Chapter 254 – Chapter 252. Stop Ji Maeng-Ho! (3)

“Why didn’t Baek Kyung-ho come out?”

“Why are you asking me that? And where do you call your senior name carelessly?”

“Are you a senior to you or a senior to me?”

“You stupid bastard.”

UG’s new catcher, unlike Baek Kyung-ho, had quite a sense of hitting. It would be nice to scratch it like this to elicit a reaction.

‘It’s a slider.’

A slider from the first pitch… Could it be outside this time? One decided to watch.

“Cheek.”

And a pitch that sticks outward without a doubt. It seemed like he came out today with a complete determination to play outside. The mindset to give as many walks as possible. Moreover, since it is two outs, even if you steal up to third base, you will not get a point if you do not get a hit.

‘There are two ways. Hit a home run no matter what, or trust Suho sunbaenim.’

I glanced at Kim Su-ho, who was waiting at bat. It was Kim Su-ho, who scored 2 RBIs today with an infield grounder and a hit to the center fielder, but his condition did not look very good. All batted balls were being formed as ground balls.

‘Should I hit a home run after all?’

It was good to push against a pitcher who only throws outward, but it was burdensome for me to push past Jamsil. Because distance is distance, it was hard to hit a home run unless it was hit properly.

‘… Should I still do it?’

2:1, and two out. It was a perfect situation to turn without burden.

‘It’s a fastball.’

“Couldn’t you throw a fastball after a slider like an amateur?”

First, scratch the catcher lightly.

“Cheek.”

“Yeah, that’s a real fastball. How are you catching with that ball combination?”

“Shut up your mouth.”

Two more balls didn’t swing the bat on pitches that seemed to miss, but it seemed to succeed in scratching the catcher.

“I feel sorry for the real pitcher. With a lead like this, you would only get a walk. There’s also a pitcher test, but shouldn’t you be subsidized with your annual salary?”

“Does this bastard play baseball with his mouth?”

Seeing them even swear, it’s time to throw a threat… Usually when the catcher was scratched like this, there were many cases where a threat ball flew in, but it seemed that UG had decided not to give a good ball today, so it was a little ambiguous.

‘Fastball.’

‘Could it be the body side?’

Rossby didn’t answer, but he didn’t really care. The average velocity of opposing pitchers is in the mid-140s. He was a restraint that was not unreasonable to see and strike.

‘Let’s slip outside for a moment.’

I moved my foot away from home plate, praying for my side to come. In this way, there was a high probability of getting a strike on a full course outside, but with this much scratched, even the catcher would throw it toward the body if he had pride. If he was closer to the strike zone than his body, he waited for the pitcher to pitch, thinking of forcibly hitting it.

“Cheek.”

And the outside ball that follows.

‘What the hell are these motherfuckers preparing for? Are you still throwing the outside ball?’

If I had been the catcher of a weak team, it would have been the timing for a threat ball to come out of my body, but maybe it was because I was the catcher of the strong team UG, I felt like I didn’t care at all about my provocation.

At this point, the double hit in the first at-bat made me regret it even more. He should have passed the ball, but it was quite disappointing to see that he pulled it out more thoroughly after hitting the double.

‘Well, there’s no way there’s a crazy catcher who’ll compete with me in a situation where there are no two-out runners. If this happens, it’s a change of strategy.’

I think it was wrong to receive a good ball during this series. If so, you have no choice but to move on to the next operation.

“Base on Balls.”

I trusted Kim Soo-ho and went on base with a walk.

‘If I’m not feeling well, I can make it better.’

At second base, he informs Kim Soo-ho of the pitch. Looking at the situation, it seemed that there would be many opportunities to steal bases throughout this series. So it seemed that it wouldn’t matter if I gave up at least one base and stopped at second base.

“Are you going to run again? Under… Even if you have a good stealing rate, you didn’t run this far during the season, did you?”

“I keep giving walks to steal bases, what should I do? I have to run. If you keep fighting outside, you will keep running.”

After talking with first baseman Jin-mo Koo to determine the timing, I ran toward second base in a one-strike-to-ball situation. The result is, of course, safe. I even felt like they had given up trying to catch me.

‘First, second base arrives.’

And at second base, Kim Soo-ho’s eyes met. UG is a club that is famous for changing the catcher’s sign every series, so the sign has never been exposed, but it has nothing to do with me.

‘Mr. Rossby, old species.’

‘Ttsk, anyone who sees it will know that it was entrusted to them. It’s a curve.’

Rossby tells the type of pitch while grunting.

‘Okay. Curve.’

To make sure that his heart was not in vain, he delivered Kim Soo-ho’s autograph with a hand signal. Looking at Kim Suho’s expression, he seemed to recognize the sign I gave him.

‘Senior Suho, please hit just one! I can’t miss it!’

All that remains is for Kim Soo-ho to swing the bat, believing in me. However, the one-strike-to-ball situation turned into two-strike-to-ball when I stole base. In this situation, can Kim Soo-ho trust me and swing the bat?

UG’s cause of death has never been exposed, so I know it won’t be easy to believe me. But I want you to trust me this time…

Ta-evil!

And as if my prayer worked, Kim Soo-ho skillfully countered the downward curve. A batted ball that flies between center fielder and right fielder. As soon as the ball hit the bat, I ran home.

The outfielder was famous for his good defense, so he would normally be looking at the ball from second base. But now two out. A situation where you have to run. He ran all the way to home, hoping that Kim Soo-ho’s batted ball would land where the outfielder could not catch it.

