episode_0363

“Strike! You’re out!”

The satisfying sound of the umpire’s call from home plate. But there was no room for complacency. The next batter was Ji Maeng-ho.

“Why did he have to come back now? He could have just returned after my pitching was done.”

Although Ji Maeng-ho was a close friend, Won-ho couldn’t help but think that way. Ji Maeng-ho’s current form was fierce. While an average batter might struggle after taking a month off from games, Ji Maeng-ho was showing the same explosive form from last year without missing a beat.

A batting average of .449, an on-base percentage of .666, and a slugging percentage well over 1.163 with 9 home runs in just 15 games. A formidable hitter who was unstoppable. Despite being friends, facing him was unavoidable.

“I hoped things would go well, but isn’t this a bit much?”

Watching Maeng-ho, who used to sit on the bench and occasionally throw batting practice balls, Won-ho wished for his friend’s success. However, he never imagined it would be this impressive. Despite feeling he had grown considerably since entering the pros and putting in effort, when he saw Ji Maeng-ho’s stats, his own efforts seemed insignificant.

“Sigh, can’t see where to pitch.”

Feeling like the batter’s box was closing in, an uneasy thought dominated Won-ho’s mind – no matter where he threw, it felt like a home run waiting to happen. Given his struggles against Maeng-ho in the bullpen last year, this fear was vivid.

“First-pitch splitter, low inside.”

“Got it.”

But he couldn’t keep thinking about wanting to escape. The catcher signaled, and Won-ho nodded. The requested pitch was a splitter, his best-developed pitch since turning pro.

“Trust me and throw. We faced each other a lot in high school.”

Thinking back to the times in high school when he practiced with Maeng-ho, who couldn’t touch his pitches back then, Won-ho felt Maeng-ho looked somewhat smaller at the plate.

“Yes, the guy in front of me is Ji Maeng-ho, who couldn’t even make it to the bench. Be confident. Kim Won-ho.”

Recalling those days, Won-ho finished his mental preparation and confidently delivered the first pitch.

“Ball.”

However, seeing Maeng-ho calmly watch two pitches miss the zone without flinching shattered Won-ho’s focus. Most batters would react to pitches dropping low inside, yet Maeng-ho stood still. Even Kang Han-beom, who played in the major leagues, couldn’t resist swinging at such pitches; watching Maeng-ho observe without moving made it seem inhuman. Or maybe he anticipated the splitter from the start.

“Did he really anticipate that?”

He silently questioned, but Maeng-ho remained silent. As Maeng-ho’s gaze seemed to read his thoughts, a chill ran down Won-ho’s spine. Just as his mind blanked out, their eyes met.

“Is he not going to swing at anything inside?”

Having spent four years together, Won-ho could read Maeng-ho’s eyes in an instant. And Maeng-ho, realizing that Won-ho understood, smirked.

“Well, tough luck.”

Seeing the familiar expression, some tension eased.

“Slider. Let’s move it outside.”

“Got it.”

The next pitch demanded by the catcher was an outside slider. While understanding Maeng-ho’s challenge, Won-ho couldn’t simply throw inside recklessly. It wasn’t a situation to stake pride on like in high school; it was about giving their best for the game’s victory.

[Kim Won-ho’s second pitch also misses the zone. A slider at 143.]

[Kim Wonho threw two good pitches in a row, and as expected, Ji Maengho doesn’t even flinch. Ji Maengho’s biggest strength lies in his ability to filter out these kinds of pitches. There isn’t a pitcher who can throw the ball into the strike zone against Ji Maengho. However, the reason he can hit so many home runs is because of this kind of anticipation.]

Two balls. A disadvantageous situation for the pitcher.

‘…But it’s not an insignificant ball count.’

Despite the unfavorable ball count, Wonho, now relaxed, assessed the situation calmly.

Hitting is about timing, and the pitcher is there to steal that timing. To steal that timing, you had to dazzle the batter’s eyes as much as possible. This was especially true when facing a batter like Ji Maengho. After throwing several pitches on similar trajectories, only then could you throw a pitch into the strike zone against a batter like Ji Maengho.

Having faith in his pitches, Wonho entered the showdown with Ji Maengho from the start, and pitchers who gave up home runs to him were not uncommon in the league. Especially mercenaries with strong pride were like that.

“Let’s go with an outside splitter this time. It has to go inside the zone this time.”

“Got it.”

And the pitch demanded by the catcher was a splitter hitting the outside strike zone. Since Wonho’s slider had a significant lateral movement, the breaking movement of the splitter he threw consecutively after a similar slider was meant to deceive the batter into thinking it was a ball and then hitting the strike zone.

And just like a player being considered for the recent Olympic roster, Wonho perfectly placed the ball where the catcher wanted.

“Strike!”

The result was a strike. Once again, Ji Maengho didn’t move.

‘Did he think it would go outside? But damn, is it this hard to catch a strike?’

Just one hard-earned strike. The real battle was starting now.

“A fastball inside.”

“Isn’t that too obvious?”

Nodding at the catcher’s request for a deep inside fastball, Wonho agreed. Following the pitcher’s intention, the catcher signaled a new sign to the battery coach, moving his fingers again.

“An outside fastball?”

“No.”

“Inside slider?”

“No.”

“…Outside splitter.”

“Okay.”

The fourth pitch that Wonho allowed was a splitter thrown in a location similar to before but lower this time.

“Even a beast like you wouldn’t expect the same pitch twice in a row. Just give me a futile swing. Please.”

With that plea, Wonho threw the fourth pitch,

Thunk – Crack!

Ji Maengho’s bat flashed. And Ji Maengho’s bat flew gracefully through the air.

