Chapter 344 – Episode 336. Feather.
“Out!”
Was it because the lake rain broke out in succession in the top of the 9th inning? Hancheol’s attack in the top of the 10th inning was more futile than expected and ended in a three-way strike. And then the bottom of the 10th inning. I shouted loudly from the dugout to ease the burden on my seniors.
“Seniors, take it easy. Comfortably. “I’m going to finish it anyway.”
“Yes, I feel reassured.”
Kim Soo-ho, the inning’s leadoff hitter, smiles and answers,
“This bastard is subtly paying attention, right? “Get on base.”
Ki Ki-joo, who twisted my words and then typed.
“Oh, no.”
It was something I said to ease the burden, but looking at the two people’s reactions, it seemed like they didn’t believe it at all.
‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
I decided to immediately change course and put a burden on my seniors.
“Then please leave. They won’t skip me as long as I fill at least first base.”
Actually, this was my truth as well. It would be nice if there wasn’t any pressure, but I also hoped that they would fill in at least first base so that they wouldn’t leave me out. When I looked at Hancheol’s ball combination today, it felt like they were forming almost to the outside and trying to block my long shots as much as possible. In this situation, you’re dealing with me with two outs? There was a high probability that it was an intentional throw.
‘Well, I don’t think veteran seniors will feel burdened by something like this.’
“Okay, I’ll try.”
Kim Su-ho smiles once and walks toward the batter’s box.
‘As expected, senior Suho. It’s a bit weird.’
He was physically good as a third baseman, and besides me, he had the most handsome face on our team, so combined with his quiet personality, he was quite cool.
‘Maybe I look like that to other juniors, right?’
Perfect!
“Out!”
‘Fuck! If you go out like that, shouldn’t you be on base?’
… It would have been cooler if he had even gotten on base.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. “You can’t get on base in every at-bat.”
Kim Su-ho, who is coming back after being out, offers me an apology as he heads to the waiting box. Now the only thing I can trust is the weather forecast. The combined on-base percentages of Kim Su-ho and Ki Ki-joo this season is over 90%, so the probability of one of them getting on base was quite high. No, I had to get on base unconditionally.
“Strike! Out!”
“Oh! Weather warning!”
“Sorry. I believe. It’s Meng Hao. “Don’t feel pressured.”
“… Yes.”
As he returned after striking out, Ki-joo Jo spoke to him jokingly, but his expression was a mixture of regret and regret, so he couldn’t say anything.
“Just watch out for the forkball. The angles were brutal. You know? Without Daehoon’s forkball, there’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway, right? “It would be filtered out anyway.”
“… “I’m sorry.”
“No.”
The pitcher on the mound is Jeon Dae-hoon, a member of Hancheol’s sure-to-win team. He was a forkballer with a velocity in the low 140s and a top-tier forkball in the league. As he said, as long as he is careful with the forkball, he is a good pitcher,
“It was intentional.”
‘Ha, fuck, I knew it would be like this.’
… There was no need to deal with Jeon Dae-hoon. As I expected, Hancheol’s bench ordered an intentional throw. I also understood Hancheol’s dugout. It must have been scary to face me in a situation where there were no runners and two outs. Moreover, the next batter was Choi Jin-cheol, who is not in great form these days.
Choi Jin-cheol’s performance these days is .207, 6, and 4 home runs. An average hitter would be able to see that he was getting pretty good results, but the problem was that the hitter who was getting those results was Choi Jin-cheol. And the batting process itself was worse than the record. Although I made an RBI today, I was hitting ground balls the whole time, so it was a natural choice to skip me.
‘Looking at Jincheol’s condition, it wouldn’t be easy to tell him the type of pitch, right? Oh, I don’t know. First, let’s get to second base and think about it. Mr. Rossby, what about the ball?’
‘It’s a forkball.’
Even though his form is not good, Choi Jin-cheol is Choi Jin-cheol. Hancheol’s battery chose to try from the first pitch to the breaking ball rather than going head-to-head. Thankfully.
“Safe!”
Stealing second base on a one-bound forkball was easier than getting on base. Hancheol’s catcher, who was still guarding home plate, was so busy catching that he didn’t even think about throwing the ball and allowed me to second base.
