Chapter 430 – Episode 422. This Makes the Atmosphere Awkward. (2)
“Are you okay! Are you okay! “Don’t come!”
Woo Gwan-hyeong looked at the dugout and shouted as it looked like it was about to run out at any moment. It would be a big deal if even bench clearing happened here. In particular, seeing Ji Maeng-ho in the dugout with his ghost-like eyes in a posture as if he was going to run at any moment, something like that should never have happened.
‘Whew, okay, it’s better if I get hit.’
When he came to bat, Woo Kwan-hyung knew. He knows that the pitcher will throw a bean ball. The pitcher’s slightly shaking eyes, an apologetic look. And the unusual atmosphere continued from the first game. There was no way Woo Kwan-hyung, who had been playing professionally for over 20 years, would not know that feeling.
And the ball flies straight towards you. I could have avoided it. However, he felt that he could escape the shackles of this empty ball only if he was hit, so instead of dodging the ball, Woo Gwan-hyeong hit it.
“Hey, let’s get this over with now.”
“… It’s a mistake.”
NV’s catcher, Jeong Tae-seong, spoke in a shaky voice at the distant words of his senior. Age difference of over 10 years. No matter how I put it together, I couldn’t help but feel that my voice was shaking.
[Woo Kwan-hyung walks to first base.]
[Woo Gwan-hyeong, you endured well. As expected, he looks like an old man. If I were not careful, bench clearing would have occurred. There may be fans who enjoy bench clearing, but it is actually something that should not happen.]
[It looked like the AT players were about to jump out from the bench, right?]
[There was already a fight between the two teams from the first game. Woo Kwan-hyung calmed the players down like a veteran.]
[Now, the situation becomes 1st base with no outs. Seongtae Yoon at bat.]
‘With this, bench clearing has been prevented. Nothing much will happen now.’
Although the hip area where he was hit by the ball hurt, Woo Kwan-hyung felt fortunate that he had prevented an unexpected bench clearing. If a real bench clearing occurred, it seemed like Maengho would jump out of the dugout and swing his fist at all costs.
‘Right now, we’re only two games behind Hwasan, so that would be a big problem.’
[Park Do-gyun, prepares to pitch. Break! It’s a ball. … Third ball! Strike!]
Perfect!
[This ground ball was caught by the shortstop! Second base first! Out! Three leaves at first base! Seongtae Yoon’s sprint! The out count increases by only one!]
*
Woo Kwan-hyung was on base with no outs, but the runner was replaced when Yoon Seong-tae hit an infield grounder.
“Wow, look at Yoon Seongtae sprinting at full speed. “I don’t normally do that.”
Shortstop is a position that requires a lot of stamina. It was Seongtae Yoon who normally wouldn’t sprint, but he ran to first base with all his might and got three leaves because he was hit by senior Kwan Hyeong.
“Hyung Kwan went out because he was beaten, but if he doesn’t sprint in this situation, is that a human being?”
“Well, that’s true. “Senior Kwan Hyeong went out because he was hit, but if he immediately hits a double play, the atmosphere becomes tense.”
When Woo Kwan-hyung returned to the dugout after getting on base with an empty ball, captain Choi Jin-cheol approached Woo Kwan-hyung.
“Brother, how should we throw too?”
“It’s done. Just end it like this.”
Woo Kwan-hyung’s words to end this. But my thoughts were different.
“Hey, Junhoo! “Come behind the dugout.”
“… My brother really learned baseball wrong. What kind of player tells a starting pitcher to come over here? Where did he learn baseball?”
“I learned it from my dad, dude.”
Mr. Rossby was like my second father, so it wasn’t really wrong.
“… “I’m sorry.”
The guy’s eyes shake, and he hands him an apple. It was a bit funny to see him fidgeting with the unexpected pad lip, but it was a good thing. Because I had something to tell him.
“Okay, come back for a moment.”
“Under… Okay.”
I drag Junhu to a place where the seniors in the dugout can’t hear.
“Hey, guess one guy.”
“… “What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden?”
