Chapter 400 – Episode 392. Unsealed. (2)

‘Well, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to test how much you’ve grown by now. Sinker. ‘Low on the body.’

It’s been a while since I heard Rossby’s location call… In fact, I was worried that Rossby would reject it again this time, but it seemed that Rossby was also curious. How much I have grown.

Of course, even if the pitcher’s location is confirmed, there is no dramatic change. Because Rossby didn’t actually steal the autograph and give it to me. What Rossby tells me is the location of the catcher’s mitt.

The poorer the pitcher’s control, the further away the ball is headed from the catcher’s mitt. Moreover, since baseball was not a game, even pitchers with good control did not always hit the catcher’s mitt.

When I was young, I had no idea what was going on and swung the bat while keeping in mind the positions that Rossby showed me, so when I faced pitchers with poor ball control, I ended up missing a lot of swings and hitting quite a lot. If someone knew about my situation, they would ask, ‘Is this bastard an asshole? So much so that it wouldn’t be strange to hear people say, ‘Why can’t I play it even though I know it?’

But it was different now. Because he played without a location for about a year, I was able to judge even if the location was different from what Rossby said. Being able to reduce the speed of judgment in a game between a pitcher and a batter, where the game is decided within 0.1 seconds, was a huge benefit that doesn’t need to be explained in words.

In addition, it was a great advantage to be able to figure out what the battery was thinking when throwing the ball just by hearing its approximate location.

‘Concentrate.’

‘I’ll just keep an eye on it.’

I thought I could hit the first pitch as a changeup, so I just went in, but I wanted to try the sinker myself.

“Strike!”

And Alcantara’s ball went into the zone, licking the borderline like a razor blade near the knee. The speed recorded on the electronic display board was 99.3 miles (159.8 km/h). Fast. It was definitely fast. It was so fast that I couldn’t even tell how such a fast ball was changing and coming in.

But…

‘Sweet, the angle isn’t as big as I thought?’

To be honest, when I watched the video, I was amazed at the fast ball, but I don’t think the movement was that big when I was at bat.

Although I was pushed to two strikes, I didn’t feel that bad. Because it felt like the way to attack was flashing before my eyes. In fact, I had no idea how to hit a changeup, which I usually hit home runs like a meal, but I felt confident that I could hit a sinker.

‘Again, it’s a sinker. ‘Lower side of the body.’

‘John?’

‘Meat location is inside the zone.’

As for the meat position, if it is inside the zone, it means throwing it in a position that spans the borderline as before. If there had been more room in the ball count, I would have watched, but since it was two strikes, I had to put out the bat.

I lightly squeeze his hand again and wait for his ball. The guy’s arm swung like a black whip,

Damn!

A hit ball disappears into the stands near third base.

‘Write…’

Feels like it’s slightly outside the zone. Moreover, the bat also missed. Rather, it was a fortunate swing that went beyond the foul line. If a ball like this had entered the ground, it would have been out, of course.

‘Fastball. High on the body.’

Alcantara’s four-seamer has a speed similar to that of a sinker. In other words, it was a ball close to 100 mph. And it was safe to say that the body high fastball was the weakest position in my swing mechanism. If he is like a KBA pitcher and his speed is around 140 to early 150s, he will be able to create hits, but if his speed is close to 160…

‘Should I hit it? Or watch? You can go out of the zone, but…’

High fastballs were often thrown outside the zone. If you get it wrong, it just goes away. However, considering that Alcantara was in the inning, he could have come right into the zone.

‘Fuck, I don’t know.’

Anyway, the ball the opponent throws is 100 mph. I decided to stop thinking about complicated things and just tackle it. Alcantara takes a wind-up stance once again. And, his high fastball rises higher, almost halfway between home plate and the mound, as if defying the laws of physics.

Perfect!

The ball flew high as I felt pain in my palm. The moment he hit the ball, he instinctively felt it. The bat was slightly low.

