episode_0306

“Sigh, disappointing.”

Although I managed to draw a straight walk in this at-bat as well, it wasn’t satisfying. Despite bringing up stories like being the catcher with the most stolen bases allowed in the Korean Series to try to get under Baek Kyungho’s skin, he didn’t even respond, leaving me feeling unsatisfied.

Seeing him not even dignify my words with a response made me want to smack him with the bat, but being a gentleman who valued manners, I couldn’t bring myself to do so, which was even more frustrating.

“Run a bit faster, Maengho. I’m going crazy because of you.”

“Then please don’t swing and miss. I’m going crazy too. And if you set it up like this, you should run.”

Though first baseman Gu Jinmo pleaded for me to stop running, I had no intention of stopping. It was one out, but running to third meant securing a point. If I had been a bit more relaxed, I would have wanted to stop at second to signal the pitch type, but knowing that knowing the pitch type doesn’t guarantee hitting a hit at every at-bat, I was set on running to third this time as well.

“If it’s Suho senior, he’ll find a way to call me in.”

Gathering my resolve and waiting for the right timing, the timing I desired soon arrived,

“Second base!”

“Safe!”

After easily securing safe at second base, I set my sights on third. And barely managing to get a safe call at third base on the subsequent changeup pitch.

“This was risky, Maengho. Why did you push it with a one-point lead?”

“It feels different between one out with a runner on second and third.”

“True, well done.”

At that nail-biting moment, even the third-base coach seemed shaken in his voice.

“It feels like the Korean Series vibe, seeing Coach tremble.”

“Who runs so precariously like that?”

“It’s tough to keep running like this.”

“Young lad, tsk tsk. When I was your age…”

“Could someone check how many steals Ross B did at my age? You know we live in an era where you can confirm with just a click, right?”

“Ahem….”

Despite Ross B’s futile tackle attempt, since I had reached third base anyway, all that remained was heading home. And I was confident that Kim Suho would call me in. He was the player among AT’s batters who could deliver the most in such situations.

Thud!

And as I anticipated, Kim Suho pushed the outside pitch towards left field. It was high but slowly flying.

“Good position. Signal, Ross B.”

“Run!”

“Run!”

The shouts from Ross B and the third-base coach almost simultaneously reached me, and I began sprinting towards home. The position was decent, but Moonhak Stadium was on the smaller side, and UG’s outfielders were all strong-armed, so there was no room for complacency.

Baek Kyungho came out in front of home plate to catch the throw, but whether the ball hadn’t arrived yet or not, he opened up home plate for my slide, and the umpire’s mouth opened.

“Safe!”

With this, it was 2-0. Looking at today’s pitching performances by Bellingham and Kim Sungkyul, the likelihood of it continuing to be a pitcher’s duel was high, making this additional run significant.

“Thanks for running.”

“I’m just doing my job. That’s all.”

Kim Suho, who had approached unnoticed, patted my shoulder encouragingly. Normally not one for such gestures, seeing him do so made Kim Suho look a bit pitiful, as I realized he was struggling because of me only drawing walks.

“Let’s go in.”

“Sure. I wish Sangju senior was pitching here, but how about Kim Seonggyeol? He looked good even just watching.”

“It won’t be easy today.”

And just as Kim Suho predicted, Gisangju hit a big hit in the fourth inning, but was caught in front of the wall, ending the third inning. Still, it was fortunate that Bellingham was also throwing pitches that matched Kim Seonggyeol’s.

“Out!”

In the bottom of the third, Bellingham managed to get one runner on base but held off the rest of the batters, finishing the inning with no runs scored.

“Alright! Let’s go score another run!”

And the top of the fourth inning began,

Crack!

Leadoff hitter Choi Jincheol hit a double straight into the wall, securing the first hit of the game.

“Choi Jincheol! I believed in you!”

“Awesome! Jincheol!”

Then Yoon Sungtae managed to draw a walk, seemingly trying to strategize against Kim Seonggyeol, but

“Out!”

As Kim Juyeop, who made his sixth appearance today, hit a high fly ball to the infield, resulting in a double play,

“Out!”

“Out!”

The mood dampened again with Jung Yooncheol’s double play.

“Ah….”

“Yooncheol hyung….”

“Darn, he got us. He got us.”

Kim Seonggyeol, known for inducing double plays underhand, was one of the best starting pitchers in the league at it, so Jung Yooncheol’s double play wasn’t particularly surprising.

“Darn, it feels intense. If this continues… ”

The baseball saying “chance after crisis” came to mind, and I couldn’t shake the bad feeling. …And my premonition turned out to be right.

Ding!

“Wow, that went over.”

“Tsk. Well, he’s the head coach. Pushed it but it went over?”

-Wow!!!

-Whooosh!

-Jinmo! Jinmo! Jinmo!

-Overoze home run hitter~ Jinmo, hit a home run~! Overoze home run hitter~ Jinmo, hit a home run~!

As Gu Jinmo’s hit cleared the wall, the cheers of the spectators, the sound of drums, Gu Jinmo’s name, and the chants echoed through Moonhak Stadium.

“[Hey, Bellingham! Stay focused! Stay focused!]”

I quickly encouraged Bellingham before he turned into a playoff-like situation.

“Surely, one home run won’t make him crumble, right? Please, stay focused.”

“[It’s okay. Home runs like this are common in Moonhak.]”

“[Well, that’s a relief.]”

Despite my worries that Bellingham might falter, he managed to hold his ground and secure the remaining two outs, ending the bottom of the fourth inning.

However, despite Bellingham’s pitching, the game was far from easy. In the top of the fifth with two outs, facing the third batter, just like the previous batters, I ran to third base, but Kim Seonggyeol struck out Kim Suho, preventing us from adding to the score, maintaining the 2:1 lead.