“Are you just going to watch the team get hit? Are you abandoning your colleagues?”
“Hey, what are you talking about? “Senior Gwan Hyeong told me not to do it.”
“Brother, I will take responsibility.”
“… “How are you going to take responsibility for it?”
“Hmm… Club today?”
“Okay.”
… As expected, he was an easy guy to seduce. This idiot accepted my offer, completely forgetting that today was the day he would return to Seoul.
“But guess who?”
“Just grab one fucking bastard and guess it. “If you come running, I will cover you.”
“Okay. Ha, but isn’t that what other seniors are saying?”
“Hey, the dugout was bloody until Senior Kwan Hyung said that. Didn’t everyone tell you, maybe one person would want to dip it?”
“Okay for now. But you know we’re down by 2 points right now, right? Still, the losing pitcher is a bit…”
“Okay, dude. “I’ll make you a winning pitcher.”
As I was talking with Junhu, I heard Hwicheol’s voice calling me.
“Brother Meng Hao, senior Yun Cheol was out. “I have to go stand by and bat.”
“Okay.”
Go back to the dugout and grab your gear. What Junhu said was right. He had to throw the retaliatory pitch, but he also had to win the game. For that to happen, I was important.
Baek Jeong-jin, 9th batter, at bat with 2 outs and 1st base. Since he is a type of person who can hit like a human being, he goes into the stand-by batting box with high expectations.
“Strike!”
NV’s starting pitcher goes aggressive from the first pitch, as if he doesn’t want to give me a chance.
‘Please, hit just one. Or even a walk!’
And,
Perfect!
Baek Jeong-jin, who read the battery’s psychology, turned the bat strongly.
“Nice!”
The batted ball passes through the second baseman’s side and heads toward right field. The best situation except for a home run! Seongtae Yoon, who was the runner on first base, ran to third base, and Jeongjin Baek stopped at first base. Now the situation is 2 outs, 1st and 3rd bases.
‘Okay, if it’s like this, it’ll be difficult to filter.’
A situation where first base is not empty. When I saw that he competed with me in his first at-bat today, there was a high probability that he would not skip it. Of course, I could have skipped it, but the hitter behind me is Kim Su-ho. He was a dependable hitter in any situation, but he was especially dependable with the bases loaded. Because I had a leading idea and was able to hit according to the situation.
“No, the game is so fucking dirty from the first game. You know it’s so bad, right?”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
I tried to scratch the catcher, but the umpire sanctioned me from the first word. There is nothing we can do about this.
“Yes.”
How do you throw the first pitch? His pitches are four-seam, curve, change-up, splitter, and slider. Since the slider was a pitch of poor quality and often lost pitches, if it was deleted from the list, there was a high probability that it would be a four-seamer or a splitter.
‘In my first at-bat, I hit a forkball and got out, so I guess I’ll probably win with a forkball, right?’
When I feel like a breaking ball, I decide to skip it and wait for his pitch. And the first pitch thrown,
‘… Slider?’
Does his arm angle feel different from the fastball I saw earlier? I have a strong feeling that it is a slider, so I resist the bat.
“Strike!”
“Oh, shit!”
Looking at the speed, the slider was hit, but it came into the strike zone without being deflected. Perfect pitch! It was a perfect mistake to miss this.
‘Whoa, I can still see it to some extent.’
To be honest, when I was getting help from Rossby, I wasn’t even paying attention to things like arm angles, but now that I was batting on my own, I could see some of the pitchers’ arm angles. Instead, there were a lot of things to worry about, so there were times when I missed the point of view like this.
‘Okay, first, the sliders can be roughly distinguished. Hmm…, Since you just threw a misfire, the probability of throwing a slider is low, right? Let’s be careful of low balls and aim for fastballs.’
After clearly deciding on the ball you want to aim for, wait for the guy to pitch. The second ball is a high fastball that hits towards the body. Since I could see the trajectory deviating, I relaxed my hands and waited for his ball.
“Ball!”
‘Whoa, now one strike, one ball. The problem starts now.’
