episode_0175

“Second base!”

As I watched the future shortstop catch the ball and quickly throw it to second base, I also slid into second base.

I felt my feet touch the base and the future second baseman hit my thigh with his glove.

“Safe!”

It was a close game, but luckily the referee was not blind and ruled it safe.

“Wow, your feet are really fast.”

As I was taking off my gear while listening to the second baseman admire my ability, the first base coach approached me to receive my gear.

“Meng Hao, the aggressive base running was good.”

“Well, it’s basic.”

“If you just play the basics at second base and get a base hit, it’s a disaster, right? “Let’s grab the first game and let’s go.”

“yes.”

after… . The leadoff hitter hits second base, so it’s not bad.

‘Right? Mr. Rossby.’

‘okay.’

‘How was your swing?’

‘To me, it looks like there.’

Well, I didn’t expect it. Reality is not a cartoon or a game, so receiving Choi Jin-cheol’s advice did not suddenly lead to hitting four home runs in a row. And in the first place, I didn’t get a chance to score when it was my turn today.

However, I feel a little more at ease. As I tried to swing my swing without being swayed by the situation at bat, regardless of whether I was in scoring position or not, it seemed like my swing came out a little lighter.

“time!”

‘Oh, are we changing the pitcher?’

Bottom of the 9th inning, 0:0. Since the leadoff hitter hit a double there, it was worth changing the pitcher.

‘Maybe a left-handed pitcher will come up, right?’

‘I guess so.’

The Future Buffaloes were trying to save their closing pitcher as much as possible because it was an away game. And the pitchers coming up were left-handers Pil Seung-jo and Han Jong-hoon, whom we saw during the power analysis session.

Our opponent against him is Ki Ki-joo. From what I heard during the power analysis session, it seemed like it would be a match worth watching since Jong-Hoon Han was also a player with strengths when dealing with left-handed hitters.

‘Didn’t you say that even the weather forecaster always makes his own swing?’

I remember what the meteorologist said on the way home yesterday.

-“Hey, you are blessed. When I was a rookie, I always bunted on first base, always hit to right field when in scoring position, and if I hit on a three-ball, I was in the group that day. But you don’t have anything like that. The manager let it be free, and the hitting coach didn’t say anything. Of course, Sans, that bastard ran away, but I always believed in you. You didn’t need to worry in the first place. “If I had received as much push as you did when I was a rookie, I would have hit 30 home runs.”

As a rookie, he was forced to bat for the team, but now that he has become a pinch hitter, he takes his own swing. Ki Ki-joo was not a man who spoke twice when it came to baseball.

“Swing strike! out!”

This is because, while taking three full swings, he struck out with two foul home runs and one missed swing.

‘Still, it’s really hard to search.’

And the following intentional phrase. Since the next batters were left-handed hitter Boer and right-handed Kwan-hyung, it was a natural choice to skip Choi Jin-cheol, who was right-handed and ranked second in home runs.

“The main runner, Kang Joo-hyeon!”

And as if it were natural, Choi Jin-cheol was replaced as a pinch runner. Kang Joo-hyun is the fastest among the remaining roster.

‘How should I give him an autograph? Wow, that bastard isn’t trustworthy.’

He hit a three-run home run against Charlotte, but after that he remained silent in the scoring range, so I had no faith in him.

‘It’s a sign.’

‘yes?’

‘Don’t think it’s unbecoming of poetry and just look at the autograph.’

When I looked back at the coach without paying attention to Rossby’s words, the coach was instructing me to steal third base.

‘okay. Mr. Rossby, please.’

Slowly widen the lead width. I felt the shortstop glance at me.

‘Fastball.’

Getting ready to go home… . As soon as the pitcher made a checking motion, I quickly returned to second base. And once again, the lead width is widened.

“senior! Focus on typing! “Focus on typing!”

The future Buffaloes’ young catcher, who came in for a pinch hitter, talks while hitting the mitt. Of course, I wasn’t a fool to believe something that was shouted out loud, so I prepared to return home.

phut!