‘What should I do, should I run to third base? Or, can you tell Jincheol the pitch type?’
Considering Choi Jin-cheol’s form today, I did not think that telling him the type of pitch would have any significant results. I really wanted to finish this inning because I thought my at-bat might not come back if he didn’t score here.
‘If this is the case, the probability is high…’
The probability that Choi Jin-cheol will call me and the probability that the pitcher will shake, or the ball will fall when he goes to third base.
‘After all, it would be better to just run today.’
Jeon Dae-hoon is a pitcher with a higher ratio of forkballs than fastballs. If he went to third base and pressed on, he might have some luck.
‘It’s forkball again this time. Are you going to run?’
It’s a forkball again this time. It meant that he didn’t care about me at all. Since the inning is over after only one out count, the battery’s will to focus on the better as much as possible is conveyed to me.
‘Yes. If this is the case, I will be grateful.’
While the pitcher and catcher are exchanging signs, they slowly move away from second base. And when the pitcher made the pitching motion, he ran toward third base without delay.
“Strike!”
This time, Choi Jin-cheol swung at a low ball that did not bounce, and the catcher took a stance to throw the ball after catching it, but I had already almost reached third base.
‘I don’t have to do any sliding at this level.’
In the end, the catcher couldn’t throw the ball until I got to third base, and the situation quickly became two outs and third base.
‘One ball, one strike. Now all that’s left is to pray.’
Maybe it’s because I pray so much, but even though I don’t believe in God, I feel like my faith has increased while playing baseball.
‘Are you just going to pray?’
‘Yes? So what do I add here?’
‘There’s one more base left to steal.’
‘What is that…? . Is it really home?’
Has this man finally developed dementia? Steal home? What is this…
‘Why, isn’t this the perfect situation?’
This is the perfect situation for a home steal? After listening to Rossby’s words, it somehow felt plausible.
The pitcher is a forkballer. The catcher is effectively a backup catcher who has been the starting pitcher this season. Even though he stole two bases in a row, I never felt like he cared about me. Even though I was the stolen base king the previous season and destroyed the Korean Series with stolen bases.
‘Shall we take a quick look first?’
As far as baseball was concerned, I listened to Rossby’s words and had no chance of losing money, so I quietly widened my lead. While widening the lead, he made eye contact with the pitcher, but he avoided eye contact, perhaps trying to focus on the batter.
‘Even though Jincheol’s form is not good, it’s a burden not to concentrate.’
Even if his form is not good, Choi Jin-cheol is Choi Jin-cheol. He was a hitter who could go over the fence with just one mishit, so I understood the pitcher’s feelings.
‘It’s a fastball. Buy a little bit.’
‘Okay.’
I could have kept it in check just in case. I placed my center of gravity on third base and waited for his ball.
“Ball.”
Greece’s third ball headed home, and Choi Jin-cheol watched the ball.
‘I guess Jincheol decided to filter and filter as much as possible?’
You know your own condition best. Choi Jin-cheol seemed to have decided to watch the ball as much as possible. The problem is that if I knew enough, the battery I was playing against would also have noticed, so the match would probably start soon.
‘One strike, two balls. If you want to run, now is the time. This time, if I throw a forkball, it will jump right away.’
When I thought about stealing home, it felt like my heart was beating twice as fast as usual. Because in over 10 years of playing baseball, he had never stolen home. I can’t believe I’m having that first experience now, on the Children’s Day stage, at the end of the day.
‘If successful…’
He couldn’t control his heart beating twice as fast as he thought of the sweet fruits that would come after success. Fans’ cheers, media’s spotlight.
‘Come. It’s a forkball.’
‘Fuck, I can’t stand this.’
“Huh?!”
“Run!”
As soon as the pitcher started pitching, I made eye contact with him for about 0.1 seconds and then immediately started running toward home.
“Choi Jin-cheol! Get out of the way!”
Choi Jin-cheol, who was in a batting stance at my shout, clears the way. The pitcher must have been embarrassed, so the forkball hit the ground further forward than usual. It feels like the ball bouncing on the ground and heading towards home plate is cut off frame by frame.
