Chapter 183 – Episode 181. A Gift to Etrin! (3)

“Are there any people who gave up just because they were losing?”

“There is not!”

After the 6th inning ended with a 3-point lead, AT coach Lee Soo-hyun called the players together. Fortunately, no one seemed to give up just because they were three points behind. And it was the same for me.

Don’t want to lose Such thoughts filled my head. There was Joo Seung-chul’s provocation, but that was only a small part of the reason why he wanted to win. Showing such a figure of losing and bowing in the midst of such a crowded crowd? I’d rather die than die.

“In the 7th episode, Radet will go down. Because the number of pitches exceeded 100 in the last inning.”

Already in Hancheol’s bullpen, Hancheol’s Pilseungjoo were warming up. In this situation, where a winner like coach Dae-Hoon Park is on a good trend, there was no way Radette, who was clearly tired, could not be dragged along.

“Probably, Jeon Dae-hun will come up. As long as you’re careful with the forkball, everyone knows that there’s nothing wrong, right? Aim for the slider and enter. Can you?”

“You can!!”

“Maengho, how are you?”

“I am confident.”

As Lee Soo-hyun said, Jeon Dae-hun was a pitcher who lived on forkballs. His average velocity his on his fastball is in the low 140s, and there is a slider he throws to get the count, but it wasn’t enough to be noticed. Of course, he was a pitcher enough to be in the winning group on a strong team like Han Chul, so it could be said that he was the best in the country for a forkball.

According to the data, he once recorded an average ERA of 1 point with that forkball, so it is safe to say that he was at the top of the league for a forkball. Moreover, according to the seniors, Jeon Dae-hoon’s forkball was almost impossible to distinguish from the fastball, so the only way was to aim for the slider that caught the incoming count.

‘… Of course, it has nothing to do with me.’

It might not be for a player whose main weapon is a fast ball, but for a player whose main weapon is a breaking ball, there was nothing to be afraid of. I have Rossby.

The scary thing about a pitcher whose main weapon is a breaking ball is that it is difficult to distinguish between a fastball and a breaking ball, so it is difficult to get the timing.

‘I’ll just have to look at two of them. Let’s go. Mr. Rossby.’

I made up my mind and walked slowly to the plate. He said he was losing by 3 points, but he couldn’t be tricken with defeat on Children’s Day when there were full crowds.

‘Seeing how he pitches for practice, he looks good.’

It was fortunate that Jeon Dae-hoon looked good. Because he’s less likely that the forkball won’t fall. The forkball consumes a lot of grip and sometimes doesn’t fall off, but seeing him practice pitching, I didn’t have to worry about that.

‘The first pitch is a fastball.’

‘Even if I don’t tell you where, I will know. I’ll throw it high, right?’

‘Okay.’

The classic strategy of luring the bat with a low forkball after showing a high fastball. And as classic as it was, it was a strategy that worked tremendously.

‘I’ll skip the first pitch because I have to see the forkball’s trajectory at bat.’

Jeon Dae-hun’s first pitch hits the home plate immediately.

“Strike!”

‘Shh, did you think you should hit it?’

Of course, I thought it would come higher, but the use was not easy. It seemed that he had completely read my thoughts about watching the first pitch. I hit it and was able to send it at least near the fence, but it was a pity.

‘No, let’s not regret it.’

I made up my mind. It wouldn’t have been bad if I sent this ball all the way to the fence, but I’m the lead hitter. In a situation where they are trailing by 3 points, they need to take time for the next batters to get used to Jeon Dae-hoon’s ball. Hitters like Ki Sang-joo or Choi Jin-cheol are hitters who can catch the timing just by looking at the ball a few times, so it was worth putting up with a count.

Besides, to shake the battery, here, the battery has to smash the ball it is most confident about. The probability of throwing a slider increases when you plant the idea that the crystal ball is not invincible.

‘The second ball is also a fastball. Close to the body.’

‘Am I going to use the pokeball as a deciding ball as much as possible?’

“Cheek.”

Jeon Dae-hoon’s second ball went deep into his body.

‘One ball, one strike. You want to throw a forkball? Right?’

‘It’s a slider. Outside.’

However, contrary to my wish, Hancheol’s battery seemed to be thinking of saving the forkball as much as possible. In a two-strike situation where a forkball pitcher is most feared, the will of the battery to use a forkball as a dagger is strongly felt.