This time, he didn’t just stop at motion, he kept second base in check.

“Safe.”

It was close, perhaps because the lead was wide, but the result was safe. This time, the lead width is widened again.

“Stop making fun of me!”

“Did you catch it if you twisted it?”

So I wait for the timing of the curveball.

“strike!”

The first pitch thrown to Boer is a fastball. It was a ball that entered the strike zone so shockingly that most left-handed batters couldn’t hit it. Of course, I was just watching.

‘It’s a slider.’

‘okay.’

A slider thrown by a left-handed hitter is bent toward the right-handed hitter, making it a little more difficult to throw. The moment the pitcher was in set position, he ran toward third base.

“nice!”

“Well, this is easy.”

A stolen third base with perfect battery timing. The catcher couldn’t even throw the ball.

“It was a difficult situation, but we did well. It’s Meng Hao. Joohyun will also play second base, so take the situation into account and run home. “I practiced a lot, so I can do it, right?”

“of course.”

The third base coach asked for the most basic base running play in a first and third base situation without the third baseman hearing.

If Kang Joo-hyun, the runner on first base, throws the ball to second base, it runs home, and if the pitcher cuts, it returns to third base. It was a way to score one point for free when he foolishly threw the ball to second base. And due to the nature of the bottom of the 9th inning, there is no battery for gambling here.

A situation where runners naturally end up on second or third base due to my stealing third base. Even if Kang Joo-hyun spent a lot of time in the second team, he is a mid-level player with almost 10 years of experience, so he will not make a mistake here.

Naturally takes lead width. Left pitcher Han Jong-hoon turns his head and glances at me. It seemed like he was worried.

‘Well, if you care about runners like this, of course… .’

“cheek!”

Han Jong-hoon’s ball control faltered, and Kang Joo-hyun slowly entered second base. This time too, the catcher returned the ball to the pitcher without having the courage to throw the ball.

‘Look, don’t just hit fast ground balls or infield flies. My brother will let you in!’

I was confident that with my speed, I could hit home even with a ground ball to shortstop.

Perfect!

However, unfortunately, Boer fouled and ended up with two strikes and one ball.

‘Why is that bastard so weak at scoring?’

‘Did you say that guy has no major experience?’

‘Yes, as far as I know.’

‘Hehe, then that’s enough to understand.’

‘What is it?’

‘I was nervous. I heard there are guys in this country who go on to the majors after hitting a little bit? That guy is in his late twenties now, so if he fails here, he won’t even be able to dream of becoming a major player. So, you probably want to show something. So, naturally, you need more strength than usual and are unable to swing on your own.’

‘Fuck you, bird-breasted bastard.’

‘You were worried about that too.’

‘I wasn’t that bad!’

Bore, the bird-breasted bird, was annoyed, but he was still a colleague. I widened the lead to help with the bore. If it’s a fastball, you can get home just in the nick of time.

‘Please just roll.’

“cheek.”

Bohr picks the ball. However, once I thought it was a new breast, it seemed like I didn’t even pick the ball and couldn’t even touch it. In other words, even for me, a member of the same team, there was no sense of intimidation in the scoring position at all. And looking at that, I felt like I knew the intimidation of being in the scoring position that Choi Jin-cheol was talking about.

Although it was the same on the ground, Kang Han-beom’s intimidation and Boer’s intimidation were completely different.

‘You too, be careful. If you keep failing to score in the scoring zone, the vicious cycle repeats itself.’

‘yes?’

‘You’ll laugh it off the first time or two, but if you keep getting in the scoring zone, you’re bound to become discouraged as long as you’re human.’

‘Then what should I do?’

‘Is there any way to do it? I need to hit the scoring line once and ease the burden. There is a saying that getting out of a slump requires a missed hit.’

‘Then you should have announced the sign at second base?’

