episode_0437

“Coach! I can go out there!”

“Junhu, you know you have to start even on Sundays, right? Let’s wrap it up here today. You’ve thrown over 100 pitches.”

“…Yes.”

Fortunately, it seemed like there wouldn’t be a need to go out with Im Junhu to the club at this golden hour. The pitching coach decided to take Junhu out after the 6th inning.

“Heading to a club in Seoul with Junhu? Ridiculous.”

Luckily, my words seemed to motivate him as Junhu managed to shut down the volcano’s batting lineup without giving up any runs until the 6th inning. The issue was with our hitting.

“We need to score soon…”

Today, my performance stands at 0 hits in 2 at-bats. In a tight situation like this, I kept swinging at every pitch and ended up with two consecutive outs.

“I should lay off some pitches this time. Not everything that comes into the zone needs to be hit.”

I am the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the 6th inning. It seemed like I needed to get on base to help our batting lineup.

“Mangho, just get on base! Let’s get on base!”

Normally, these are words I would say to my seniors, but hearing them from my seniors felt a bit strange. I nod to my seniors and head towards the dugout. Kim Minjun is still on the mound.

Judging by how other players’ hits were reaching the outfield, it didn’t seem like his condition was great, but strangely, we weren’t giving up runs. If it had been before the lineup turned over, it could have been luck, but seeing it happen twice made me think there was some strategy at play.

It was clear that Lee Yonggi had worked some magic.

“As expected, he’s tricky.”

“It’s a fastball.”

“Yes.”

Kim Minjun’s first pitch was a fastball. Since I planned to observe the situation, I waited for his pitch.

“Strike!”

“You’re not swinging at first pitches these days? Then I’ll just throw them all for strikes.”

“What’s with the attitude?”

…Come to think of it, it seemed like he threw three straight first-pitch strikes. But why is he telling me this?

“Are you an idiot? There’s another at-bat and a game tomorrow, that’s why.”

“Ah… okay.”

Listening to Rosby, I realized it was a setup for a mental battle in the next at-bat. He truly was a crafty individual.

“Let’s not be swayed by these mind games. Focus on this at-bat.”

“It’s another fastball this time.”

Two consecutive fastballs… It was likely going inside the zone. However, with catcher Lee Yonggi behind me, I couldn’t let my guard down. So, I readied my bat and waited for his second pitch.

Thwack!

“Foul!”

I swung at his second pitch, but it was a foul ball. It came more inside than I anticipated. He wasn’t usually this precise with his pitches…

I could sense why the straight hit went right to the fielder. While his velocity didn’t seem exceptional, his control was sharp today.

Moreover, in a pitcher’s duel like this, the umpire’s strike zone tends to widen. From second base, it seemed like Junhu’s pitches were being generously called. In such cases, you had to swing at similar pitches.

“A slider.”

“Okay.”

This time, a slider. It seemed like it was coming inside the zone, so I prepared to swing, but I held back against the dropping slider.

“Swing?”

The umpire awaited the first base umpire’s call.

“No swing!”

And with an animated gesture from the first base umpire, it was ruled no swing.

“Mangho, lucky break?”

“Luck is when you block it with strength. Hyung, you should exercise too. I saw you struck out against Junhu’s pitch earlier.”

“I’ll handle it myself, punk.”

Two strikes, one ball.

“A slider.”

Upon seeing my bat react, it seemed like Yi Yong-gi was planning to pull out my bat again with a slider.

‘Who does he think he’s fooling… Wait.’

Although I tried not to swing the bat this time, I had a feeling that Yi Yong-gi wouldn’t just go for a simple fastball. I thought he might even put one inside on me. Despite having a lot of counts left, piercing the strike zone was Yi Yong-gi’s strength.

“I got you, buddy.”

Somehow, I had a feeling the ball would go into the strike zone… Anticipating that feeling, I waited for his fourth pitch. And as his slider flew towards the lower outside, it felt like it would come into the strike zone!

Thwack!

However, contrary to my expectations, the ball hit below the bat and veered towards the opposite field.

“Damn! Was that a ball?”

Setting aside regret momentarily, I quickly threw the bat and ran towards first base.

“Rossby! The ball?”

“It got away. Forget about second base, just step on first.”

“Wow, the hit got away? Sweet.”

While it was a lucky hit, an hit is an hit nonetheless. Moreover, getting the leadoff batter on base was significant.

“Are you going to steal?”

“Well….”

To be honest, I hesitated a bit. I had been playing a lot of games lately, so I was feeling a bit tired. When I checked my speed during training, I had definitely slowed down compared to the beginning of the season. If it were other catchers, they would have probably run in such a tight situation, but Yi Yong-gi’s presence weighed on me. His pop time was in the 1.9-second range, and his throwing speed was quite fast.

Furthermore, Kim Min-jun’s changeup was a slider. Since the slider clocked in at 140, running felt slightly daunting. If I got out here, it would be a disaster. Instead, it seemed possible to bother the pitcher. As long as I extended my lead while holding onto the changeup grip, there shouldn’t be any pick-off attempts.

