Chapter 40 – Episode 40. Are Major League Umpires Too Old? (One)

There are four major tournaments in high school baseball: the Golden Lion in spring, the Blue Dragon flag in late spring and early summer, the Presidential Cup in midsummer, and the Phoenix daegi in early fall.

Facing the needle-piercing sunlight, high school baseball fans will know that it is the President’s Cup even if they don’t know the name of the current tournament. The sweltering heat was raising the discomfort index.

And I had a slightly higher discomfort index than my teammates in the dugout.

“I’m batting number 4, so why do I always have to start with the lead batsman?”

“… Sorry!”

“Oh, I didn’t expect that.”

I briefly picked my juniors and looked at the display board.

‘Four runs in two innings…. It must be a bit difficult today, right?’

The strengths of the Korean sports high school baseball team were Kim Won-ho and Park Young-chul’s one-two punch, and I’m embarrassed to say it, but my presence was destroying the high school league.

However, Kim Won-ho was limited to 30 pitches per game at the request of the Shilla Triggers, and I was a batter, so it was not easy to reverse the outcome of the game if the pitcher kept me in check.

Especially in a game where the selection collapsed from the beginning like today.

“Base on Balls!”

Four balls hit outward in succession and I walked to first base. Lim Jun-hu, the ace of the opposing team, Hwiyungo, showed a calm expression even after he sent me out for a walk. Ordinary pitchers had a rotten expression, but his mentality seemed solid.

“Tsk, doesn’t Ace have any pride?”

He muttered quietly as he handed over the equipment from first base. Maybe the first baseman could go into the dugout and tell them.

“Referee. Can I talk to you like this?”

“Please refrain from unnecessary words and actions.”

“Ah, I was talking to myself.”

“Write!”

The first base referee looked at me with his eyes wide openhaha, it must be difficult to shake it with your mouth. Shall we shake it with our legs?

‘Mr. Rossby, please.’

I asked Rossby to pitch and took three steps.

‘The grip is four-seam.’

A four-seam grip? Then maybe you can do a check? I moved my center of gravity toward first base and focused on the pitcher’s feet.

Come!

Pak! As I slipped into the base and touched it, the first baseman’s mitt touched my forearm. Phew, I don’t care about the ball, but the containment is good. I stood up and brushed the dirt off my uniform.

“Out!”

“Yes? Did I come first? Dog eyes….”

… Is it a rug? He barely swallowed the swear words that came out of his mouth and opened his mouth again.

“I came first.”

“The mitt was fast.”

“No, what is this….”

‘Calm down!’

“It’s calm and nabal, and I came in first… !”

Eup, as I tried to protest further, the first base coach’s hand covered my mouth.

“Are you going to get kicked out?”

“Eup, oops!”

Ah-oh! The smell of shit from the first base coach’s gloves stung his nose. The fucking smell calmed me down a bit.

“Sorry.”

“If you protest one more time, I’ll kick you out.”

“It looks like our player is a little excited. Tiger, go in, go in!”

“Ha, sir.”

Fucking referees, if today’s game was broadcast, I would have requested a video review, but since it was the first game, there was no relay. Fuck. Wow!

“Hey! Come to work!”

I spit on the floor and was about to enter the dugout when the first base referee suddenly called me. What?

“Yes?”

“Do you spit?”

“No, I spit sand in the sand while sliding, why? Did all the other kids spit it out too?”

My head goes blank at the first base referee’s arrogance. Shall we chew the sand then?

“Hey! Are you protesting now?”

“Isn’t it?”

“Look at the way you talk?”

Fuck, would you speak well in this situation?

“Sorry! Fierce tiger! My apologies!”

The first base coach ran over and shouted as I lowered my head.

“Ha, sorry.”

“Be careful next time. Warning!”

When I apologized, the first base umpire finally showed a satisfied expression. I’m still losing, but it sucks.

“Yes. I will be careful.”

When I returned to the dugout, the manager came out first and asked what was going on.

