Chapter 239 – Chapter 237. Comeback. (2)

‘This bastard gets hit like a home run and is fucking whining.’

I tried to comfort him because the starting pitcher had a dead face, but this isn’t a school. I couldn’t help but be annoyed. Still, I was a little sorry for making a mistake, so I comforted him, but I can’t believe that a pitcher deserves to die like this.

‘Oh, pitchers these days are weak.’

‘The guy who made the mistake lived on.’

‘I can earn that. And how many times have I given you a favor so far?’

So I was confident. What’s the point of making one mistake?

“We lost three points from the first inning, but we can turn around enough. Joo-yeop. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Go and harass your opponent.”

After hearing manager Lee Soo-hyun’s words, batsman Kim Joo-yeop took a bat and headed to the plate with a solemn expression. Familiar but missed look. Seeing that, I realized that I was back in Jamsil. When you were defending earlier, did you feel like something was floating? So it seemed like I made a mistake.

‘As expected, baseball requires swinging the bat.’

Looking at Kim Joo-yeop’s back, I also grabbed my bat. Even during the break, I continued to swing the bat, but the feeling of the bat I touched during the game was different from what I had caught during training.

Right!

The sound of Kim Joo-yeop’s hitting sounds just in time. Joo-yeop Kim hit a ball from JT starter Joe Kennett and succeeded in getting on base.

“Good start!”

“Kim Joo-yeop is cool!”

You can feel the vitality of the dugout with just one run. Such vitality did not seem to cool down even though Kim Su-ho failed to reach base.

“Senior, how is the ball?”

On the way to the standby at-bat, I caught Kim Soo-ho returning from an outfield fly and asked Kennett’s condition.

“The ball is heavy. Maybe it’s because it’s getting hotter, so you seem much better than the last time we met.”

“Okay, check.”

After a long Q&A with Kim Su-ho, he went to the waiting table. Watching Kennett’s ball in the waiting at-bat, I felt a heavy pitch, just like Kim Su-ho said.

‘Is this because he’s a mercenary? I look forward to it.’

Kennett isn’t currently dominating the league, but still, mercenaries are mercenaries. He had no intention of being caught off guard on his first at-bat, so he recalled information about Kennett from the pregame meeting.

‘Redemption is in the early 150s. The last time we met, he was in his mid-140s, but it feels like he came up because it was summer, and the deciding ball is a changeup… , Wouldn’t throw a changeup against me. Leave this behind Then, the only thing I should be careful about is the high-speed slider?’

Kennett’s slider was in the 140km/h range, so he deserved plenty of attention. While the slider usually thrown by Korean pitchers is formed in the 130km/h range, it is as fast as 10km/h. First of all, I decided to skip the slider to see if my batting sense had risen enough to be used in practice. No matter how much I wielded the bat alone and practiced in my imagination with Rossby, the real feel was another matter.

‘I don’t want the timing to get messy, so let’s start with the fastball.’

As I was examining Kennett’s pitch carefully, the bat of a meteorologist flashed.

Right!

A hit that accurately penetrated the first and second basemen. Runner on first base, Kim Joo-yeop, stopped at second base at the speed of the batted ball. 1 company 1st, 2nd base situation.

“How are you? It’s perfect for a return hit. Yes?”

Entering the batter’s box, he greets the catcher and umpire.

“Don’t talk to me.”

In response to my friendly greeting, JT’s main catcher reacted coldly to my words. Of course, the reaction was not unusual. It’s been a while since the gunners reacted coldly to my words.

“Hey, let’s talk a little bit. Still, it’s a job, so I’m talking to my co-workers. Is it good?”

“Did that bastard smash the pitcher’s jaw? He said he couldn’t even chew a meal until a week ago.”

“Oh yeah? It was the first time I knew that.”

I’ve seen a lot of bench clearing, but I’ve never seen a follow-up article, and I didn’t interview with reporters because of Soyoung’s strict order, so it was the first time I heard it today.

‘Ah, now that I think of it, it seems Wonho said something similar.’

That day, Wonho contacted me and said that my senior was taken to the hospital. I didn’t listen because it was a call from Rita, but now that I think about it, it seems that the senior who was taken away was Lee Chang-jun.

“In addition, Donghyun said that his arm ligaments were stretched.”

“Who is Donghyun?”

“Don’t you know, Donghyun? Shinra Catcher. The one you blew.”

“Oh yeah? I don’t remember well about players with no characteristics.”

“… Aren’t you my name?”

“… We focus on the game.”

I didn’t have the hobby of memorizing male names, so if it wasn’t a memorable player, my opponents tended to forget it after the game. It’s not that I’m stupid and can’t remember.

“…”

“…”

‘It’s a slider.’

‘Yes.’

The first pitch is a slider. I decided to skip it, so I watched Kennett’s first pitch.

“Cheek.”

‘The ball is good. Well, I’m not the type to say things without Suho sunbaenim.’

Kennett’s ball was quite good, as if Kim Su-ho’s words were not lies out of shame that he had resigned as a criminal.

‘Slider again.’

Slider after outer slider…

“Strike~!”