I thought about it, but then shook my head. Because I had a strong feeling that if he was a scorer, he wouldn’t be able to hit even if I told him. Anyway, for now I had no choice but to believe.

‘Really, just try one. ‘I’ll give you points.’

And the pitcher threw the ball.

widely!

The bat hits the ball and bounces heavily on the ground. When I recognized the scene, my feet instinctively pointed home.

‘The batted ball is slow!’

“home! home!”

“Stop it!”

“Ji Maeng-ho!”

The sound of the third base coach calling my name becomes increasingly distant.

‘Mr. Rossby!!’

‘The third baseman caught it!’

Since I caught it now, if I apologize… ! The distance to the home is about five steps. After taking two steps, he threw himself towards home plate. I felt the home plate brushing against my glove, and at the same time, I felt the catcher’s mitt touch the back of my head.

“out!”

“Safe!”

Two voices are heard at the same time. However, it was not the referee’s voice that I heard over and over again today.

“… out!”

“video! video!”

And at the same time as the referee called, coach Lee Soo-hyun walked out and requested a video review.

‘I think it’s a bit vague, isn’t it?’

“Hey, Ji Maeng-ho! What did you do? “Why did you run home?”

“yes?”

At that time, the next batter, Woo Gwan-hyung, who was closest to me, spoke up. There was a reprimand mixed in his voice, so I couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

“Is there a need to play when the score is 2 or 3 with 1 out? “Did the coach tell you to run?”

“… no.”

“But why? “There was one out count left.”

There was a video display on the electronic display board, but I couldn’t concentrate on it. Because what Woo Kwan-hyung said was correct in principle.

1 out, 2nd and 3rd bases. Even if Boer was out, the team had one chance. The next batter was Woo Kwan-hyung.

“Was I untrustworthy?”

“It’s not like that… .”

Why did I run? It was just instinct. My instinct is that if I can’t end the game here, I’ll just skip this inning. When I thought about the scorer’s chances, the obsession that I had to score no matter what took over me.

“Then why?”

“… Thinking about Boer, I thought I had to score no matter what.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s just that we’re a little weak in the scoring range, so if we score here, I think we’ll be able to survive.” .”

It was something that came out as I thought about it, but if that thought hadn’t existed in my subconscious. It didn’t seem like there was any need to take the risk.

“Ugh. “Let’s talk once the game is over.”

“yes.”

As the conversation with Woo Kwan-hyung came to an end, the video review seemed to be almost over. The referee takes off his headset and spreads his arms wide.

-Wow!

-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!

“Safe!”

Ha, fuck. thank god.

“Anyway, I finished it.”

It looked a bit out of place, but it was over, and the players came running with water and sprayed me with it. It was a little disappointing that the original taste of the ending was lost due to the cold water of video review.

“Hey, I thought you were crazy when you were running. “What kind of trick did you run with?”

“Ah, but the results were good.”

“It’s definitely fast.”

“Bore, good. Good hit! Walk off good!”

“[I’m sorry for hitting you now.]”

Even though I made a mistake, the players seemed to be in a good mood because they won.

“Ji Maeng-ho!”

And in that atmosphere, director Lee Soo-hyun’s voice was heard.

“yes! “Director!”

“The result was good, but you know you made a mistake, right?”

… Fuck.

“… “I’m sorry.”

“Go to work an hour early tomorrow. “It’s base running practice.”

“… yes.”

Wow, I can’t believe I have to suffer this humiliation because of this little bird-breasted bastard… !

“Director. Still, Meng Hao didn’t run without thinking.”

“okay?”

“yes. He said it depended on his desire to instill confidence in Bohr. Because Boer is having a hard time scoring goals these days. “Isn’t it amazing to be a rookie?”

As expected, Woo Kwan-hyung! He was one of the few seniors I respected. nice… ! Seniors! i love you!

“It’s amazing. But you know that doesn’t mean training can be cancelled, right?”

“… yes.”

… Fuck. I felt like I needed to have a little sex today.