Chapter 304 – Episode 302. Are You Really Going to Skip Everything? (2)

“… So, you want to go out as the number one hitter?”

“Yes.”

Before training started, coach Lee Soo-hyun closed his eyes and started thinking about my suggestion that he want to go out as the number one hitter.

“Don’t you think it’s strange, Director? Because I really felt it. “The UG guys don’t plan on giving me even a single at-bat.”

“Hmm… Actually, I had that feeling even before you went to the Asian Games.”

When I go out as the number 4 hitter, the average number of at bats I get back is four. If you go out as the number one batter, you get one more at-bat, and if there is a batting match, you can get six at-bats. If, as I expected, the UG guys filtered me out, I could have scored 2–3 points.

Participating as the number one hitter. That’s how Rossby and I thought yesterday.

“Hmm… It’s number 1… Number 1…”

It’s not that I couldn’t understand Director Lee Soo-hyun’s troubled position. Considering my performance in the 4th batting order, it might have been difficult to adjust the batting order of a player as good as me.

“Coach, I can do really well. “I tried hitting number 1 a few times at the beginning of the season.”

But I wasn’t the type of player who was influenced by the batting order. Besides, it didn’t really matter since the ball would just fly anyway,

“From what I see, senior Suho and senior Sangju have good contact, so I have a higher chance of winning if I go first.”

‘Honestly, Jin-cheol is good at hitting, but he is a bit anxious when it comes to contact, and his style involves a lot of double plays, so I am anxious, and Seong-tae is nothing special when it comes to contact.’

“That’s right. “The question is, will they really all be counted as walks?”

“You know that the coach is also a former hitter. You can feel it all at the plate. “I had no feeling that I was going to compete.”

“Under…”

“Director, please send it!”

“Kid, the youngest came to the director and asked for this. The world has gotten a lot better. “It’s something I never even thought about when I was a player.”

“… Yes?”

Suddenly speaking like an old man here?

“Okay. “Go out today for the first time.”

‘It was a joke… I almost cursed for no reason.’

“Yes, I will try my best!”

“Let’s do it well. Let’s win today and go back to Jamsil. Okay?”

“Yes!”

Did this save you an hour?

‘Relieving. If you skip it anyway, it’s a game that has nothing to do with you.’

‘That’s right. Write. I wanted to show it properly.’

I couldn’t believe I was a bridesmaid for the opportunity to win for the first time since 1994. There hasn’t been anything as annoying as this lately.

‘But as long as I win, it doesn’t matter.’

‘Hmph, it’s meaningless anyway.’

‘Oh, but winning is different.’

Unlike Rossby, who was indifferent, I absolutely wanted to win. Soyoung wants it, and the fans support it too. I wanted to repay the favor by winning.

‘Anyway, the kids in this country can’t even play baseball and have no self-esteem.’

‘Mr. Rossby seems very angry too.’

‘Then you won’t be angry? It’s already a waste of time to spend here, but the biggest game there is like this.’

‘… Still, I think it’s a big game.’

‘… Shut up.’

As if he had hit the nail on the head, Rossby disappeared somewhere again. He is somehow dishonest.

“But what are you doing when you’re not going?”

“Yes?”

“You’re all good, but sometimes you get lost like this. “It’s the same in the dugout.”

“Is that so? Hehe, but you’re good at concentrating during games.”

“Yes, focus on this game as well. Go get ready for training.”

“Yes.”

Was it obvious that I was talking to Rossby enough for Director Soo-hyun Lee to know? Well, even so, who knows if I’m talking to a ghost. Right now, I felt like if someone told me I was talking to a ghost, I would immediately call the hospital.

‘But even if you come out as the number one hitter, will you immediately throw a walk? It wouldn’t be easy to give a walk in the top of the first inning…’

… And it didn’t take long to find the answer to the problem I had as I left the director’s room.

“… Are you really going to skip that? “Are you going to take 1 point?”

“…”

“Please answer something. Ha, I wasn’t this type of person to begin with.”

Phut! And Kim Seong-gyeol’s fourth ball hits.

“Base on balls.”

“Ugh…”

With four balls hitting the outside in a row, we could clearly see the guys’ will.

‘I’m not good at getting good balls in this series.’

“It’s really a walk.”

As I walked to first base, the first base coach who was waiting for me spoke to me as if I was dumbfounded.

“I said so, right?”

“So, are you going to keep running? “It would be a big deal if I got hurt while stealing.”

“I have to run, well.”

As the first base coach worried, it was true that stealing bases carried a high risk of injury. In particular, there was a possibility of injury not only to the legs but also to the fingers that touch the base.

‘But what can I do? I laid out the boards to run like this.’

His season records are 58 stolen bases and 2 errors. Even though the success rate was close to 97%, it was ruder not to run in a situation where the board was set up to run like this.

“Sir, I’m going to run.”

“So, when did you stop running?”

When I spoke to first baseman Koo Jin-mo, Koo Jin-mo responded as if he had resigned himself.

“I know what the bench over there is thinking, but how long are you going to skip it?”

“… “Okay.”

‘Looking at the reaction, it seems like there are some people among the UG players who don’t understand. First, Gu Jin-mo doesn’t seem to understand.’

Looking at Gu Jin-mo’s reaction to what I said, it seemed like his pride was hurt as to why he was using such a strategy.

