Chapter 280 – Episode 278. Asian Games. (4)

“Ball!”

‘Oh, have you finally come to your senses?’

In the bottom of the first inning, Taiwan’s starting pitcher, who had been cheekily hitting a fastball toward the body from the first pitch, threw the ball wide outside. Perhaps he was humbled after hitting a home run in the first inning. In the top of the 4th inning, they made up 1 point and the score was 1 point, so the pitcher deserved to throw humbly.

“Ball!”

See you again. I can feel the emotion in his balls. That feeling is fear. The pitcher was definitely scared. I didn’t feel any pressure from the guy’s ball, which was hitting around 150.

‘Well, Hoesim’s fastball went over the body, but it’s scary. It’s too arrogant than that. There is no pitcher in Korea who throws like that, so how dare a minor leaguer throw a ball like that at me.’

‘This time it’s a slider.’

‘Slider?’

It was a slider minus the two balls. Are you saying you want to come in? I felt like the tension in my muscles that had been relieved after seeing his ball came back. After fully concentrating on the guy’s movements, he waited for the ball.

“Ball!”

“Huh?”

The slider he threw was also a missed ball.

‘Because it was a two-ball game, I thought he would come in to catch at least one…’

The slider also fell outside, bringing the count to three balls. A somewhat familiar situation.

‘Are you saying you want to skip it? Ha, I guess these bastards did their research halfway? Did I not run too well in this Asian Games?’

Battery’s intention was obvious as he made a three-ball with a breaking ball. A ploy to filter me out. However, there were almost no clubs that filtered me out without any out counts. Because I had a base running ability that was as threatening as my hitting.

“[Yes, filter it. Oh, you don’t speak English?]”

“[Be quiet.]”

And then the walk that followed. Nothing was different from what I expected.

‘Fuck, if you’re going to do this, why don’t you just filter it out as an automatic intentional phrase? It’s just a waste of time, and I’m only showing off my pride.’

It was obvious that the Taiwanese coach would be criticized if he made an automatic, intentional throw when there was no one on the floor, so I could understand the Taiwanese coach to a certain extent, but I couldn’t help but feel like it was a waste of time.

‘Are you going to run this time too?’

Since he had not stolen a single base since the Asian Games started, Rossby asked a question.

‘I have to run. We might meet in the finals, so we have to make it, so they can’t miss it.’

The answer to that question is of course ‘YES’. It created a good situation for running in a situation where there were no runners, so there was no reason not to run. Moreover, until the bottom of the 4th inning, the score difference was only 1 point. It was a situation where I had to run for victory.

‘Then, Mr. Rossby, please do this again.’

‘Yes.’

How dare you filter me out? You are behind.

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘Okay.’

‘Give me a break from the fastball.’

“Ball!”

‘Curve.’

And the curve thrown in. I quickly ran to second base. The catcher stood up and threw the ball, but the ball arrived only after he stepped on second base and stood up.

‘It’s easy.’

Stealing Taiwan’s second base was easy as expected. Well, no one has ever arrested me in the KBA League, so it’s probably a natural result. There was no way Taiwan’s gunner could catch me.

‘Good.’

When Lee Yong-gi gave me a thumbs up, I responded with a thumbs up and waited for the game to resume. I can feel the Taiwanese pitcher glancing at me.

‘Why? Is it different from when you see it in the video? ‘I have no idea how to get the timing right?’

The Taiwanese pitcher’s expression was one that I had seen countless times in the league. Even though they come from different countries, is there something that pitchers have in common? Of course, I had no intention of seeing that. And I ran toward third base at the timing of the breaking ball.

“Safe!”

This time, the ball arrived right before I stood up, but that doesn’t stop me from stealing. When I brushed the dirt off my uniform and looked toward the plate, Lee Yong-gi was clapping.

‘If you’ve fed me this much, please raise my RBI.’

‘Of course.’

After talking with Lee Yong-gi with his eyes, the game resumes.

Perfect!

And Lee Yong-gi did not miss the moment when the pitcher was shaking. A clean hit between left field and center field. Taking advantage of Lee Yong-gi’s batted ball, he hit home without much effort, resulting in a 2-point difference.

“Nice!”

“Wow, shit! “This guy is really fucking fast!”

“It was good!”

With the scores added after the first inning, the atmosphere in the dugout heated up again. As if the atmosphere of the dugout was conveyed, 6th batter Choi Si-woo also showed off a clean swing,

Ta – Aak!

As the ball hit the fence, Lee Yong-gi, who was on second base, came home.

“Wow, I thought I was going to die from running.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, you were all good too.”

Lee Yong-gi, who succeeded in scoring an RBI and a run, sat next to me with a triumphant expression and spoke in a soft tone.

“Well, it’s just a minor stolen base.”

“Hey, but how do you run like that? “Isn’t it scary to run because Taiwanese catchers don’t have much information?”

“Hey, what are you afraid of? Just…”

When I was trying to answer Lee Yong-gi’s question, I felt something strange.