…Until the start of the eighth inning. And as the eighth inning began,

Thud!

“Out!”

After holding our lineup to just two runs until the seventh inning, Kim Seonggyeol stepped down, appearing slightly worn out. However, the pitcher who took the mound for UG was Kim Geunwoong, known as the left-handed ace of UG. Kim Geunwoong lived up to his nickname by getting Baek Jeongjin out, bringing up the fourth batter with one out.

If it were the regular season, they might have replaced Kim Geunwoong, weak against right-handed hitters, at this point, but there was no pitching change.

“Will you walk me again for a run? Ah, darn.”

It was a pitching strategy that clearly indicated an attempt to strike out Kim Suho and Gisangju.

“Bases loaded, balls.”

A walk that almost seemed intentional and a steal to third base once again. The scoring pattern of the day continued smoothly.

“Come on, Suho senior, one more time…!”

Thud!

“Caught! Center! Center!”

But this time, Kim Suho’s hit resulted in a shallow fly ball to center field. With both the infield and outfield playing forward defense and facing a left-handed pitcher all day, disaster struck.

“Darn it….”

However, there was no one to blame. It was only natural that Kim Suho’s sense of impact, which had been trying to call me out all day, would crumble.

“If it goes like this, will it be 2:1? Even if we think highly of Bellingham, it’s until the bottom of the 8th inning. If Park Jinhyuk is just one point behind, it’s nerve-wracking, damn it…”

Although the cleanup batter was still up, today his performance was 0 hits in 3 at-bats. It was a performance that offered no hope.

“Sigh, I should focus on defense.”

*

[Top of the 8th inning, two outs. Gisangju steps up to the plate. Gisangju’s performance stands at 0 hits in 3 at-bats.]

[Up to the first game, he’s significantly underperforming with 1 hit in 7 at-bats, right? Gisangju needs to quickly recover, or UG might not overlook him like they did with Jimaengho.]

With the blatant intentional walk towards Jimaengho, even the commentators roughly caught onto UG’s strategy. AT fans hoped to give such UG overconfidence a reality check.

However,

Thud!

As Gisangju aimed for the first pitch, hitting it foul and into the stands, all those expectations turned into curses.

“Why don’t we have any expectations for Gisangju, damn it?”

“He’s always been like that, that bastard.”

“I won’t ask for much, just one hit, please, please, please…”

“Goddamn Gisangju used to hit so well in the fall, what happened?”

“He was a killer in the autumn, why did it turn out like this?”

[That’s a strike.]

“This could potentially be the most crucial showdown of today’s game.”

“Kim Geunwoong versus Gisangju. The second pitch! He swings! A bullet-like hit! It goes beyond the foul line. That’s two strikes on the count.”

“Damn, they spent 15 billion to recruit that guy.”

“Just pay up, you scammers!”

“If it were our guy, he would’ve definitely hit a single, damn it…”

“I miss him. Guan Wooshin…”

“If his hamstring snaps, can’t he hit? He was already at a level where he couldn’t run bases, please just focus on hitting…”

“At this rate, our guy will die laughing.”

“Goddamn Gisangju failed in the majors because of this, huh?”

After two consecutive fouls, the hearts of AT fans were about to burst. However, Gisangju’s mind was cooler than ever.

“Alright, the timing is right.”

The first foul ball went towards the stands, the second near the foul line. The hits were gradually moving closer to the infield as Gisangju intended.

Kim Geunwoong’s main weapons were the slider and fastball. However, with Jimaengho on third base, the fastball seemed unlikely due to his speed; the moment the ball moved slightly, he would dash straight home.

All that remained were the slider and fastball. A batter of Gisangju’s caliber had no problem timing the fastball and hitting the slider, especially against a pitcher like Kim Geunwoong who threw cutter-like sliders.

“Here it comes…!”

And then, the third pitch was thrown.

Crack – Thwack!!!

Gisangju, who had been silent throughout the series, cleanly struck the ball.

“This hit goes to the right fence! To the right fence! Over it! Gisangju’s first home run of the postseason happens in this situation! The score is 4:1! Gisang… huh? Why is Gisangju pointing his bat up?”

And after hitting the ball, confident it was a home run, Gisangju began aiming his bat towards the right fence, just like Jimaengho.

“Wow!!!”

“Gisangju! Gisangju! Gisangju!”

In that ceremony dedicated to Jimaengho, who hadn’t swung his bat once throughout the series, the AT fans gathered at the literary stadium went wild.

“Wow! This is worth 15 billion!”

“Gisangju is insane!!!”

“15 billion! 15 billion! 15 billion!”

Just moments ago, the various AT fan communities were cursing Gisangju, but now, like flipping their hands, they began praising him.

And waiting for Gisangju at home plate was another player who had attempted to change his stance.

“Gisangju! Are you crazy!”

“Hey! Don’t speak informally to your senior!”

“I love you, Sangju hyung!”

“Why is this guy acting like this today?”

“Hehe, because it feels good.”

As Gisangju stepped on home plate like a general leading his troops, the fierce lion who had stepped on home plate first greeted him enthusiastically. It was as if a child caught swearing from behind, but any suspicion quickly vanished in the joy of hitting a home run.

[“Isn’t this a big one? This score is a perfect wedge point.”]

A perfect wedge point that even a child could recognize. With the strength of that wedge point, the game ended 4:1, and the AT Thunders successfully balanced the series before heading to Jamsil.

And…,

“Coach Munkitaek! From yesterday until today, Ji Maengho hasn’t been given a chance to swing his bat at all. Was this the method you mentioned to stop Ji Maengho with no hits before the series started?”

In the post-game interview with the losing team, a mini hearing was already underway.