Chapter 345 – Episode 337. Ripple Effect.

“Hey, what is homesteal? Because of you, Hoon-chan’s mentality was broken.”

“Should I even care about that? So, who told you to provoke me?”

“Anyway, you crazy bastard. “I won’t look at you the next time I see you.”

“If someone sees it, they’ll think I saw it today.”

After the game, Jamsil parking lot. After signing autographs for young fans, Joo Seung-cheol, who happened to be on his way home from work, came to talk to me. But if it’s Hunchan, he’s the catcher, right? Joo Seung-cheol talked so much that I could even memorize his name.

“But bro, are you still dating Leah?”

“Hey! Why are you talking about that now? “What if someone hears it?”

Honestly, I wasn’t that curious, but the reaction was funny, so I just wanted to make fun of it. It seemed like he wasn’t immune to this kind of prank.

‘But if I tell the truth, I’ll get hit, right?’

“Yeonghee said she would like to see me anyway. They said they were thankful to you? I didn’t know, but I heard you put a lot of effort into connecting us? Anyway, thank you.”

“Well, it’s nothing special.”

In fact, it was not that I wanted to help, but that Jia helped them more because she was rooting for their love. Because it was nice to see Jia happy.

“Let’s meet together later. Leah also introduced her members.”

“… Really?”

Fuck, I can’t stand this. In fact, she endured it because of Jia, but she had no reason to refuse since dating an idol was almost every man’s dream. Moreover, if Leah is a member of IBLACK, she is currently a top tier idol in Korea.

“Anyway, you had a hard time today. “I will win next time.”

“Try. Make me more happy.”

“Haha, crazy guy. I get it. “I’m going.”

“Oki, good work.”

The next day after breaking up with Joo Seung-cheol, I heard in an article that Ahn Hoon-chan, who was guarding Han-cheol’s living room, had been sent down to the 2nd division.

“What? This bastard fooled around and was sent down to group 2. That’s good. This guy needs to gain some experience in the 2nd team and then move up. Under… They say I’m too nice to be ridiculed. “You shouldn’t do something like this that helps the rival team.”

*

“Strike!”

‘Huh? Throwing a strike here?’

The first game against Charlotte after the Children’s Day series against Hancheol ended. I was slightly embarrassed by the strike thrown with two outs. Even before he came to bat, he was preparing to run out on base. .

‘For now, let’s focus on the at-bat.’

Although he was confused, he quickly erased the miscellaneous thoughts from his mind because it was a shortcut to a bad hit during an at-bat. Still, in the bottom of the first inning, with a runner on second base with two outs, I had a history of forcibly touching a ball that went wide outside and getting kicked out with a batter, so I had to focus on the at-bat now.

‘Mr. Rossby, what about the ball?’

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘Okay.’

Cho Yong-joo’s fastball is in the mid to upper 140s as is Charlotte’s No. 1 starter in the country. And the mid to high 140’s meant that it was a perfect restraint for me. As long as you come into the zone.

“Ball!”

However, Cho Yong-joo’s second ball was declared a ball. Falling significantly outward. At this point, I was a little confused.

‘I was just trying to filter it out, but the control wasn’t good, so it stuck towards my body?’

“Ball.”

However, the ball thrown this time was clearly a ball thrown near the zone to induce a missed swing.

‘Ah, my fucking head hurts. Mr. Rossby, please help me!’

‘Why me?’

‘… ‘Please tell me the type of pitch.’

‘This time it’s a curve.’

‘Curve? Let’s skip it for now. There’s no way you can put me in the zone anyway.’

And if I had the speed of a curve, I was confident that I would send the ball near the fence even if the timing was a little late, so I decided to try one more ball. And Cho Yong-ju’s curve was thrown.

“Ball.”

“I’m not fooling you. Did you know there would be a curve?”

“Yes. “It’s so obvious.”

“I talked to you for no reason. Aida, just shut up like before.”

Looking at the catcher’s disappointed reaction, it was clear that he was trying to win this at-bat. I don’t know if it was other catchers, but after watching for a year, Charlotte’s catchers were not the type of catchers who engage in such psychological warfare, so I decided to accept it as is.

‘Okay, I’m aiming this time. One strike, three balls. Perfect hitting timing. This time, I will definitely come into the zone.’

If you had planned on skipping in the first place, you wouldn’t have done something stupid like throwing me a curveball. The reason he threw me a curveball was because he wanted to induce a 1% missed swing by risking a long hit that would occur with a 99% chance. In my experience, every pitcher who threw a curveball at me had the intention of competing with me.

So now was the time.

‘It’s a slider.’

‘Okay.’

The pitching motion ends and the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. A moderate slider that is moderately fast and bends moderately.

Perfect!

‘Write.’

But the results weren’t that good. Because I couldn’t even feel it. The batted ball floats high and flies toward right field. On Sunday, I felt it all season ago, but I definitely felt like my hitting wasn’t 100%. It looked like I was going to get out, but I still ran to first base just in case.