Feeling as if the world had stopped for a moment, I launched myself towards the pentagon on home plate. Just when that brief moment of floating and sliding in the air felt like an eternity, the catcher’s mitt came down diagonally from above and tried to tag me, and I instinctively removed my left hand and swept down the groove with my right hand.
Silence hovers over Jamsil Stadium.
“…”
“…”
“… Safe!”
-Wow!!!!
And as if that silence was a lie, Jamsil Stadium started ringing to tell people to leave.
*
-He’s still strong as ever. Haha. Oh my gosh, I’ll enjoy second base.
-Kya, this is a fierce tiger all the way to third base haha
ㄴAnyway, Choi Jin-cheol is out~
-You bastards are making a fuss haha. They’re writing like they won with 2 outs and 3 runs haha
Taxidermy… Should I do it?
[Ji Maeng-ho reaches third base in one go! Ji Maeng-ho’s feet are still alive!]
[You stole 20 bases in last year’s Korean Series, that too against the UG Overlords? Ah, it’s not good to allow stealing so easily.]
[Uh? However, Ji Maeng-ho’s lead is quite wide, isn’t it?]
[Probably to put pressure on the pitcher. Since Jeon Dae-hoon is a famous forkball player, he seems to be trying to make it difficult to throw a forkball by making a gesture of running home if the ball is even slightly missed. Then, there is only one ball that Choi Jin-cheol can aim for in this situation, right? It is a fastball.]
[I see.]
[But since Jeon Dae-hoon is also a veteran, that kind of pressure won’t work, right? Perhaps Jeon Dae-hoon will continue to compete with the forkball.]
[In addition to pitchers and batters, is there such psychological warfare between pitchers and runners?]
[Yes. If Jeon Dae-hoon were not a veteran, he would have been embarrassed by the lead width, but since Jeon Dae-hoon is called a forkball master, such threats would not work.]
[Now the next four episodes… Argh! Ji Maeng-ho ran!]
[Uh?! Uh?! What if this happens?! Ji Maeng-ho goes home!]
[Ji Maeng-ho attempts a home steal! What are the results? What are the results? The result! It’s safe! Ji Maeng-ho’s walk-off home steal! Children’s Day! To young fans! Ji Maeng-ho gives you magical memories! A successful home steals! Hey! And…]
[As far as I know, there has never been a home steal in the KBA league? Wow, but in this game… And… I’m speechless.]
[5:4! Game over! The game ends like this as AT Thunders’ Ji Maeng-ho succeeds in stealing home at lightning speed!]
-????
-What just happened?
-Wow, Ji Maeng-ho, you crazy bastard
– Fierce Tiger God is so fucked up. How can that thing run?
-Wow, the end of the home steal, it’s cheap.
-Information) This is the 35th home steal in the majors and the first in the KBA.
ㄴㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ
ㄴㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ
– HahaI guess I was upset about what happened at Kosi last year. Looks like they only prepared for home steals during the off-season haha
ㄴㅅㅂ Is that why it’s like that? I can’t skip it now.
-How do we stop Ji Maeng-ho now?
ㄴㄹㅇ I’m crazy, really
-I’m Ji-maeng Honde, I’m grateful for your support, but I quit Byeolgram because of you guys. Damn. And I will find and kill the bastard who sent me a picture of his dick. Thank you always for your support and I will work harder in the future. Please look forward to the second half of the year. [Total comments 9513]
ㄴㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ
ㄴJi-maeng-ho! Ji-maeng-ho! Ji-maeng-ho! Ji-maeng-ho! Ji-maeng-ho! Ji-maeng-ho!
ㄴIt’s just baseball, you idiot haha
ㄴI packed it today while watching home still
ㄴThere is no special gram, so I am writing it here. Thank you Thanks to Maeng Hao, the children go home smiling.
ㄴHow far can you grow? Ji Maengho!
ㄴㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ
When is this guy going to become a major player? Send this bastard away quickly
– Ji Maeng-ho is also Ji-maeng-hon, and Joo Seung-cheol is also Ji-maeng today haha
ㄴㄹㅇ Two people ate it all?
ㄴToday’s Juji Daejeon, Ji Maeng-ho wins by decision!