break this momentum, the pitching coach took strides towards the mound.

“Woo Sung, what do you think?”

“I’ll take him on.”

“Alright, if that’s what you think… I understand.”

With two outs and a runner on first in the 7th inning. Would the starting pitcher really want to step down in this situation?

Ridiculous, thought Jung Woo Sung to himself. The young teammate had made an error trying to help him, an error that he felt partly responsible for, making Jung Woo Sung even more reluctant to step down from the mound. Furthermore, the opposing batter was Vogatz, famous for his hitting even in the Major Leagues.

“I have to do this.”

While he didn’t distrust the other pitchers, Jung Woo Sung knew that if he stepped down here and allowed Vogatz to score, he would undoubtedly regret it. The pitcher’s inherent sense of responsibility to resolve the crisis he created enveloped Jung Woo Sung.

[Fans: Should Jung Woo Sung continue as the player?]

[It’s a natural choice. Because it’s Jung Woo Sung.]

The weight of being known as the third starter in the Major Leagues.

– It’s better for Jung Woo Sung to pitch than to change for no reason lol

┗ For real, there’s no one better than Jung Woo Sung anyway. Even Se Hyun or Young Hwan are questionable to use here.

┗ Block him off here and bring in the bullpen from the next inning.

The fans watching the game did not express doubt about that decision. Moreover, today Vogatz’s record was 2 at-bats, 0 hits, 1 strikeout. Just like the previous at-bat, they firmly believed that Jung Woo Sung would handle Vogatz.

But the opponent was one of those hitters for whom even if they were called the best offensive shortstop in the Major Leagues, there would be no question mark,

[Ah! Vogatz’s hit! Oh… it’s going over…]

It wasn’t a ball hitter who would watch Jung Woo Sung’s faltering pitch.

[Oh, the slider is right down the middle… Vogatz, impressive. Maybe because it was his first year of the contract last year, there was a slight slump, but he succeeded in bouncing back this season. It’s a shame. It would have been nice if he had struggled for another year.]

-Jung Woo Sung is a moron, the pitcher’s control is slipping, stubbornly not changing and eventually giving up a home run, damn it

┗ How is that guy Jung Woo Sung playing in the Majors? Watching his games, I’ve never felt any sense of stability. Damn it.

┗ Damn it, should’ve switched to the bullpen, the hitting didn’t look good either.

-Ross Gold-hyun believes in stable baseball, damn it

┗ Maybe winning the Olympics got to his head

┗ That’s why they say you need to analyze and play based on data. If you watch Jung Woo Sung, you know his control slips after the 5th inning.

-Ha, damn it, that idiot’s error led to a home run, if he had just caught the out, the inning would have ended, damn it

┗ Subpar performance

┗ Clearly not Major League-level defense

┗┗ Are they idiots? Even if it wasn’t a hit, it would have been caught if it weren’t for that mistake. Honestly, the pitcher should have caught that.

┗┗ Next time, asshole. Did that idiot Maeng Ho make a mistake and let the snowball roll?

┗┗If you give hope, you have to take responsibility lol

*

“…I’m sorry.”

“Sigh… it’s my fault for giving up a home run. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“…Still.”

“It’s fine. If you’re sorry, erase it with a win.”

“…Okay.”

Jung Woo Sung’s hand patted my shoulder. His dejected expression contradicted the words of comfort, revealing Jung Woo Sung’s true feelings.

‘Ah, I should have stayed calm.’

Regret lingered. Rossbi said it was the pitcher’s fault for not catching it, but the truth was, if I had stayed a bit calmer, it wouldn’t have happened. I usually threw strongly towards first base, but I was distracted by the difference between Choi Jin Chul, who stood at 190 cm, and Jung Woo Sung, who was around 170 cm.

My mistake. This was entirely my fault.

‘I have to make up for it with a hit.’

Anyway, the start of this inning was with the first batter, Choi Joo-tae. Today, Choi Joo-tae’s performance is 1 hit in 2 at-bats. If it’s Choi Joo-tae, maybe one more time…

Thunk!

“Out!”

“Damn.”

However, contrary to my hopes, Choi Joo-tae’s hit is caught by the right fielder, adding an out count on the scoreboard.

“Why the hell is this bastard pitching so well today?”

Is it that once-a-year feeling of a pitcher? Or maybe it’s because it’s the first game and the batters are not in form. Whatever it is, we were struggling today. A big hit could turn the situation around.

“Phew, let’s focus.”

After taking a deep breath, I step into the batter’s box. The guy on the mound is the same as before. I had a good look at his pitches when I got a walk in the previous at-bat.

“If I can just get the location right…”

When I hit his pitch, it didn’t feel as solid as expected. I felt I could easily clear the outfield fence if I anticipated the location correctly. No, I had to clear it. I have to clean up my mess.

“Rosby, first pitch?”

“Sinker.”

“Okay.”

Although Van Den Berg’s sinker was in the low 140s today, the sinker he threw against Choi Joo-tae clocked in at around 91.1 miles per hour or 146 km/h.

“Let’s go after the first pitch.”

Most likely, the first pitch would be inside.

“Well, if it’s not inside, just think you took a nice swing.”

Since it was a first pitch, the ball count was generous. As Van Den Berg’s left leg rose up to chest height and then extended forward, the ball seemed to shrink as it left his hand and grew larger as it approached me.

“Low!”

The pitch was lower than expected. Instinctively, my legs buckled and my upper body leaned in. But even as I did that, the end of the bat stayed back until the very last moment,

Crack!

I met the ball precisely as it passed through the zone. A thrilling sensation in my palm. Still holding the now useless bat, I watched it soar high into the sky towards the dugout.

A mix of stunned and joyful expressions in the dugout. Pointing there, I sprinted towards first base.

“Nice!”

Thwack! After high-fiving with the coaches, stepping on home plate, the next batter, Ki Sang-joo, looked at me with a surprised expression.

“I’ve seen you a few times… but how did you manage to clear it like that?”

“Senior! I’m Ji Maeng-ho!”

“Well done, rookie!”

Thwack! High-five with Ki Sang-joo. After sharing the joy with him, as I entered the dugout, starting from the coach, several teammates greeted my home run.

“Ouch! That hurts! Stop! Stop!”

…with quite a spicy taste. And at the end of that celebration, today’s starting pitcher, Jung Woo-sung, was waiting for me with icing.

“Senior! I erased the defeat!”

“…So that’s why they call you Ji Maeng-ho? Crazy bastard, you just cleared it like that.”

Jung Woo-sung’s curse mixed with admiration almost made a smile creep onto my face. However, celebrating too much after hitting a home run would make me look like a jerk, so I opened my mouth without the smile.

“It’s nothing much, really. It’s familiar, isn’t it?”

At my words, Jung Woo-sung chuckled and patted my shoulder. It was the same gesture as before leaving the dugout, but this time, the warmth I felt from his hand was much warmer than before.