“……… So there was an argument. But even when I saw it from the dugout, I came in first, right?”

“It was the same timing, but I couldn’t help it. Still, if you can, don’t fight the referee. Got it?”

“… Yes.”

I threw my helmet on the floor and sat down on the bench.

“Senior, are you okay?”

“Hey! Was I late when you saw it?”

“No. I definitely went in first.”

“That dog-eyed bastard.”

“All judges are like that.”

‘Mr. Rossby, aren’t there umpires like this in the major leagues?’

‘Saying bullshit. I guess you’re talking bullshit because you haven’t been scolded by major league umpires. To be honest, I was polite in front of the referee.’

‘Yes? Is that Mr. Rossby?’

‘Okay. I always bent over, especially when I was a player.’

Well…. Still, I didn’t want to live like that.

‘Then I have to shed bloody tears to come to my senses.’

‘Oh, I don’t know. I’ll just take care of it.’

While talking to Rossby like that, our attack in the bottom of the second inning passed without anything happening. Well, I wasn’t expecting that in the first place. Hanche High’s tradition of not even getting on base when an ace-class pitcher came out remained the same.

“The glove is here.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“No.”

I went to the right side of the now familiar second base, holding the glove that my junior gave me, and took my seat. When I tried to focus on the pitcher’s pitching, I could see the first base referee, who was away from first base.

Maybe it’s summer, so I’m only wearing arm sleeves. Well, the weather is hot these days. For a moment … Is the protective equipment only worn on the body?

‘Mr. Rossby, does it hurt a lot when you get hit by a baseball? I’ve been hit a lot too, but it hurts a lot.’

‘No way, this bastard….’

‘It’s too obvious if I do it now, so I should wait a little bit first, right?’

‘Khehehe, crazy monkey.’

Please come to second base only once. However, with a strikeout, a hit to the right, a grounder on first base, and a strikeout, Huiyungo’s attack in the top of the 3rd ended.

‘The ball never comes.’

But not everything came true just because you wanted it so badly. Like life, baseball was like that. On defense in the top of the 4th inning, I prayed earnestly for the ball to come to me, but the ball never came to me.

“Now! It’s 6:0, but it’s still worth a try. Wonho, have you warmed up? If you pitch 30, can you stop 2 innings?”

“Yes! You can even do three innings!”

“Yes, if only one player goes out this time, the fierce tiger will have a chance! Can you do it The opponent is shaking too!”

It’s a no-hit, no-run payson right now… ? The desire to spit out the words rose up, but I spared my words because I didn’t want to break the morale of the team.

“From now on, I will tell you the type of pitch, so focus on the sign. Got it?”

“Yes!”

The director put a lot of effort. Lee Gi-chul, the manager, is a master catcher who has won 8 Golden Gloves. He was an expert in ball formulation. As a player, the coach’s batting style was a thorough guess hit. He was a good player.

“Chill out and come. Even if you strike out, I will take responsibility.”

The morale of the team members seemed to rise as such a manager said that he would directly inform the opponent’s battery’s ball layout. Unless it was a crisis situation, he wasn’t the type to directly sign an autograph, but since it was driven 6:0, it seemed like the shit line was burning.

Well, thanks to me, you sucked some honey, right?

“Okay! Just one more person, so I can’t miss you!”

“Yep! Seniors!”

Right!

“Out!”

Right!

“Are you two out already?”

“Joohyun! Believe!”

Even if Hanche High’s batting line was plant-based, Lee Ju-hyeon, the No. 3 hitter, was a guy who hit 3.5 pennies. Of course, he hit mostly against sophomore and sophomore pitchers, but he was a guy who knew how to turn the bat. Please, just go out once.

“Second!”

The ball hit by Lee Ju-hyeon goes to the second baseman. An ordinary second-base grounder. However, the ball bounced high as it hit the boundary line between grass and dirt.

“Run! Run!”

“Nice! Joohyun Lee! It was good!”

