Chapter 273 – Episode 271. You Play Dirty. (2)

While facing three batters, the Chinese starting pitcher threw only three balls. There were only balls that missed absurdly. The ball hit by Kim Hwan-young was a missed throw that entered the zone, and the ball hit by Joo Seung-cheol was a ball about one deep toward the body.

‘If Seungcheol hadn’t hit me, it would have been a strike. Then let’s think about it. I guess this means that 1 or 2 balls will be considered strikes, right? Wow, it would be nice if I threw a miss at my at-bat too… First, if they come in the same way, I will have to hit them all. Looking at Dongjin’s expression, he seemed really embarrassed… I shouldn’t be like that.’

He felt embarrassed if he became the victim of a prank, so he steeled himself and went to bat.

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘Okay. Still, it looks like they won’t skip it.’

I waited for the pitcher’s first pitch with the thought that I would hit it as soon as it came, but unfortunately, the ball hit far outside.

“Ball.”

‘No matter how blind I am, I won’t be able to give this a strike.’

About four balls fell. It was a ball that could not produce a strike even in elementary baseball.

“[But I guess you did some analysis? Seeing how far it goes from the first pitch?]”

“… ! … ! … !”

“Fuck, what are you saying? Speak in English, bitch.”

I tried to give the catcher a little scratch, but unfortunately he didn’t seem to know English. At that time, the coach sent an autograph. A sign that the runner on first base runs and whether to hit is left to the batter’s discretion.

‘Sweet, but if Seungcheol runs, won’t he definitely skip me?’

Looking at the first pitch, it seemed like there was some analysis done, but I thought that if first base was empty, they would definitely skip me. Looking at Joo Seung-cheol’s ability to steal bases, there was no thought of failure at all, so if Joo Seung-cheol stole second base, it was as if a walk was scheduled.

‘I should just hit him.’

I was already annoyed for many reasons, including the doping test, but I didn’t want to get on base with a walk, so I decided to hit anyway and waited for the pitcher’s second pitch.

‘It’s a change-up.’

‘Huh? Changeup? Well, it’s been a fucking long time since I hit a changeup. I guess I wasn’t able to do this level of analysis recently because there wasn’t any data?’

I don’t know if it’s because there is no data or because the analysis was not done properly, but I can’t believe you chose the changeup. A change-up is a ball intended to deceive the batter. There was a high probability that it would fly near the strike zone.

‘The fastball velocity is in the upper 130s, so will it be around 120? Hmm…, But it’s fascinating.’

‘What? Throwing a changeup at you?’

‘No. Being able to throw a changeup.’

Among Chinese pitchers, there is a player who can throw a changeup. It was a bit surprising.

While talking with Rossby, the pitcher took a setup position and soon threw the ball. The speed is noticeably slower than the fastball I saw as the first pitch. He fixed his lower body and swung the bat while watching the ball until the end.

‘Uh? Fuck. The ball… ?’

Ta – yep!

The sound of the ball splitting is heard, and the batted ball flies far away. However, when I hit the ball with a loud hitting sound, I instinctively felt that something was wrong.

‘Will it pass?’

The ball flew far, but the launch angle was too high. Kim Hwan-young was preparing to retouch at third base, and Joo Seung-cheol, who had run to second base, returned to between first and second base.

As the runners settled in, the batted ball gradually came down, and the batted ball, which had a high launch angle, lost its power and ended up hitting the fence. Of course, China’s center fielder couldn’t catch my ball.

“Oh, fuck.”

The result was a double that only brought in Kim Hwan-young. It was my mistake not to be able to turn a ball like this into a home run.

“It was a waste, Meng Hao. I can’t believe you can’t handle a changeup. It almost feels like I’m seeing you for the first time, right? Is that guy’s changeup that good?”

The coach spoke to him while handing him a base-running glove. Even the coach seemed surprised that I couldn’t hit a home run.

“That’s not it. It’s so lame.”

“Huh?”

The reason it didn’t become a home run was simple. Even though his changeup was bad, it was terrible. Of course, I hit his ball thinking it was at the KBA level and knowing it would bend, but his ball was just a slow fastball and there was no change.