‘Okay, then I’ll do whatever you want.’

I swung hard at the flying slider.

“Strike!”

And my swing cut through the air.

“Ah-oh! Fuck! It’s fucking broken!”

I shout out loud as much as I can. So that the battery thinks I’m aiming for a slider.

“Did you just call it a slider?”

‘Done.’

Response came. If this is the case, Lee Yong-gi will think that I am aiming for a slider, right? And I’m sure any catcher like Lee Yong-gi would know that not just me, but everyone on the team thought they were looking for a slider. Well, it’s also true that other players besides me aim for sliders.

And in that situation, if I go for a forkball and create a hit, I can give the battery an illusion. Maengho Ji swung the slider, but hit a forkball? Are the sliders working well today? In this way. A pitcher like Lee Yong-gi who reads the flow of the game quickly had a good chance.

The problem is, I have to hit the pokeball.

‘Pokeball is coming. Low.’

There are two ways to throw a forkball. Lower and lower. Either use a ball that bounces off the ground perfectly and make a miss, or throw it across the low strike zone. It was those two things.

‘If you’re not an idiot, you won’t come in right away from Two Strikes, right?’

‘Okay.’

The first pokeball, I decided to just watch. And Jeon Dae-hoon’s forkball falls sharply.

“Cheek.”

A low ball coming towards the shin. The trajectory is definitely sharp.

‘… But it’s not to the extent that I can’t hit it.’

‘It’s a pokeball again.’

‘OK.’

With my body tense, I waited for Jeon Dae-hun to throw the next ball. Timing as late as possible. With the mindset to only fit the bat.

‘Come!’

Widely!

The ball hit by the bat bounces to the ground and rolls toward the first baseman. Plain foul.

“I heard you’re a folk bowler, isn’t there anything special?”

“…….”

I wanted to talk more, but I kept my mouth shut because if I said more here, there was a chance that I would be caught.

‘Now that I’ve seen the trajectory….’

The third forkball thrown by Jeon Dae-hoon was also kicked up. This time, a foul going into the stands on the first base side. Slowly, I felt that the forkball was starting to get familiar.

‘It’s a slider, far outside.’

‘Good! Do you think things are going according to plan?’

Lee Yong-gi also seemed to feel the situation where the forkball was being hit. I used to swing wrong on the slider, but my head is complicated because I match the timing on the forkball. To further deepen the doubt….

“… Cheek!”

“Whew….”

Make a checkswing and pretend to endure it. Lee Yong-gi appealed to the referee, but the referee’s judgment did not change. Now the situation is full count.

‘It’s a pokeball.’

‘OK.’

Widely! It came a lot lower than I thought, but it was easy to kick it out because I was prepared.

‘Pokeball. Catcher guy, pretty good for a monkey.’

‘Yes?’

‘The ball combination is good. If he was a normal guy, he would have asked for a fastball here….’

To think that Rossby acknowledged Lee Yong-gi’s ball combination…. I wanted to scream in surprise, but Jeon Dae-hun was preparing to pitch, so I focused on my at-bat again. His forkball His first flies in the same trajectory as the fastball, then begins to break sharply.

And my bat was already coming out in line with the trajectory of his forkball.

Right!

The ball hit along the grain of the forkball went far beyond the height of the shortstop.

‘Tch, I hit it right.’

“Nice betting! It was raised well.”

“Ha, I think I got hit right….”

“No, no. My pitch was so good. It went right into the knee.”

The first base coach soothed me, but it didn’t really touch me.

‘Rather than that, what do you mean by good ball combination? It’s a bit awkward for Mr. Rossby to compliment me, isn’t it?’

‘A normal catcher would have asked for a fastball or slider there. Because the forkball is getting hit. But that guy chose a forkball there. Twisted in reverse one more time. A catcher must be born with such a strong heart…. Done. There’s no way a guy who’s never thought about the ball formula can understand it.’

Like what Rosby said, I don’t even know why Rosby thought that, and I’ve never been a catcher or pitcher, so what he was saying didn’t really resonate with me. When he was a pitcher in elementary school, he threw according to the manager’s ball distribution. But the important thing is that Lee Yong-ki was recognized by Rossby. In other words, Lee Yong-gi was a threat to us.

In addition, it was very suggestive that Rossby, who was the batting champion last year and did not say anything about Lee Yong-gi’s batting, acknowledged Lee Yong-gi’s ball combination.

