episode_0392

“Ah, it slipped through….”

Even if he had hit a tied home run, the atmosphere would have been good… In the top of the 8th inning, Wonho, who took the mound, ended up causing an accident. Even during practice games, he couldn’t adapt to Major League certified pitches and ended up giving up a three-run homer to Gregorius before coming down from the mound.

After conceding three runs, Shin Su-ho, who took the mound next, managed to hold off the inning and transitioned to offense and defense, but silence hung over the dugout.

“I’m sorry….”

In such an atmosphere, Wonho spoke up.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. The game isn’t over yet.”

Senior players and coaches comforted Wonho as he apologized with his head bowed deeply, but Wonho didn’t know how to calm down. Perhaps thinking it best for Wonho to be alone, others made way for him beside them. However, as Wonho’s closest friend, I couldn’t bear to see him like that.

“Hey, you’ll do better next time.”

“Ha…. Sorry, Maengho. How did you give up so many points….”

“It’s okay. It’s your first time representing the country. Isn’t it natural to feel nervous?”

Even if I had experienced the WBC, this was Wonho’s first time on such a big stage. While he had been through the Asian Games, in reality, the Asian Games were a lower level than the league, so it was natural for him to be nervous and tense at the Olympics. Plus, the Dutch hitters weren’t easy opponents.

“Ha…. I wanted to do well.”

The sound of regret flowed from Wonho’s voice. I patted his hunched shoulders. The slight trembling I felt from those shoulders revealed Wonho’s emotions.

During high school, seeing Wonho comforting me during tough times, my heart ached slightly. Back then, I was too preoccupied with jealousy to feel comfort, but now, seeing Wonho shivering, I felt like I understood what feelings he had when he comforted me.

“Well, things like this happen in life. Anyway, even if we lose one game, we can still climb up to third place. Among the top three teams, two will advance. Can’t we make it?”

“Third place, third place…. Ha….”

However, it seemed like my comfort didn’t reach Wonho’s heart as he covered his face with both hands. Peering at Wonho with his face hidden by his cap, tears welled up in his eyes.

“Hey, are you crying? No, did you cry just because you gave up a home run?”

“…Shut up.”

“Come on, I’ll take care of it.”

If it was our friendship, I could handle that much. Three runs? With just three runs, a tied score was easily achievable.

Thud!

“Get out! Get out! Ah…. He caught that.”

“Are the Dutch guys insane today? They’re playing so well.”

…It might be a bit challenging.

As the 9th batter Kim Jung-hyun retired, it was now my turn to step into the on-deck circle.

“Hey, watch me. I’ll wipe out the defeat for you too.”

Before leaving the dugout, I left a word for Wonho. Wonho, this time, I’ll help you.

“Ju Tae Hyung! Please hit one!”

Shouting loudly from the on-deck circle, I saw a smile on Choi Ju-tae’s face as he looked at me. It meant he clearly understood my words.

Crack – whack!

And as if to prove that the smile wasn’t just for show, Choi Ju-tae cleanly split the center field.

-Wow!!!

-Choi Ju-tae! Choi Ju-tae! Choi Ju-tae!

With the voices of Koreans who came to watch the game, Choi Ju-tae stepped on first base. Then, he ran towards second base.

“Safe!”

“Nice!”

Indeed, Choi Ju-tae! We needed a mood reversal, and the starting shortstop of the Major League hit a double, lifting the spirits.

‘Alright, at least one run this way!’

I never thought I wouldn’t hit, so if I could just signal the pitch from second base for at least one run….

‘Why do you like it?’

‘What? We should be happy when the team hits a double. A double… a double?’

Ross B’s words make my heart race. Could it be…?

“[I’ll take the walk. Intentional walk.]”

“What are you doing? It’s an intentional walk.”

“Ah, damn!”

The unease was not unfounded. The Dutch guys must have analyzed me perfectly, and I had no choice but to walk to first base.

Now, the next batters were Kisangju, who had recorded 1 hit in 3 at-bats today, and Kang Hanbeom, who had 0 hits in 3 at-bats. The excitement that rose with Choi Jutae’s double started to fade.

‘Damn….’

But the only one I could count on was Kisangju, who got a hit today. When I ran to third base, I couldn’t solve it, but with Kisangju’s contact ability…

Thunk!

‘This is it!’

Kisangju’s hit soared high and fast towards left-center field. Even if Willie Mays came back to life, he couldn’t catch this hit!

‘I’m not dead yet, you idiot!’

