episode_0183

“Are there any people who gave up because they were losing?”

“doesn’t exist!”

After the 6th inning ended with a 3-run lead, AT coach Lee Soo-hyun called the players together. Fortunately, no one seemed to give up just because they were three points behind. And it was the same for me.

I don’t want to lose. Such thoughts filled my mind. Although there was provocation from Joo Seung-cheol, that was only a small part of the reason why he wanted to win. Are you saying that you’re showing your head down in defeat in front of a packed crowd? I hated it more than dying.

“Radette will go down in the 7th inning. “Because the number of pitches exceeded 100 in the last inning.”

Hancheol’s winning team was already warming up in Hancheol’s bullpen. In this situation, where a competitive team like Coach Dae-hoon Park was riding a good trend, there was no way he would drag Radet, who was clearly showing signs of exhaustion.

“Maybe Jeon Dae-hoon will come up. We all know that as long as you watch out for the forkball, there’s nothing wrong with it, right? Aim for the slider and go in. “You can do it, right?”

“You can!!”

“Meng Hao, what about you?”

“I am confident.”

As Lee Soo-hyun said, Jeon Dae-hoon was a pitcher who made a living with forkballs. The average speed of the fastball was in the low 140s, and although there was a slider thrown to catch the count, it wasn’t enough to warrant attention. Of course, he was a pitcher who was sure to win in a strong team like Hancheol, so his forkball alone could be considered the best in the country.

According to the data, he had an ERA of around 1 point with that forkball at his peak, so it was safe to say that he was at the top of the league when it came to his forkball. Moreover, according to what his seniors said, Jeon Dae-hoon’s forkball was almost impossible to distinguish from a fastball, so the only way was to aim for a slider that happened to catch the count.

‘… Of course it has nothing to do with me.’

It might be okay for a player who mainly throws fast balls, but there was nothing to be afraid of if he was a player who mainly threw breaking balls. Because I have Rossby.

The scary thing about a pitcher whose main weapon is a breaking ball is that it is difficult to distinguish between a fastball and a breaking ball, so it is difficult to determine the timing, but if you know it, you can adjust your swing to the timing of the breaking ball, so there is no problem.

‘I just need to look at two and hit them. let’s go. Mr. Rossby.’

I made up my mind and slowly walked to the plate. They say they are losing by 3 points, but they cannot afford to let the defeat sink in on Children’s Day, when a packed crowd of 10,000 spectators flocked to the team.

‘Seeing him pitching in practice, he looks to be in good condition.’

It was fortunate that Jeon Dae-hoon seemed to be in good condition. Because the possibility of the forkball not falling has decreased. The forkball requires a lot of grip strength, so sometimes it doesn’t fall, but after seeing the ball in practice, it seemed like there was no need to worry about that.

‘The first pitch is a fastball.’

‘I’ll understand even if you don’t tell me where it is. You’ll throw it high, right?’

‘okay.’

A classic strategy of showing a high fastball and then luring the bat with a low forkball. And it was a strategy that was as effective as it was classic.

‘I’ll skip the first pitch because I need to see the trajectory of the forkball at bat.’

Jeon Dae-hoon’s first pitch hits the home plate immediately.

“Strike!”

‘Fuck, should I have hit it?’

Of course, I thought it would be higher, but as expected, Lee Yong-gi was not easy. It seemed like he completely read my thoughts about watching the first pitch. I hit it and was able to send it at least close to the fence, but it was disappointing.

‘No, let’s not feel sorry.’

I pulled myself together. It wouldn’t have been bad if I had sent this ball to the fence, but I’m the lead hitter. In a situation where they are trailing by 3 points, they need to take the time to allow the next batters to get used to Jeon Dae-hoon’s pitch. A hitter like Ki Ki-joo or Choi Jin-cheol would be able to get the timing right just by looking at the ball a few times, so it was worth at least one count.

Moreover, in order to shake up the battery, here you have to smash the ball in which the battery is most confident. The probability of throwing a slider increases if you instill the idea that the crystal ball is not invincible.

‘The second ball is also a fastball. Close to the body.’

‘Do you mean to use the forkball as a deciding ball as much as possible?’

“cheek.”

Jeon Dae-hoon’s second ball went deep into the body.

‘One ball, one strike. You want to throw a forkball, right? Right?’

‘It’s a slider. Outside.’

However, contrary to my wishes, Hancheol’s battery seemed to be trying to save the forkball as much as possible. Battery’s will to use the forkball as a dagger is felt strongly in the two-strike situation, when the forkball pitcher is most feared.

