episode_0029

“Swing and a miss! Strikeout!!”

Ah, damn it. That slider dropped like a curveball.

“Nice pitch, Pitcher!”

Yongin High School’s starting pitcher, Park Ji-hwan, threw a slider on a full count situation that seemed to be moving further to the right from my perspective, dropping sharply downwards like a slider, with a perceived speed of around 140.

“You couldn’t hit even if I told you? Are you kidding me?”

“Ross B should have taught you properly!”

“You’re just fooling around like a monkey, only having sex all day. Heh heh, it suits you well, you damn yellow monkey brat.”

“What… Ross B enjoyed it as well.”

Damn it. Getting struck out swinging was a first for me in a game. Until now, unless the pitcher threw a ball contrary to the catcher’s demands due to control issues or failed to deliver a breaking ball that should drop but instead entered the strike zone, I had never struck out swinging. But after getting struck out swinging like this, I felt a bit fired up.

“Nice swing. Park Ji-hwan’s slider is tough to hit at first. Still, it was a good swing.”

“No, I should have hit it better…”

“How can a batter hit every time? Baseball is fundamentally a sport where pitchers have the advantage. Just hit well in your next at-bat. Even if you get one hit in three at-bats, it’s a batter’s win, right?”

“But still…”

“Just clear your mind and focus on defense.”

Tap tap, the hitting coach pats my shoulder. It seems he’s concerned because I, who is the team’s core, look a bit heated.

“Yeah. I’ll pitch a complete game today, so just hit one out. Got it?”

Today’s starting pitcher, Won Ho, also encouraged me.

In the Round of 16 of the Blue Dragon Chronicles, the game between Korea Sports High School, the reigning champions of the Golden Lion Cup, and Yongsan Internet High School, a strong contender with a powerful one-two punch, was unfolding as a tight pitching battle.

Seoul’s top draft pick candidate, Kim Won-ho, and Park Ji-hwan, two high school-level pitchers, were keeping both teams’ hitters at bay.

“Ha. Was practice lacking? Certainly, you’ve been spending quite some time with Hyojin noona and Hyeon-ah lately, right?”

“It’s not about practice; it’s about lack of talent, isn’t it? Even with Gujong providing positions, swinging aimlessly like that. That’s why they’re called monkey brats.”

“Ah! How can you not swing at a slider coming in at that angle? It was the first time seeing that kind of pitch!”

Since it was a 2-2 situation in the first at-bat, I was walked intentionally. This was the first time I had seen Park Ji-hwan’s pitch properly. Moreover, the slider was thrown only at the end, so it was entirely new to me. Furthermore, I hadn’t seen any player throwing such a slider until now.

“I haven’t seen it before? Strange, right? I’m sure I’ve seen that kind of slider before.”

Indeed, within Ross B’s experiences, there existed sliders with large angles like the one Park Ji-hwan threw.

“The speed is different! The speed! That guy’s slider comes in at almost 140 km/h!”

However, there was no slider with such a large angle and speed. Maybe the level of baseball had risen compared to a hundred years ago, which made it impossible to hit every pitch based solely on Ross B’s experience. Moreover, there were many changeups back then that are not present in Ross B’s era.

The changeups in Ross B’s experiences had large angles but slower speeds, while the changeups with faster speeds were almost bland fastball levels. Except for curves, the changeups in Ross B’s era and the changeups in this era were too different.

Although facing legendary pitchers like Walter Johnson and Satchel Paige who threw fastballs exceeding 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) was manageable, changeups were a different story.

Until now, amateurs could handle pitches at that level, but when faced with a proper modern changeup, even I couldn’t help but struggle.

“I know the pitch, but detention can’t be an excuse. Can’t you hit a 140 mph fastball? Well, it might be impossible for you, a monkey. Hehehe.”

“Okay. Let’s see the next batter.”

Ugh. Upon hearing Rosby’s words, the heat I had been suppressing rose up.

“Why are your eyes like that, Maengho hyung?”

