Chapter 309 – Episode 307. The Thread of the Gap. (2)

[At the bottom of the 5th inning, AT Thunders’ attack begins with 8th batter Baek Jeong-jin. Baek Jeong-jin’s record today is 1 at-bat and no hits.]

[Baek Jeong-jin played as a backup outfielder in the regular season, but after Woo Gwan-hyeong got injured, he occasionally appeared as a starter and recorded 3 hits in 9 at-bats and a batting average of .303.3 in the postseason.]

[2:1, UG Overlords are ahead by 1 point. Will AT be able to tie the score? .]

Game 4 of the Korean Series with UG Overlords leading 2:1. The UG Overlords selected Lee Seok-gyun as their starting pitcher, and the AT Thunders, opposing him, put Park Jun-hyung on the mound.

Selection match between Seok-Kyun Lee and Jun-Hyung Park. All fans interested in the KBA were thinking about Lee Seok-gyun’s victory. This is because Seok-gyun Lee has been a pitcher who has consistently won 10 games since the UG Overlords won the championship in 2018, excluding the season when he was injured, and has been occasionally called up to the national team.

UG’s powerful starting lineup, consisting of Mercenary, Mercenary, Kim Seong-gyeol, Lee Seok-gyun, and Jang Yoon, was once a starting lineup that gave nightmares to fans of the other nine teams, and it maintained that reputation even after Jang Yoon moved to free agency. Of course, it was a fact recognized by all baseball fans that at the center of it all, the role of Kim Seong-gyeol and Lee Seok-gyun, who consistently guarded UG’s mound, was significant.

It was a match between Lee Seok-kyun and Park Jun-hyung, who had an ERA in the late 3-point range this season but failed to show a solid performance, so it was natural for fans to expect UG to win with Lee Seok-gyun at the forefront.

However, contrary to expectations, Game 4 turned out to be a pitcher’s battle. Therefore, although the performance was disappointing compared to the aces of other clubs before Jang Yoon arrived, the voices of fans cheering for Park Jun-hyung, who was supporting the team’s starting mound, grew louder,

“Let’s go, you bastards! Score some points! Junhyung is throwing it like this!”

‘… I want to hit it too.’

The affectionate cheers shouted from the stands reached Baek Jeong-jin as he headed to the plate. A fan’s voice calling for a score. Baek Jeong-jin also wanted to score more than anyone else.

It’s been a year since I transferred from Shilla Triggers to AT Thunders. In fact, when Baek Jeong-jin was traded to the AT, he thought his professional career was numbered. He is a left-handed hitting outfielder with the AT Thunders, a paradise for left-handed hitting outfielders.

The left-handed hitting outfielders lined up in the AT were players who had been proving their performance for several years. In comparison, he was a player who, except for national team outfielder Lee Eun-chong, could not secure a position in the Silla Triggers, which used foreign mercenaries in the outfield.

In fact, he was evaluated as having the potential to hit double-digit home runs by recording 6 home runs in 163 plate appearances in the 2017 season, which was his debut season, but since then, he has recorded a batting average in the low .200 range and has been playing as a pinch hitter and second team player before being traded to AT. A left-handed batting outfielder with six military records. That was Baek Jeong-jin.

The moment Baek Jeong-jin came to AT as a bonus for a trade, he wanted to give up everything. However,

-‘Jeong Jin. You know that the leader picked you, right? They said I absolutely had to bring him. You are the star of this trade. So don’t give up and let’s work hard this season.’

-‘Yes? What is that suddenly…’

-‘Do you think I’ve seen kids like you here once or twice? Still, if you don’t give up until the end, opportunities will come. Jeongjin, you have potential.’

The words of Lee Soo-hyun, who was the manager of the second team at the time, helped Baek Jeong-jin stand up. After that, he came to his senses and opened after thorough preparation. In the 2023 season, under the trust of coach Lee Soo-hyun, Baek Jeong-jin played as a regular starter in the second team and recorded a batting average of over .400. As Lee Soo-hyun took over as first team manager, he was promoted to AT’s first team. I was able to step in.

And now, with Woo Kwan-hyung missing due to injury, Baek Jeong-jin was standing on the stage of the Korean Series.

‘I have to repay the director.’

Although he started in the second team and occasionally appeared as a starter, he wanted to repay coach Lee Soo-hyun for believing in him and allowing him to play as a starter on such an important stage as the Korean Series.

