episode_0280

“Ball!”

‘Oh, finally coming to your senses?’

In the first inning, Taiwan’s starting pitcher, who arrogantly threw fastballs from the beginning, suddenly pulled the ball outside. Perhaps he had become humble after giving up a home run in the first inning. With the score narrowed to one point in the fourth inning, the pitcher seemed modest in his delivery.

“Ball!”

Another ball. Emotions could be felt in his pitch. Those emotions were of fear. The pitcher was definitely nervous. There was no sense of pressure in the balls forming around the 150s.

‘He missed with that inside fastball and yet he’s nervous. More than that, he was too arrogant. There isn’t a pitcher in Korea who throws like that. How dare he throw me such a pitch on this minor league occasion.’

‘Now it’s a slider.’

‘A slider?’

Taking out two balls and throwing a slider. Is he coming inside? After focusing entirely on the pitcher’s movements, I waited for the ball.

“Ball!”

“Huh?”

The slider he threw also ended up being a ball.

‘It’s a two-ball count, so I thought he might come in for one…’

The slider also went outside, making it a three-ball count. A familiar situation.

‘Is he planning to walk me? Did these guys only do half their homework? Are they not taking this Asian Games seriously enough?’

Seeing him create a three-ball count with changeups, the battery’s intention was clear. They wanted to walk me. But with no outs recorded yet, very few teams would walk a batter. I had a threatening base-running ability as well.

“[Fine, walk me. Oh, can’t speak English?]”

“[Keep it down.]”

And then came the walk. It was as expected.

‘Damn, if they were going to do this, they should have just intentionally walked me. Just wasting time and showing off their pride.’

If they had issued an intentional walk with no one on base, they would have faced criticism. The Taiwan coach understood this to some extent, but time was still wasted.

‘Are they going to run this time?’

Since the start of the Asian Games, I hadn’t attempted a steal, so Rosby asked.

‘I have to run. We might meet in the finals, so we need to make sure they can’t easily walk us.’

The answer to that question was obviously ‘YES.’ With no runners on base, there was no reason not to run. Plus, it was just a one-run difference until the bottom of the fourth. It was a situation where we had to run to win.

‘Then, Mr. Rosby, please again.’

‘Sure.’

You dare walk me? You’re done for.

‘A fastball.’

‘Okay.’

‘Give me a break after the fastball.’

“Ball!”

‘A curveball.’

And the curveball was thrown. I swiftly ran to second base. The catcher got up and threw the ball, but it arrived only after I had reached second base.

‘Easy.’

Stealing second base from Taiwan was indeed easy. Well, no one had caught me in the KBA League, so it was the expected outcome. The Taiwanese catcher had no chance of catching me.

‘Good.’

I responded with a thumbs-up to Yoo Yong-gi, waiting for the game to resume. I could feel Taiwan’s pitcher glancing at me.

‘Why? Different from watching on video? Can’t figure out the timing?’

Taiwan’s pitcher’s expression was one I had seen countless times in the league. Even if we shared the same language, it didn’t mean I would go easy on them. And in sync with the changeup timing, I ran towards third base.

“Safe!”

Just before standing up, the ball arrived, but even so, it was impossible to block my steal. Brushing off the dirt on my uniform, I glanced towards the batter’s box where Yi Yong-gi was applauding.

“If I’ve set you up this far, please bring in some RBIs.”

“Of course.”

After exchanging glances with Yi Yong-gi, the game resumed.

Thwack!

Seizing the moment when the pitcher faltered, Yi Yong-gi cleanly split the gap between left field and center field. Taking advantage of Yi Yong-gi’s hit, he effortlessly stepped on home plate, widening the score gap by two runs.

“Nice!”

“Wow, damn! This guy is seriously fast!”

“Great steal!”

After the first inning, the dugout atmosphere heated up again with the added scores. Perhaps influenced by this atmosphere, the 6th batter, Choi Si-woo, showcased a clean swing,

Crack!

Sending a hit that met the outfield wall, Yi Yong-gi, who was on second base, made it home.

“Wow, thought I was gonna die running.”

“Good job.”

“Yeah, your steal was great too.”

Yi Yong-gi, successful in creating RBIs and scoring, sat next to me with a triumphant expression, initiating a conversation in a gentle tone.

“Well, stealing bases is just a piece of cake.”

“But how do you run so fast? Aren’t you scared since Taiwanese catchers don’t have much info?”

“Oh, what’s there to be scared of? Just…”

As I tried to answer Yi Yong-gi’s question, a strange feeling crept over me.

“Oh, senior. Do you think I’d spill my trade secrets like that?”

“Tsk, let it go, Kabi.”