“Look into my eyes.”

Ignoring the murmurs about me, I walked onto the field.

Thwack!

“Out!”

“Nice second!”

“Hyung, great defense.”

Thwack!

“Wow! What a diving catch, Jimaengho?”

“Hyung, it seems like you caught me today, right?”

“One more left, let’s focus!”

Thud!

“My ball! Move aside!”

“Second! Second!”

“Nice!”

Strangely, all of Yongsan High School’s (Yongsan Internet High School) 3rd inning attacks were directed at me. I easily handled those hits.

“Wow, nailed the second defense. Thought I was going to miss it.”

“The hit was swallowed up.”

“Still, well caught.”

As I entered the dugout, Wonho expressed his gratitude. Since the defense wasn’t particularly difficult, I casually brushed off Wonho’s thanks. Wonho was pleased that he finished the inning quickly with only 5 balls, but that smile didn’t last long.

Our opponent pitcher, Park Ji-hwan, also held our attack in the 4th inning with 10 balls. So, in the 4th and 5th innings, except for one who reached base due to an error, no one else got on base, and the game progressed as a pitcher’s duel.

Then, in the 6th inning, one out. My turn at bat came back with no runners on base.

“Jimaengho! Jimaengho!”

“Knock it out!”

“Rosby, please help me this time too.”

“Tsk, can I tell you? You can do it.”

“You’ve seen it once. You can do it.”

Honestly, I was still a bit nervous. But the guy would probably want to save his slider. So if he throws a slider, it’s a decisive pitch in a two-strike situation. If the count doesn’t pile up, I don’t have to worry about the slider.

“Focus.”

With focus, I could handle it adequately. I cleared the slider from my mind and focused only on the fastball timing.

Crack!

“Darn it!”

Too fast. Damn. The ball I hit turned into a massive foul home run, flying over the stadium. A huge out-of-the-park foul home run. Clearly, I wasn’t lacking in power. But even though I tried to erase it from my mind, I must have been conscious of the slider because I swung faster than I thought, resulting in the bat moving quicker than expected.

“Wow. That hit was fierce. Maengho hyung still hits hard, huh?”

The Yongsan Internet High catcher spoke. Watching the ball fly, he seemed to shiver and wiped his arm with the mitt.

“Tsk. Give me a good ball. We were good in middle school, right?”

The guy watching the Yongsan High catcher, Kim Hyun-seong, was my junior from middle school and my teammate during the peak of my baseball career in middle school. Well, now I repeated a year, so we were in the same grade.

“Hey. I should get drafted too. Looks like you’ll be picked in the first or second round, so take it easy.”

“Shut up.”

“You’re touchy.”

Hyun-seong threw the ball to the pitcher and sat back down.

“Focus, it’s outside a lot.”

Outside a lot? Did I get a little scared after seeing the out-of-park homer earlier, pussy? I decided to choose one ball after listening to Rosby. Park Ji-hwan wound up and threw the ball again.

Thwack!

It seemed a bit closer, but definitely outside. Good job holding back, Jimaengho!

“Strike!”

“What?!”

“It’s in. Are you protesting now?”

“No, no. It’s not like that. It looked far away.”

“If it’s far, stick closer to the plate.”

“Haha, you missed this ball, hyung. Kabbi.”

Splitting hairs. Damn. I wanted to smash the umpire’s head with the bat due to his attitude, but I held back. “I held back. Fighting with the umpire only hurts the player.”

Rossbi, who watches baseball like a jerk, used to say that he should get along well with the umpires. And Rossbi was right. If you mess with the umpire, it’s me who ends up losing for no reason. There was no need to create a fuss by scratching when the decision wasn’t being overturned.

“Damn it! It’s better to curse and let it out.”

“It’s a slider. I hit the ground with the bat.”

“Okay.”

With two strikes, it’s an obvious off-speed pitch timing. There wouldn’t be a stupid batter who would deliberately hit the ball into the strike zone.

