Chapters 443 – 435. Stepping Towards a New Record. (4)
-Ji Maeng-ho explodes with his 56th home run! But the team lost!
-Ji Maeng-ho, silence! AT Thunders 2nd consecutive loss!
-Ji Maeng-ho explodes with his 57th home run! AT Thunders break their losing streak and return by 3.5 games!
-After three games of silence, will Ji Maeng-ho be able to overcome the 61 home runs barrier?
-Ji Maeng-ho’s consecutive home runs! 58th and 59th home runs recorded!
-1 win and 1 loss in the match against Volcano, what is AT Thunders’ magic number?
… AT Thunders, who ended all confrontations with the Volcano Falcons with this match, has only two magic numbers left. Looking at the AT Thunders’ remaining schedule, there are 4 games left against the Hyunseong Madcats and 2 games against the Hancheol Grizzlies. …
Professional baseball rankings for October 15
1st place AT Thunders 89 wins, 47 losses, 2 draws 0.654 0
2nd place Huashan Falcons 84 wins, 50 losses, 4 draws, 0.627 4
3rd place Hancheol Grizzlies 80 wins, 54 losses, 4 draws, 0.597 8
4th place Shilla Triggers 71 wins, 65 losses, 2 draws, 0.522 18
5th place Charlotte Blue Marines 69 wins, 66 losses, 3 draws, 0.511 19.5
6th place Future Buffaloes 66 wins, 69 losses, 3 draws, 0.489 22.5
7th place UG Overlords 57 wins, 79 losses, 2 draws, 0.419 32
8th place Hyunseong Mad Cats 54 wins, 81 losses, 3 draws, 0.400 34.5
9th place JT Gold Eyes 54 wins, 82 losses, 2 draws, 0.397 35
10th place NV Rex 52 wins, 83 losses, 3 draws, 0.385 36.5
*
-Woowoo!!!
[Cheek. Ji Maeng-ho records a three-ball in his third at-bat. Ah, boos pouring in from Mad Cats Park.]
[It has to be that way. Right now, Ji Maeng-ho is playing against Hyun-seong and is walking in 10 consecutive at-bats. A lot of Hyunsung’s fans came, but there were even more fans who came with the desire to see Ji Maeng-ho’s new record?]
[Yes.]
[You can’t do this. We have to compete fairly.]
A match between Ji Maeng-ho, who hit 59 home runs, and Hyunseong Mad Cats. And Joo Hyeong-jin, the legend of Hyunsung Mad Cats, recorded 61 home runs.
It was perhaps natural for Ji Maeng-ho to walk in 10 consecutive at-bats in the game against Hyun-seong. A team with a record of 61 home runs could not become a victim of a new home run record.
Fans were also interested in whether they could break the record and add a few more home runs at Mad Cats Park, a hitter-friendly stadium.
In the first game, when Ji Maeng-ho walked four consecutive at-bats, fans were nodding their heads. Ji Maeng-ho’s hitting was quite good in last week’s games against NV Rex and Hwasan Falcons. In particular, he failed to add a home run against Hwasan, but he was able to hit well enough to return to the .400 batting average by adding 5 hits, 1 walk, and 3 doubles in 9 at-bats during the two games.
However, in the second game, he walked again in 4 consecutive at-bats against Ji Maeng-ho, and various Internet communities were soon filled with public opinion criticizing Hyun-seong’s walk strategy, and in the meantime, the team also lost 2 times in a row against AT, confirming AT’s win. I gave it.
And the third game. There were two walks in a row in the previous two at-bats, and three balls in a row in this at-bat, even Hyunsung’s home fans, who had been patient for so long, were booing the team.
“Im Jeong-gi, you bastard! Aren’t you doing it right?! “I think they directed me to do that!”
The booing had the meaning of an explicit check on Ji Maeng-ho, but it was also about the team’s performance.
Hyunsung Mad Cats is one of the few clubs that has maintained its team name since the first year of professional baseball, and is a prestigious team that has never placed in last place since its founding. In addition, it was a club that set a record of winning three championships in the past 10 years and advancing to fall baseball for 14 consecutive years since 2010.