Yi Yong-gi made a disappointed face. Suddenly, he was right beside me. Even during training, I had avoided his various questions, but now, in the middle of the game, he found a moment of carelessness to throw questions at me. I almost spilled the fact that I usually take off on changeup timings.

“He looks warm, but he’s really a sly fox.”

“Stop beating around the bush and tell me. Huh? You’re a national team mate. How do you time it?”

“How do you time it? You just run like hell. Trust your feet.”

“Tsk. Your stolen base success rate is unbelievable.”

“Think about it for a lifetime. Will I ever tell you?”

Even if he thought about it his whole life, Yi Yong-gi wouldn’t uncover my secret.

“Ha, feels like there might be some secret…”

“Not a secret, senior. If you work hard like me, you can get faster.”

“Someday I’ll find out for sure. Really. Don’t cry when I catch you later.”

“Who cries over a failed steal in this world? Just say, ‘Ah, got caught.’ That’s it.”

“…Fair enough.”

As we chatted with Yi Yong-gi, our offensive plays came to an end. The Taiwanese pitcher managed to finish the inning without much trouble.

“I heard he’s just a Korean mercenary level player before entering the game, but he seems to have that level of skill indeed. Well, it’s nothing special.”

Despite not having a one-sided game, should I say it was fun since it was competitive? The game continued to progress tightly thereafter.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, I returned to the batter’s box and walked with an intentional walk, but failed to score. Starting pitcher Chae Jae-hyun gave up another run in the top of the 6th inning, narrowing the lead to two runs.

However, in the top of the 7th inning, Taiwanese starting pitcher Yu Weiming left two runners on base and, with Ju Seung-cheol’s hit, the lead extended to three runs again. Then it was my turn at bat.

And,

Crack!

Lifting the subpar pitch from the Taiwanese pitcher over the outfield wall, the game proceeded loosely from then on, ending with a 7-2 victory over Taiwan.

“Player Ji Maeng-ho! Today, with two home runs and two walks, achieving a 100% on-base percentage, you have been selected as the MVP of today’s game. How do you feel?”

“First of all, I feel great that we’ve secured our spot in the finals. I want to bring joy to the people by winning both the upcoming Japan match and the final, achieving a consecutive victory.”

“I think the citizens watching Ji Maeng-ho’s performance will be really happy. Today, he has an incredible record of 9 hits out of 10 at-bats with 8 home runs. What do you think about this?”

“To be honest, I’m worried.”

“What? With such an amazing record, why…?”

“I’m concerned that playing against lower-level players might affect his game sense. What if he can’t perform well in the fall baseball season? Haha.”

“Even though it’s the Asian Games, making such remarks…”

“Oh, is that so? Then, PD-nim, please cut this part.”

“…But this is a live broadcast…”

“…Really? Well, nothing can be done then. Well, the truth is still the truth.”

“Uh… Yes, that’s true. Showing confidence… Yes. Um, the next question… In that case, let’s conclude the interview with Ji Maeng-ho here. Next, let’s meet the winning pitcher Cha Jae-hyun, who pitched 7 innings with 2 runs…”

After the game, there were some minor slip-ups during the interview, and there was a small mishap where the coach scolded Hee-pung slightly, but it wasn’t anything significant.

“Heh, you still look confident, huh?”

“Is that so? Aren’t you cursing?”

“Well, there are some curses, but how often do I get cursed at?”

“Geez. When did I get cursed at?”

“Should we check God-Muwiki? Huh? A controversy has already been added? That was fast.”

“…Already?”

“Still, there’s quite a bit of public support. That’s why you have to play baseball well.”

Despite the slip-up during the interview, the public opinion didn’t seem too negative. Well, I didn’t pay much attention to it. However, there were more people giving me looks as if they wanted to confront me with their eyes.

And then came the Japan match.

Crack!

– Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maeng-ho!

The game started off quite one-sidedly after hitting a 2-run double from the bottom of the 1st inning, unlike the Korea-Japan rivalry.

“Maeng-ho, well done.”

“Well, these guys are easy too.”

“It’s just a social baseball league after all.”

“They said it’s at the level of the second team, but it’s a bit disappointing, isn’t it?”

“Careful with your words. Don’t make another slip-up during the interview like last time.”

“Oh, I’m not a kid. Will I make a mistake again?”

“This guy makes me nervous. Hey, gloves. Are you going to run again?”

“Assessing the situation.”

While considering running to third base in response to the coach’s question,

Crack!

Without needing to ponder over such concerns, Yi Yong-gi’s home run exploded.

“Alright! Let’s finish today with a cold game and head home!”

“Yes!”

From the bottom of the 1st inning, the score was 4:0. It was quite a pleasant start for the Korea-Japan match.