episode_0231

‘Ugh, fuck. ‘It fucking hurts.’

Pain comes from the area where the ball hit. Fortunately, the impact was absorbed by the belt, but it still hurt. Of course, that didn’t mean I could pretend to be sick. If I moaned here, the other person would only look down on me.

“Ugh, this bastard… .”

Baek Kyung-ho, who had been rolling around on the ground holding his elbow, suddenly sat down on the floor and glared at me.

‘So what.’

Hiding his true feelings, he smiled and handed an apology to Baek Kyung-ho.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

You can’t spit on a smiling face.

“You, you bastard… ! “You did that on purpose, right?”

Of course, the old saying was not always the right answer. There were people who got angry even when they were smiling. Like this guy right now.

“Why are you doing this on purpose? When you swing a bat, things like this and that happen. “Then did you throw it towards your body on purpose?”

“Stop, stop!”

The referee interrupts us as we raise our voices. Meanwhile, UG’s trainer approached and began to check Baek Kyung-ho’s condition. I could also see that Baek Kyung-ho’s arm was swollen blue.

“Ha, fuck. You’re so fucking good at pretending to be sick. “Someone got hit by a ball.”

“이 개새끼가! Are you crazy?”

I spoke softly, did you hear me? The old man has sharp ears.

“Oh, that’s right! “If anyone saw me, they would think I got hit in the head.”

“What the fuck… !”

Baek Kyung-ho shook off the trainer and stood up from his seat.

“Looking at what’s happening, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to kill me. Are you continuing the game? These days, they’re talking about shortening game times and things like that, right? Isn’t there a rule like that? No rule of pretending to be sick for 12 seconds. Well, something like that.”

“Stop. If you say any more, I will consider it as intentional and you will be ejected.”

The referee, who was worse off, said something. The referee seemed to have vaguely sensed the situation, but it seemed like my swing was no different from usual so he was having a hard time being sure. In addition, they seemed to have noticed by immediately sending out the best hitter in the league.

“… sorry. “I also got a little feverish because I got hit by a ball.”

‘You can’t get kicked out here.’

I bowed my head and apologized to the referee.

“Okay, there’s a game going on, so be careful.”

“Yes. All right.”

“No, just looking at that guy, it looks like he did it on purpose… .”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is it because I got hit by a ball? The bat turns a little more. “As long as I don’t get hit by the ball in the future, something like this won’t happen.”

‘So, let’s play fair. Fair play.’

I’m sure you understand what I mean at this point, right? As I continued to look at him, Baek Kyung-ho slowly shifted his gaze to the spot where he was hit.

‘I think I understand this much.’

“Mr. Kyungho, can you run more? I think I need to go to the hospital. First of all, it wasn’t broken.”

Baek Kyung-ho clenches and unclenches his fist in response to the trainer’s words. It looked a little awkward. Still, I felt a little sorry for hitting him when he was older.

“Well, go to the hospital. “You’re so old, it won’t take a long time to recover, right?”

“This bastard… !”

Puck, Baek Kyung-ho pushed my chest. But I wasn’t the one to be pushed around. When I kept still even when I pushed his chest, his expression slowly hardened.

‘I was worried about this bastard, but why are you being like this?’

“hey! hey! “Stop it!”

“Meng Hao, are you okay?”

“Senior security guard!”

And then players from both teams started running towards us. I immediately raised both hands and expressed with my whole body that I had no intention of hitting him. The one hitting Baek Kyung-ho here is Ha-su. I also had no wish to be sent off or suspended from the game.

“Referee, referee! “I stayed still!”

Immediately after appealing to the umpire that I had stayed still, I was led away from the batter’s box by the hands of my teammates who rushed out.

“what’s the matter!”

“hey! “Aren’t you playing baseball properly?”

“Fuck, you’re making baseball dirty!”

Players from both teams tangle and shout back and forth. But few UG players approached me. Because reliable seniors, including Woo Gwan-hyung and Choi Jin-cheol, were blocking my path.

‘What’s going on? ‘You hold back all your fists.’

Rossby’s voice was heard among the shouts. A slightly regretful voice. It seemed like he was disappointed that the fight didn’t break out.

‘Hey, if I get kicked out of literature, it’s only me who loses. ‘There’s no stadium better than this one.’