“Damn! Did you anticipate even this?!”

Cursing inwardly, Wonho followed the trajectory of the hit with his eyes. The sound of the bat connecting wasn’t reassuring, but this was Jamsil. Forcibly pulling the outside pitch, he held onto a glimmer of hope.

“Please, please!”

[Ji Maengho’s hit! Left field fence! Ji Maengho reaches second base standing! Ji Maengho’s double hitting the top part of the left field fence! However, Ji Maengho’s expression is filled with regret.]

[If it weren’t Jamsil, that hit would have gone over the fence in any other ballpark, right? He pulled the outside pitch with force, but the launch angle was a bit low. It must be disappointing from Ji Maengho’s perspective.]

[And from starting pitcher Kim Wonho’s perspective, he must have let out a sigh, right? Now the batter’s box sees a pinch hitter stepping in.]

As the caster described, standing on the mound, Wonho breathed a sigh of relief that the hit didn’t clear the fence, but the crisis was just beginning. One out, runner on second, pinch hitter at bat. And the runner on second, Ji Maengho.

[Ji Maengho steals third! Ji Maengho steals third base!]

The switch from second base to third base happened in an instant. And the eyes of right-handed pitcher Kim Wonho and third base runner Ji Maengho met.

“Do I have to go this far?”

“You thought I’d go easy on a friend?”

“…You son of a b—.”

Without saying a word, Wonho concluded the conversation with his eyes and turned away from Jimaengho, who was smiling bitterly, focusing on the batter instead. Jimaengho tended to shine so brightly that he overshadowed others, but he was a batter who needed to give his best against the proactive lead, Gisangju.

“Gisangju, Gisangju, and even William, who had reached the Major Leagues. And then there’s Choe Jin-cheol and Kim Soo-ho. Isn’t this too much?”

From the top-tier batter Jimaengho to Gisangju and Choe Jin-cheol, and even the solid batter Kim Soo-ho, not to mention William, who had shuttled between the Major Leagues and Triple-A until last year. It was a nauseating lineup.

“Damn, I don’t get it.”

Not needing to worry about modulation, Kim Wonho threw a fastball with all his might.

Thud!

Gisangju’s hit soared high into the sky.

“Gisangju’s hit! Deep into the outfield! Shortstop, calling for it. Out. The situation now stands at 2 outs with a runner on third!”

“Just now, the pitch clocked in at 155, but Gisangju couldn’t time it right.”

“Kim Wonho showed why he’s being considered for the Olympic team with that pitch.”

However, even if they caught Gisangju, there was no room for complacency. William, who stepped up to bat, had been hitting .400 until his injury.

“Sigh… One hurdle after another.”

Facing the tough lineup of AT Thunderz in the first inning felt more challenging than pitching in relief last year. But knowing there was still a long way to go, Kim Wonho focused his mind and threw a fastball.

But…

Thud!

“William’s hit! It sneaks between second and first base! Jimaengho comfortably makes it home! AT Thunderz take the lead with a score of 1-0! Mercenary batter William, returning from injury, scores an RBI in his first at-bat!”

“AT has had many brutal mercenary batters lately. Is it thanks to last year’s championship? They’ve really brought in some good players.”

“…Damn. Isn’t it cheating to have such a mercenary batter in the AT lineup! Why bring in weird guys like last year, or as usual… and of all people, let that guy come in as a mercenary…!”

And with a walk given to Choe Jin-cheol and Kim Soo-ho’s single to center field, the score quickly rose to 2-0.

“Kim Wonho strikes out Yoon Sung-tae! The long first inning ends with AT’s attack!”

Thus, striking out the 7th batter Yoon Sung-tae, Wonho’s uniform was soaked in sweat from facing AT’s powerful lineup since the first inning.

“Oh, the mercenary is hitting well?”

“I saw him hitting during spring camp and exhibition games, but I didn’t think he would adapt this well. Watching William’s hit, it’s clear. He may lack home runs, but his concise and compact swing suits well behind Nana and Gisangju.”

“Really? They say he reminds them of you when you were young.”

“Indeed, listening and watching, the style does seem somewhat similar.”

A hitter capable of hitting double-digit home runs with a batting swing that can exceed .300. He was certainly a type of hitter similar to Woo Kwan-hyung. And being a similar type of hitter to Woo Kwan-hyung meant being a player suited for Jamsil.

Though I had only seen him at bat once in an actual game, he seemed to be on a different level compared to the mercenary Jomusa guy from last year. And my instincts seemed to be right.

“Bases loaded!”

In the third inning, Jun Hu allowed a two-run homer to Kim Hwan-young, tying the game at 2-2. When I, the leadoff batter of the inning, walked and advanced to second base on Gisangju’s RBI, William’s timely hit exploded again.

“Nice!”

“Let’s go easy!”

“Good batting! William! Good batting!”

“At this rate, even Senior Kwanhyung won’t have a place to return to, right?”

Returning to the dugout, sharing joy with teammates, Williams, who hit a double, began signaling towards the dugout.

“Huh? What’s this?”

It looked like a substitution sign no matter how you looked at it. The coach walked towards second base with the interpreter. Then, after being replaced by Lee In-hyuk, Williams limped back to the dugout.

“[Manager, pain is coming from the injured area.]”

And he started to complain about the pain in his thigh.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t push yourself on your first day back. Good job.”

“[Sorry. But I guess my role is done since I scored two runs, right?]”

It might be an apology based on what was heard, but the nuance seemed somewhat off.

“Mr. Rosby, am I mistaken?”

“Heh heh, seems like an interesting fellow has come in.”

Williams, the mercenary batter whom Rosby found amusing… Somehow, it didn’t feel right.