Chapter 311 – Episode 309. Game 5 of the Korean Series. (1)

“How are you?”

“…”

‘As expected, there is no answer. Well, I didn’t expect it.’

Literature, where the 5th round is held. I felt like an opportunity like the 4th game would never come again, so I returned to number 1. And the first at bat. As expected, Baek Kyung-ho did not even respond to my greeting.

‘As expected, if this is the case, I guess I’ll have to skip today too, right? Mr. Rossby? Mr. Rossby? Where did this gentleman disappear again?’

Rossby also seemed to have gone to watch the female spectators and cheerleaders, but he didn’t really care. There will be a walk scheduled today anyway.

While I was thinking about this and that, UG’s starting pitcher Webb threw out the first pitch today.

“Ball.”

“Under… How long are you going to skip it? I’m bored to death. If this is going to be the case, can’t you just send it to the automatic intentional notification? Ah! “Are you going to give me another hit?”

“… “Close your mouth.”

“Oh! I finally opened my mouth. You know this is the first major change in the series, right? “I thought you were dumb.”

The first pitch is of course a ball, and all I can do is scratch the catcher sitting at home plate. It was a little surprising that Baek Kyung-ho, who hadn’t responded in a while, answered my question, but I thought it was time to answer since he had been scratching his head a lot.

And the second ball thrown.

‘Outside again…, Huh?’

Without realizing it, my body reacted like an animal to the trajectory that was suddenly thrusting towards my body.

Perfect!

The batted ball hits the ground and rolls while making an ominous sound.

‘What is this?’

While I had a moment to think about what was going on, the ball was already in Webb’s glove. I came to my senses and ran to first base, but the result was out.

“Fuck!”

A sudden victory here? I couldn’t even imagine.

“Did you win?”

“Yes… Sorry. Suddenly, the ball came, and I didn’t even know.”

“It’s okay. That could be possible.”

Kim Su-ho comforted me, but it was my mistake without any room for excuses. Because I reacted without realizing it to the ball that suddenly hit me.

“But do you know what kind of ball I swung at?”

“It looked pretty fast. I think it was probably a fastball type.”

‘Ah, idiot. Fool! I should have been a little more calm.’

As I entered the dugout, swallowing my regret, my teammates came up to me.

“What? Meng Hao, have you won?”

“What are those cowards doing?”

“… That’s right.”

My teammates who were watching the game in the dugout seemed quite surprised by my hitting. However, because I was a little embarrassed, I gave a half-hearted answer and called Rossby.

‘Mr. Rossby! ‘Did you just see it?’

‘Okay. I saw it.’

‘It looks like you’re planning on competing. Don’t go anywhere, just stick around. ‘Okay?’

‘Tsk, I get it.’

After paying careful attention to Rossby, I sat on the bench and tried to cheer on Kim Soo-ho, but the afterimage of the previous at-bat kept coming back to me and I couldn’t concentrate on the game.

‘Ah, thinking about it, it wasn’t even a ball that went into the zone. Sorry, it’s been a while since I had a ball, so I was in a hurry. Under… It shouldn’t be like this.’

After 5 games, I reacted unconsciously to a ball inside my body. It was a ball that I wouldn’t have even looked at normally…

‘I guess it was very urgent.’

‘It has to be that way. Do you know how hard it is to keep standing at bat and only looking at the outside ball? Rossby, I’m going to see the cheerleaders, so I don’t know.’

‘Think about my situation after supporting you for two years in a place that shows such low-level baseball. Are you more boring than me?’

‘If you say that, I don’t have anything to say… Anyway, I hope I get to swing the bat today.’

“Hey! Ji Maengho! What are you thinking like that? Prepare to defend.”

‘… Is the attack over already? Well, it seemed like it would be a pitcher’s battle since today’s starter was Web.’

That’s right, but I didn’t even know the attack was over. I guess I wasn’t concentrating much.