Of course, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. UG’s starting pitcher Lee Seok-gyun was a left-handed pitcher who was strong against left-handed batters, and he was a great pitcher who was even selected to the national team.

A starting pitcher from the national team and a hitter who was unable to play as a starting pitcher for the team and was given a difficult opportunity. It was a matchup where anyone could see Lee Seok-gyun having the upper hand, but Baek Jeong-jin did not give up. Like the time I received encouragement from director Lee Soo-hyun.

[Lee Seok-gyun’s first pitch! … Ball!]

‘Whoa, that was dangerous.’

The moment Lee Seok-gyun’s first pitch hit the mitt, Baek Jeong-jin couldn’t help but flinch. It wasn’t strange even if Lee Seok-gyun’s first pitch, which was only about half a ball away from the strike zone, was called a strike.

“Is this a ball?”

“Okay.”

“Ugh.”

UG’s starting catcher, Baek Kyung-ho, also slightly appealed to the umpire as if the ball was a waste, then returned the ball to Lee Seok-gyun. And the second ball thrown.

[Lee Seok-gyun’s second ball is in the same location! The ball is declared.]

Seok-gyun Lee threw the ball in a similar position as if in protest, and the referee declared the ball.

‘Whoa, I’m glad Lee Seok-gyun showed off his pride. Two balls with this. It’s been a fastball so far, so is it timing for a breaking ball?’

However, UG’s catcher Baek Kyung-ho was not a catcher who mixed balls that easily. Even in the Korean Series, Baek Kyung-ho, who uses a ball combination that the manager can trust, even requested a fastball for the third ball,

Whoa!

“Strike!”

Baek Jeong-jin’s bat took a sharp turn and ended up making a missed swing.

[Miss swing! One strike, two balls.]

[The speed was set at 153 km/h. The velocity is maintained at 150 throughout the 5th inning, and since it is a Korean series, Lee Seok-gyun is showing his all. Baek Jeong-jin’s bat couldn’t keep up, right?]

‘Three consecutive fastballs, are you saying you’re going to hit it with the ball? Then maybe the next one? No, since it’s two balls, let’s take a look at the ball one more time.’

[Lee Seok-gyun’s fourth ball, curve! Baek Jeong-jin flinched, but held back the bat.]

Lee Seok-gyun’s fourth ball was a unique curve with a large drop that brought Lee Seok-gyun to this position. However, Baek Jeong-jin, who was waiting for one ball, held back the ball, and before he knew it, the ball count became one strike, three balls.

The count is overwhelmingly advantageous to the batter.

‘You have to catch five batters from this inning to the next inning to meet Ji Maeng-ho with two outs. If you meet Ji Maeng-ho in a situation where the out count is relaxed, it is unconditionally 1 point, so this inning must end with a three-way strike.’

And even in such an unfavorable situation, Seok-gyun Lee kept his head as a starting pitcher, calculating the remaining innings.

‘Slider?’

‘Something else.’

‘Curve?’

‘Something else.’

Lee Seok-gyun, who made the estimate after calculating like that, continued to refuse Baek Kyung-ho’s autograph and chose the type of pitch he wanted.

‘Senior, you can’t catch the ball anyway. ‘Let’s press it over the mouth, right?’

Seok-gyun Lee’s ball of choice was a fastball.

‘Sweet, it’s dangerous…’

Baek Kyung-ho’s intuition alerted him to the danger, but he could not break the pitcher’s stubbornness. Considering the number of pitches remaining, it was right to quickly organize the lower batting order, so Baek Kyung-ho erased his ominous thoughts and prepared to receive a fastball.

… However,

Ta-ah!

Baek Jeong-jin was aiming for the ball. Baek Jeong-jin, who was confident that a pitcher as strong as Lee Seok-gyun would not pitch away because he was scared, set the timing for the fastball and was aiming for the ball that entered the zone.

[This batted ball goes far! Far! Far! Out of the fence! Let’s go! Baek Jeong-jin’s tying solo shot! Balance the game! With this, the score is 2:2!]

Baek Jeong-jin’s batted ball went over the fence, and the score was tied in the bottom of the fifth inning.

‘Fuck! Why not a guy like that!’

A home run allowed on an important stage called the Korean Series. When a home run was hit by a guy on the bench, Seok-gyun Lee, who had been pitching well until the 4th inning, began to falter.

“Strike! Out!”

He struck out the next batter, Lee In-hyuk, but AT batters were also able to notice that Lee Seok-gyun was throwing the ball in a hurry. And the match that followed,

[Kim Joo-yeop’s batted ball passes through the infield!]

