Chapter 466 – Episode 458. Second Win.
[Game 3 played with the series score 2:0. AT Thunders selected Jang Yoon, and Hancheol Grizzlies selected Kim Hyun-sik as the starter.]
[Jang Yoon and Kim Hyun-sik are both teams’ top domestic starters and left-handed aces. First, Jang Yoon made a big contribution to the AT Thunders’ third championship after moving as a free agent last year, and Kim Hyun-sik is a left-handed ace who won a total of 96 games while playing for over 10 years in Hancheol. I think there will be a lot of pressure on Kim Hyun-sik’s shoulders because if he loses this game, he will be pushed to the edge of a cliff.]
[Plus, both teams are missing their main guns, right?]
[You’re right. AT Thunders’ Ji Maeng-ho, last year’s MVP and MVP-level performer this year, is out due to suspension, and Hancheol Grizzlies’ Joo Seung-cheol, who showed great performance this fall, is out due to injury. The big question will be how the pitchers can block the batting lineups of both teams without the two players.]
The third game between AT Thunders and Hancheol Grizzlies was a match between the left-handed aces of both teams. Jang Yoon and Kim Hyun-sik. Although it was difficult to say that both players were the best left-handed pitchers in the league, they were evaluated similarly in that they could expect 10 wins every year and an ERA in the mid-3 point range.
Therefore, before the game started, experts were predicting that this game would proceed similarly. However, the atmosphere of the two teams was very different. In the second game, the AT Thunders, who gained momentum when the team’s spiritual leader, Woo Kwan-hyung, hit a walk-off home run in a situation where they were in a losing situation, and the Hancheol Grizzlies, who lost the game they had already won with a single home run.
Of course, the atmosphere on the AT Thunders side was bound to be good.
Moreover, baseball is a sport that greatly depends on the atmosphere. It was a sport in which even the first-place team could be swept by the 10th-place team if the momentum was lost in the first game of the series.
In addition, the missing players from both teams were also having a significant impact on the team.
In the case of the Hancheol Grizzlies, Park Joong-ki, a slugging third baseman who hits double-digit home runs every year, was out due to a fractured finger, and An Si-hwon, the team’s veteran and starting second baseman, was also unable to participate in the game due to a crack in his chin. And crucially, the absence of Joo Seung-cheol.
The absence of Joo Seung-cheol, who had a batting average of .304 2.0 and hit 51 home runs this season, was fatal. Joo Seung-cheol, who declared his intention to advance to the major leagues after the end of this season and would have been MVP if not for Ji Maeng-ho, was the center of the Grizzlies, no matter what anyone said.
The Hancheol Grizzlies are a team that has fought fiercely since the semi-playoffs. At the heart of always winning in bloody battles was Joo Seung-cheol’s desire to somehow win once before going to the United States. In addition, Joo Seung-cheol showed off series MVP-level performances every time, as if repaying the expectations of those players.
However, when Joo Seung-cheol left, Hancheol’s players began to lose heart. Can we really win without Joo Seung-cheol? This mindset was beginning to encroach on the minds of the players.
Of course, the AT Thunders suffered a significant blow in terms of power. Ji Maeng-ho recorded a batting average of .400 for two consecutive years and broke various records this season. Ji Maeng-ho’s record was so great that even if the WAR of the three players left out of the Hancheol were combined, it would not be enough for one Ji Maeng-ho.
However, the mindset to deal with the absence of such a key player was very different.
‘If we lose today, how proud that bastard Ji Maeng-ho will be. Eww… You’ll never see something like that.’
In the minds of AT players, Ji Maeng-ho said, ‘You lost because I wasn’t there, right? It was nice to see Ji Maeng-ho boasting, ‘I have to be there, too.’ There was no one who particularly disliked Ji Maeng-ho, but the players who knew Ji Maeng-ho’s personality after being together for two years couldn’t bear to see him like that.
In addition, AT’s players had a desire to prove themselves in a game without Ji Maeng-ho. Last year, after Ji Maeng-ho won the championship with his amazing performance, various communities and public opinion were full of praise for Ji Maeng-ho.
It was natural to praise Ji Maeng-ho, who was at the center of the team, as they had not been able to go to a fall baseball game for 20 years and had won a team that had not won a championship in 30 years. However, some of the public opinion said that without Ji Maeng-ho, there was no way they would have won the championship. There was also.
And those words were enough to scratch the pride of AT players. Therefore, the absence of Ji Maeng-ho was actually an opportunity for AT players. A chance to prove themselves even without Ji Maeng-ho. Rather, AT’s players focused more on the game, with the complacent feeling of ‘Even if I can’t play, Tiger will do it for me’ disappearing.