– Wow!

And the shouts that come. The sound was quite loud.

‘Done!’

If there is a cheer like this in Jamsil, you must be a fan of ours. With my free time, I glanced toward the right fielder. And as I expected, the batted ball landed between center field and right field, and no fielder could catch it.

“Nice!”

Match! After stepping on the home base and giving a high-five to Ki Sang-joo, who was waiting in the waiting at-bat, when I looked back toward the ground, Kim Su-ho was running to second base. And Kim Soo-ho, who arrived at second base, and the outfielder’s throw, which arrived before Kim Soo-ho.

“Out!”

“And… Look at Choi Jae-hyun’s apology.”

The 5th inning ended like that as the sigh of the weatherman was heard. It was a ball worth trying for second base, but UG’s right fielder Choi Jae-hyun’s throw was very good.

‘Is this really UG? Come to think of it, did you say that guy was also selected for the Asian Games? It looks like he became a national team through Go-Stop.’

It was regrettable that the inning ended like this, but I had no choice but to be satisfied here because it was an advantage just by adding one point. The expression of Kim Su-ho, who was out from second base and walked to the dugout, looked quite dark, probably because he was out.

“Cabi, cavi. It deserved to be a double.”

“I’m sorry, Sangju. I went all the way to second base and tried to create some chances, but why didn’t I wait?”

“No, it was worth a try, brother.”

“Oops. Missita. And a fierce tiger.”

“Yes?”

“How did you know it was a curve?”

“Since it’s just two strikes, it felt like the timing to throw a curveball. You know I look good.”

“Yes, I am a crazy person who believed in you in that situation, but you are also a crazy person who told me with certainty.”

“Just trust me.”

“Hyung, I’ve also hit a few times from behind a fierce tiger, but it’s like a ghost to find out the pitch of this kid. It’s like looking into the catcher’s head. Very.”

‘It’s not in the catcher’s head, but inside the pitcher’s glove.’

I answered the words of the weatherman and walked to the dugout. Now we need to focus on defense. I wasn’t too worried because Bellingham was in good shape, but it was more important to focus on that. A 2-point difference was not a score to be relieved of, and the more the difference was, the more often the game was split in errors.

‘And I have to win today so that those bastards can’t use this method again.’

I went into the game with increased concentration. In the beginning of the 6th inning, there was a slight crisis as Bellingham allowed 1 run, but Bellingham, who showed good condition, finished the game with 2 runs in 7 innings, and UG also replaced the starting pitcher in the 6th inning, competing for the top spot in the league. The bullpen was activated.

In that way, a tight score of 3:2 was maintained until my at-bat came back at the end of the 8th inning, and I faced my fourth at-bat as the lead batter.

The pitcher is Yoon Jung-hwan, who took the position of setup man at UG. He usually comes out of a winning situation, but seeing him come out of a losing situation like this, I could feel the UG dugout’s desire to catch today’s game.

‘Well, since I rubbed Bellingham this much as a substitute starter, I must be greedy. By the way, Yoon Joong-hwan…’

Yoon Joong-hwan, that guy was a pitcher with whom I had a lot of connections. He earned a first-team spot while catching me, so it’s safe to say he’s practically the son I raised.

‘And I’m strict with my children’s education. Let’s meet today, Junghwan!’

Of course, he was an infinitely caring father to my own son.

‘Crazy bastard. Even though I’ve never raised a child before.’

‘Why, Hyejin noona is raising my son. Can’t we just say that she’s the father of two children?’

By the way, Hyejin noona is sending me pictures of Hojin’s growing up via chat these days, and when she saw that, it made her want to have another child. Every time I have sex with Hyejin noona, I coolly wrap it with a no-con, but it was a bit disappointing that there was no news yet.

“Shouldn’t you give Dad a good ball?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Did you hear?”

“What kind of dad is a 21-year-old? Are you really out of your mind?”

“A sudden personal attack? Let’s play a game with real manners.”

“… Crazy bastard.”

What kind of ball will Yoon Joong-hwan throw? He hasn’t met at the plate since the sniper ceremony the other day, so what kind of ball will he throw this time?

‘Wouldn’t a pitcher avoid the game even after being hit with such a ceremony? Son, your father never raised you like that. Mr. Rossby! What about the ball?’

‘It’s a fastball.’

Is it a fastball too? There are two types of his fastball: a fastball that flies while bending like a two-seam, and a fastball that comes straight with the feeling of a rising fastball. In addition, the restraint was quite fast, so it was difficult to deal with. In the previous home run, I was able to hit the home run easily because Rossby gave me the location of the ball against the guy who got the ball, but this time there was no such help, so he needed to approach it carefully.

And the guy’s ball was thrown.

“Strike!”

The first pitch is a fastball that curves like a snake. He thought he was going outside, but he broke and stabbed the strike zone’s border line exactly.

‘When I saw it in the video, my first pitch wasn’t like this… Did you throw it on purpose, Mr. Rossby?’

‘No. He was trying to pull it all the way out.’

In other words, the guy’s first pitch is Porok. After all, people don’t develop that easily.

I allowed a strike on an unexpected ball, but I didn’t feel bad. It was because I could feel the strong will that only a hitter could feel in his ball.

‘I think this bastard intends to compete with me? After all, my son!’

I licked my lips and loaded my bat.