Chapter 410 – Episode 402. Finals. (2)

“What do you think?”

“You sure have a good vision, right?”

Otani, who ended the first inning with a three-way retreat, answered the director’s question. Although there was no subject, the story between the two people connected. This was because there was only one hitter in Korea that the manager would directly ask a pitcher of Ohtani’s caliber.

And of course that batter was Ji Maeng-ho. With a batting average of .400 and 60 home runs last year, Ji Maeng-ho was quite a famous player even in Japan, where baseball is the national sport. This season, he also hit .400 with a batting average of .400 and hit over 30 home runs, proving that last year’s performance was not a fluke. Br〉

Moreover, since he was the one who eliminated Japan from last year’s WBC by hitting a home run, the wariness about Ji Maeng-ho was even greater.

“I never thought he would send that ball that far, but his power and striking ability are definitely on par with those of major league players. Choi Sang is a good player, but Korea continues to produce outstanding players.”

Ohtani’s remarks seem to acknowledge his opponent. The coach smiled wryly at Ohtani, who was still humble despite being the best player in the world. A player of that caliber could be more arrogant… But that was also the reason Otani rose to the top. Probably, he continued to conduct personal analysis even after yesterday’s meeting.

“I knew it first.”

Kudo, the Japanese director, ended the conversation without saying anything because he trusted Otani. Well, it wasn’t a good thing to disturb the pitcher in the first place.

‘Is the problem Korea’s selection?’

In fact, when I heard that the U.S. Was eliminated, I thought the gold medal had already been won. There are two pitchers in Korea that we need to be most wary of. Woo-sung Jung, who plays in the major league, and Seong Hyeon, the best pitcher in Korea.

Among them, Jung Woo-sung started as a starter 4 days ago and threw a lot of balls, and Seong Hyun started in the game against the United States and did not come up today. Two pitchers who have also been recognized in the major leagues. There were major league hitters like Otani, Seiya, and Masataka in the Japanese national team, but apart from Ohtani, they were pitchers who were virtually difficult to target, so when Korea advanced to the finals without those two, the Japanese coach was delighted.

Moreover, Korea’s starting pitcher is not Choi Jung-hoon or Kim Seong-gyeol, whom they have met several times in international matches, but Jang Woo-joo, a second-year rookie. From the first inning, I was planning on giving them a solid hit with a major league-level batting lineup led by Seiya, Ohtani, and Murakami, but Jang Woo-joo’s pitch was better than expected.

A fastball that reaches the upper 150s and a curve that perfectly steals the batter’s timing. When I watched the video, I thought it was a ball that only low-level KBA hitters could use, but when I saw it in real life, there was a reason why he was selected as a starter in the finals.

‘After all, 100 miles is 100 miles? It’s definitely difficult to attack.’

Although there were players in Japan who threw 100 mph, it was not that common. And most of those players were top-level players and national team players in Japan. Even if he came to NPB right now, the player who would likely take a starting spot was Jang Woo-joo.

‘After… But you can’t be lucky three times in a row.’

Dominica and the United States. And even to his home country, Japan. These were teams that were far ahead of Korea in terms of power. Baseball is a sport where even the strongest team loses to a weak team at least three times. With luck, it could happen that a weak team beat a strong team once or twice.

But getting lucky three times in a row? Even in baseball, something like that would be difficult to happen. Plus, we had Ohtani, the best player in the world. A fight you can’t lose.

‘… But why am I so anxious?’

It’s a natural game to win, but I have bad thoughts in my head. Director Kudo’s eyes automatically turn to the cause. Ji Maeng-ho is concentrating in a low posture near the second base.

.400 hitter, 60 home runs. Even if you ignore all that, he was a guy who achieved incredible results at this Olympics. The guy’s performance I checked before the game was 9 hits in 17 at-bats, 6 home runs, and an OPS of 2.519. Ohtani’s performance may have dropped due to a poor performance, but it was still a great performance.

Moreover, the performance was not against low-level pitchers, but against the best players in the major league, such as Alcantara, Classe, and Gerrit Cole. Plus, they all happen in clutch situations. Moreover, these pitchers all had something in common: they all threw around 100 pitches.

… Just like Otani.

‘I guess it’s because he’s strong at fast speeds. The same goes for the hit he made against Shohei. If Shohei collapses, the next pitcher should be a slow ball pitcher… No, let’s not think like this. There is no way Shohei will collapse.’