“Strike!”

The first pitch thrown by Kim Su-ho was a fastball.

“It’s a slider.”

Upon hearing the word “slider,” I widened my lead. Kim Min-jun kept glancing at me as if to deter my steal attempt.

“Ball.”

Whether my lead helped or if he intended to throw a ball from the start, the slider veered outside the strike zone. I’m not sure if it really helped, but as a runner, you have to give your best effort on the bases.

“Bases on balls!”

Kim Su-ho ultimately walks me. Now there are runners on first and second with no outs. Judging by Kim Min-jun’s control today, bunting might be a better option, but the batter at the plate is a power hitter. The chances of a bunt were extremely slim. Well, our coach wasn’t known for being a fan of bunts anyway.

So, all I could do was signal the batter. With this type of two-pitch pitcher, giving signs was quite convenient. Since there was only a slider for the changeup.

“Sunjoo senior! It’s a slider.”

Sunjoo’s eyes widened slightly at my signal. He clearly understood. After a brief moment, Kim Min-jun extended his arm for the pitch. Then Sunjoo’s bat swung like lightning.

Crack – Ouch!

“Please, let this be it!”

A good hit sound was preferable, but this was Jamsil. It might not go over, so I watched the ball between second and third base. And with the cheers of the crowd, Sunjoo’s hit collided with the wall and bounced back.

“He couldn’t catch it finally!”

The hit was enough for me, the runner on second, to come home. Stepping on home plate and looking back, Kim Su-ho received the stop sign at third base and stopped there, while Sunjoo made it to second base.

“[Nice baserunning.]”

“[Yeah, Williams. You handle it too. Got it?]”

“[I’ll do my best!]”

“[Not just your best, do it right, right! Understood?]”

“[Yes!]”

After injecting some baseball skills into the next batter, Williams, Jun-hoo entered the dugout and shared joy with his teammates. Despite a streak of bad luck where he kept getting caught out, he finally pierced through with a lucky hit, scoring a proper run. Furthermore, the bases were still loaded.

“Alright, feeling good. Smells like a massive scoring spree…”

“Wow, if this keeps up, am I going to be the winning pitcher?”

Although Jun-hoo’s excitement about becoming the winning pitcher was slightly annoying, considering his hard work today, I decided to let it slide and leaned against the dugout railing, watching Williams at bat.

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

Three consecutive balls thrown, making it a bases-loaded chance. The scent of a big inning seemed to grow stronger.

“Good, keep it up…”

Thwack!

At that moment, Williams’ bat swung like lightning, and the ball flew like a laser.

“Out!”

“Out!”

…into the shortstop’s glove.

“Oh…”

“He caught that.”

“What a shame. So close.”

A line drive into the shortstop’s glove for one out. Then, the shortstop tagged the advancing runner between second and third base for a double play. In an instant, the bases loaded situation turned into two outs with runners on second and third.

“Is that guy not in his right mind lately?”

To think that a three-ball hit resulted in a batting ball…

“[Hey! Williams!]”

“[Yes, yes!]”

“[What was that hit? Are you out of your mind? Just here for fun?]”

“[…I’m sorry. I just wanted to score.]”

“[Ha, this guy is hopeless. Get your act together?]”

“[No!]”

Should I give Williams a wake-up call behind the dugout? While contemplating this, another loud hit resounded, followed by cheers.

“What? What?!”

-Choi Jin-cheol! Choi Jin-cheol! Choi Jin-cheol!

“He crossed over?”

“This guy hits a home run as captain, and what was he doing not paying attention?”

In that brief moment, Choi Jin-cheol’s hit went over the wall.

“You owe a fine. Dude. Buy coffee tomorrow.”

“Oh…”

Damn it, now I have to buy coffee because of Williams. 7000 won per cup, including the coaches, that’s 35 cups… no, it’s an expanded entry so…

“…Can I do Americano?”

Thirty thousand won for a cup of coffee. Ridiculous.

“This guy earns money well… You’re hopeless. Special…”

“No, no. I’ll place an order and buy it tomorrow.”

You can’t hit a special hit during golden time. Although spending money hurt, time was more precious than money. Despite feeling a bit bitter about the sudden expense, Choi Jin-cheol’s home run made it 3-0. The sour feeling in my stomach eased a bit with the scent of victory in the air.

“Senior! Well done!”

“Captain Choi! A home run, really?!”

“Wow… Choi Jin-cheol senior… completely turning the game around at Jamsil.”

“This guy has no soul. Even though he gets 300 million won, he buys coffee cheaply.”

“But you get good coffee when someone else buys it.”

Good coffee when someone else buys it. An undeniable truth.

“If I hit a home run today, my hyung will buy for me.”

“Really?”

…And aiming for a home run, I ended up striking out like a dog, ending the game.

“Good job!”

“Yeah, let’s do the same as today tomorrow! Sweep this series and seal the deal!”

“Got it!”

However, the game ended with a 3-1 victory for us. The first game of the top-decision series started off well as we took the win.