“Aren’t you taking gloves?”

“Yes. “I’m going.”

And in the bottom of the first inning, our starting pitcher Crongs also got off to a good start by throwing a three-way error in the first inning. Although they faced five batters in the second inning, Webb, who ended the inning without allowing a run, and Cronks, who faced four batters, pitched well, ending in a scoreless inning. The top of the third inning started with 9th batter Baek Jeong-jin.

Perfect!

-Waaaaa!!

-Baek Jeong-jin! Baekjeongjin!

And Baek Jeong-jin’s double hit.

‘Sweet, this is not good.’

Although the inning started with a double from the leadoff hitter, it was a bit disappointing. If the first base was empty like this, it was impossible to check which stance UG’s battery would be in today.

“Automatic intentional blocking!”

And as I expected, UG filled the empty first base.

‘First, I will never compete in a situation where first base is empty. Is this it? Sorry, I should have checked to see if I would win this at-bat, but it’s a shame. Anyway, we’re on first and second base with no outs, so let’s score some points.’

Tick!

With no outs on first and second base, Manager Lee Soo-hyun’s choice was a bunt. Considering the Korean Series and the match between the aces, it was a natural strategy, and Kim Soo-ho faithfully implemented the director’s strategy. With this, the situation is 1 out, 2nd and 3rd bases.

– Weather warning! Weather warning! Weather warning!

AT’s fans were shouting the weather’s name even louder, perhaps because they were disappointed with the missed opportunity to score in the second inning.

‘Sangju senior, let’s do just one thing!’

Like those fans, I prayed earnestly for a weather warning to come out at the right time,

Perfect!

At the end of a full-count match, a meteorological ball flew high toward right field.

‘Homer? ‘Office?’

It was unclear whether it was a home run or an outfield fly, and eventually the ball slowly began to fall to the waiting position in right field.

“Get ready!”

‘This distance is enough to get to third base!’

As soon as Choi Jae-hyun caught the catch, he kicked out of the second base and ran to third base, and UG’s fielders also began to broadcast loosely, as if they had given up on trying to catch an out.

-Wow!!!

– Weather warning! Weather warning!

‘Great! ‘It’s first!’

1 point for this. Choi Jin-cheol is the batsman there. A situation where we can look forward to adding one more point.

“Base on balls!”

Don’t do it, Webb allowed a walk while avoiding a game against Choi Jin-cheol,

“Swing strike! Out!”

The top of the third inning ended with only one run added as fifth batter Yoon Seong-tae struck out.

“[Okay, leave it to me from now on!]”

Although he could only add one run in scoring position for two consecutive innings, Crongs looked confident. One day, when I was asked why I was so confident,

-“[There is no batter here to hit my ball anyway. Ho. Except you.]”

Considering the answer he gave, this guy was quite the idiot. And just as he had promised, the Krongs blocked UG’s attack with no runs until the bottom of the fourth inning. And in the beginning of the 5th inning, I got a chance to see if the UG guys were still using that intentional throw strategy.

“I’m sorry, I should have let you go.”

“Are you okay. “Well, one company isn’t that bad.”

Baek Jeong-jin, the 9th batter, was out this time, so my at-bat came with one out and no runner on base.

“Hi.”

“…”

“You’re doing this again. We’ve seen each other for a while now. Can I call you brother? “Guyungho hyung.”

“… “Just be patient with that.”

“Hey, do you know that there are a few players I call ‘brother’?”

“Please, please.”

“Tsk, then I’ll call you Mr. Kyeong-ho.”

“Rather call me senior.”

“Why did you come out in perfect condition?”

‘It’s a fastball. The mitt is towards the body.’

‘An old man pretends to talk to you and sends you an autograph. Looking at the body part, it looks like they are planning to compete.’

However, since it could stab deep inside the body, Chogu decided to watch. Without even taking a proper batting stance.

“Ball.”