In fact, in Jamsil, there were quite a few batted balls that were caught in front of the fence even if they were hit well, so I didn’t want to get kicked out of Munhak, a good place to build up stats. If it had been Jamsil, I would have made bamboo sticks right away.

‘Seeing things like this makes me quite professional, don’t you think? Hehehe. Records are precious.’

‘That’s a record. It’s a record that means nothing if you go to a major.’

‘Why is it meaningless? It makes a lot of sense.’

I felt that fact while broadcasting with Jia. The fact is that if you are good at baseball, there are many fans who will suck at you no matter what you do. In fact, there were very few viewers who spoke negatively about me while reading the controversy. It was clear that if my skills were good, the majority of fans would cover me even if I acted however I wanted.

‘Well, won’t you wash it on your own today too? Hehe.’

‘Tsk. I find it more fun to hit and run.’

‘Let’s fight at night. Just the way Mr. Rossby likes it.’

‘That’s not bad either.’

Rossby seemed to be thinking about the passionate sex that would follow after the game. On a day like today where you’ve endured so much, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have sex like an animal. I was a little excited too.

While talking with Rossby, the situation calmed down and the referee approached Baek Kyung-ho.

“Baek Kyung-ho, leave!”

“Why, just me!”

“Ji Maeng-ho stayed still.”

Well, then. This is baseball done right. hmm. Now, UG will stop acting like idiots, right? Well, if you do it one more time, I won’t be able to tolerate it anymore.

Baek Kyung-ho’s return to bat after being ejected was quite pleasant.

*

“Director. “I think I should stop.”

“… … .”

Before being sent off and leaving the dugout, Baek Kyung-ho approached Moon Ki-taek.

“Ji Maeng-ho, I think that bastard did it on purpose. Same thing when swinging. This is just my opinion, but it feels like the volcano’s original form was also intentionally dipped. “I think if we do more, it will be dangerous for the kids.”

A feeling that can only be felt by those who have stood next to it in person. Ji Maeng-ho was not normal. From swinging a bat at a person to his nonchalant expression, to the way a guy who looks so hot-headed even endures physical contact.

The more he spoke to the director, the more cold sweat rolled down Baek Kyung-ho’s back.

“… I get it.”

Director Moon Ki-taek was able to immediately realize what Baek Kyung-ho meant. If the game is played this way, your players may get more injured.

In fact, director Moon Ki-taek could also feel that. Won Joo-hyuk was a professional player for quite a long time, but he had no choice but to hesitate when trying to injure the same player, and coach Moon Ki-taek also intended to instill fear by threatening Ji Maeng-ho.

But, Ji Maeng-ho was different. The ability to act without the slightest hesitation in hitting someone with a bat. And a career that has already injured one player. In addition, it is a testimony that can only be felt by players who have directly faced the opponent.

‘If we continue like this, our players will only get hurt more. It’s a pity, but it’s right to stop here.’

“Head coach!”

Coach Moon Ki-taek urgently called the head coach. Before any more players get hurt. The plan to soak Jimaengho was scrapped.

Ta – evil!

And then the game took place. Ji Maeng-ho coolly turned the bat as if the previous accident was nothing, and the batted ball went over the fence. Cool home run. The tenacity to swing the bat until the end and hit the catcher even after being hit by a ball, and the concentration to immediately hit a home run without wavering even in such a situation.

Moon Ki-taek keenly felt that his judgment had failed.

‘Rather, Seonggyeol was shaken? ‘I had a stupid idea.’

Moon Ki-taek felt regret when he saw that home run, but the score had already been reversed.

‘Maybe I was impatient? ‘I can’t trust the players.’

It was the manager himself who decided that he could not win. If you trusted your players and competed based on your skills. Even if I regretted it, it was already too late. Now all he can do is trust his players.

Coach Moon Ki-taek just prayed more earnestly than ever for his players to win. And leaving the manager behind, Baek Kyung-ho left the dugout. As he was heading to the locker room, a scary thought suddenly passed through Baek Kyung-ho’s mind.

‘… no way?’

And one memory comes to mind.

