Chapters 441 – 433. Stepping Towards a New Record. (2)
“Ball!”
Wonho’s second ball was a splitter. I almost swung the bat without realizing it when Wonho’s ball flew into my favorite low zone, but I managed to hold back and hit the count with one ball, one strike.
In fact, even though Wonho is equipped with a two-seamer, the basic strategy against Wonho does not change. Wonho’s crystal ball is this splitter. The reason why Wonho, who was a setup man until last year, was able to settle into the starting lineup and advance to the national team was precisely because of this improved splitter.
‘Plus the two-seam… It’s tricky.’
The basic way to deal with a pitcher who throws a splitter is to skip the splitter, which comes in the same way as a fastball, but then bends downward, and then hit the fastball. Of course, there were few hitters who could do that. The splitter’s rotation was similar to that of a fastball, and its trajectory looked like a fastball until just before it fell.
But then a four-seamer and a two-seamer with similar speed were added? This was not an easy match. If you swing the bat at the timing of the four-seamer, you are bound to get a ground ball on the sudden two-seamer. In addition, Wonho occasionally threw a slider…
‘You want to go to the majors too, right?’
To be honest, I didn’t think it would be easy for Wonho to make it to the majors, but now that he’s equipped with a two-seam, I thought that maybe Wonho could make it to the majors. Among the players currently playing in the KBA league, the player closest to the majors was Jang Woo-joo.
Even though his pitch wasn’t very good, he was a guy who often threw 100 mph. But honestly, I didn’t think the universe had much chance of success. The breaking ball wasn’t that difficult, and the pitch wasn’t that great either.
But Wonho was different. He had a top velocity of 156 and averaged a pitch in the low 140s to low 150s, but the ball was definitely heavier than the universe. If a two-seamer is added to the top splitter in the country…
‘I could really go?’
It was a good thing. Because even in the US, you can ‘verify’ Wonho’s girlfriend. However, I could not bear to have myself as the sacrifice.
Perfect!
He kicks Wonho’s fastball that came toward his body. The result is a foul. Looking at how fast it was, it was probably two-seam.
‘Two strikes with this…’
I wanted to watch the ball more, but I couldn’t just watch the ball with two strikes. He times his fastballs and prepares to kick out other pitches. If the splitter comes, he might strike out…
Perfect!
“Foul!”
The ball chosen by Silla’s battery was a four-seamer that went outside. The ball was so close that I barely made contact with my hips sticking out.
‘If it had been a slider, I would have missed it, right?’
Since it was a four-seamer, I sighed. Still, there was success. The fact that he threw a four-seamer out of the zone this time meant that he was going to make the game as difficult as possible for me. Wonho is a pitcher who likes quick wins since his high school days. His temperament did not change when he became a pro. Although he didn’t walk the same path as me, he debuted in his first year and was on a roll to the point where he became a setup man.
The fact that Wonho threw a ball out of the zone at a time when he could have struck out meant that he was prepared to send me out with a walk if necessary.
‘… Or maybe it was out of control.’
But when I looked into Wonho’s eyes, it didn’t seem like that. On the outside, Wonho’s expression looked like a poker face, but after being with him for 4 years, I could tell that he was successful in sending the ball where he wanted.
And the fifth ball thrown…
‘… ‘Huh?’
I stopped the bat I was about to cut due to the strange feeling I felt from his form.
“Ball.”
A feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. The speed posted on the electronic display board was 138 km/h. The ball Wonho threw this time was a splitter. But I couldn’t be sure that the sense of discomfort I felt was real.
‘If you look at one more thing…’
… I felt like I could understand the identity of the discomfort I felt when I threw the splitter.
And the thrown ball.
‘I see…’ !’
Just before Wonho throws the ball, it feels like something white is more visible on his hand, unlike a four-seamer or a two-seamer… ! I stopped the bat at that feeling. And as I saw, a ball with an arc bending downward between the mound and the plate.
‘Nice! You’re behind…’
“Strike! Out!”
“To? This is a strike? “It fell down!”
“I came in.”
‘You fucking dog-eyed bastard. Mr. Rossby! ‘Are you in?’
… Of course, there was no reply from Rossby, who was watching the cheerleaders from the stands.
‘It’s not there when you really need it. Fuck.’
You fucking bastard. If you didn’t come in, you were left behind, really. It seemed to me that it didn’t come in, but I wasn’t sure because I was too busy trying to identify the splitter.
“What was the first pitch?”