“Hey, senior. Do you think I’ll give away trade secrets just because of that?”

“Sseu-eup, we’ve all crossed over, Kabi.”

Lee Yong-gi looks regretful. Somehow, he suddenly came next to me. Even during training, I was avoiding asking questions about this and that, but you took advantage of this opportunity during the game when I was distracted to ask questions. I almost let him know that he runs by timing his breaking ball.

‘He looks friendly, but he’s really like a fox.’

“Don’t do that, just tell me. Huh? Aren’t you a teammate of the national team? How do you get the timing right?”

“How do you get the timing right? Just fucking run. Trust your feet.”

“Write it. “This steal success rate makes no sense.”

‘Think about it for the rest of your life. Shall I tell you?’

Of course, even if I worry about it for the rest of my life, Lee Yong-gi will never know my secret.

“Ha, I really think there’s some kind of secret…”

“What’s the secret? Even seniors can become as fast as me if they work out hard.”

“I’m sure I’ll find out someday. Really. “Don’t cry when you catch me later.”

“Is there anyone in the world who cries after failing to steal a base? It’s just, oh, you’re caught. “I don’t.”

“… That’s right.”

While we were chatting with Yonggi Lee, our attack came to an end. The Taiwanese pitcher finished the inning without being as shaken as expected.

‘Before entering the game, I heard that he was at the level of a Korean mercenary, but he certainly seems to have that level of skill. Well, it’s there.’

Still, should I say it’s fun because it’s not a one-sided match? After that, the game continued tightly.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, with 2 outs and 2nd base, my at-bat came back, and I got on base with an automatic intentional walk, but I failed to score, and starting pitcher Chae Jae-hyun allowed 1 more run in the top of the 6th, narrowing the score to 2 runs. .

However, in the top of the 7th inning, Taiwan’s starting pitcher Yu Wei-ming came off the mound leaving two runners on base, and Joo Seung-cheol’s hit, bringing the score back to 3 runs. And then came my turn at bat.

And,

Ta – Aak!

He kicked the ball from a substandard Taiwanese pitcher over the fence, and after that, the game went loose and the game against Taiwan ended with a score of 7:2.

“Ji Maeng-ho! Today, he hit two home runs and two walks, getting on base 100% of the time, and was selected as the best player of today’s game. How do you feel?”

“It feels good to have confirmed the finals. “I want to win the remaining matches against Japan and the finals and make the people happy with all wins.”

“I think the people will be really happy to see Ji Maeng-ho’s performance. And with today’s game, we are setting an incredible record of 9 hits in 10 at-bats and 8 home runs. What do you think about this?”

“I’m actually worried.”

“Yes? We are setting incredible records, but why… ?”

“I thought I would lose my sense of the game while playing with low-level players. What if I don’t do well in fall baseball? Haha.”

“Ji Maeng-ho, it’s still the Asian Games, so making such a statement is a bit…”

“Oh, really? Then, PD, please cut this part.”

“… This is a live broadcast…”

“… Is it so? Then there is nothing we can do. Well, it’s still true.”

“Uh… Yes, that’s right. Confident look… Yes. Uh, next question… Then, I will continue my interview with Ji Maeng-ho. Next, let’s meet the winning pitcher, Chae Jae-hyeon, who pitched well, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings…”

I made a minor mistake in the interview after the game and got scolded by the coach, but it wasn’t anything major.

“Hyung, you say you look good because you’re confident?”

“Is that so? “Are there any swear words?”

“Well, there are some scoldings, but is it only a day or two that my brother gets scolded?”

“Bastard. When did you say I was criticized?”

“Shall we go into Godmu Wiki? Uh? One line of controversy has already been added? “This kind of thing is fast.”

“… Already?”

“Still, there are many supportive opinions. “This is why you have to be good at baseball.”

Public opinion didn’t seem to be that bad, considering I made a mistake when the universe decided to let me know. Well, I didn’t pay much attention either. However, the number of guys looking at me with eyes that make me want to hit them has increased.

And then the Japanese war began.

Perfect!

-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!

The game, which started with a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning, was quite one-sided, unlike a Korea-Japan game.

“Meng Hao, it was good.”

“Well, it’s easy for them too.”

“After all, it’s social baseball.”

“I was expecting it to be at the level of the 2nd team, but this is disappointing, isn’t it?”

“Sseu-eup, be careful what you say. Also, don’t make mistakes in the interview like last time.”

“Hey, I’m not even a kid. Are you going to make another mistake?”

“Ha, this guy is nervous. Now, gloves. Are you going to run again?”

“Situation report.”

When I was thinking about running to third base when the coach asked,

Ta – Aak!

Lee Yong-gi’s home run hit without any need for such worries.

“Ruler! Let’s finish today with a cold game and go home from work!”

“Yes!”

The score was 4:0 from the bottom of the first inning. It was a pretty good start for a Korea-Japan game.