Since he showed a high fastball, should he throw a splitter, or should he save the splitter and try another fastball? It was an easy choice, but it was a difficult question. If you fail to make a choice, you may miss the opportunity to get to first or third base.
As I was waiting for the guy to pitch, the guy’s arm swung at a lower angle than the fastball.
‘Slider!’
A slider that seems to be going outward! I immediately stuck out the bat and pushed the guy’s ball against the edge.
Perfect!
-Wow!!!!
“Run! Run!”
When the batted ball, which was slightly over the height of the second baseman, arrived in front of right field, Yoon Seong-tae had already arrived at home, and Baek Jeong-jin, who started running from the moment the sound of the hit was heard, had arrived at third base.
“Phew, I got the basics covered.”
“Nice team bet! It was good, Meng Hao.”
“Well, that’s right.”
2:1 with this. Kim Soo-ho comes to bat.
‘Mr. Rossby!’
‘Tch, if you can’t even hit a home run, you’re out. Plaguy…’
And taking advantage of the breaking ball, he ran to second base. Perhaps the catcher was aware of the home steal, but he failed to throw the ball to second base.
“Ball!”
“Ball!”
“Strike!”
“Ball!”
And Kim Su-ho, who persistently picked the ball, filled the empty first base. Now, it’s Gyeonggi Joo’s turn at bat. … And me on second base.
‘It’s a fastball.’
‘Okay.’
After a long time, he sends a sign saying “Fastball” To Ki Ki-joo. Gyeonggi Joo bites his mouth tightly as if he understood my cause of death… And,
Ta – Aak!
The batted ball of the weatherman coolly split right-center.
“Turn around! “Turn around!”
‘What about apology?’
‘I guess even you will come in.’
For me, it’s about 2 points. As if Song-gu hadn’t arrived yet, Williams motioned for him to come running.
“Nice!”
“[Mr. Ji. It was good base running. The hits were cool too.]”
“[If you don’t hit it this time, I’ll really kill you. Okay?]”
“[All right. Please believe me.]”
Although he wasn’t good at hitting home runs, he was quite dependable because he had the skill to hit them.
“Brother! Nice!”
“Bitch, I told you I would make you a winning pitcher.”
“… Sangju is the best team to come from behind, but it’s a show of condescension…”
“Shut up, you know what I said earlier, right?”
“Okay, as soon as it opens a little more, I’ll throw it.”
“But who are you going to throw it at?”
“Me? Of course, he’s a mercenary.”
It was an obvious choice. Spencer was the only threatening mercenary among NV’s batters who were struggling with Hyunseong in the lower ranks.
“Good. Please. Brother Gwan must avenge his brother.”
“Of course. Brother, just trust me.”
*
[Park Do-gyun allows a walk to Williams. The crisis with bases loaded and 2 outs continues. Now at bat is No. 5 hitter Choi Jin-cheol. … Choi Jin-cheol! Homer! Choi Jin-cheol creates a big inning with a grand slam! The score is now 7:3! This is AT’s batting lineup that continues its formidable momentum today.]
[This is why AT is a strong team. AT is a team that never misses an opportunity.]
[Choi Jin-cheol’s incredible home run! Ah…, The pitching coach and catcher come to the mound. … Woo Kwan-hyung’s batting ball! Center field! Catch it! AT’s long attack comes to an end in the first half of the second inning. … Now, we start with Han Seung-hyuk, NV’s ninth batter in the bottom of the second inning. … Out, batter 1… Out. Now Spencer comes to bat.]
[NV’s strong second hitter, right? It was Spencer who opened up NV’s batting lineup in the bottom of the first inning. Lim Jun-hoo must be careful. He shouldn’t let down his guard just because he has two outs because all the points were scored after two outs in the previous inning. Spencer is a player who can hit one at any time.]
[Lim Jun-hoo’s first pitch!]
“Ahh!”
[A ball that fits your body! Here, the control shook, and the ball hit the body! Uh, uh… ! Lim Jun-hoo and Spencer do not avoid their eyes. If this happens, the atmosphere will become awkward! Spencer runs to the mound!]