Chapter 389 – Episode 381. Vs Netherlands. (2)

“Now it’s Bogatsu.”

Top of the first inning, two outs. Bogaerts walks out to bat. Bogaerts was such a great player that if you ask who the current Dutch national team’s biggest star is, out of 100, you would say 100 Bogaerts. Without any further explanation, the fact that he signed a contract worth $280 million over 11 years is enough to explain Bogaerts’ value.

‘I’m so fucking jealous, you fucking idiot. How much is $280 million per year for 11 years? So, divide 280 million by 11 and get about 1,300 won per dollar? So multiply by 1300… Hey, damn it, it looks like I’m making a lot of money.’

It was difficult to calculate, but it was true that I made a lot of money. Of course, I wasn’t greedy for money. There was no problem making a living as long as I had enough money to buy baseball equipment and condoms. However, I was honestly jealous that a professional’s skills were recognized as valuable as their annual salary.

Moreover, the money received was not only enormous.

From what I heard during the power analysis class, he performed poorly last year to the point of being called a failure, but he came back to life this season and is hitting double-digit home runs at around .300 as usual. In the major league, a shortstop.

Honestly, shortstop was the most difficult position among fielders. If I had to say a difficult position, I would say catcher, but in my opinion, shortstop was more difficult than catcher. It wasn’t because I was an infielder, but shortstop was such an important position. The catcher position may be difficult because you have to communicate with the pitcher and sit all day, but I didn’t think it was particularly difficult.

But the shortstop was different. He was, literally, difficult to play on defense. Normally, in a game, the second baseman catches the most balls, but the position in which he catches the ball is similar to that of the shortstop, and the level of difficulty is different from that of second baseman. In particular, the shortstop position was one in which the difficulty of the throw to first base increased exponentially as the distance between throws to first base increased. Being farther away from first base meant that you had to turn your body and throw the ball.

Therefore, in Ama Baseball, the person who was best at baseball was bound to play shortstop. The position that required the most athletic ability and baseball sense was that of shortstop. However, the man who was mentioned as one of the best shortstops in the world was Bogaerts, the Netherlands’ number three hitter.

‘Well, I’m getting more recognition for my offense than my defense.’

In any case, showing that level of offensive power in the position of shortstop, which is the most difficult among fielders and the second hardest after catcher, meant that he was a monster beyond imagination.

Whoo!

“Strike!”

‘The swing is also fierce.’

Is this a qualitatively different swing from the two batters that came before? The intimidation of a top-class major league hitter was different. Perhaps that’s why the exchange of autographs between Jung Woo-sung and Lee Yong-gi lasts longer. And the second ball thrown.

Perfect!

This time, Bogaerts hit the bat properly. The ball Bogaerts hit headed toward the shortstop at incredible speed. The moment you think it’s a hit,

-Wow!!!

Choi Joo-tae’s incredible diving saved Bogaerts’ batted ball. And Choi Joo-tae got up as if in one movement and threw the ball to first base.

“Out!”

“Nice!”

“Ju-tae! Thank you!”

Choi Joo-tae is also a player who confidently looks forward to playing shortstop in the major league where only monsters gather. His defense proves that although he is embarrassed when compared to his offensive ability, his defensive ability is not at all inferior. In fact, some say that Choi Joo-tae is superior in terms of defensive ability.

“Senior, are you hitting a bit?”

“This is major league. Did you learn from it?”

“Okay, as expected, senior. “I engraved it in my eyes.”

As we gave a glove high five to Choi Joo-tae and walked toward the dugout, Jung Woo-seong, who was waiting for us, took off his hat and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you.”

The first batter was I, a second baseman, and the last batter was Choi Joo-tae, a shortstop. If it weren’t for us, it wouldn’t have been surprising if it had been a hit, so Jung Woo-sung seemed quite happy. However, to be honest, it was a situation where I couldn’t be that happy.

Of course, it was always nice to hear a thank you from a pitcher, but to put it another way, 2/3 of Jung Woo-sung’s pitches today were correct hits. The second batter, Bernardina, was struck out by Jung Woo-sung, so it was not surprising that virtually all balls hit by the bat were correct hits.

Although the Dutch guys were a bit harsh, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

‘Do I really have to give points? ‘Hehe.’

I have a chance to show my skills in front of the world. Although the WBC was a big stage, it was still not a stage comparable to the Olympics. This is Dodger Stadium, the home stadium of the LA Dodgers. There will definitely be scouts.

‘Since Bogaerts is worth 280 million, I only have about 300 million dollars…’

A golden opportunity to raise the ransom.

“Senior Joo Tae. “Please get on base once.”

“I plan to leave even if you don’t ask.”

Choi Joo-tae, the team’s number one hitter, speaks confidently and heads to the plate. I’ve heard a lot of similar things, but I think Choi Joo-tae is the most reliable. It was natural for him to be the starting shortstop in the major leagues, especially the starting shortstop for a team like the Angels.

‘Let’s take a look at the pitcher’s ball first.’