“… “It’s two-heart.”
“Two-seam? Kim Won-ho? Hmm… I got it.”
“Senior, did the splitter come in at the end?”
“Well? “It was around my knees.”
“Okay. Oh, and be careful. The pitching angle is fierce. And it seems to control the lower zones a bit, but I’m not sure about this.”
“Two-seam…, Low ball…, I figured it out.”
After letting go of my anger and giving the information to Kim Soo-ho, I went into the dugout and immediately called the manager.
“Manager! Please check that last ball!”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“Yes. Quickly.”
“Uh, where?”
“It looks like Naver, but please go in and check if you’re in the zone.”
Fuck, you ruined Wonho and my match like this… If he hadn’t come in, the manager approached him in the next at-bat when he was thinking of giving him a ‘cure’ with the heart of Jesus, who opened the blind man’s eyes.
“Hmm… “I came in vaguely?”
“Vague?”
“It took about half a ball.”
… Fuck! Half a ball. It was an ambiguous ball that could result in a strike or a walk depending on the umpire’s discretion. What is important when judging a ball like this is the referee’s consistency. A defensive inning came after our offense ended in a three-way strike. I stared intently at the referee’s zone.
“Strike!”
‘Fuck, the zone is just wide.’
The referee had a style that allowed him to be quite generous in the low zone. Instead, the high zone is tight. Normally, he would be my favorite style of referee. In my batting style, I was strong at low balls, and high balls were burdensome to hit, so he was the type of umpire I would have liked if it weren’t for the situation just now.
In other words, I just struck out against Wonho.
‘Under… Fuck. I should just swing it.’
I was so excited that I had figured out the splitter that I stopped batting. Normally, I would have aimed for that ball.
‘See you next time at bat. Fuck.’
*
“Wonho, are you feeling good today? “The ball is a little scratched.”
“I feel more confident.”
“Okay, let’s go like that.”
Wonho responded with a smile when the catcher tapped him on the back with a mitt. As he answered the catcher, Wonho was currently full of confidence. It all started with the ball that struck out Meng Hao. Meng Hao, who normally would have passed his ball over the fence, got stuck on his ball and struck out.
He struck out Korea’s best batter, and from then on it was all smooth sailing. A virtuous cycle of becoming confident in the pitch you throw, and solving the batting lineup of the AT Thunders, which is a hard-hitting team, with the pitch you feel more confident in.
Wonho continued pitching in such a virtuous cycle.
[Park Jun-hyung makes a three-way mistake in Silla’s batting line-up! In the first inning, both teams exchange three-way strikes!]
[Kim Won-ho finishes with a perfect performance in the second episode!]
[Shortstop! Catch it and throw to second base! Ji Maengho! To first base! Out! With bases loaded and 1 out, a double play is established! Silla’s attack at the end of the second inning ends like this.]
[Swing strike! Out! Kim Won-ho ends the inning with a strikeout! Pitching without giving up until the 3rd inning!]
[… Junhyung Park gave up a walk with 2 outs, but calmly counted out! The score difference of 0:0 is maintained!]
Although the batters did not give up points and did not help Wonho, Wonho threw his ball nonetheless. Ji Maeng-ho’s at-bat came back after meeting all of AT’s batters.
[In the top of the 4th inning, Kim Won-ho, who has hit a perfect pitch so far, comes back to the mound.]
‘Is it already a fierce tiger?’
A pleasant tension felt in the body. It was a different feeling of tension than when I usually meet Meng Hao. Whenever Wonho met Maeng-ho on the mound while he was at bat, Wonho felt an ominous premonition like, ‘Where will Ji Maeng-ho hit a home run this time?’ But this time, he didn’t feel that ominous premonition at all.
‘Is it because I struck out in my first at-bat? It feels like I’m back to my high school days.’
It was good to have a good friend, but it’s another thing to lose to a friend as a professional.
‘As expected, was the two-seam technique you learned from senior Seonghyun effective?’
Up until now, we were a few numbers down, but today was different. Today, I felt confident that even if it was not Ji Maeng-ho, but Judge or Ohtani who did his best, I could get a strikeout.
‘You were just looking at the splitter earlier, right? Due to Meng Hao’s personality, there is a high possibility that he will aim for the splitter this time. Then move the splitter as far down as possible… First, the first pitch is a high fastball.’
“Strike!”
And Meng Hao does not react to the high ball as expected. Meng Hao did not react to this ball, perhaps because the referee was not good at catching strikes on the high side.
