episode_0433

“Maengho, Joo Seungcheol hit a home run.”

“What? Already?”

Just before the start of the 7th inning, the manager approaches and informs Maengho about Joo Seungcheol’s home run news. This puts us back up by two runs.

“Geez, did he take some magic pills? Why is he hitting so well? Ugh, I need to let him off the hook a bit here…”

On top of that, the team is trailing 5-3. To catch both the home run title and compete for the team’s victory, hitting home runs was necessary.

“Ross B…?”

Quietly calling out to Ross B, but he remains silent. Probably off somewhere watching girls.

“Totally useless.”

After silently cursing Ross B in my mind, I grab my bat and head to the plate. On the mound stands Yoon Junghwan, the ace pitcher of UG Over Roses.

“Ugh, Yoon Junghwan is tough…”

Yoon Junghwan, who recorded good stats after striking me out last year, was a pitcher with an ERA in the early 2s this season. Due to the collapse of the starting rotation this season, he seemed almost worn out coming into the later innings. His ERA had risen from the 1s to the 2s compared to the beginning of the season.

The pitch to watch out for was definitely his fastball. Although he has tried throwing various breaking balls, they weren’t quite major league caliber.

However, it was quite challenging to time a guy who threw two types of pitches—one breaking towards right-handed batters like a cutter and another moving straight like a sinker. In the latter half of last year, he almost abandoned the sinker with movement after mastering his control, but this season, mixing those two pitches again was one of the factors contributing to his success. Despite UG’s crumbling starting rotation, he was a key player keeping them from being at the bottom of the standings.

As he winds up, he throws the first pitch.

“Strike!”

“That went in?”

The first pitch was a sinker. It seemed to be going outside, but the umpire called it a strike.

“What? Any complaints?”

“Not really…”

“Damn, old geezer.”

If Ross B were here, I would have asked if it really went in and maybe even tossed my bat. But I held back as I was unsure myself.

And then the second pitch.

“Ball.”

“Huh?”

A pitch seeming to come inside and break as it approached the body… Something felt off. It was different from when he threw the sinker earlier… Something felt strange.

“Should I keep watching a bit longer?”

Honestly, when I was with Ross B, I hardly paid attention to the pitcher’s delivery. I just focused on the ball since Ross B would tell me the pitch. But these days, without Ross B, I had developed a habit of observing the pitcher’s delivery out of curiosity about the pitches, and something felt off about his delivery.

And the third pitch.

“Ball.”

This time it was a sinker. However, I didn’t feel that strange sensation I noticed before.

“What? Did I see it wrong?”

Was I tired from not resting on Monday? Maybe I saw something wrong…

“Should I cut down on sex…? Ugh, damn, I don’t know.”

Curiosity needed to be satisfied for peace of mind, so I finally spoke to Baek Gyeongho, who had been silent all this time.

“Gyeongho hyung.”

“…Huh?”

Baek Gyeongho jumps in surprise when I call him ‘hyung.’

“I’m not a criminal, why are you so jumpy?”

“I’m not… Just don’t talk to me.”

“It’s not that, I’m genuinely curious. Do you differentiate between a sinker and a cutter when you throw them?”

“Huh? What nonsense is this? Of course, I differentiate.”

“But the grip is the same.”

“How do you know that?”

“Hmm? Is this a secret?”

In case there was any strange suspicion, I quickly continued.

“They look exactly the same to me.”

“Oh, for God’s sake… Stop talking.”

Yoon Junghwan’s windup begins again.

“Strike!”

Focused movement. Something felt off again this time. An unfamiliar discomfort… What is it? What could be the issue?

But curiosity ended here. It was time to hit the ball now. Two strikes had been called.

Thud!

“Foul!”

I swung at the pitch from the tricky guy, but the ball veered outside the foul line. …And that familiar discomfort crept in once more.

‘What’s this? Does feeling discomfort mean it’s an off-speed pitch? But I didn’t get this feeling when he threw two consecutive off-speed pitches before…’

My head ached. If only I had a bit more time to think…

“Time!”

I shouted for a timeout to gather my thoughts and stepped out of the batter’s box. I began organizing the thoughts I’d had so far in my mind.

‘The first pitch was a fastball. Nothing strange there. The second pitch was an off-speed one, felt discomfort. The third pitch was also an off-speed one. It didn’t feel too odd then. The fourth pitch was a changeup. Felt discomfort then. Even the last pitch was an off-speed one. Felt odd then too…’

“Hurry up.”

“Just a moment. Just a moment. Oh, the bat slipped. Let me spray it. Can’t afford to lose the bat.”

“…Hurry back.”

Baek Kyungho responded before the home plate umpire. The umpire allowed the catcher to use the spray too. I walked slowly towards the on-deck circle, trying to sort out my thoughts.

I felt discomfort three times. It seemed like I might know something… Then, Kim Suho, who was standing in the on-deck circle, handed me the spray and struck up a conversation.

“Spray?”

‘Wait, maybe I should ask the veteran…’

“Yes, senior. Senior, did you feel anything strange when facing that guy?”

“That guy? Yoon Junghwan?”

“Yes.”