‘Okay, then I’ll do whatever you want.’

I swung hard at the flying slider.

“Strike!”

And my swing split the air.

“Ah-oh! Fuck! “It’s so fucking broken!”

I shout out loud with as much regret as possible. So that the battery can think I’m aiming for the slider.

“Was it easy to call a slider?”

‘done.’

There was a response. If I do this, Lee Yong-gi will think I’m aiming for a slider, right? And it was clear that a catcher of Lee Yong-gi’s caliber could tell that not only me but the entire team was targeting the slider. Well, it is true that other players except me aim for the slider.

And in such a situation, if I aim for a forkball and make a hit, I can give the battery an illusion. Ji Maeng-ho missed the slider, but hit a forkball? Are the sliders working today? Something like this. A pitcher who reads the flow of the game as sharply as Lee Yong-gi had the potential to do so.

The problem is, I have to hit the forkball.

‘Forkball, here it comes. low.’

There are two ways to throw a forkball. Low, and even lower. Either use a ball that bounces perfectly on the ground and cause a swing or miss, or throw it across the low strike zone. It was those two things.

‘If you weren’t an idiot, you wouldn’t come in right away with two strikes, right?’

‘okay.’

For the first forkball, I decided to just watch. And Jeon Dae-hoon’s forkball falls sharply.

“cheek.”

A low ball towards the shins. The trajectory is definitely sharp.

‘… But it’s not to the point where I can’t hit it.’

‘It’s forkball again.’

‘okay.’

With my body tense, I waited for Jeon Dae-hoon to throw the next ball. The timing is as late as possible. With the mindset of only hitting the bat.

‘come!’

widely!

The ball hit by the bat bounces on the ground and rolls toward the first baseman. A simple foul.

“I heard you’re a forkballer, but nothing special?”

“… … .”

I wanted to joke more, but if I said more here, there was a chance that what I was aiming for would be discovered, so I kept my mouth shut.

‘Now that I’ve seen the trajectory… .’

The third forkball thrown by Jeon Dae-hoon was also lifted. This time, it was a foul that went into the stands near first base. I felt like I was slowly starting to get used to the forkball.

‘It’s a slider, far outside.’

‘Good!’ I guess everything is going according to plan?’

Lee Yong-gi seemed to sense that the forkball was hitting. I used to miss swings at sliders, but trying to get the timing right for forkballs must be confusing. To further deepen the doubt here… .

“… cheek!”

“Phew… .”

Make a check swing and pretend to hold back. Lee Yong-gi appealed to the referee, but the referee’s judgment did not change. Now the situation is at full count.

‘It’s a forkball.’

‘okay.’

widely! It came much lower than expected, but since I was prepared, it was easy to clear it.

‘Forkball. Catcher, he’s pretty good for a monkey.’

‘yes?’

‘The ball combination is good. If he were a normal guy, he would have asked for a fastball here… .’

Rossby admits Lee Yong-gi’s ball combination… . I was shocked and wanted to scream, but Jeon Dae-hoon was preparing to pitch, so I focused on the at-bat again. The guy’s forkball first flies along the same trajectory as the fastball, but then begins to bend sharply.

And my bat was already following the trajectory of his forkball.

Perfect!

The ball hit along the grain of the forkball went well over the shortstop’s height.

‘Tch, I hit him properly.’

“Nice bet! “It was lifted well.”

“Ha, I think I got it right… .”

“No, no. I really liked the controls. “I heard it goes right into the knee area.”

The first base coach comforted me, but it didn’t really make a difference.

‘Rather than that, what do you mean by good ball combination? ‘It’s a bit awkward for Mr. Rossby to praise you, isn’t it?’

‘If it were a normal catcher, he would have asked for a fastball or slider. Because the forkball is hitting. But that guy chose a forkball there. It’s reversed once more. A catcher must be born with such a strong heart… . done. There is no way that someone who has never even thought about cheek combinations could understand.’

As Rossby said, I don’t know why he thought that way, and I’ve never been a catcher or pitcher, so I couldn’t really relate to what he was saying. When I was a pitcher in elementary school, I threw according to the manager’s ball mix. But the important thing is that Lee Yong-gi received Rossby’s approval. In other words, what he meant was that Lee Yong-gi was a threat to us.

In addition, Lee Yong-gi was the batting champion last year, and the fact that Rossby, who did not say much after seeing Lee Yong-gi’s batting, acknowledged Lee Yong-gi’s ball combination was significant.