‘Good.’
‘Wonho, let’s go with the body slider this time.’
‘No, rather than a slider, I’ll go with a fastball-splitter combination today.’
‘Okay.’
And the second ball thrown. The ball Wonho chose was a fastball that went out. A ball that seems to have slipped out of the zone. Just as I was preparing to hit the ball, the referee’s strike call rang.
“Strike!”
Is it because of the 3 perfect innings? The zone seemed to be wider than the previous inning.
‘It’s okay, even luck follows you.’
Meng Hao looked back and glared at the referee, but the decision did not change.
‘Meng Hao, what should I do? This is it. ‘I’ll win some today.’
And the ball chosen is a splitter that falls about one ball below the strike zone. The ball was thrown from Wonho’s hand,
“Jitterbug! Strike~! Out!”
Meng Hao’s bat whirled around with the bloody sound of the wind whistling.
“Good!”
The three-pitch strikeout he got against ‘Ji Maeng-ho’. As expected, I was in good condition today.
[Kim Won-ho catches Ji Maeng-ho with a three-pitch strikeout! Showing the best condition today.]
[Hey, Ji Maeng-ho is a player who doesn’t often strike out on three pitches… Kim Won-ho shows great pitching today.]
A perfect day. Even after that, Wonho’s powerful pitching continued.
[… Kim Su-ho’s batted ball cannot go beyond the infield! Two out! … Weather warning! Jitterbug! Fan! Episode 4, again, a three-way failure!]
[… Kim Won-ho ends episode 5 with a three-way victory!]
[In the top of the 6th inning, Kim Won-ho is still on the mound. … Out! This inning also ends with a three-way strike!]
Perfect pitching that prevents a single batter from reaching first base until the 6th inning. At this point, one word began to appear in the minds of fans watching the game. No one was saying it out loud for fear of being criticized, but the word ‘perfect game’ was a record that had never been mentioned in Korea.
However, perhaps because Silla’s batters were concentrating on their attention on defense, they were unable to attack AT’s pitchers and the score remained at 0:0.
And in the top of the 7th inning, Ji Maeng-ho’s at-bat again. Everyone watching this game felt that this at-bat was the 9th ridge that could lead to a great record.
It’s a battle between Ji Maeng-ho, Korea’s best hitter, who has a batting average of close to .400 and a home run rate of one every two games, and Kim Won-ho, who has not allowed a single player on base until the sixth inning. Contrary to expectations, the game was decided from the first pitch.
Ta – Aak!
[Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball! It’s big! It’s big! The center fielder is chasing! Fence! Step on it! Catch it! Center fielder Lee Eun-chong! Today, I help Wonho Kim with defense!]
[Wow, it was a difficult ball to catch, but Lee Eun-chong helps the junior. Usually, in games like this, the fielders show such concentrated defense.]
After overcoming the big mountain, Wonho faced the remaining batters with his heart lifted and continued his perfect performance.
[Top of the 9th inning, last attack of the regular inning. And the last batter, pinch hitter Jeong Hwi-cheol, comes to bat.]
[Because he is a player with the ability to make contact, he is a player who can be expected to get on base.]
[The score so far is 0:0… How will this game end? .]
The match started while the caster who was broadcasting the game did not say anything about cheating.
[… Strike! Out! Kim Won-ho blocks the 9th inning with 94 balls! Today! Kim Won-ho is ‘Untouchable’ himself!]
[Now, if only the batters would help Kim Won-ho a little more…]
The result of the match was Kim Won-ho’s victory, as was the case throughout today. The attention of all fans watching baseball was focused on Gocheok,
“Wonho, what do you want to do? If you don’t score this inning…”
“I’m going up. You’ve only thrown 94 shots yet, right? The season is coming to an end.”
“… Yes, I understand.”
[… The batted ball must be infield! Get out! I can’t go out! Ji Maeng-ho saves this batted ball! A perfect double play leading to 4-6-3! This is how the opportunity to finish is lost!]
[AT Thunders’ concentration stands out. Hey, this is going to be fun. Will Kim Won-ho come up in the top of the 10th inning? . … Ah! Coming up! Kim Won-ho protects the mound even in the top of the 10th inning!]
[And the batter is Ji Maeng-ho, who blocked the end of the previous inning! I know that the two players are close friends who went to the same high school together, and the match between the two friends today is amazing.]
In the top of the 10th inning, when the record was about to be achieved, Korea’s best hitter, Ji Maeng-ho, came to bat.