‘I can understand why you guys get pushed back when playing with this team.’

‘What is it?’

‘There’s a big gap between catchers.’

‘Yes? Jung Yoon-cheol is also a veteran in his own way.’

Jeong Yoon-cheol is also a veteran who has been a pro for nearly 20 years. He was such a trusted catcher that he was entrusted with full control over ball placement by the battery coach.

‘Does it look like trash to me?’

But it didn’t seem to fill Rossby’s eyes. Well, I don’t know how many Korean players Rosby has in mind. Although he once admired Kwan-hyung Wu’s self-care, he saw everything else as trash. In other words, Lee Yong-gi’s ball combination was at a similar level to Woo-gwan-hyung’s self-management.

‘I’ll think about it later….’

Now is the time to focus on the game.

The weatherman enters the plate. Gi Sang-ju is a left-handed hitter, so from the point of view of right-handed pitcher Jeon Dae-hun, he must have sealed the slider that was being sucked into his body. Even a slight mismatch is sure to turn into a home run.

In other words, the winner of the gijeonju is Lee Ji-seon of the fastball and the forkball. He was looking at Gak to steal the base, but Lee Yong-gi was not giving him a chance. And the first pokeball thrown, I started running right away,

Right!

The weatherman touched the forkball. A batted ball stuck in the infield. If I hadn’t run first, I was able to settle down to second base on the batted ball that would have been a double hit.

‘Phew…. 2nd base once. If this is the case, the advantage of the ball combination can also be eliminated, right?’

‘Right.’

Even if Rossby praised the ball combination, it was meaningless as long as I was at second base. Just to let you know The team didn’t know the cause of Han Chul’s death yet, but it wasn’t a situation to worry about that right now. Because you have to win

‘Pokeball.’

It’s a forkball from the first pitch…. He secretly conveys the pitch he heard from Rossby to Choi Jin-cheol. It’s subtle, but I can see Choi Jin-cheol’s eyes widening. The expression that I never expected to send an autograph.

‘Please, believe me. A little.’

Soon after, Jeon Dae-hun throws the ball, and Choi Jin-cheol’s swing unfolds beautifully.

Ta-evil!

And a clear, resounding sound.

‘Done! You believed it!’

“Nice!”

Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball disappears under the screen. A two-run home run that reduces the gap by one point! It was unfortunate that I couldn’t hit, but from a team perspective, this was better. Because there are 3 innings left anyway.

“Senior, this is a nice bet!”

“Hey, how did you know?”

After Choi Jin-cheol hit a home run, I followed him into the dugout, and after receiving enthusiastic congratulations from my teammates, Choi Jin-cheol quietly called me out of the dugout.

“Actually, I didn’t know. It looked like I was going to throw a forkball here.”

Since I couldn’t share the autograph of Han Chul, who I didn’t even know, with the team, I told the truth.

“Baby, I knew that.”

Choi Jin-cheol makes a face that says yes. But, why did the person who knew it would believe what I said?

“Yes? Then why did you believe?”

“You are better at guest hitting than I am.”

“Yes?”

“Gessheating is, you are better than me. So you believed And the kid who wasn’t normally like that, so he wanted to be sure of something, right?”

“Yes. Sure, there was. Thank you for trusting us.”

“What is gratitude? You have to believe Didn’t you trust me and ask for advice then? Originally, teams believe in each other like that. Is it not?”

“… Yes. What. I passed it right away though.”

“Since I’ve played against Dae-hoon a lot, well, if you only know that bastard’s pitch, it’s a piece of cake. Anyway, thank you.”

“No. Thank you for trusting me.”

… I didn’t hit After all, are you saying that he is not a hitter who ate the league for nothing and entered the major leagues? In addition, seeing Choi Jin-cheol, who trusted his juniors and took his swing in an uncertain situation, I felt like I could understand why he succeeded.

“Because I’m not thanking you. You’re lucky. If I swung wrong, I tried to fuck it in the dugout. Hehe.”

He did n’t talk behind his back his, and he must have developed respect …. When I looked at Choi Jin-cheol with cold eyes, Choi Jin-cheol laughed out loud and patted my back.

“Ugh.”

‘Fuck, my hands are fucking thick.’

“Let’s go in now. From what I hear, it seems like the inning is over.”

Anyway, 1 point now. The reversal was right in front of my eyes.