The Netherlands’ starting pitcher is Van den Berg. He was a mercenary who also played in Korea and was a mercenary that I remember even though I don’t watch the KBA much. I remember he won a title such as most wins or ERA, but he performed well in the KBA and returned to the major league to take a starting position. He could be considered the ace of the Netherlands.

It was a bit surprising that we played an ace as we were expected to finish first in the group, but looking at the rules of this Olympics, even if we finished third, we could have advanced to the quarterfinals if our winning percentage was good. In particular, if there is a team with the same winning percentage in each group, conditions other than winning percentage, such as goal difference, are also looked at, so playing an ace against us could be said to be a strategic choice.

The strategy is to either lose to us, the team expected to be in first place, by conceding the least number of goals or even aim for a win, while beating Panama and Cuba with the remaining starters and moving up to second or third place. In addition, if Ace was selected as a starter in the first game, there was a possibility that he would be selected as a starter again in the quarterfinals due to schedule.

“Strike!”

And the ace of the team chosen by the Netherlands, Van den Berg, looked pretty good. I heard that the average speed is around 148-150 and the maximum speed is around 155, but the speed of the strike struck by Choi Joo-tae was 95 mph, or about 153 km/h. Perhaps because it was the Olympics, the velocity was better than usual.

‘Sweet, it would be nice to see some curveballs too.’

Van den Berg’s breaking balls are cutter, slider, sinker, curve, and changeup. It was safe to say that he threw all breaking balls except the splitter, so I wanted to see as many pitches as possible. No matter how much I am, it was difficult to hit a breaking ball in one go from a pitcher I had never seen before.

“Ball.”

The second ball against Choi Joo-tae was a ball that bent to the left.

‘Mr. Rossby, did you just hit the ball?’

‘It was a cutter.’

Now that I’ve seen the cutter, I want to see the slider too…

Perfect!

But unfortunately, Choi Joo-tae made contact with the third ball,

-Wow!!

He produced a hit that was slightly taller than the second baseman.

‘Was it a fastball?’

‘Yes.’

As expected, Choi Joo-tae. You didn’t miss the second fastball, did you? It was unfortunate that I didn’t see many balls, but getting to first base with no outs wasn’t a bad situation. Moreover, Choi Joo-tae is a runner who steals double-digit bases in the major leagues. Although his stolen bases decreased after becoming a free agent, his ability to steal bases did not disappear.

“[Hello.]”

After finishing the batting routine as usual, I say hello to the umpire and catcher. Of course, there was no answer. As it was the Olympics, the Dutch catcher seemed to be trying to play cautiously.

‘If you’re this cautious, you probably know about me, right?’

At the last WBC, I was a perfect rookie. We only have records from the high school league. But it was different now. There was no way there was no information about me, who won MVP in the KBA last year and hit .400 with 60 home runs. There is a high probability that he will not throw a curveball or changeup.

‘Fastball.’

The first pitch is a fastball. Considering that all the balls thrown to Choi Joo-tae were near the zone, there was a high probability that I would make a bold game.

‘If I had to pick my weakness, it would be a high fastball, so I would probably throw a high fastball, right?’

I didn’t want to hit a pitch like that from a pitcher I had never seen before, so I decided to watch the first pitch.

“Ball.”

‘Also…’

The first pitch is a high fastball that hits the outside. My prediction was correct, but it didn’t feel that good. Because it was clear that these bastards came after my investigation.

‘If this is the case, can we say there is no curve or change-up? So what’s left is to sort out the sinker, slider, and cutter?’

Excluding the bogey curve and change-up, the slowest pitch among the remaining pitches was the slider. Among them, the thing to be most careful about was the sinker. The speed wasn’t much different from a fastball, and the bending angle seen in the video was pretty good.

‘It’s a sinker.’

‘Okay.’

“Ball.”

‘It was a good thing I didn’t hit.’

And the sinker I checked was a ball that made me think it was from a major-leaguer. Now the ball count is two balls, no strikes, favoring the batter.

‘Now, come. You want to put one in the zone.’

‘It’s a slider.’

If it was a slider here, the intention was simple. I intend to throw a slider that goes outside to induce a missed swing and not give up a long hit if I get hit. Van den Berg swings his arm after making a pitching motion.

The trajectory that was moving toward the center begins to bend as the braking is slightly applied. However, my bat was already meeting his ball,

Ta – Aak!

The batted ball flies quickly toward right field. Even though I pushed the ball, it flew almost like a line drive and started to gradually go down near the fence.

‘Will it pass?’

The right fielder gives up on catching the ball and looks at the fence. And,

-Wow!!!

The batted ball hit the fence, bounced once, and then went into the right fielder’s glove. But at that time, my position was already near second base.

‘Gotcha!’

The batting speed was so fast that I couldn’t reach second base yet, but this was enough to aim for third base.

‘Go to third base! Mr. Rossby!’

‘It’s coming! Sliding!’

The third baseman was getting ready to catch the ball one foot in front of third base, and I extended my hand as I slid toward third base with Rossby shouting. The sensation of the glove being felt on the leg side at the same time as touching the base. I touched the base and looked up at the third base umpire.

“…”

The third base umpire looked at us for a few seconds, then raised his hand and opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.