Kim Suho was the best hitter in the country. Being a good hitter meant having good eyesight. With Kim Suho’s keen eyes, I thought he might know what was causing my discomfort.

“Do you see it?”

“What? What do you mean?”

Surely he doesn’t mean seeing ghosts, right?

“Do you see how he pitches.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like that.

“I can see how he pitches.”

“Ha… I didn’t mean that… Forget it. Come back, and I’ll explain in detail. Just remember one thing. If the wrist is slightly more bent, it’s an off-speed pitch. Well, I don’t know if you can tell the difference.”

*

At Ji Maengho’s mention of feeling odd, Kim Suho was slightly taken aback internally. Considering Ji Maengho’s performance, it wasn’t surprising that he could see that. Good hitters often scrutinize pitchers’ cues and adjust to their pitches, so it was common.

Kim Suho was also that kind of hitter. However, not highlighting this during the video analysis session was because most hitters couldn’t distinguish that difference anyway. And those who could were able to discern it just by watching high-quality videos without needing such sessions.

What surprised Kim Suho was how someone who hadn’t noticed such things until now managed to achieve such results.

‘What? Was he really hitting the ball just with guess-hitting? What? Is he really that lucky? Judging by his behavior in the dugout and usual demeanor, I never thought he was the type to live like that.’

Of course, Kim Suho knew that Ji Maengho took baseball seriously. In crucial moments, when focus was needed, looking into Ji Maengho’s eyes on base made even him feel a shiver down his spine due to their intense gaze.

However, being serious about baseball didn’t mean being serious about everything, so Kim Suho understood why Ji Maengho seemed absent-minded in everyday life.

Yet, considering Ji Maengho’s usual behavior, Kim Suho found it hard to believe that he was targeting pitches with guess-hitting.

Due to Ji Maeng-ho’s penchant for showing off, it was more appropriate to think of him as claiming to hit visible pitches and using guess-hitting. Furthermore, there were advantages to calling him a guess-hitter.

To disrupt the battery’s ball mixing, he would throw many unconventional pitches, which meant straying from convention and throwing inefficient pitches, making hitting easier. Additionally, there was the effect of pitchers not checking their pitching form, so employing a guess-hitting strategy was quite effective for Ji Maeng-ho.

It was so unexpected that Kim Soo-ho found himself wondering what had gotten into Ji Maeng-ho. Until now, Kim Soo-ho had thought that Ji Maeng-ho was a similar type of batter to himself, born with innate eyes that could subtly discern differences in pitching forms and use them to make hits.

“But was it really just guess-hitting?”

It was unbelievable. Achieving such results solely through guess-hitting…

“A genius…”

He was a genius. A cliché term, but there was no other way to describe Ji Maeng-ho, the genius who couldn’t be expressed in any other way. To think he even read the pitcher’s cues.

And then came Ji Maeng-ho’s explosive home run.

“Did he apply my advice that quickly?”

With this, the score stood at 5:4. Normally, catching up in points would have been good, but at that moment, rather than feeling joy, emotions were mixed.

The pleasure of witnessing the genius’s growth as a baseball player, the relief of being on the same team as someone like him, and the sense of inferiority knowing it would be hard to catch up to him despite lifelong efforts…

“Senior, could you slightly adjust your swing as I mentioned? But, since I still don’t quite understand, could you explain it a bit later?”

“…Sure.”

Due to these emotions, Kim Soo-ho could only give a brief response to Ji Maeng-ho, who returned smiling after hitting a home run.

“Yes! Senior, hit a home run too when you come back. Let’s tie the game.”

However, since Ji Maeng-ho was used to Kim Soo-ho’s typically blunt and concise style of speaking, his behavior didn’t seem particularly strange.

And now it was Kim Soo-ho’s turn at bat.

“…Focus.”

Not every batter could achieve the same results as Ji Maeng-ho by reading the pitcher’s form to identify the pitch. The pitcher’s ball is thrown in less than 0.1 seconds. Distinguishing the pitch type and making contact were two different things.

Even if he was considered a top-class batter in the country, selected for the national team, facing Yoon Junghwan’s fastball fluctuating around 150 mph…

“Ball.”

So Kim Soo-ho let the first pitch go. He anticipated a changeup. After a few pitches, it was already a full count. And then the seventh pitch was thrown.

Kim Soo-ho anticipated a changeup, but even knowing it was a fastball over 150 mph, it wasn’t easy to make solid contact. Reading and reacting meant it took time, and to shorten that time, overwhelming bat speed and power like Ji Maeng-ho’s were necessary.

Thwack!

As the sound of impact echoed, the ball headed towards second base.

“Out!”

“Hah…”

Kim Soo-ho sighed deeply as he returned to the dugout.

“That was close. But Senior, what do you mean by explaining in detail?”

Ji Maeng-ho greeted him with a smile upon returning after getting out. It seemed like the small sense of inferiority Kim Soo-ho had been feeling was dissipating.

“Yeah, Ji Maeng-ho is Ji Maeng-ho. I am me. I have my own methods. Well, and if Maeng-ho does well, it’s good for me too.”

A genius beyond norms. Comparing oneself to such a person only leads to melancholy. Quickly dispelling all negative thoughts, Kim Soo-ho began explaining his approach to his cherished junior.