Chapter 173 – Episode 171. Advice. (One)

At the end of the ninth inning, the bases were loaded with two outs. Kang Han-beom entered the plate.

‘The pressure is no joke.’

Sajik, 3:3, and Kang Kang-beom hitter with 2 outs loaded.

– Kang Han-bum! Strong criminal! Strong criminal! Strong criminal!

Even in a country that doesn’t normally feel this kind of pressure, I was able to find out that the density of the air is different. Coach Lee Soo-hyun also walked on the mound as if he felt a different atmosphere.

“Hey, gather everyone.”

And I called all the players in the infield. Walking to the mound, director Lee Soo-hyun, who was wearing sunglasses even at night and couldn’t see his expression, opened his mouth.

“Jinhyuk.”

“Yes, Director.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Yes?”

Finishing pitcher Park Jin-hyeok seemed taken aback by the sudden question.

“Shall I drop you off? Or would you like to try?”

“… I will do it.”

And I could guarantee that no pitcher would come off the mound on his own under these circumstances. Park Jin-hyeok showed his determination.

“Now. Did you hear everything? Infielders, let Jinhyeok help. You were able to catch the ball earlier, right?”

This time, the director’s eyes were on me.

“I did my best, too.”

“Yeah, you know. If I fell, it was the end of the game, but even if I caught it, I did well. But Ji Maeng-ho.”

“Yes?”

“You can do better.”

It does not mean reprimanding. Because the director’s eyes were full of trust in me. By the way, I also had the confidence that I could catch an out the next time a ball like this came.

“It is.”

“Okay. Seong-tae, what about you?”

“Come to me, I’ll catch them all.”

“Suho and Jincheol are so veterans, so I won’t say much, but Jinhyeok said let’s help. Understand?”

“”Yes!””

“Fighting is good. Let’s go up in a good mood with a sweep.”

Finally, manager Lee Soo-hyun patted Park Jin-hyuk on the shoulder and went down the mound.

“Now. As the coach said, let’s block only one hitter and go up in a good mood!”

And after the words of the eldest veteran catcher, Jung Yun-cheol, we returned to our original positions. When I took a quick look, the expressions on the faces of the players seemed like they were all focused on fire.

‘Usually, when the manager comes on the mound like this, you have to stop it and end….’

The problem is that the hitter standing at bat is a strong criminal. It is said that he is older than he was in his prime, but just looking at the intimidation he shows, it seemed that the Kang Han-bum he was watching on TV was right. If you think you’re going to hit in the league or the national team, you hit it.

‘Chi, I don’t think it was like that at the WBC.’

The pitcher winds up

Ta-evil!

The anxious premonition did not go astray. Kang Han-beom’s batted ball passed by Yoon Seong-tae’s glove, and when the left fielder caught the ball, the third base runner was already home.

‘They do it like that at the WBC….’

– Wow!

– Kang Han-bum! Strong criminal! Strong criminal!

– Oh oh oh! Let’s run together in this place! Let’s shout out loud for Charlotte’s victory!

And Charlotte’s cheering song. The three-game series ended with a final hit by Kang Han-beom, the permanent fourth hitter of the Charlotte Blue Mariners.

‘Fuck, I’m a fan of 2 wins and 1, but I feel dirty because I decided to finish and lose. They only do that when we’re on the same team.’

“Brother. Go.”

I raised Yun Seong-tae, who was blaming himself. They threw water at each other and wanted to get out of the ground as quickly as possible.

“Ha, Minta. I should have stopped it.”

“Well, the game can be won or lost.”

Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the 2nd Army for a long time, and I’m so happy with 1 win and 1 loss. Looking at Yoon Seong-tae, I made up my mind again not to go to the 2nd division.

‘Wow, but Kang Kang-bum is amazing. Get a hit in that situation.’

To be honest, I didn’t know that well until then, but once I hit the bat in scoring position, the pressure was no joke. In particular, it was so complicated that his head exploded just by not knowing the location. Whenever that happens, all I can think about is ‘Should I just tap lightly?’.

In fact, since a light hit can be enough to score points in the scoring zone, I was confident that I could hit the ball sufficiently with my bat speed if I only aimed for a breaking ball and swung.

However, when I saw Kang Han-beom taking his swing even at the end of the 9th inning when the bases were tied with 2 outs, I thought that such a stance might not be the correct answer.

‘What does Mr. Rossby think?’

‘What kind of stupid are you talking about? Of course you should swing.’

‘Still, there’s such a thing as team betting.’

In the past, I would have thought that team betting was just doing my swing as Rosby said and getting long hits. Because I, with Rossby, always had the confidence to make a good batted ball. But after losing like this, I couldn’t help but feel a little different.

My performance today is 5 at-bats, 1 hit, 1 home run. I pulled off a home run, but wouldn’t it have taken the game into overtime if I had hit it lightly in scoring position? Such a thought.

‘It’s such a weak sound after only three games. You really….’

‘Oh, why! You may worry about this. He’s a rookie anyway.’

Of course, if you ask Rossby to tell you where the pitcher is going to throw, the solution is simple. It’s because you just have to wield the cock. However, it seemed that there was nothing to do after 3 days of bowing down, so that method was dismissed.

‘So are you telling me? Take your swing You have the best player in the world next to you, so why don’t you listen to my advice?’

‘That….’

‘That?’

Why not listen to Rossby’s advice. It was simple. In the first place, Rossby and I were different human beings. Rossby was a human who passed the .400 hitter, the triple crown, and the OPS 1 without any help.