“Mr. Kyungho. Did you think I would be fooled again? You might be hoping that you throw it towards yourself and accidentally get out like before, but I have no intention of hitting it. If you walk anyway, 3rd base is empty, so why do I hit the ball? Did you know that I stole 20 bases in this series? “The news comes out every day, haven’t you seen it?”

“Please, shut your mouth.”

“There will be 22 this time. Thank you.”

‘It’s a fastball this time too. I put it closer to John than before. A low ball to the body.’

‘Okay.’

Considering Webb’s control, it was clear that he would end up in the position Rossby mentioned. Because you won’t use lose control against me. And Austin Webb’s second ball was thrown.

‘It’s coming!’

He lifted Webb’s fastball coming low to his body.

Perfect!

‘Ugh…’

-Wow!

As soon as I hit the ball, I heard cheers from the stands, but it didn’t feel right. It’s been a while since I felt my hands become numb.

‘I wrote it, it didn’t fit properly.’

As I ran to first base and checked the batted ball, the batted ball did not travel as far as expected and began to fall into the outfield.

“Run to second base!”

‘Even if you don’t say anything, you’re running! Mr. Rossby! What about batted balls?’

‘It fell in between. You were lucky. The center fielder caught it.’

‘Center fielder? Mr. Ai, Park Kyung-min’s shoulder is getting damaged…’

If Park Kyung-min catches it, it is definitely a slide at second base. Because Park Kyung-min’s shoulders were the best in the league. Slowly, the second base begins to get closer. UG’s second baseman was also poised to tag. As soon as the second base came into range, I slid in with my upper body, keeping the momentum I had running.

Tak!

And the feel of the glove.

“Safe!”

“Wow, that was fucking dangerous.”

It was a timing that made it impossible not to curse out loud. It’s the kind of timing where if you hesitate even just a little bit, you’ll be out.

“Hey, aren’t you tired after running like that?”

“I’m exhausted.”

“Couldn’t you have easily gotten on base with a walk?”

“That’s it.”

While I was talking with the second baseman, the coach suddenly approached me with equipment.

“It was a good double, Maengho. Let’s see if we can compete now, shall we? Well, public opinion is so burning. … Huh? What? “You hit a double, but why are you looking so sad?”

“I should have hit a home run…”

“Hey, even if Ohtani comes, he won’t be able to hit a home run every at-bat. Don’t worry too much and focus on base running now.”

“That’s not it… Oh, just give me gloves.”

“Okay, here it is.”

I wanted to explain something to the coach, but I felt like it was a waste of time, so I hung up and received a base-running glove. But saying he should have hit a home run wasn’t bragging. A low ball near the body was my favorite location, and in fact, even during the season, a ball like this was enough to hit a home run.

After all, this is literature. It was a hit that should have gone at least close to the fence. I wouldn’t have felt this way if I had been caught near the fence, but thinking about the batted ball landing between the outfielders made me feel uncomfortable.

‘Why didn’t I pass over?’

‘Are you stupid? So did he think he could get away with that swing?’

‘Yes? How was my swing?’

‘If you’re curious, watch it after the game. It was absolutely terrible.’

‘My swing? That can’t be possible.’

The batting form that Rossby had customized for my body based on his long experience was a batting form that Rossby had not touched in the past few months. But my batting form is terrible…

‘Of course. Since then, my batting form has collapsed, so I just kept practicing pushing to the outside. It’s actually my first at-bat since the playoffs ended, and if I hit a home run, is that you? ‘This body.’

‘… Fuck.’

Although he sounded smug at the end, Rossby was right. It was a situation where my batting sense had no choice but to collapse. In particular, during training with Rossby over the past few days, it seemed fatal to only practice pushing 3–4 balls that fell outward.

‘Fucked!’

Even if I didn’t discover it now, I was sure it would feel strange when I replayed today’s game.

‘For now, let’s pray that we don’t know today.’