Even a changeup, no matter how unchanged it was, was bound to fall below the fastball, but there was no such change in his changeup at all. It was entirely my mistake. My mistake was overestimating him.

“Somehow.”

“Please tell me that his changeup is just a slow fastball.”

“Okay.”

The coach who received protective equipment returns.

‘Fuck, aren’t you really going to end up like this if you keep going like this? I shouldn’t get used to these bastards…’

Since my level was so low, I was afraid that I would adapt to them. While I was wondering if I should train hard when I return, Lee Yong-gi, who came out as the 5th hitter, hit the ball.

Perfect!

An unreasonable hit that seems to be conscious of the strike zone. The ball hit by Lee Yong-gi headed toward the shortstop. Fortunately, I was running from the moment I hit, so there was no chance of me being out at third base, and the shortstop probably thought it was too late to hit home, so he threw the ball to first base.

“First!”

When I stepped on third base and looked toward first base, I felt something strange.

“Uh? That?! Be careful!”

The first baseman’s foot was deep into the first base. Since it is a national team game, Lee Yong-gi does his best to reach first base. And the first baseman’s feet are blocking such exploitation. The good news was that the speed of the driver who was running as best as he could was slow.

The ball thrown by the shortstop arrived at first base before Lee Yong-gi, and Lee Yong-gi must have noticed the situation and slowed down to avoid the first baseman.

“Out!”

And then an out is declared. I saw Lee Yong-gi looking at the first base umpire and saying something, but I couldn’t hear his voice because the distance was far away. As if the conversation didn’t go well, Lee Yong-gi huffed and returned to the dugout.

‘You did that on purpose, right?’

‘As an expert, it seems like it was intentional, but these guys’ level is so low that I’m not sure.’

‘It seems like it was intentional to me… ‘You guys, are you having fun playing this game?’

From ball decisions to defense. I heard that China plays dirty games, but I never imagined it would be to this extent. So my heart trembled slightly.

‘It went well. I need to relieve some stress.’

If the other person acted like that, I had nothing to hesitate.

Perfect!

Choi Si-woo’s hit comes out just in time. I went home comfortably, and the score became 3 points. As soon as I entered the dugout, I approached Lee Yong-gi.

“Senior.”

“Huh?”

“You put that kid’s leg in there on purpose, right?”

Last check. Whether it was intentional is best felt by the person involved. If it was intentional…

“I think so? Anyway, you play the game so fucking dirty. Do you think you can win if you do that? “That guy caught a glimpse of me running and put his foot in her.”

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

“Yes, you too, be careful. Well, you wouldn’t hit a ground ball if you had to.”

“You never know. Haha.”

Confirmation has also been completed.

‘It must be fun for the first time in a long time.’

The first inning ended with Rossby’s excited voice. I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be easy to defend after watching the Chinese play, so I prepared myself and packed my gloves.

*

[There was an unclear ball decision, but the first inning ended with the Korean baseball team scoring 3 runs.]

[In fact, if the strike is set that wide, there is nothing the batter can do. I am proud of scoring 3 points.]

[Now the Korean starting pitcher is on the mound. Korea’s starting pitcher is the future Buffaloes’ Jang Woo-joo. He has a 2.71 earned run average, 10 wins, 6 losses, and 176 strikeouts this season.]

[Jang Woo-joo, along with Ji Maeng-ho, the national team’s fourth hitter, can be seen as the future of Korean baseball. He is a pitcher with great pitching skills who won 10 games even while the Future Buffaloes were in the bottom half of the league. His main weapon is a fastball that can reach 100 mph, or 160 km/h. Although it is a drawback that there are a few home runs, it means that we will have a cool game, so we can look forward to some cool pitching content today as well.]

[What do you think are the key points to watch? Commissioner?]

[The point to watch is the strike zone, right? I wonder if the strike zone will remain the same as in the top of the first inning, or if the referee will modify the strike zone.]