He looked like an old man with a bad personality and a woman with dementia, but as a baseball player, Rossby was an impeccable player. On the other hand, I was a bench player even in high school. Of course, if Lee Gi-cheol hadn’t done that shit, he could have been the starting pitcher, but on the other hand, if I had a skill like Rosby’s, would Lee Gi-cheol not be able to use me?

No, if he had that level of skill in the first place, he would have gone to prestigious baseball high schools in Seoul, not to Hanche High School, while receiving guaranteed starting positions.

“Uh? Fierce tiger why? Do you have something to say?”

“No.”

As I was looking at him, Gicheol Lee, who was packing his things, started talking to me. Shit, if you think about it, it’s all because of Lee Gi-cheol that I’m thinking like this. He wasn’t afraid of anything until middle school. The two years he spent as a batting ball pitcher inflated bad feelings such as inferiority complex, defeatism, and lack of qualifications.

After signing with Rossby, he rarely felt those feelings, but today’s loss seems to bring those feelings back to life.

“Okay? Oh, even though I lost, congratulations on the home run today. It wasn’t like this in high schoolhaha, of course you did well at the end. Come to think of it, I don’t think there’s much of a difference in grades between high school and now. Had he known it would be like this, he would have recommended a major.”

Even if it wasn’t for that kid. I had a strong desire to hit Lee Ki-cheol’s head with a bat, who was talking stupidly in front of me.

‘Hey, hey. So why aren’t you listening to me?’

‘Oh, that’s like people from a slightly different world than Mr. Rossby and I. Well, that’s right. I wonder if it’s right to apply the case of a genius to me.’

‘Ah, fuck. To say something stupid. I wouldn’t have given you this kind of training if you weren’t smart.’

‘Still.’

‘Ugh. Fuck. Swing it with confidence like when you’re fucking a girl!’

‘… Yes.’

‘You bastard, the answer is not so cool. So, did you ask someone similar to you?’

‘Are you like me?’

Was there anyone like that? When I questioned, Rosby gave someone a chin. I followed Rossby’s gaze and turned his head behind him. There was the current team’s fourth hitter, Choi Jin-cheol.

‘Choi Jin-cheol?’

Choi Jin-cheol, the current AT batsman number 4. A Utae Geopo type of player like me. As Rossby said, he was a similar type of player to me. The only difference is that Jincheol Choi showed his potential at a late age, and I am still doing well.

But if it wasn’t for Rossby, he would have had a bleak rookie year like Choi Jin-chul, right? Still, after going through those days, Choi Jin-cheol hit 50 home runs for two consecutive years and became the home run king four times. Although he failed in the major leagues, he is a legend in the KBA league alone.

Besides, he’s a player who’s been through a lot of failures, so I felt like he could understand my feelings more than Rossby.

‘Ttsk, you just have to do what I tell you to do.’

I tried to ignore Rossby’s sarcasm and looked for an opportunity to talk to Choi Jin-chul.

*

Inside the AT Thunders’ bus after an away game. It was quiet inside the AT Thunders bus, perhaps because of the end-of-the-game defeat.

“Are you all here?”

“The youngest hasn’t come yet?”

A player responds to the coach’s words.

“Other than the ferocious tiger?”

“There are still a few more players signing.”

“Okay? I get it.”

After a few minutes, the players who had signed autographs for the fans got on the bus one by one, and Ji Maeng-ho came in last.

“Oh, is it popular even though it’s Busan?”

“I saw a few fans in uniform.”

As soon as Meng Tiger came up, he inspected the seat. Most of the players with low time sat together, and those with high time sat alone.

‘Sangju senior is also sitting alone. Well, on a day like today, he probably wants to go alone.’

An atmosphere where even the talkative weatherman goes quietly alone. Even the weatherman, who would normally have talked about today’s game to his juniors while reviewing it, was sitting quietly on the bus, telling the mood of the AT Thunders.

In that atmosphere, no one cared about where Ji Maeng-ho went. Usually in this case, it was an unspoken rule to sit next to a player of a similar age. And in the case of the oldest in the club, in the case of AT, it was natural for players like Kwan-Hyung Woo and Jin-Cheol Choi to sit alone.

The pitcher, the catcher, and fielders excluding the catcher ride the bus separately, so there are plenty of seats. In that situation, no one thought that Ji Maeng-ho would go to Choi Jin-cheol’s side. Even Choi Jin-cheol, his party.

‘Today, no hits in 5 at-bats and a double kill…. Write, I should have aimed for a fastball in that at-bat….’

Ji Maeng-ho approaches Choi Jin-cheol, who is reviewing the game today.

‘What, why does he come to work?’

Choi Jin-cheol is 193cm tall and weighs over 100kg. Of course, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable when someone sat next to him. However, he instinctively sensed that Ji Maeng-ho was walking in the direction of him. And that premonition soon became a reality. Suddenly, Ji Maeng-ho sat down next to him.

“Seniors.”

“Yes?”

Choi Jin-cheol was a little taken aback at the words of his junior, whom he was not very close to. Although he does talk to himself, he was not close enough to talk on the bus going back to Seoul after losing the fight, so the embarrassment was inevitably greater.

“How can I play like a senior?”

In response to the question of the rookie hitter, who is currently ranked first in five categories and is bombarding the league with overwhelming results, the veteran hitter who hit the double hit today couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

‘You bastard, are you making fun of me now?’