‘I can understand why you guys are behind when you play with this team.’

‘What is it?’

‘The difference between catchers is significant.’

‘yes? Jeong Yun-cheol is also quite a veteran.’

Jeong Yun-cheol is also a veteran with nearly 20 years of professional experience. He was a catcher who was trusted enough to be given full authority over ball mixing by Coach Battery.

‘It looks like trash to me?’

But it didn’t seem to matter to Rossby’s eyes. Well, I don’t know how many Korean players there are that catch Rossby’s eye. There was a time when I was impressed by Woo Kwan-hyung’s self-management, but Rossby saw everything else as trash. In other words, Lee Yong-gi’s ball mixing was at a similar level to Woo Gwan-hyeong’s self-management.

‘I’ll think about it later… .’

Now is the time to focus on the game.

The meteorological star comes into the batter’s box. Since Ki Ki-joo is a left-handed hitter, right-handed pitcher Jeon Dae-hoon was sure to block the slider that was sucked into his body. It’s obvious that even if there’s just a little bit of a miss, it’s going to be a home run.

In other words, the winner of the weather forecast is Lee Ji-seon of fastball and forkball. I was looking at angles to steal base, but Lee Yong-gi was not giving me a chance. And the first forkball thrown, I immediately started running,

Perfect!

Ki Ki-ju touched the forkball. A batted ball trapped in the infield. If I hadn’t run first, I was able to land on second base on that ball, which would have been a double play.

‘phew… . First of all, second base. If we do this, we can eliminate the advantage of ball mixing, right?’

‘yes.’

Even if I had the ball combination that Rossby praised, it was meaningless as long as I was on second base. Just let me know. The team didn’t know the cause of Hancheol’s death yet, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that right now. Because I have to win first.

‘Forkball.’

It was a forkball from the first pitch… . He secretly passes on the pitch he heard from Rossby to Choi Jin-cheol. It’s subtle, but you can see Choi Jin-cheol’s eyes widening. He looked like he never expected me to send him an autograph.

‘Please, believe me. a little.’

Eventually, Jeon Dae-hoon throws the ball, and Choi Jin-cheol’s swing unfolds beautifully.

Ta – evil!

And a clear, resounding hitting sound.

‘done! ‘You believed it!’

“nice!”

Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball disappears under the electronic display. A two-run home run that reduces the lead to one point! It was unfortunate that I couldn’t hit, but I think it was better as a team. There are 3 innings left anyway.

“Senior, it’s a nice bet!”

“Hey, how did you know?”

After I followed Choi Jin-cheol, who had hit a home run, into the dugout, and after receiving enthusiastic congratulations from my teammates, Choi Jin-cheol quietly called me out of the dugout.

“Actually, I didn’t know much. “It seemed like I was going to throw a forkball here.”

Since I couldn’t share Hancheol’s cause of death with the team because I didn’t know anything about it, I told the truth.

“Baby, I knew that.”

Choi Jin-cheol makes an expression saying yes. But why did the person who said he knew that believe me?

“yes? “Then why did you believe it?”

“You’re better at guest hitting than me.”

“yes?”

“Guess Hitting says you are better than me. So, I believed it. And the person who doesn’t usually act like that said something, so I thought he was confident, wasn’t he?”

“yes. I was sure. Thank you for your trust.”

“What is gratitude? You have to believe me. You trusted me and asked for my advice then, right? That’s how teams trust each other. is not it?”

“… yes. what. “But I passed it on right away.”

“I’ve played against Dae-hoon a lot, so if you know that guy’s pitch, you’re screwed. Anyway, thank you.”

“no. “I am grateful for your trust.”

… I was a hit. Are you saying that he wasn’t a hitter who tore through the league and advanced to the major leagues for no reason? Moreover, seeing Choi Jin-cheol trust his junior’s words and make sure of his swing in an uncertain situation, I felt like I could understand why he was successful.

“I’m not saying thank you. You’re lucky. If I missed the swing, I was going to throw myself out of the dugout. “Hehe.”

If you hadn’t talked back, I would have gained respect… . When I looked at Choi Jin-cheol with cold eyes, Choi Jin-cheol laughed loudly and patted me on the back.

“Ugh.”

‘Fuck, your hands are so fucking thick.’

“Let’s go in now. “When I heard it, it seemed like the inning was over.”

Anyway, now we’re down by 1 point. A reversal was in sight.