[Commissioner, your remarks…]

The caster intervenes in response to the commentator’s angry remarks. However, fans watching the broadcast felt that the commentator’s remarks were refreshing. The fans were also excited by the ridiculous strike zone and the first baseman’s dangerous actions.

[Oh, sorry. Well, it doesn’t matter to this player whether the strike zone is wide or narrow. 100 miles is not called the redemption of dreams for nothing. A ball you can’t hit even if you know it. That is Jang Woo-joo’s fastball.]

And then the helmet of Jang Woo-ju began.

“Strike!”

A 156 km/h fastball that came into the middle of the strike. In the KBA, it was a pitch that top pitchers sometimes showed, but it was a speed I had never seen before as a Chinese player, so I couldn’t even dare to swing the bat and ended up watching the ball.

“Strike!”

“Swing strike! Out!”

[Three pitches, three strikes! Of course, it is Jang Woo-joo!]

[I swung the bat at the end, but it was clear that I swung it because I was being chased, right? You can’t hit Jang Woo-joo’s ball with that kind of swing.]

Jang Woo-joo, who caught the leadoff hitter, gathered momentum and struck out the second hitter as well, increasing the out count. And the third batter who came to bat. Jang Woo-soo threw the ball as usual, and the ball he threw hit the corner of his body as the ball shook.

“Ball!”

Normally, it would have been a strike in a good position where no good ball would come out, but this is China’s home. Of course, it was ruled a ball.

[Ah, this ball becomes a ball.]

And at the end of a full count game, a walk was declared.

“The referee is a bastard! Aren’t you doing it right? Have you sold your conscience?”

There were swear words in Korean from the stands, but the referee remained silent, his expression not changing at all. Not only did I not understand, but even if I did, the referee’s expression would not have changed.

The reason the referee made this biased decision was simple. Although there was a home advantage, the Chinese baseball world was putting their lives and death on this Asian Games. The Chinese baseball world was in ruin due to the national disaster and the disastrous WBC performance, and since it was necessary to win a medal to revive the baseball world, the referee knew that his actions were wrong, but he steadfastly continued to make biased decisions.〈 Br〉

“It’s space. “Don’t worry about it, just send one to your brother.”

And there was another person whose expression did not change even amid such biased judgment. It was second baseman Ji Maeng-ho. The moment the national team, comprised of young players, got heated up due to a ridiculous walk, Ji Maeng-ho’s expression was calmer than anyone else’s.

“Okay.”

After hearing Ji Menghao’s encouragement, Zhang Wuji nodded his head confidently.

[Now China’s number 4 hitter comes to bat. This is Chen Tao.]

[He is currently a player for Sichuan Lions, a Chinese club, and as far as I know, he has one year of experience playing in the AA league, right? Of course, he went back to China right away, but he is the only Chinese player with minor league experience.]

Chen Tao, China’s number 4 hitter, is the only hitter among the Chinese players who have played in the minor league. He was the only batsman who had ever experienced a pitch near 160.

[Jang Woo-joo throws the first pitch!]

Jang Woo-joo threw the ball towards Chen Tao as if he was dealing with other players.

Damn!

And Chen Tao, as someone with minor league experience, succeeded in making contact with Jang Woo-joo’s ball. However, Chen Tao’s bat was too fast,

[It’s an ordinary second baseman’s grounder, right?]

The ball got stuck in the infield. Chen Tao’s batted ball headed toward the second baseman at a fairly high speed, and the runner on first base, who had reached base due to a walk, started running toward second base at full speed. The runner on first base also knew that the umpires were on his side, so the direction in which the runner on first base ran was near Ji Maeng-ho’s defensive position. A base running play that shows the runner’s will to interfere with the defense even a little.

‘Of course it comes out like shit, right?’

Ji Maeng-ho, who glanced at the runner’s location from the corner of his eye, dashed forward and succeeded in catching the ball in front of the runner.

“First!”

[As expected of Ji Maeng-ho! You won’t miss a ball like this, right?]

At a time when everyone watching the game was thinking about an easy grounder to second base,

[Huh? Sorry!]

Ji Maeng-ho’s throw flew in a different direction from the first baseman’s mitt.

“Aaaaah!”