As the ball hit the wall, I was already stepping on second base, and Choi Jutae, who was the runner on second, was running towards home plate.

‘To home plate?’

“Stop! Stop!”

As third base approached, the third base coach shouted for me to stop.

“Ross B!”

“Run!”

Between the third base coach and Ross B, if asked whom to trust, my answer would always be Ross B. After rounding third base, I continued towards home without slowing down. As home plate neared, the catcher turned his body.

‘Dodge!’

Ross B’s words told me to dodge instinctively. I slid to the right while twisting my body. The sensation of dirt brushing against my glove and the base… and the absence of the feeling of the mitt.

‘I made it!’

“Out!”

“Ah, damn! You blind bastard! Video! Coach! Video review!”

As the umpire called out, “Out,” I immediately stood up and loudly requested a video review.

“What? The timing was out, but he didn’t touch him?”

“No. He didn’t tag him.”

While discussing with Choi Jutae, Coach Lee Geumhyun personally requested the saved video review…

“…Safe!”

“Nice!”

The review didn’t take long. Two runs from that! The score is 5:4. With Kisangju on second base, the wind brushing against my body felt like the beginning of a reversal.

“Swing! Strike! Out!”

…It seemed like that.

“Ah, damn!”

After striking out, the fourth batter, Kang Hanbeom, broke his bat, and

“Bases loaded!”

Although Ju Seungcheol managed to get on base with a walk, Kenley Jansen, the Dutch closer and current record holder for most saves in the Major Leagues, entered early,

“Out!”

Our 8th inning attack quickly flamed out as it had ignited. And the cost of missing the opportunity that came in the latter part of the game was significant.

“It’s okay! We just need to win the remaining two games! You know we can even make it to 3rd place, right?”

‘Damn…. Lose to the Netherlands?’

The remaining countries are Panama and Cuba. In theory, even with 1 win and 2 losses, we could advance to the next round, but due to complex rules involving total runs or run differentials, we had to win the remaining games no matter what.

*

After the game at Daejeon Stadium, the faces of East Asians leaving the stadium were divided into two groups. People with joyful smiles and those walking gloomily.

Those walking gloomily were obviously Koreans, while those with joyful smiles were people from other countries excluding Koreans. Like Japan or China.

And here.

“Oh, senior! Did you see the article I sent? Please post it tomorrow morning. Maybe just before the game starts? When the lineup is announced. Drop some hints on SNS… Yes… Yes. It’s nighttime in Korea now, so it should create a buzz soon. Alright. Got it. I’ll be working on it too.”

A man left the stadium with a bright smile on his face. Naturally, he was the reporter Choi from X-Catch.

“Ugh, an error followed by a stolen base. Thanks a lot, Maeng-ho.”

He had been watching Ji Maeng-ho closely, and when Maeng-ho’s mistake occurred, laughter was inevitable.

Inserting errors and stolen bases into a decade-old journalist’s article was easier than breathing. Adding short sentences like “Did he lose his strength after having sex yesterday?” or “Stopping because of thinking about those women…” was no small task.

After completing the article and sending it back to Korea with today’s game details, he felt relieved.

“This should be enough for the chief to approve my travel expenses, right…?”

All that remained was waiting like a fisherman waiting for a bite. Reporter Choi didn’t feel the tailwind of the future coming anytime soon.

“I wonder how the Korean public is reacting?”

-[Official] Korea’s first game ends in defeat.

F*ck, what a disaster lol

┗Go swim back across the Pacific, getting beaten by a team like the Netherlands lol There are three pro leagues worldwide, seriously legendary.

┗┗Taiwan has a pro league, Australia too, and there are many in Europe. Even the Netherlands has one.

┗┗Proud moment, boasting about being leisurely lol They’re earning 20 million won but can’t win? Essentially losing to social baseball teams.

┗┗Bogaerts earns more than the entire Korean team combined, right?

┗┗Yeah~ Must be nice to have so many excuses lol Leisure losers out!!!

┗lol After swimming across the Pacific, let’s compete as swimmers next time!!

┗Those leisure losers were celebrating winning the Asian Games, but ended up failing at the Olympics, huh? lol

┗┗Leisure athletes have it good. People pay to watch them lol

┗Even so, these pig-headed idiots will still enjoy watching the Olympics end lol No skills, just high salaries. Why watch the KBA?

┗┗They won’t even go watch a minor league game lol

┗┗?? I’m not a pig-head though?

┗┗But there are over 10 pages of posts on the pig-head forum

┗Honestly, they were boasting about almost winning the WBC, but where did the skills of these leisure losers go? It’s amazing how popular they are despite this.

