Chapter 381 – Episode 373. A Returning Veteran. (3)

“Hyung Kwan!”

“Yes, director.”

“I’m not telling you to hit something big. You know? There’s a big tiger behind you, so just do it as usual. Just like usual.”

Just like usual. The manager’s order for Woo Kwan-hyung, who recorded 3,093 hits in the KBA League, was clear. The director’s words to carry on as usual were simply to add one more hit to the tower of hits Woo Kwan-hyung had accumulated so far.

“I understand.”

Woo Kwan-hyung nods his head and answers. Now that the team is down 2:1 in a situation where they need to win the game and secure first place, normal players might have felt pressured by this difficult situation, but the expression on Woo Kwan-hyung’s answer was one of calmness itself.〈 Br〉

Because it was a situation that Chau Kwan-hyung had already experienced countless times in the 20 years since his debut. However, the only thing that changed was where the team currently stands.

-Whoa! Woo Gwan-hyung! Wow! Woo Gwan-hyung!

As Woo Kwan-hyung, who was swinging the bat in the waiting box, walks to the plate, his entrance song echoes throughout the baseball stadium.

This is the at-bat I’ve been looking forward to since getting injured in fall baseball. The moment he had always pictured in his head during that arduous rehabilitation training.

-Invincible A! T! Woo Gwan-hyung! Wow,~!! Wow,~!!

As he starts his batting routine at the plate, he can hear the fans who came all the way to Suwon cheering. I’ve been listening to this cheer song for almost half my life, but every time I hear it, my heart swells with a pleasant tremor. But he didn’t have time to feel that way for long.

The only time I feel that good is when I have a routine. As I finish the final act of the routine of sweeping the front of the batter’s box with the bat, the cheering song that always made me feel good has suddenly stopped being heard, and it feels like there are only the two, the batter and the pitcher. If I had to add a few more people, would it be a third base coach and a runner who would tell me the strategy?

From now on, it was a time of solitude. Just your own time with no one taking responsibility for the results. Woo Gwan-hyeong, who had more than 10,000 at-bats in his professional career, was keenly aware of this fact. The only one you can blame is yourself.

And Park Jeong-seop’s leg was lifted. There is strength in the hand holding the bat. Of course, it wasn’t the strength I went into because I was nervous. The most appropriate force is imparted to the bat to send the batted ball as far as it has been swung countless times.

[The match between Park Jeong-seop and Woo Kwan-hyung. The first pitch… !]

The ball leaves Park Jeong-seop’s hand and arrives at the mitt in the blink of an eye.

“Strike!”

[Park Jeong-seop’s fast ball hits high on the body! Get a strike. The first pitch was 146 km/h.]

‘A ball high toward the body from the first pitch? I missed one.’

Ball high towards the body. Woo Gwan-hyeong, who just watched the ball that could have been a long hit if he had been aiming for it, smiled bitterly. If I were in my prime, if a ball like this came my way, I would have reacted right away and sent it flying over the fence… No, it was clear that the pitcher would not have been able to stab the first pitch so boldly into his body in the first place.

But it wasn’t without benefit. Because I felt like I could tell what the battery was thinking just from the first pitch.

‘I guess we’ll continue to have fastball games like this.’

It was natural that as you get older, your response to fast balls becomes weaker. It was Woo Kwan-hyung who set unprecedented records in the KBA league, but he was also human and could not beat his age.

In that situation, veteran hitters had two options. Either give up thinking about breaking balls and focus only on fast balls, or wait for a breaking ball to be thrown at some point.

[JT’s battery exchanges signs. Jitterbug! Fastball again this time! Woo Gwan-hyeong is immediately driven to two strikes. The speed limit of 148 km/h is displayed on the electronic display board. Although Park Jeong-seop has already passed the 100-pitch mark, he is showing tremendous strength.]

[Your swing was a little late, right?]

Woo Kwan-hyung’s choice was to focus on fast balls. The results weren’t good, but Wu Kwan-hyung knew. This battery will not throw you a curveball.

‘What should I do?’

‘Let’s go back to the fastball. Because my performance is good today.’

‘Two Strikes?’

‘Anyway, the next batter is Ji Maeng-ho. If even Wu Gwan-hyeong can’t be suppressed with force, how can Ji Maeng-ho win?’

‘… Okay.’

And just as Woo Kwan-hyung thought, JT’s battery chose a fastball as the third ball. Things that are important to a pitcher include control and pitch, but psychological factors such as confidence cannot be ignored. JT’s catcher didn’t want to break the pitcher’s rhythm for no reason.

[Park Jeong-seop, prepares to throw the ball. And the third ball!]

And Park Jeong-seop’s third ball was thrown. A fastball traveling at close to 150 km/h was headed toward Woo Gwan-hyeong’s body. And the right pipe-shaped bat extends out.

Perfect!

[Push it away. This hit is to left field! Arna is running too!]

Since it was a fast ball close to 150, it could have been said that the timing of the bat coming out was a little late, but Woo Gwan-hyeong’s late bat instead created an ambiguous hit heading toward left field. It is an ambiguous position for a third baseman, a shortstop, or even a left fielder. The batted ball heads towards the line.

“My ball! My ball!”

Arnado, who showed good defense once by making a sliding catch today, runs to catch the ball like an animal. And…,

[Arnado! Ball! Didn’t catch it! The batted ball flows behind Arnado! Arnado caught the ball, and Baek Jeong-jin, the runner on first base, reached third base! Woo Kwan-hyung is on second base! I’m not going! Woo Kwan-hyung stops at first base! Now it’s a situation of 1 out and 1st and 3rd bases!]