Director Kudo believed that Otani would never collapse, but he could not shake off the anxiety in a corner of his mind.

The most important thing in a short game is how crazy a player is during that one game. In Korea, Ji Maeng-ho was definitely that kind of player. Moreover, a player with a solid base was doing crazy things…

He spoke of his sense of accomplishment after playing baseball for over 40 years. That Ji Maeng-ho is dangerous.

What is needed to wash away this anxiety is to take the lead. We needed to break their momentum by scoring first.

However,

“Strike! Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

“Out!”

[Jang Woo-joo perfectly blocks Japan’s attack in the beginning of the second inning! Jang Woo-joo ends the inning with a three-way throw!]

It wasn’t easy to target a pitcher who was around 100 mph when I met him for the first time. Even if I had a strategy, it took at least two at-bats for the ball to become noticeable.

‘Hehe, let’s go without any problems until then. Shohei, Shohei will be enough to stop you.’

At the beginning of the game, there is nothing the coach can do. All he can do is trust the players he picks and put in the lineup.

“Strike! Out!”

In the bottom of the second inning, fourth batter Joo Seung-cheol, who came up as the leadoff hitter, struck out and retired.

‘Yes, it’s that Shohe. There is no way it will fall in Korea.’

Seeing Ohtani’s pitch makes me feel like the anxiety I felt earlier has disappeared like a lie. Kyungo Ohtani’s fantastic pitching continued to Koo Jin-mo’s at-bat.

[Goo Jin-mo’s foreign country is flying high! The shortstop approaches and shouts.]

“My!”

[Out. Ohtani cleans out Koo Jin-mo with a shortstop fly.]

Koo Jin-mo, who was at bat with one out, retired with an infield fly, and the batter who came in with two outs counted was Lee Yong-gi. Lee Yong-gi did his best to ease the shoulders of the youngest member of the team, Jang Woo-joo, who was playing well,

[This batted ball is caught by the center fielder. Three out. The game continues in the top of the third inning.]

If it was a ball he could hit with his best effort, there was no way Ohtani would be competing for the Cy Young Award. Ohtani’s pitching finished the second inning perfectly. However, the flow of the game was not bad.

-ㅅㅂ What is it, Lord Onati?ㅡ

┗Cy Young looks like a dick lol

┗┗You haven’t won the Cy Young yet.

┗┗He is a strong candidate this season haha

-Still, I’m glad Jang Woo-joo threw well.

┗ㄹㅇ Looks like today is a scratchy day.

This was because Korea’s starting pitcher Jang Woo-joo was working hard as Ohtani was throwing well.

[Choi Joo-tae! Catch this ball. Shortstop hits a straight line! One out!]

[Swing strike out! Jang Woo-joo handles two out counts!]

This was because he was getting outs by putting the ball into the zone in the second half of 150 without hesitation.

[The referee’s hand! It doesn’t go up. Walk. Jang Woo-joo allows a walk to 9th batter, Kensuke.]

There was also a crisis where one batter got on base by walking,

[100.3 miles! Jang Woo-joo strikes out Seiya Suzuki with a 100.3 mph pitch!]

The inning ended today with a ball traveling over 100 mph to the next batter.

[Bottom of the 3rd inning, leadoff hitter Kim Jeong-hyun is now at bat. The current batting average is .206.3. …]

With Jang Woo-joo and Ohtani playing well, Korea’s attack began in the bottom of the third inning. As he had done so far, Ohtani easily caught No. 7 hitter Kim Jeong-hyun and No. 8 hitter Kim Su-ho, accumulating two out counts.

And the batter who came in with two outs was Kang Han-beom, who hit the final home run in the last game against the United States.

[Kang Han-beom comes in. His record at this Olympics was 2 hits in 19 at-bats. Although his batting average is .105, he is the hitter who led Korea to the finals by hitting a decisive home run against the United States.]

[In the semifinal match against the United States, you came into the game as the number 9 hitter, and your performance was good as you hit a game-winning home run, right? It seems that Coach Geum-Hyeon Lee and Coach Hyeong-Jin Joo placed Kang Han-Beom back at number 9 because they wanted him to hit comfortably, and we hope that Kang Han-Beom will show a cool shot once again.]

[Yes. Kang Han-beom and Ohtani, Ohtani and Kang Han-beom. The first match!]

“Jitterbug! Strike!”