However, this season, he fell to the bottom from the beginning of the season and gave up his dream of playing fall baseball early on. Even Hyunsung’s fans could understand that level of performance. This was because we were able to take into account the fact that the team’s atmosphere was ugly due to the match-fixing incident that exploded like a bomb before the season started. In addition, it was also possible to take into account the fact that the team’s bullpen collapsed as the best closer of all time, Ko Young-hwan, moved to the majors.
Eliminated from fall baseball? Can you understand? Advancement to fall baseball for 14 consecutive years is a record. But even so, last place made no sense. Because it was a disgrace to the name of Hyunseong, a prestigious team that has never been in last place.
However, now there was a crack in the pride of being such a prestigious club. Skipping Ji Maeng-ho, the result was 2 consecutive losses. NV Rex, currently ranked 10th in the league, has won 1 game and lost 1 game in the last two games, reducing the game gap with the 10th ranked team to just 1 game.
There are 4 games remaining. Even the home fans, who could not stand it and were booing the players in a situation where they could end up with the disgrace of being in last place for the first time since the team was founded.
“Fuck you bastards! “I’m not playing the game properly!”
-Wooooo!!!
As the fans continued to boo, Hyunseong’s starting pitcher Hwang Dae-hyun, who had never heard this level of booing in a home game for the first time or even the first time in his career, looked at the dugout with anxious eyes.
‘Director, are you really filtering me out? I don’t think I’ll be able to return home alive.’
‘… Filter. We can’t set the home run record. Besides, Ji Maeng-ho isn’t running well these days. This has a higher chance of winning.’
Of course, Coach Lim Jeong-ki, who took over as the new head coach following the previous coach who voluntarily resigned due to poor performance this season, did not use this strategy simply with the intention of not giving Ji Maeng-ho a new record.
Because of the tight schedule in the second half, Ji Maeng-ho was not stealing bases. Ji Maeng-ho recorded 80 stolen bases this season. Although he had tremendous numbers, he was off the pace in October, reaching base more than 30 times in 14 games while stealing only 7 bases.
He may be thinking of saving his stamina for stealing bases and putting that stamina into home runs, but Ji Maeng-ho, who does not steal bases, is just a fast runner. Lim Jeong-ki, manager of Hyun-seong, used such a strategy under the belief that the odds of winning were higher by skipping Ji Maeng-ho than hitting a home run.
‘Ha, Shiva. ‘It’s my fault that I can’t go home like this.’
The director’s resolute gaze. With that look in his eyes, Hwang Dae-hyun set the ball’s destination outside the zone again. And the fourth ball was thrown.
“Base on balls!”
As if it was obvious, a walk was called.
-Wuuuuu!!!!!
And the booing got louder.
[Ah, the crowd is booing, uh! The game will be stopped for a moment. What’s going on?]
[Ah… It looks like fans are throwing dirt in the outfield… You threw a water bottle. You must not do this.]
A spectator in the outfield throws a water bottle. But that wasn’t the end. Garbage that is occasionally thrown into the outfield, including water bottles. Fans who came to see Hyunseong and Ji Maeng-ho’s home run began throwing trash on the ground.
“There! You can’t throw it!”
“If you do this, you are prohibited from entering!”
Guards stationed in the outfield tried to control the angry crowd, but the action, which stemmed from crowd psychology, did not end easily. It took about 10 minutes for the commotion caused by the angry spectators to end.
[The game resumes again. I can understand the fans’ anger, but a mature spectator culture is needed.]
And the game resumed.
[Daehyun Hwang’s first pitch! Ji Maeng-ho runs! Three leaves at second base! 81st stolen base of the season. We are now just three steps away from reaching Korea’s record of 84 stolen bases.]
[Park Young-chan, who is wearing a catcher’s mask, has quite good shoulders, but steals second base. This stolen base wouldn’t have been easy even if Park Jung-hyun, Hyunsung’s starting catcher, had come, right?]