[Kim Su-ho’s batted ball! Cut right and center! Kim Joo-yeop goes from third base to home! … Does not run! 1 out, 1st and 3rd bases. AT Thunders seizing a golden opportunity!]

[Walk! Walk! The weatherman snags this ball on a full count! 1 out, bases loaded! And at bat is Ji Maeng-ho, who batted 4th today and recorded one walk!]

AT’s batters took advantage of the gap created by Baek Jeong-jin’s home run and attacked the shaking Lee Seok-gyun, quickly putting the bases loaded with one out, and Ji Maeng-ho came to bat.

[Hey, this situation is worth watching, right? UG Overlords has been carrying out a strategy of thoroughly filtering out Ji Maeng-ho, but there has never been a time when Ji Maeng-ho comes out with the bases loaded? I am curious about whether it will be filtered or the choice of the UG bench.]

[Time is called out and Baek Kyung-ho goes on the mound. Oh, and director Moon Ki-taek is also moving up. Commissioner, what do we usually talk about in times like this?]

[Well, usually it’s the same. Throw with confidence. Stories like this. But, the current situation seems a bit special, right? I’m also really curious about what they’ll talk about.]

“Seokgyun, you know, right? “This is the last time.”

The words that came out of Moon Ki-taek’s mouth were quite cold words for a pitcher who had been a strong supporter of the team’s mound.

“Junghwan was preparing behind the scenes from the moment the home run was hit. Ji Maeng-ho is the last.”

“The fact that Ji Maeng-ho is the last… ?”

Yoon Jung-hwan is a right-handed sidearm pitcher who has strengths against right-handed hitters. When replacing a pitcher, it is standard to replace right-handed hitter Ji Maeng-ho’s at-bat first. But he told himself to deal with Ji Meng Hao,

“Okay, filter it with your hands and come down.”

That meant a walk. However, no matter how hard-lined Moon Ki-taek was, he could not order a blatant automatic intentional throw with the bases loaded, so he entrusted that task to Lee Seok-gyun.

“… Do I really have to filter it?”

“If I hit a home run here, today’s game is over. “Be sure to trust your colleagues and filter them out.”

‘Fuck, it wouldn’t be unfair if I hit a home run. You filter it like this? Does this make sense?’

Lee Seok-gyun was dumbfounded by the director’s harsh instructions,

“So what is the answer?”

“… I understand.”

I couldn’t defy Moon Ki-taek. After giving instructions, Ki-taek Moon came down from the mound, and Kyung-ho Baek spoke to him to appease Seok-gyun Lee.

“Sorry. Seokgyun. “I should have led better.”

“… “No.”

There was an apology from Baek Kyung-ho, but Lee Seok-gyun also knew about it. The one who created this situation was myself who was excited.

[Seeing as it just went down, it seems like he was telling me to throw with confidence like usual.]

[Okay. Now Ji Maeng-ho comes to bat. I am recording two walks today.]

[Hey, this game will be Ji Maeng-ho’s first true at-bat in the Korean Series, right? What kind of batting will Ji Maeng-ho show? As a baseball fan, I am looking forward to it. But personally, I don’t think Ji Maeng-ho’s batting skills are that good right now. Anyway, I just watched the ball for a few games.]

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’

When Ji Maeng-ho came to bat, Lee Seok-gyun cursed under his breath and looked at the catcher’s mitt. The location of the mitt is outside. As mentioned, it was a location to filter out Ji Maeng-ho. With the mitt in such a position, Seok-gyun Lee could not bear to throw the ball,

‘Seokgyun, what are you doing?’

Baek Kyung-ho’s eyes urged Lee Seok-gyun. Lee Seok-gyun could not resist the urging and looked at Ji Maeng-ho, who was standing at the plate after getting ready to throw the first pitch.  The unmotivated expression seen throughout the series and the batting form that doesn’t look like it will hit at all. Even though the bases were loaded, he seemed confident that he was being ignored.

‘Fuck, if it weren’t for the director… !’

Lee Seok-gyun’s first pitch was thrown toward the mitt, a mix of the desire to win the game and the need to filter out Ji Maeng-ho according to the plan.

However, the gap created by Lee Seok-gyun’s complex mind made him head closer to the strike zone than the ball he usually threw when passing Ji Maeng-ho,

‘It has arrived!’

… Ji Meng-ho, who was looking for just one opportunity, stretched out his arm and swung the bat.

Dang!