-“It seems that the pitch type is probably inferred through psychological warfare with the catcher. Catchers from other teams often said that they would stop him from competing with Ji Maeng-ho. So, I think it would be better not to say anything when competing with Ji Maeng-ho.”

A story the power analysis team once told. This means not to say anything to the catcher because he may be able to guess the type of pitch through psychological warfare.

‘… ‘Did it happen to me?’

After thinking about it like that, it felt like all the puzzles were falling into place. A player who uses such psychological warfare is so hot-headed and thoughtlessly provokes pitchers? They said in an interview that it was a ceremony for the fans, but that was nonsense.

Everything was Ji Maeng-ho’s psychological warfare.

The decisive evidence is today. Ji Maeng-ho’s appearance coldly looking down at himself even though there was physical contact. If Ji Maeng-ho was known through media or interviews, it would not be strange for him to swing a fist at himself. However, Ji Maeng-ho was calm today. So much so that it’s scary.

‘If all of this was Ji Maeng-ho’s calculation… .’

A rough tone of voice and a ceremony that provokes the pitcher. The hot-tempered appearance of hitting a senior, and other incomprehensible eccentricities. If it were my old self, I would have thought he was just a naked guy, but the sight of Ji Maeng-ho today was a little different. Those cold eyes looking down at him were telling him that everything that had happened so far was just an act.

‘There is no way a player who uses such psychological warfare would act so stupidly in the first place. Yes, everyone was fooled.’

Provoke the battery and make the ball count advantageous. Then, based on the advantageous ball count, they crowd in the pitcher and hunt down the pitcher who is cornered. Therefore, even an ace pitcher like Kim Seong-gyeol could not help but feel pressure from Ji Maeng-ho. Because it wasn’t an equal match to begin with. The guy was hunting, not competing with the pitcher. Based on that outstanding brain.

‘Probably, before entering the game, they analyzed every situation and what kind of ball they would throw. When the ball count is disadvantageous, there are only a few balls the pitcher can throw.’

I felt like I was seeing the truth behind Ji Maeng-ho’s monstrous record.

‘Then was the violent action calculated?’

Just as a pitcher instills a sense of threat in a batter by throwing a ball toward his body, this guy also instilled fear in the pitcher with his threatening actions. The real fear that one could get hit at any time with just one blow thrown at a senior. Even if they were not conscious of it, all pitchers who faced Ji Maeng-ho had no choice but to have that fact embedded in their subconscious.

And a pitcher who hesitates is likely to throw a miss. Ji Maeng-ho improved his performance by eating up the missed pitches thrown out of such unconscious fear, and his monster-like performance brought about yet another fear in the pitchers.

‘Yes, it was all calculated.’

How could you make such a clumsy provocation by pushing his chest? It was natural that Ji Meng-ho did not react.

A monster who uses psychological warfare worse than himself and coldly calculates every situation, having survived on propane for over 15 years. There were many players who planned how to play each game, but this was the first time someone planned the entire season, and even his baseball life, like this.

Baek Kyung-ho also became afraid of Ji Maeng-ho when he thought that his actions so far were just acting.

‘How can humans do that?’

Not only does he enjoy psychological warfare with the battery to increase the success rate of guess hitting, he creates an image of each of his actions and utilizes it. Just for baseball.

That’s why he was able to hit himself with a bat and smash the leg of Hwasan’s second baseman Lee Won-hyeong without any emotion. Without the slightest hesitation, he did something that any human would inevitably hesitate to do. Ji Maeng-ho was a devil-like guy who would do anything for baseball, so it was entirely possible.

‘This guy is not human. It’s the devil. devil! ‘A devil born to play baseball!’

Baek Kyung-ho walked to the locker room, holding his goosebump-covered arm even while feeling pain.

*

‘Tsk. But something feels disappointing.’

‘What’s disappointing about a guy who also hit a home run?’

‘Is it because I did a bender? Strangely, the UG guys seem passive?’

If they were sticking more, I was going to break them somewhere, but after clearing the bench, the UG guys were playing as usual. There was still a lot I wanted to show, but it was a bit disappointing that they became passive.

‘Well, because today isn’t the only day.’

‘Tsk, then I guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with getting hit with a bat today.’

The UG guys, who seemed to have strangely lost momentum, couldn’t stop us, and the game that day ended with our victory easier than expected.