‘Well, I’m giving away a few points, but it might be burdensome and frustrating for the hitter.’

‘It’s two-minded.’

‘Two-centeredness?’

Kim Seong-gyeol’s first pitch against Kim Su-ho was a two-seam throw. Although he didn’t have good timing for his breaking ball, it was Kim Seong-gyeol who threw the ball underhand, so he just decided to run. Because it was impossible to catch me with a pitching form like that.

“Run!”

“Second base!”

“Safe!”

And of course the result is safe. Baek Kyung-ho threw the ball to second base, but it was impossible to catch me.

‘If we keep doing this, we’re going to set a new record for stolen bases? Wait, try scratching Baek Kyung-ho with this?’

No catcher would want to bear the disgrace of being the catcher who allowed the most stolen bases in the Korean Series. And the same goes for Baek Kyung-ho. Anyway, since the game was still in progress, I put that thought aside for a moment and started planning the timing to steal third base again.

‘It’s a curve.’

‘Okay.’

And then came the curve timing. I ran straight to third base.

“Safe!”

With this, no outs and 3rd base. When Seonggyeol Kim made eye contact and smiled once, his eyes shook. With this, the count is two strikes, two balls. Even in an unfavorable count, Kim Soo-ho succeeded in hitting the ball with his bat like a veteran and sending the ball into the outfield.

‘Okay, I guess I can go in?’

An outfield fly toward left field. The distance was sufficient.

“Meng Hao!”

As soon as the third base coach shouted, he headed home, and when he looked back slightly, the ball was now heading towards the shortstop.

-Waaaaa!!!

-Kim Su-ho! Kim Soo-ho! Kim Soo-ho!

“Senior, nice!”

After hitting the Muju Gongsan home, I exchanged a high five with Kim Su-ho and entered the dugout. … 1 point for this.

‘Fuck it, let’s see how long I can skip it.’

*

“Seonggyeol, are you okay?”

In the top of the first inning, after AT’s attack, which continued with the 5th batter, ended in 1 run, UG’s 4th batter, Jinmo Koo, took advantage of the shift in offense and defense to approach today’s starting pitcher, Seonggyeol Kim. This was because, in Koo Jin-mo’s opinion, the manager’s declaration of a walk out before every at-bat made no sense. That too in the Korean series.

‘This doesn’t make sense.’

Gu Jin-mo thought this was a disgrace. The Korean Series is a festival that all baseball fans look forward to. Such an unprecedented operation in such a Korean series. Even if I won like this, it was obvious that I would just become a laughing stock.

Yesterday’s game was at a level that could be glossed over as ‘Ji Maeng-ho just got a lot of walks,’ but today was different. I can’t believe you gave a straight walk to the number one batter in the first inning. In Koo Jin-mo’s baseball knowledge, this made no sense.

Actually, I didn’t understand it yesterday either. Such an order to Austin Webb, the best ace in the league. And the proud Austin Webb followed those instructions.

“… “What is it?”

“No, I mean the walk. Write it. “I don’t know why the director makes me do that.”

“Brother, I’m okay.”

“… Huh?”

However, Kim Seong-gyeol’s reaction was different from expected. Gu Jin-mo was embarrassed by Kim Seong-gyeol’s tone and expression, which seemed like he understood.

“He’s Ji Maeng-ho’s opponent in literature anyway, so this is a cheap way to stop him.”

“No, but there are no safe runners, so does this make sense?”

“It’s only 1 point anyway. “Whether it’s a home run or not, it’s the same.”

“… “You’re crazy.”

How can you upset a starting pitcher who didn’t come off the mound? I knew I shouldn’t do this. However, Koo Jin-mo ended up saying those words out of his mouth without even realizing it because he was acting like he was outside his common sense. And Kim Seong-gyeol reacted to those words.

“Brother, you’ve never seen that bastard on the mound, right?”

Rather, the tone of speech seems to be reproaching oneself.

“Bro, that guy is just on a different level. It feels like I know what kind of ball to throw. Well, unless you’re a pitcher, you wouldn’t know. Do you know that if you hit a home run from that bastard, your mentality will be even more broken? It’s better to just skip it and give it 1 point. Under…, But now let me focus. “Hyung, get ready to hit too.”

Kim Seong-gyeol spit out his words like rapid fire and then passed by, ignoring himself. Kim Seong-gyeol’s appearance seemed to be a mixture of complex emotions such as resignation, inferiority, and relief.

“Ah, I understand. “I’m sorry for bringing this up for no reason.”

“No, whatever.”

Because she felt such complex emotions, Gu Jin-mo had no choice but to let Kim Seong-gyeol go.

‘You mean Meng Hao is that bad?’

Of course, Gu Jin-mo couldn’t understand why Kim Seong-gyeol was reacting like this, and it was clear that he would never understand. To Koo Jin-mo, Ji Maeng-ho was just a junior who was good at baseball and not a bit cheesy.

… But one thing was clear.

‘If this operation is discovered, and we lose, we will be laughed at for the rest of our lives.’

If you go through this strategy and come in second place, you will be ridiculed for the rest of your life and be stuffed into the history of Korean baseball.

‘I have to prove it by winning.’

Jinmo Koo erased all the random thoughts that came into her head and focused her mind on today’s practice pitch by AT’s starting pitcher, Bellingham.