Ji Maeng-ho, who had not been running much during the month of October, started running.
*
“Safe!”
The feel of the base in your hand, followed by the feel of the glove near your waist. The steal of second base, which was attempted for the first time in a long time, was clearly declared as a triple.
‘Fuck you guys, you’re coming out this dirty, right?’
To be honest. It was also difficult. It was true that he wasn’t running because it would have been a big deal if he got injured while stealing bases, but physical issues were also one of the reasons why he didn’t steal bases often.
The double header continued, and the back-to-back games on Monday were physically taxing. Moreover, my position is second base, which has the most opportunities for defense. Starting with handling batted balls, going to cover when a ground ball is hit to first base, or going to broadcast when a batted ball to the right is hit.
As the season came to a close, it was starting to feel difficult. Timing was important in stealing bases, but his speed was the most important factor. When I checked in recent training whether that speed was due to a physical problem, it was quite slow compared to the beginning of the season and I was not running as much as possible. I couldn’t stand it if they were skipping it so blatantly.
‘Mr. Rossby, please sign the next breaking ball as well.’
In particular, he has not been stealing third base recently. Because stealing third base with slow power was a dangerous task. However, there was a need to teach them a lesson that they should not be so blatantly skipped in the remaining games.
‘It’s a slider.’
‘Okay.’
The pitcher’s next ball is a slider. I was measuring his timing and ran toward third base at the same time my feet fell.
“Safe!”
Of course, the result is safe. Perhaps because he saved his stamina by not stealing bases in this series, he was able to steal third base at the same timing as before. After shaking off the dirt on my uniform, I stand up.
And then one step, two steps, three steps, four steps. The lead width is widened to match the third baseman’s position. The pitcher, who had widened his lead like that, made eye contact and his pupils shook. He is clearly thinking of throwing a check.
But there was nothing to worry about. Because I had Mr. Rossby.
If I had a grip that could keep the pitcher in check, my center of gravity was towards the third base, so the moment the third baseman moved, I had the confidence that if I took my foot towards third base, I would be able to get home safely.
“Safe!”
“Safe!”
After several checks, the pitcher throws the ball to the plate.
‘But are you really planning to run all the way to home?’
Stealing home was actually not an easy task. First, the probability of success in the act of home stealing was extremely low. Because it was impossible for a person to be faster than a ball. But now, I had to run through those low odds. Rather than continuing to get walks in the remaining games, it was important to create the image that I could always hit home even if I failed once.
It would have been better if it succeeded.
‘That’s right. These bastards need to get a real education. Are you filtering me like that? ‘You fucking bastards.’
‘Hehe, it’ll be a game worth watching.’
Rossby, hoping to break the opponent’s mentality, laughs loudly.
‘It’s a curve.’
‘Okay.’
There is no pitcher who holds the curve and throws checks. I took one more step and widened my lead. The pitcher’s eyes are shaking again. And when the guy took a deep breath and looked at home plate, he started running toward home.
If you throw to third base, it’s a balk. He had no choice but to finish pitching, and his ball flew toward the catcher. But it’s okay. Because there is a slight distance between the catcher’s position and home plate.
When Suho saw me running, he swung the bat in front of the catcher’s eyes, blocking the catcher’s view.
“Strike! Out!”
‘Run! The curve went high!’
Perhaps because my control was shaken by my attempt to steal home, the ball went up just right to steal home! When sliding, he turned his body to the left and swept the home plate with his left hand. And the feel of the mitt on my right shoulder.
With timing like this, there was nothing to see.
“Safe!”
-Wow!!!!
-Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho! Ji Maengho!
The spectators who were throwing trash just a moment ago are chanting my name.
“So, filter it out in moderation, damn it.”
“…”
After throwing a comment to the catcher, who was looking devastated, with the implication that he could steal a home run at any time, he shook the dirt off his uniform and walked toward the dugout.
‘Fuck, these little bastards are fucking filtering it out.’