-Ahh…

And a sigh bursts out. The right fielder succeeded in handling my batted ball with ease. This ends the inning.

‘Should I have waited a little longer?’

After hitting it, I feel regretful.

“Hey, why do you look so sad because you didn’t hit a single at-bat? “You’re not even a 100% hitter.”

“… “I think I just swore subtly.”

As I was returning to the dugout with a disappointed heart, Choi Jin-cheol, who was waiting for his turn at bat, tapped my shoulder and spoke to me.

“What are you talking about?”

“… Anyway, it’s not like I couldn’t hit it.”

“But why does your expression look like that?”

“I have something to worry about for a moment.”

“What is it?”

Hmm… I told Choi Jin-cheol the discomfort I felt, thinking that a veteran like Choi Jin-cheol would be able to relieve my discomfort.

“Why didn’t you just filter me out of the match?”

“… Are you overly self-conscious? … I’d like to say that, but it’s strange. “It’s definitely strange that they didn’t skip you in a situation where there were no runners with two outs.”

Since the last Korean Series, there has not been a team that did not skip me in a situation where there were no runners with two outs. If there were still out counts, I could somehow get to third base and exchange the out counts and points, but that was impossible in a two out situation, so considering the probability, it was a reasonable decision to skip me in a two out situation.

And this was confirmed during the exhibition game. There were many teams that decided to win by checking their game sense at the beginning of the exhibition game, but as the latter part of the exhibition game progressed, all teams started to exclude me in such situations.

It was the same with Hancheol, who I faced in the last game.

But something was strange today.

“There’s something strange about you too, right?”

“… After all, there must be an impact from Sunday’s game, right?”

“Yes? “Sunday game?”

Sunday game? What did I do there?

“You stole home.”

Home steal? Ah… ! I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this. Listening to Choi Jin-cheol’s words, I felt like the discomfort I felt while at bat was relieved.

‘Yes, that was it.’

Last year’s slugging percentage was 0.991. Going deeper, the home run rate per at-bat was 13.6%, meaning he hit a home run almost every two games. That’s why other teams came to filter me out.

But now, with the home steal I recorded in Sunday’s game, things have changed. The moment I succeeded in stealing home, it was proven that I could score one point without the help of an out count. The strategy used to avoid scoring a point ended up giving one point for free, so there was no need to skip me in a situation where there were no runners with two outs.

“Sir, are you a genius?”

“… If you thought about it a little, you would have figured it out.”

In this way, the situations that filter me out are limited. A situation where a runner is in scoring position, but first base is empty. Even though I lost free access to base, it was actually a good situation for me. Because I wanted to hit as much as possible before going to the majors. As Rossby said, all I had to do was set a record enough for the majors to sign me at a good price, so I liked this situation better.

‘Fuck, I ran well.’

And if you try a home steal sometimes to instill a little more fear…

‘If that happens, they won’t have to skip me in every at-bat like they did in the last Korean Series.’

A Korean series with UG Overlords. Moon Ki-taek, who was the manager of UG, despite all the criticism, ordered an intentional walk out in every at-bat to win the championship. Public pressure was so strong that we eventually gave up on the plan, but honestly, if we had pushed through to the end, wouldn’t we have come in second place?

In the aftermath, a coach of the caliber of Moon Ki-taek was fired from UG, but there was no guarantee that a coach like Moon Ki-taek would never appear again in order to win.

I wasn’t really interested in my personal record, but I definitely liked this episode just to see the fans supporting us and Soyoung’s happy face.

‘I didn’t intend for this situation to happen, but there’s no need to refuse.’

Now all that’s left is the feeling of hitting. It was especially impressive against outside balls. Even if I didn’t intentionally throw a pitch, the stance of the pitchers facing me was clear throughout the exhibition game. Because I could feel the pitchers’ ball combination, which was to attack the outside as much as possible to avoid hitting long balls.

‘What can I do? The only way to improve your hitting skills is by continuing to play the game.’

Now that I had to go on defense, it was a waste of time to worry about this topic. When playing defense, you definitely only think about defense. Because I was a professional.

“Wow, are you so dazed? It’s a hit. “I might not be strong once.”

When I was compiling my mind, Seongtae Yoon, unable to bear the bird, came up to me and spoke to me.

“Well, do you think I’m someone who enjoys every at-bat like my brother?”

“My, when did you make such a fuss about me?”

“Take care of yourself, brother. Charlotte you spy. You hit a double play today too, right? “If it really comes out this blatantly, I won’t sit still.”

“If you don’t stay still, you’ll get upset?”

“Brother, you know. “What happens if the match-fixer catches me?”

I raised my fist and spoke firmly to the Charlotte spy. As someone who received a commendation from the Clean Baseball Center, there was a limit to my tolerance for this type of match-fixer.

“Up until now, I’ve treated him as a close brother, but if he makes one more double play or makes an error, then he won’t be quiet.”

“… Crazy shit. Turn it off.”

“Really, I’m from Busan, so I know you like shallots, but let’s do it in moderation. In moderation.”

“No! “You idiot!”