episode_0173

Bottom of the 9th inning, 2 outs, bases loaded. Kang Han-beom came to bat.

‘The pressure is no joke.’

Kang Han-beom bats with Sajik, 3-3, and bases loaded with 2 outs.

-Kang Hanbeom! Strong Beom! Strong Beom! Strong Beom!

Even in countries that don’t normally feel this kind of pressure, I was able to tell that the density of the air was different. Coach Lee Soo-hyun also seemed to sense a different atmosphere and walked trotting up the mound.

“Hey, everyone gather around.”

And he called all the players in the infield. As I walked to the mound, coach Lee Soo-hyun, whose expression was hard to see because he was wearing sunglasses even at night, opened his mouth.

“Jinhyuk.”

“Yes, director.”

“What do you want to do?”

“yes?”

Closing pitcher Park Jin-hyuk seemed taken aback by the sudden question.

“Shall I drop you off? Or do you want to try it?”

“… “I will try it.”

And I could guarantee that no pitcher would come off the mound in this situation. Park Jin-hyuk showed his will.

“now. Did you hear everything? Infielders, let’s help Jinhyuk. “You were able to catch the batted ball earlier, right?”

This time the director’s eyes were on me.

“I did my best, too.”

“Yeah, you know. If you missed it, the game was over, but if you caught it, you did well. But Ji Maeng-ho.”

“yes?”

“You can do better.”

It is not meant as a reprimand. Because the director’s eyes were full of faith in me. I also had confidence that I could get an out the next time I hit a ball like this.

“Yes, of course.”

“okay. Seongtae, what about you?”

“I will catch them all if they come my way.”

“Suho and Jincheol are very veterans, so I won’t say anything, but let Jinhyuk help them out. Understand?”

“”yes!””

“Fighting is good. “Let’s go up in a good mood with a sweep.”

Finally, Coach Lee Soo-hyun tapped Jin-hyuk Park on the shoulder and left the mound.

“now. As the coach said, let’s block just one batter and go up in a good mood!”

And with the last words from the oldest veteran catcher, Jeong Yun-cheol, we returned to our original positions. When I took a quick look, I noticed that the players’ expressions were all so focused that fire seemed to come out of their eyes.

‘Normally, when a manager comes on the mound like this, he just blocks it and it’s over… .’

The problem is that the batter currently at bat is Kang Han-beom. They say he is older than he was in his prime, but just looking at the intimidation he shows, it seems like he is the Kang Han Beom we saw on TV. If you think you can hit it in the league or national team, you definitely hit it.

‘Chi, I don’t think it was that bad in the WBC.’

The pitcher did a windup,

Ta – evil!

My uneasy premonition was not wrong. Kang Han-beom’s pulled ball passed by Yoon Seong-tae’s glove, and by the time the left fielder caught the ball, the runner on third base had already come home.

‘They do it like that during the WBC… .’

-Wow!

-Kang Hanbeom! Strong Beom! Strong Beom!

-Oooooh! Let’s all run together here! Let’s shout loudly for Charlotte’s victory!

And then you hear Charlotte’s cheering song. The three-game series ended with a walk-off hit by Kang Han-beom, the Charlotte Blue Mariners’ eternal fourth hitter.

‘Fuck, I have 2 wins and 1 loss, but I feel bad because I ended up losing. They do that when they’re on the same team.’

“brother. song.”

I woke up Seongtae Yoon, who was blaming himself. I wanted to get away from the chaos of people throwing water at each other as quickly as possible.

“Ha, sorry. “I should have stopped it.”

“Well, the game can be won or lost.”

Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the 2nd team for a long time, but I’m so excited about 1 win and 1 loss. While watching Seongtae Yoon, I promised myself again not to go to the 2nd team.

‘Wow, but Kang Han-beom is amazing. ‘I got a hit in that situation.’

Actually, I didn’t know much about it until then, but when you go to bat in scoring position, the pressure is not easy. In particular, it was so complicated that just not knowing the location made my head explode. Every time that happens, the thought that comes to mind is, ‘Should I just tap him lightly?’ Just these thoughts.

In fact, in the scoring range, you can score enough points with just a light hit, so since I know the type of pitch, I was confident that if I swung only targeting breaking balls, I could hit the ball with my bat speed.

However, when I saw Kang Han-beom taking his swing even with the score tied with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, I thought that such a stance might not be the right answer.

‘What do you think, Mr. Rossby?’

‘What kind of stupid thing are you talking about? Of course you should have your swing.’

‘But there is such a thing as team betting.’

In the past, I thought team betting was just using my swing and getting a long hit, as Rossby said. It’s me, because with Rossby, I was confident that I could make a good batted ball at any time. But after losing like this, I couldn’t help but think a little differently.

My performance today was 1 hit in 5 at-bats and 1 home run. Although I hit a home run, wouldn’t I have been able to send the game to overtime if I had hit lightly in scoring position? Such thoughts.

‘You can’t say such a weak thing after only three games. Are you really… .’

‘Oh, why! You may be worried about this. Anyway, he’s a rookie.’

Of course, if we asked Rossby again to tell us where the pitcher was going to throw, the solution was simple. Because you just have to swing it like a dick. However, since there seemed to be nothing wrong with bowing down after three days, I dismissed that method.

‘So you tell me. Take your swing. ‘You have the best player in the world next to you, so why don’t you listen to my advice?’

‘that… .’

‘that?’

Why don’t you listen to Rossby’s advice? It was simple. From the beginning, Rossby and I were different people. Rossby was a person who hit .400, won the Triple Crown, and had an OPS of 1 without any help.