-Wow!!

Pop? Outfield fly? Now was not the time to discuss such things. All you have to do now is run toward first base. Even if there was a high probability of being out, I had to run, risking everything on the slightest possibility. I can feel the familiar sensation of stepping on the base with spikes.

“Out!”

“Fuck you!”

However, the result is out. When I turned my head and looked in the direction the batted ball flew, the left fielder, center fielder, and shortstop were all gathered in one place. And the shortstop guy grins and tosses the ball to the second baseman.

… It wasn’t easy either. The major league is full of monsters. And Alcantara is the best pitcher in the major league.

‘Fuck, next time…’

Shortstop fly ball. That was the first meeting with Alcantara, the 2022 Cy Young Award winner and a leading candidate for the Cy Young Award after making a comeback this season.

*

[The weatherman hit the first pitch! This hit is once again caught by the shortstop. Sandy Alcantara finishes an inning with only 7 balls.]

[As expected, the ball is good. Although he performed poorly last season, Alcantara is performing at the Cy Young level again this season, so I expected it to be a difficult game, but he is also a tough opponent.]

[Now the offense and defense take turns. Let me call you Dominica’s attacking lineup. 1st hitter Julio Rodriguez, 2nd hitter Fernando Tatis Jr., 3rd hitter Manny Machado, 4th hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 5th hitter Jose Ramirez, 6th hitter Juan Soto, 7th hitter Wander Franco, 8th hitter Ketel Marte, The lineup consisted of 9th batter Gary Sanchez.]

[Except for catcher Sanchez, all of them are proudly listed in the major league starting lineup, right? Well, we see a lot of MVP contender level players and All-Star level players.]

[You’re right. I think it will be a really difficult match. South Korea’s starting pitcher against him is Jung Woo-sung, and the catcher who will work with Jung Woo-sung is Lee Yong-gi. Now let me introduce you to the infielder. From first base…]

-The fucking lineup is so fucking tightㅡ

┗ Ha, I happened to meet Dominica…

-Can you win?

┗Honestly, it seems difficult. Choi Joo-tae, Ji Maeng-ho, and Ki Sang-jun all got screwed, so if they get 1 point, they get a lot of points, and the problem is Tusun, but honestly, I don’t have high hopes for Jung Woo-sung because he was also robbed by the Netherlands.

Having to deal with batters like that… That was the common thought that came to the minds of fans upon hearing Dominica’s lineup. These were names that people who didn’t know much about baseball could pass over and think, ‘Oh, that’s right,’ but if you knew anything about the major leagues, you could immediately see how ugly this lineup was.

Because all the hitters named in the lineup were players whose names were voted for Rookie of the Year or MVP.

Even fans who only watch the KBA league had heard the names of hitters like Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., And Manny Machado, so they couldn’t help but feel anxious.

In the bottom of the first inning, Dominica’s attack began amid the public’s anxiety, wondering, ‘Will Jung Woo-sung be able to stop such a batting lineup?’

[Rodriguez’s first pitch hit! Shortstop Choi Joo-tae catches it. A light throw to first base. One out.]

[You blocked it well. The leadoff batter of the inning. It also means a lot to block the leadoff hitter in the first inning.]

-Oh, what happened? Are you good at blocking?

┗Originally, Jung Woo-sung was good in the beginning, but the problem was when he lost strength.

[Now the second batter, Fernando Tatis Jr., Comes to bat.]

[All hitters need to be careful, but if there is a hitter among the Dominican hitters who need to be especially careful, it is this hitter. Fernando Tatis Jr. Fernando Tatis Jr. Is the hitter who won the home run title in the National League in 2021 by hitting 42 home runs, hit 32 home runs in 2023, and has already hit 27 home runs this season.]

[This season, you are also a candidate for National League MVP, right?]

[You’re right. Fernando Tatis Jr. Is dangerous.]