┗┗Italy got eliminated from the World Cup, but football is still popular, right?

┗┗Italy won the Euros, you idiot.

┗┗We won the Asian Games and got second place in the WBC, right?

┗┗Just live off past glories lol

┗Honestly, they lack skill, have bad attitudes, and bring shame to the nation. I don’t understand why they maintain pro leagues for such sports lol. Guys who aren’t even at the level of Dutch social players are earning huge salaries? lol Not even charity work.

┗┗Real charity work is the tax-eating pigs lol

┗┗Talking about Dutch social levels lol Just look at the Major starters: Bogaerts, Profar, Gregorius, Schoop, Van den Berg, Jansen. Even the minors are full of talent, Bogaerts and Jansen are aiming for the Hall of Fame lol

┗┗What can you do, if they support them, let them lol

┗Why are there so many leisure supporters on soccer gaming sites lol

┗┗The soccer gaming sites have changed, damn lol

-Still, there are possibilities. Even if they get third place in this Olympics, two teams will move up anyway. Just look at total runs and run differentials.

┗Damn, thinking about possibilities is pathetic.

“It’s chaos. How can people get so obsessed with a mere ball game? Let’s see how the public is reacting to Ji Maeng-ho.”

“Ji Maeng-ho is supposed to be top-tier, right? His potential skyrocketed, but with errors and stolen bases lol. Are these guys who are watching him suckers for this kind of player?”

┗Honestly, Ji Maeng-ho did everything today, right? Two at-bats, two hits, including a double and a home run, two walks, two stolen bases. What more does he need to do?

┗┗But he made an error lol

┗┗He almost didn’t make an error, it could’ve been a hit. Those baseball novices are just talking nonsense.

┗┗Yeah, he made a baserunning mistake in the first inning, shifting the momentum.

┗┗If you look closely, the ball touched his hand first, Ji Maeng-h

The public opinion about Ji Maeng-ho was split. Although leaning towards the negative due to losing the game, there was also a mix of supportive voices.

– “Ji Maeng-ho, it was a shame today.”

┗ “He’ll do better in the next game. With skilled players like them, they won’t be eliminated.”

– “Let’s cheer instead of dwelling on one game!”

┗ “Go national team!”

┗ “Surely they won’t get eliminated, right?”

┗┗ “With the rule this time, even the third-place teams will advance, so I don’t think they’ll be eliminated.”

– “Maeng-ho Shin hit a home run today! How did he manage that stance?”

┗ “He’s just not human. He’s a gorilla.”

┗ “Even Van Den Berg is a major player, but Maeng-ho Shin can handle this easily.”

┗ “But why weren’t the batters performing well today?”

– “Haha, looks like the day Korean baseball crumbles has arrived. Well, it was bound to happen.”

┗ “It’s the national team that’s crumbling. Damn, the bastards are doing fine.”

The atmosphere on the baseball-watching site was mostly supportive.

“It’s lacking, that’s for sure.”

To make his article more impactful, Choi, the journalist, logged in with a fake account occasionally to shape public opinion.

“But Ji Maeng-ho seems to be just enjoying himself at the Olympic Village. He’s been coming to a restaurant near the village with a woman every night…”

┗ “False information will be prosecuted by SY Agency. Watch your words.”

– “Haha, if Maeng-ho Shin had less sex, he would’ve survived on third base…”

┗ “What are you talking about?”

┗┗ “He’s famous for going around with women near the athlete’s village.”

┗┗ “Looking at Maeng-ho Shin’s outline, even white horses would go crazy.”

┗┗ “For an alpha male like Maeng-ho Shin, it’s just another day. Haha…”

– “Thought it’d be quality. I work at an LA restaurant, and he comes for drinks even the night before a game.”

┗ “Who?”

┗┗ “A very famous player in Korea.”

┗┗ “Batter? Pitcher?”

┗┗ “Batter. The one who made a mistake today.”

┗┗ “There was only one error today, and it was Ji Maeng-ho, right?”

┗┗ “I don’t know much about baseball, so I’m not sure who it is. But from what I heard around, he’s a national team player. He came out on TV today. Made a mistake too.”

┗┗ “Please delete this as it could be false information.”

┗┗ “It’s not false. I have nothing to fear, so why should I delete it?”

“Alright. This should stir up some reactions when the article comes out,” thought Choi, satisfied, as he put his phone away. With the fire lit, all that remained was to wait for the blaze to ignite. Tomorrow promised to be an exciting day.