“Ball.”

The battery from Yongin High School was not that stupid and threw the off-speed pitch as usual.

“Slider. This time the bat went outside.”

Damn. If the umpire called it outside, there was a high chance of a disaster. I slightly shortened my grip on the bat and focused on the plate, thinking about pulling away if the ball was called outside.

“Here it comes!”

As the ball moved further away, I leaned back, extended my arm, and hit the ball. But being human, I got greedy at the moment of impact and used my wrist to push it straight.

Thunk!

As the sound of contact echoed, the ball flew high. Damn. Did I push it for no reason?

“Right field!”

The hit was clearly heading inside the foul lines.

“Sigh, I shouldn’t have swung. Damn it. I should have just touched it lightly to make a foul.”

I weakly tossed the bat and walked to first base.

“Right fielder! Right fielder!”

“Hey! Run!”

“What?”

Looking down and walking, Rossbi yelled at me to run. Although the ball flew farther than expected, it seemed like a ball the right fielder could easily catch. If a high school player couldn’t catch such a slow-moving ball, they might as well be in middle school.

Still, since there was nothing to lose by listening to Rossbi, I stepped on first base and then accelerated towards second base.

“Alright. No need to run.”

“Oh, caught it?”

Turning to the right fielder, I saw him standing in front of the wall with his glove raised.

“No, it went over. Just barely.”

“What?!”

Glancing at the first base coach, he was signaling a home run with his arm raised. What? It went over? What’s going on?

“Maybe because you look like a monkey, you’re trying to clear the wall with that swing. No, you’re not a monkey anymore, you’re an orangutan. You’re an orangutan now.”

“Ah, damn. This is ridiculous. Can a ball like that go over?”

Through the cheers from the dugout, Park Ji-hwan’s muttered voice could be heard. Even though I was taken aback, how did Park Ji-hwan feel after hitting it? The thought made the smile on my face not fade. I slowly rounded third base and stepped on home plate.

“Wow. Bro, you’ve gotten stronger. Seriously.”

“Hey, the slider has good movement but feels a bit light, right? You should do forearm exercises like me. Let the pitcher know.”

“Haha, what a joke.”

Patting Hyun-seong’s shoulder, who had his hand on his side with the catcher’s mask, and giving a high-five to the on-deck hitter, I headed back to the dugout. All the players except the next batter were waiting for me in the dugout like baby birds waiting for their mother bird.

“So, how was that?”

I spat out to the waiting guys and grinned.

“Wow!”

“Bro, how did you hit that?”

“Senior, that was awesome! Really. Wow….”

-Did anyone just watch Cheongryonggi?

Who is this Jimaengho guy? He just lightly pushed it, but it went over the wall? Is this guy from Seoul Farm? Eligible for the first draft?

Yeah: Screenshots?

Yeah: Isn’t that guy somewhat famous?

Yeah: Isn’t he a jerk? Damn it.

-I deleted what I said earlier.

(Slightly pushing to clear the wall meme)

You can judge for yourself.

Yeah: Wow, he lightly pushed it, and it went over. Damn, he’s like Stanton.

Yeah: What the hell is this guy? Lolololololololololol Is that supposed to go over?

Yeah: Isn’t the opposing pitcher Park Ji-hwan? That guy must be eligible for the first draft too.

Yeah: Seoul Farm sucks. Where do they keep popping up every year? These baseball-incompetent jerks are using farm connections, damn it.

High school baseball emergency: Why are you coming to Goya? Team Gallo is good.

[Amateur Baseball] [Blue Dragon Cup] Round of 16 Hanchego: Yongin High School Result 1:0 Hanchego Win

As expected, the pitching battle between the renowned pitchers Kim Won-ho and Park Ji-hwan didn’t result in high scores. Thanks to Ji Maeng-ho’s home run, Hanchego defeated Yongin High School, known for their top-notch pitching, and advanced to the quarterfinals. Will they be able to continue their winning streak after the Golden Lion Cup?