Fernando Tatis Jr. Is a batsman who the commentator emphasizes and calls dangerous. And the Korean coaches and Jung Woo-sung were well aware of the danger of that hitter.

[Jung Woo-sung’s first pitch! Ball, I’m watching. The second ball… Now the game will be decided by full count.]

Therefore, the match was difficult and even more difficult.

[Jung Woo-sung throws the seventh ball! Looking! Strike out! Jung Woo-sung’s slider lands low to the body.]

And the ball, which was flying toward right-handed hitter Tatis Jr.’ S body, amazingly changed its trajectory into the zone, causing Tatis Jr. To laugh as if he was dumbfounded and step away from the batter’s box. Jung Woo-sung’s front door slider*, which was said to only come out on scratch days, burst.

-What? Is it Jung Woo-sung’s day?

-Did he come?

-I believed it!!!

Korean baseball fans who saw that slider were in a festive mood. Anyone who has watched Jung Woo-sung’s games for a long time will know that Jung Woo-sung’s day came against a strong team, Dominica, on the threshold of the semifinals.

[As expected of Jung Woo-sung! No batter can hit a ball like this!]

And the commentators were equally excited. A ray of light was shining on Korea in a gloomy situation where the opponent’s starting pitcher was Alcantara, a monster in the major leagues, and the batting lineup was filled with MVP-level contenders.

[Jung Woo-sung! He struck out Machado and struck out two batters in a row! Creates a clean three-way inning!]

Contrary to baseball fans’ expectations that they would be crushed by Dominica’s batting lineup, a tense pitching battle was beginning.

*

‘It is slowly visible. Is this the ball?’

“Ball.”

Second at-bat against Alcantara. Is it because I kept seeing Alcantara’s ball in my mind? The high-speed changeup that Alcantara throws is slowly starting to become familiar.

‘It’s a change-up again. Low.’

‘Okay. … See you again this time… ?’

“Ball!”

Alcantara’s change-up where the ball is declared as judged. I knew for sure after seeing him hit the ball twice in a row. The difference between a ball that becomes a ball and a ball that becomes a strike.

‘Slider this time. It’s outside.’

But I’m not excited. This time too, my choice is to wait. Since it was his first time using a slider, he didn’t want to make the mistake of hitting an unfamiliar ball and making a bad hit.

“Strike!”

‘Slider…, This much? Confirm first.’

Is the bending angle similar to a changeup? The trajectory was completely different, but the angle was similar. The speed seemed similar. However, unlike the changeup, which I had no idea how to hit when I first saw it, I thought I could hit it the next time it came into the zone.

‘It’s a sinker. ‘Body side.’

‘At las…’

And finally he chose the ball I was waiting for. To be honest, I wasn’t confident that I would get good results with the changeup, so I just practiced looking at the trajectory, but the sinker was different. I practiced hitting because I thought I could hit.

‘Come.’

In a one-strike, two-ball situation, a pitcher as good as Alcantara throws one more ball that misses? It was an impossible story. There was no way he would throw a ball that would miss even if he threw it. Gegada was recording a perfect game by outing 10 batters in a row, so it was clear that he didn’t like walks.

The guy’s ball comes toward the center and gradually curves. Towards my body. And at that point, my bat was already meeting his ball.

Ta – Aak!

The guy’s ball was heavy, but unlike his first at-bat, there was no pain in his palm. I started running, and the batted ball flew fast and high. The first batted ball in today’s game went behind the outfielder. The left fielder runs toward the fence to catch the batted ball.

Now all that remains is whether this batted ball goes over the fence or not.

“Please, please.”

Honestly, when I saw Alcantara’s ball, I didn’t think our batters could hit it. Although Jung Woo-sung’s ball is being scratched, he doesn’t know how long he can go. Here, the batted ball had to go over the fence and lighten the starting pitcher’s shoulders.

“Go over!”

Dominican left fielder Juan Soto soars high. The ball gradually falls towards the fence.

‘Please pass over!’