This time, Kennett’s slider is inserted low to the body. As I watched the sliders come twice in a row, I started to get used to his sliders.

‘Should I just hit it?’

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘As expected, I’m not throwing the slider again.’

‘No idiot would throw the same ball to the same hitter three times in a row. Hehe.’

‘I guess so.’

As the conversation with Rossby ended, Kennett took the set position. He took a deep breath and the guy threw a four-seamer. I swung my bat in line with his restraint.

Ta-evil!

‘Done!’

A taste that has been around for a long time. The ball started flying through the sky at Jamsil Stadium.

‘It’s going to be hard to catch, and I’m not sure if I’m going to go over it or not.’

“Run! Run!”

First base runner Ki Sang-joo and second base runner Kim Joo-yeop were already running home, and I also sped up.

‘Where’s the ball?’

‘The left fielder is about to catch it.’
When I asked Rossby a question to determine if he was sliding when he reached second base, the answer came back that the left fielder was on the verge of catching it. I thought it was going to pass when I tasted it, but it was a bit disappointing. But now the left fielder caught it. I quickly calculated the distance.

‘If this… Run to third base?’

‘I guess.’

Seeing Rossby’s ambiguous answer, I thought it might be overkill. However, it was disappointing that the first at-bat of his return ended with a double.

‘I just run!’

Stepping on second base, I increased my speed. Even the time to check the batted ball is a luxury. Anyway, when the time came, Rossby would tell me the sliding direction, so I trusted him and ran to third base.

“Hey! What are you doing! Go back!”

The third base coach stopped me with an urgent gesture, but it was too late. JT’s third baseman bent his knee to receive the ball, and I was almost there too.

‘To the left!’

At Rossby’s words, I reached out to the left side of the base. At the same time, the third baseman’s glove, which was facing the left fielder, turned toward me. And almost as soon as my foot touched the base, his glove hit my thigh and passed by.

‘Write, is it out?’

After stepping on the base, he stood up and waited for the third base referee’s decision, but for a few seconds there was silence on the ground.

“… Safe!”

And the following safe declaration.

“Nice! This is it!”

I looked straight toward first base and stretched out my fist. The cheers of the crowd that accompany my gestures. It tastes like this too!

“Good, fierce tiger!”

“Was it close?”

“It would be nice if they even took out the criticism, but they don’t seem to be using it.”

“Iknow, right.”

It was almost the same timing, so I thought that the third baseman might request a video review, but JT’s third baseman didn’t particularly apply for a video review. It seems that the person who defended had a feeling.

“Well, it’s nice that it doesn’t take time for nothing.”

Even in my senses, it felt like my feet touched a little bit first, so the choice of third baseman was a pretty good decision.

“Maengho, be nervous. You can come in anytime.”

“All right.”

1 out 3 base. Perfect situation to score. The hitter there was Choi Jin-cheol. A situation where you can come in unconditionally unless it is a clumsy ball such as a strikeout, a pitcher’s ground ball, or an infield fly. JT’s bench was also at the end of the first inning, so it didn’t feel like he was playing forward defense.

And,

Right!

Choi Jin-cheol ran the ball into the sky without disappointing his expectations. Choi Jin-cheol’s batted ball flew for quite a while, and he went into the center fielder’s glove. I leisurely stepped on the groove while watching the ball.

“Nice fly.”

He handed over the bat he picked up at home and handed it to Choi Jin-cheol while talking. Choi Jin-cheol’s expression as he received the bat looked quite satisfied.

“Juru was good.”

“I believed in you and ran. Lol.”

“Fucking, funny. By the way, how does your hand taste before returning?”

“Is it good? If it wasn’t for Jamsil, I think I would have passed unconditionally?”

“That’s what makes Jamsil annoying.”

Choi Jin-cheol’s sincere words. Well, Choi Jin-cheol suffered quite a bit in Jamsil, so I could understand his feelings. Before Choi Jin-cheol hit his heyday, there must have been many factors as to why his potential exploded after going down to Gwangju after struggling in Jamsil, but there must have been psychological pressure felt when he looked at the wall from the plate in Jamsil. The wall seen from Jamsil’s at-bat was far enough to be burdensome.

To be honest, lately I’ve been feeling that Jamsil is a bit annoying. One of the reasons why I swung my fist at Lee Chang-joon without hesitation was that it was a match in Jamsil. In my heart, I wanted to ask So-young to pull the fence.

“Still, when I look at the fans, there is no one place like this place. Isn’t it?”

Before entering the dugout, Choi Jin-cheol speaks while watching the full crowd of fans.

“It is.”

And I agreed with that too. Seeing the fans wearing striped uniforms and filling the Jamsil room, the irritation caused by the distance from the fence would disappear like snow.

‘Well, that’s 1~2m. I just need to hit farther.’

“Bastard, you’ve already become AT-Man.”

“I’m a pure-blooded AT man unlike anyone else, right?”

“A guy who hasn’t been around for a year… Bastard. I was an AT player even before you went to elementary school.”

“But you went to another club.”

“This bastard doesn’t say a word. Hey, come to work!”

I ran quickly to avoid Choi Jin-cheol’s hands and entered the dugout.