Huiyun High’s second baseman jumped high, but the ball hit the glove and bounced high again. Yeah, I didn’t even expect a hit. Where did the mistake go?

Whoo! Whoo!

Turning the bat coolly, he walked into the batter’s box. It’s been a week since I learned Pilates as recommended by Cheon So-young. Somehow, it feels like the bat turns cooler.

‘Physin, does it make sense to get better after a week?’

‘Madam! Is Platini Hyo-gwan? What, don’t you know? If you believe in it, it gets better. Ah, Mr. Rossby broke my concentration for no reason.’

‘Better than a flash. Stupid.’

‘…….’

That’s not important now. Lim Jun-hoo, Hwiyun-go’s ace, highly nominated player, and a player who throws a changeup on a four-seam base. It is difficult to distinguish between the four-seam and changeup pitching forms, so it is difficult to target at higher levels. But it’s not that important to me. It’s because of Rossby. When we met in the weekend league, he went 4-for-4 with 1 home run, and then again, what? There was one more change ball….

‘Is it embarrassing?’

‘… Yes.’

‘Concentrate.’

‘… All right.’

Rossby let out a grumpy laugh and flew back behind the pitcher. As usual, Rossby was behind the pitcher, and his embarrassment began to calm down. But what was Platini? Was he a man’s name?

‘Four-seam, a ball that falls out a lot.’

Is it because it’s a two-out? Even though the runner was on first base, he seemed to be thinking of skipping me. Maybe that’s why the director didn’t give me a special autograph.

“Cheek.”

A ball that bounces outward. The felt restraint is about 144 km/h? It was a good ball for me to hit, but I didn’t want to hit a ball that didn’t come into the strike zone.

“Cheek.”

“If you’re going to do this, how about an automatic intentional ball?”

Why don’t you make an automatic intentional ball when you take the ball out every time? The pitcher is annoying and so am I. Are you expecting me to swing the ball for the ball by any chance?

“Cheek.”

If I get out of here, will the next hitter let me home? It’s already 6:0, but…. I guess I’ll have to catch up now to win.

‘Four seams. It’s outside this time. Kids these days don’t have any ambition.’

Oops, I don’t know Even an elementary school student swung the bat without sincerity at the ball falling outward.

“Strike!”

And on the next ball too.

“Strike!”

‘What are you doing?’

‘Will he throw the ball on two strikes? He’s still the team’s Aison.’

Anyway, my records are meaningless now. From the moment I was selected as the first nomination, it didn’t matter even if I didn’t appear in the competition. I’m not the kind of person who’s happy to play in a meaningless tournament like this, but today’s first base referee made me a little angry.

In other words, I didn’t want to walk to first base like this. Lim Jun-hoo, you want to be drafted in the top ranks, don’t you? You struck out Maeng-Ho Ji, you want to have a record like this! Come!

‘Changeup, it’s closer to the strike zone than before.’

He responded to my provocation. Well, all pitchers are the same. I ate two strikes like this, but if you don’t win, you’re not even a man.

‘Looks like they’re planning to cross the border line, so be careful.’

In Rosby’s words, Lim Jun-hoo’s willingness to walk was visible. The pitch he chose was a changeup that he had never shown me before.

I focused all my attention on his right hand. Then, he swung his bat in line with the falling trajectory.

Deep!

‘Ugh, was it a bit far?’

I felt the ball hit the end of the bat. I threw the bat and ran straight to first base.

“Second! Second!”

‘The second baseman caught the ball. Keep running!’

I kept running toward first base while listening to Rossby. You can see the first baseman stretching his mitt with his legs slightly apart in front. I stretched out my foot on the base guarded by the first baseman.

Puck!

“Safe!”

The first base coach and I shouted almost simultaneously. Done! It was out of shape, but it survived. Phew, I almost felt embarrassed. I swung twice and didn’t even get to first base….

“Out!”

… I would have been embarrassed if I did, but what?

“Yes?”

What did you hear now? Out?

“It’s called out. Go in.”

“No, this is….”

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