First at-bat after returning from injury. It wasn’t a home run that cut through the baseball field, nor was it a timely hit that brought runners home, but Woo Gwan-hyeong looked at the dugout with a bigger gesture than ever and punched his fist.

It wasn’t flashy, but the away fans who came to Suwon to cheer on AT raised their voices due to Woo Gwan-hyung’s hit.

-Woo Kwan-hyung! Woo Gwan-hyung! Woo Gwan-hyung! Woo Gwan-hyung!

[The heart of AT is back! Woo Kwan-hyung continues this opportunity. And the person behind Woo Gwan-hyeong’s will is this person. Ji Maengho! He is the best hitter in the league and ranks first in home runs with 25. Woo Kwan-hyung completes his duties and enters the dugout. The pinch runner is Kang Joo-hyeon.]

And with a satisfied expression, he walked back to the dugout. It wasn’t a reversal or a tie, but the reason why Woo Gwan-hyeong was able to make such an expression was simple. Because I trusted the next batter, Ji Maeng-ho.

The young player I first saw at the finishing camp became the best hitter in the league in just one year and was protecting the team reliably.

“Meng Hao. Ask…”

“Senior, this is Ji Maeng-ho.”

On the way back to the dugout, I spoke to a junior who was warming up after throwing the bat ring in the waiting box, and as always, the confident answer came back.

“Yes, you are Ji Maengho. Strike like a tiger.”

“… Of course. Please feel free to watch it. Comfortably.”

Although he was a junior who sometimes embarrassed him with thoughtless remarks, Woo Gwan-hyeong smiled at the sight of him being more trustworthy than anyone else on the field and walked back to the dugout. And coach Lee Soo-hyun was waiting in front of the dugout.

Although I couldn’t see his eyes because they were covered by sunglasses, he seemed to be praising me by saying, ‘Well done.’ … Just like in 2002 when he debuted, when we played together on the team and taught him many things.

And suddenly a thought occurred to me.

‘Was I a junior like a fierce tiger to senior Suhyun?’

Was he the kind of junior who gave confidence to Lee Soo-hyun, who had just debuted, who had been an AT man for 10 years before joining the team?

‘Probably not, right?’

Starting with the record, unlike Ji Meng-ho, who led the team to a championship in his first year of debut, he also had many shortcomings back then, just like he does now.

‘If I had done the same thing as Ji Maeng-ho, senior Su-hyeon wouldn’t have left the team.’

And if Lee Soo-hyun hadn’t left the team, he might have been able to go to fall baseball at least once before he retired. He was at his most brilliant.

But it was a useless idea. They did not win the championship in 2002, and Lee Soo-hyun left as if kicked out of the team.

‘… Sorry. ‘Senior.’

What woke Woo Kwan-hyeong out of his useless thoughts was the voices of juniors filling the dugout, unlike back then when it was only filled with seniors.

“Woo Kwan-hyung! Woo Gwan-hyung!”

“What is it, old man? How do I hit the ball like that?”

“As expected, you are a senior!”

“Nice!”

“Wow, are you rejuvenated? “What is a hit?”

The young man who shed tears of frustration on the brink of winning the championship in 2002 is now at an age where he has overcome his hardships, and there is no player older than him on the team or even in the league.

… And the team broke through a long dark period and succeeded in winning the championship, and Lee Soo-hyun, who seemed to have been kicked out of the team, became AT’s legendary coach who led the team to its first championship in over 30 years.

He was a happy player who received a KS MVP commemorative watch as a gift from a junior who was also proud of him.

Plus, unlike back then, he didn’t have to solve everything himself. Because there were many trustworthy juniors in the team, excluding Ji Maeng-ho. He was satisfied with his current role as a bridge between juniors.

“Is this your first time seeing me hit?”

“Yes?”

“Huh?”

“I’m Woo Gwan hyung. “You guys.”

“What? Suddenly. It doesn’t suit me.”

“… “Brother, you look like Ji Maeng-ho right now.”

“And… But honestly, when Meng Hao said it, it didn’t seem like it was there, but when my senior said it, it seems a bit odd.”

“Hey, Meng Hao is honestly kind of cool too. That skill, that confidence. “I’m so jealous.”

It was hard to believe that the team was losing 2:1, and the cheerful atmosphere was added to the jokes of Woo Kwan-hyung, the most senior player, and it looked like a winning team. And at the bottom of that bright atmosphere was the belief that Ji Maeng-ho, who was currently at bat, would solve this crisis.

And,

[Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball! Direct hit on the fence! Even first base runner Kang Joo-hyun goes home! Coming in! Ji Maeng-ho saves the team from danger once again! Ji Maeng-ho’s 2 RBIs and a timely double! The score is now 3:2! Top of the 8th inning! The AT Thunders, who were being dragged, succeeded in turning this game around!]

As if repaying the trust of his teammates, Ji Maeng-ho’s batting once again saved the team from danger. Seeing that scene, a smile spread across Woo Gwan-hyeong’s lips again.

‘As expected of Ji Maeng-ho…, Now I can retire without any regrets…’

Now in the final year of his four-year contract, there are no regrets left. Now all that was left was to do my best, just like we have done for the past 20 years.

For AT Thunders’ 4th championship.