Amateur: Ji Maeng-ho received the Best Player award at the previous Golden Lion Cup, right?

Shilla Shilla Shilla: Kim Won-ho is developing well. As expected from our first-round pick. Hopefully, he continues to grow without any setbacks. I’m a bit worried due to his injury history.

Grizzly Legion: There’s no chance Shilla will pass on Kim Won-ho, right?

Shilla Shilla Shilla: Yes. But Park Ji-hwan is also a good pitcher. He’s a year younger and has no injury history.

Grizzly Legion: Still, throwing 150 pitches like eating rice and hitting 157 this time, should we focus only on Kim Won-ho?

Amateur: Is there no chance for Ji Maeng-ho in the first round?

Grizzly Legion: We might consider picking him. An Si-hoon is also nearing retirement age, and a generational change wouldn’t hurt. Honestly, if it’s not Kim Won-ho, everyone else seems average.

[Amateur Baseball] Today’s historic home run.gif from the Blue Dragon Cup / Recommended 56 Views 4461 Replies 116

Even though it’s Mongdong, he managed to hit it with that swing. Is this player famous in high school? It would be great if he joined our team.

ruth030303: He became somewhat famous after receiving the Best Player award at the Golden Lion Cup. He’s a bit risky due to injuries, but probably the three Seoul teams are closely watching him? His high school records show a batting average over .500 and setting a record for the most home runs. Haha.

Falcon’s Fan v2: If he doesn’t fit in with the Seoul team, I hope he comes to us. Will he drop to the second round?

Shilla’s Daughter Night: Falcon’s Fan v2//This time, the Seoul pitching farm seems exceptional, so he might drop down. Kim Won-ho, Park Ji-hwan, Han Young-jun, Kim Ju-cheol. All four seem exceptional, as the rumors go. Congratulations on your Falcon’s success^^

Falcon’s Fan v2: Shilla’s Daughter Night//Thank you haha. Still, last year wasn’t great, but it’s fortunate that such players are joining the Falcons.

Invincible AT Dynasty: Falcon’s Fan v2//Acting like they were last place only last year, haha. Where did all the second round first picks from the past 10 years go???? Just disband the team for the development of Korean pro baseball, haha. Even volcano players would probably want that, haha.

Thunderstorm Lover: That person is flaunting an AT mark again. Ignore because it’s just attention-seeking.

Star of Hyunseong: It’s funny to see a team that ranked 8th for 10 years and a team that hasn’t made it to the Fall Baseball for 20 years fighting. Are Charlotte fans not showing up? Haven’t they been regular season champions for 40 years pussy?

Eternal Home Run King Joo Hyung-jin: That person isn’t a Hyunseong fan either. All sorts of attention-seeking come out on Mondays.

“Team Manager Hong. Did you see the Baseball Park? It was crazy about Ji Maeng-ho there.”

“Yes, Director. I saw it too.”

Hong Hyun-chul, the scout team manager of AT Thunderz, nodded at the director’s words. The largest baseball community site in Korea, Baseball Park, the high school baseball gallery, and the fan site of AT Thunderz, Lightning Yard, sometimes provided quality information.

“Park Ji-hwan also hit a home run, showing definite potential. Isn’t that right, Team Manager Hong?”

“That’s correct. If it weren’t for a technical hit like Mongdong, it would have been difficult to pass.”

“Yeah. Let’s try developing him too. Right-handed hitter. We can’t keep playing with lefties forever, can we? What kind of criticism would we face if we bet on such a player and he fails? Not looking forward to it?”

“…Understood.”

“Damn it, because of people who only care about their own lives like the boss, AT doesn’t work. Choosing players based on public opinion, choosing players while watching for parachutes! Then they say we can’t play baseball in the fall forever! Is it the job of a manager to pick hitters when each pitcher is precious? In the end, baseball is a game for pitchers!”

With words he wanted to say to the manager kept inside, Team Manager Hong could only nod his head and leave the manager’s office.