At first glance, he was an old man with a bad personality, crazy about women, and suffering from dementia, but as a baseball player, Rossby was a player who could not be faulted. On the other hand, I was a bench player even in high school. Of course, even if Lee Ki-cheol hadn’t been so damn bad, I could have easily been the starter, but if you think about it the other way around, if I had Rossby’s level of skill, wouldn’t Ki-cheol Lee not have used me?

No, if he had that level of skill in the first place, he would have been selected as a starting player at a prestigious baseball high school in Seoul, not Hanche High School.

“uh? It’s Meng Hao. why? “Do you have anything to say?”

“no.”

As I was looking, Lee Ki-cheol, who was packing his luggage, spoke to me. Fuck, if I think about it, it’s all Lee Ki-cheol’s fault that I’m thinking like this. I wasn’t afraid of anything until middle school. The two years I spent as a batting pitcher inflated negative feelings such as inferiority complex, defeatism, and lack of qualifications.

After signing with Rossby, I rarely felt those feelings, but after losing like this today, those feelings seemed to come back to life.

“okay? Oh, even though we lost, congratulations on the home run today. It wasn’t like this in high school. Haha, of course I did well in the end. Now that I think about it, I don’t think there’s much difference in grades between high school and now, right? “If I had known this would happen, I would have recommended Major.”

If only it weren’t for that bastard. I had a strong feeling of wanting to hit Lee Ki-cheol on the head with a bat for saying something stupid in front of me.

‘Hey, hey. So why don’t you listen to me?’

‘Ah, it seems like he’s from a slightly different world than Mr. Rossby and I. Well, that’s right. I wonder if it’s right to apply the genius case to me.’

‘Ah, fuck. To say something stupid. ‘If you weren’t a bitch, I wouldn’t have given you this training.’

‘still.’

‘Ugh. Fuck. Swing with confidence like when you fuck a girl!’

‘… yes.’

‘You bastard, your answer is not very clear. Then, did you ask someone similar to you?’

‘Are you someone similar to me?’

Was there anyone like that? When I had a question, Rossby jerked his chin at someone. I turned my head back to follow Rossby’s gaze. There was Choi Jin-cheol, the team’s current number 4 hitter.

‘Choi Jin-cheol?’

Choi Jin-cheol, currently AT’s 4th hitter. A right-handed hitter like me and a slugger type player. As Rossby said, he was a similar type of player to me. The difference is that Choi Jin-cheol showed his potential at a late age, and I am still doing well.

But if it weren’t for Rossby, wouldn’t he have had a bleak rookie year like Choi Jin-cheol? Still, after going through those times, Choi Jin-cheol hit 50 home runs for two consecutive years and became the home run king four times. Although he failed in the major league, he is a legend when viewed only in the KBA league.

Moreover, since he was a player who had experienced many failures, I felt he could understand my feelings more than Rossby.

‘Tsk, you just have to do what I tell you.’

Trying to ignore Rossby’s sarcasm, I looked for an opportunity to talk to Choi Jin-cheol.

*

Inside the AT Thunders bus after an away game. Perhaps because of the close defeat, the AT Thunders bus was quiet.

“Are you all there?”

“The youngest hasn’t arrived yet?”

A player responds to the coach.

“Anyone other than Meng Hao?”

“We still have a few more players signing.”

“okay? I get it.”

After a few minutes, the players who had signed autographs for the fans got on the bus one by one, and Ji Maeng-ho came in last.

“Oh, you’re popular even though you’re in Busan?”

“I saw a few fans wearing uniforms.”

As soon as Meng Hao came up, he looked at the seat. Most of the low-ranking players sat together, while the high-ranking players sat alone.

‘Senior Sangju is also sitting alone. Well, on days like today, you probably want to go alone.’

Even the talkative weather leader quietly goes alone. Normally, he would have been talking about various things while reviewing today’s game to his juniors, but the situation on the bus where he was quietly sitting alone spoke volumes about the atmosphere of the AT Thunders.

In that atmosphere, no one paid attention to where Ji Maeng-ho went. Usually, in these cases, it was an unspoken rule to sit next to a player of similar age. And for the most senior players in the club, AT, such as Woo Gwan-hyeong and Choi Jin-cheol, it was natural for them to sit alone.

The pitcher, catcher, and fielders except the catcher ride separately on the bus, so there is ample seating. In that situation, no one thought that Ji Maeng-ho would approach Choi Jin-cheol’s side. Even the person involved, Choi Jin-cheol.

‘Today, no hits in 5 at-bats and a double play… . Wow, I should have aimed for a fastball during that at-bat… .’

Ji Maeng-ho approaches Choi Jin-cheol, who is reviewing today’s game.

‘What, why does he come to work?’

Jincheol Choi is 193cm tall and weighs over 100kg. Of course, it was inevitable that it would be uncomfortable if someone sat next to me. However, I instinctively felt that Ji Maeng-ho’s walking direction was towards me. And that premonition soon became reality. With a sigh, Ji Maeng-ho sat down next to me.

“Seniors.”

“Yes?”

Choi Jin-cheol was slightly taken aback by the words of a junior he was not very close with. Although we were talking to each other in our own way, we were not close enough to talk on the bus back to Seoul after losing in the end, so the embarrassment was bound to be even greater.

“How can I play as well as you?”

The veteran hitter who hit a double play today couldn’t help but be dumbfounded when asked about a rookie hitter who is currently ranked first in five categories and is bombing the league with overwhelming results.

‘You bastard, are you making fun of me?’