On the electronic display, a fastball of 97.8 miles per hour and 157.4 km/h passes through Kang Han-beom’s bat and lands in the middle of the strike zone. The strong tiger shakes his head when the ball passes far above his bat.

It is common knowledge that the older you get, the more difficult it is to respond to fast balls. Unless there is a special case, most batters go to bat thinking of both a fastball and a breaking ball at the same time. However, as he got older, his quickness inevitably decreased, and when he was thinking about breaking balls, he had to be delayed in responding to fastballs.

Moreover, Ohtani’s ball is a fast ball that is hard to find in the low 150’s range. It was a ball that could be called a hit if all thoughts about the breaking ball were completely erased.

‘There is no curveball. There is no curveball.’

Ohtani’s second pitch, which he greeted while talking to himself, was headed toward the strike zone with a similar speed as before.

‘Now… !’

The ball you were waiting for. Kang Han-beom, convinced that it was a fastball, swung the bat.

Perfect!

However, the sound coming from the bat tells you that you missed. Otani’s ball sank at the last moment and touched the top of the ball.

[You hit the ball! To the shortstop, it’s flowing! Kang Han-beom creates Korea’s first hit!]

However, hitting the ball right does not necessarily mean it is a hit, and hitting it wrong does not mean it is a bad hit. Kang Han-beom succeeded in making a hit with a batted ball that had never been shown in the league.

Someone in the dugout looked at the batted ball and thought, ‘It’s like an old man’s piss foot,’ but it wasn’t a hit. Korea made the first base hit against Ohtani.

[As expected, he’s a strong criminal! The player who can make such technical strikes is Kang Han-beom.]

[I think it was a cutter now, is that correct?]

[You’re right. I aimed properly at the falling ball. This is the skill of a veteran!]

Kang Han-beom’s lucky hit. After that lucky hit, Ohtani’s ball begins to shake.

[I’m holding on to this ball! Choi Joo-tae! Now 2 outs, 1st and 2nd bases! Ji Maeng-ho comes to bat!]

And then, Ji Maeng-ho, the batter that Coach Kudo was wary of, came to bat.

*

‘Fuck, what’s going on? Set the table like this.’

Honestly, I had no idea that the two batters in front of me would get on base. Choi Joo-tae was a good player, so it seemed like he would get on base at least once, but to think that even a strong batter got on base… Although it was unsightly as the ball looked like an ‘old man’s piss foot’, it was an opportunity. It might be the last time.

Looking at the state of Otani’s ball today, there was little chance that the table would be better than this situation.

‘Sweeper. It’s outside.’

‘Sweeper from the first pitch?’

Otani chose a sweeper from the first pitch, perhaps because of the good memories of his first at-bat.

‘You’ll come in, right?’

‘The mitt is on the inside, but…’

A turn at bat where the previous batter is given a walk. Should I get the ball out of the zone? Somehow it didn’t seem like it. It was the nature of pitchers to think that if they were confident about their pitches, they would try to hit them more and more into the strike zone.

A strong feeling of being in the zone.

I only missed the sweeper in my first at-bat, but I had seen his sweeper many times in the dugout, so the trajectory was familiar. A ball that there is no reason not to aim for. I loaded the bat, thinking about the timing of his sweeper.

And his first pitch was thrown.

Perfect!

The timing seemed to be right, but I was at a loss. It means that the bat is out of center.

‘Fuck, it’s worse than I thought?’

Fortunately, the location of the hit was inside the ground. Although it hit the top of the bat, the strong and fast ball flew between the left fielder and center fielder.

‘Will it pass?’

“Run! Run!”

As we looked at the batted ball while running, the Japanese left fielder and center fielder ran like crazy to catch the batted ball.

‘Go over, go over!’

However, perhaps because it did not hit the center of the bat, the ball slowly began to sink in front of the fence.

‘Please! Don’t get caught!’

Is it because my prayers reached you? The batted ball hits the fence and comes out. Perhaps because of his fast hitting, Kang Han-beom’s base running play made even me who was watching uneasy.

‘Fuck, it’s so fucking slow!’

However, the third base coach must have thought that it would be difficult to score any points now, so he sent Kang Han-beom home. Kang Han Beom runs to home plate at almost the same speed as the left fielder’s throw.

The dust raised as Kang Han-beom’s large body slides obscures the view.

-Wow!!!

‘What? Three leaves? Out?!’