[AT’s batting line hits Hyunsik Kim from the beginning! 4:0! AT Thunders scoring 4 points in 3 innings!]
A completely different atmosphere and mindset. And the pressure of being down 2-0. In the Korean Series, where a slight difference can determine the outcome of a game, such a difference was fatal.
[Bottom of the 9th inning, trailing 8:3, 2 outs, 1 base. In the end, Joo Seung-cheol, a card that coach Dae-hoon Park had been saving, was appointed as a pinch hitter.]
[Joo Seung-cheol has symptoms of a sprain in his wrist, but the coaches seem to have judged that he would be able to hit at least once.]
Perfect!
[The batted ball floats high in the infield! Shortstop Yoon Seong-tae catches it. Game over! AT Thunders lead the series 3-0! Only one step left until the fourth championship!]
[As expected, Joo Seung-cheol still has trouble hitting. The swing form was one that took care of the wrists, right? With today’s result, it seems safe to say that AT Thunders have crossed the 9th division ridge toward victory.]
[Will the AT Thunders win their 4th championship, or will Miracle Hancheol pull off yet another miracle? The result will be decided in tomorrow’s game. We will return to the game tomorrow!]
Game 3 of the Korean Series, which was expected to be so tense, has ended.
“Can’t we lose the remaining two games?”
“What kind of bullshit is this guy? Hey, did I eat something wrong while watching from the stands?”
“Ah! Really! “I want to play too!”
“So who wants to punch on the ground, bastard?”
“Ssi…”
“This bastard is now swearing in front of his senior. This is really nonsense. “No way.”
After Game 3, Ji Maeng-ho, who was watching the game from the stands, came down to the locker room and begged the players to only lose twice, but of course the other AT players had no intention of listening to Ji Maeng-ho.
“No! Anyway, 4:0 is a bit too much! “I want to play too!”
The fourth game began with Ji Maeng-ho’s screams behind him. The starting matchup in Game 4 was between Park Jun-hyung, AT’s franchise starting pitcher, and Na Seung-yoon, who is evaluated as Hancheol’s next-generation national team selection.
‘Because Na Seung-yoon throws better than Jun-hyung. I might lose today. Then the next match is Kronks and Derenski. Cronks, this kid throws well, and Derensky throws well enough, so maybe I’ll get a chance too!’
Park Jun-hyung recorded an ERA in the late 3-point range to early 4-point range every year, and was a starting pitcher who was not good enough to be a 3rd starter but pitched well enough to be a 5th starter, just like a 4th starter, while Na Seung-yoon started showing potential last year and is capable of recording 10 wins every year. A pitcher with potential.
In a situation where Hancheol had an advantage in the starting matchup, Ji Maeng-ho was praying that the game would go as it should.
‘Let’s go the natural way. You might lose one game. Moreover, even though it is Jamsil, it is an away game. Let’s win at home. Please. Let’s lose today and lose one more game. Please! I’ll make you win!’
But Ji Maeng-ho’s wish did not come true. Although Hancheol had the advantage in the starting matchup, AT coach Lee Soo-hyun was not the type of coach to let down his guard just because there was one game left. Except for Krongs, who is scheduled to be the starter in the next game, and Jang Yoon, who pitched as the starter in yesterday’s game, all pitchers were used in the game.
[Swing strike! Out! Game over! AT Thunders’ second consecutive loss in the Korean Series! Perhaps we are now witnessing the beginning of the AT dynasty! 2024 Korean Series Champion! AT Thunders!]
Contrary to Maeng Hao’s wishes, who was watching the game while praying in the premium seats, Game 4 also ended with AT’s victory.
“Ji Maeng-ho! Congratulations!”
“… Ah, … Yes. Thank you.”
“How can you be praying the whole game like that? I really think the team won because Ji Maeng-ho kept praying.”
“Oh, well, that’s right.”
-Today, Maengho sat next to me, and he prayed throughout the game. Please, please. He muttered something like this. Although we couldn’t play together due to disciplinary action, I felt like Ji Maeng-ho’s desire for the team to win was conveyed to me. Thank you for taking the picture too! V4! AT!
#Baseball#Jamsil#Jamsil Baseball Stadium#AT Thunders#V4#FierceDefender!
-But today I see Ji Maeng-ho again. Every time he was caught on camera, he had a dark expression on his face. It seemed like he kept doing that because he felt sorry for not being able to run with him. And maintaining a poker face even after the team scores seems like a complete lack of professionalism.
┗But seeing that he was caught at the moment of victory made him almost cry.
┗┗ㄹㅇ He was so happy that he almost cried.
┗ㄹㅇJust looking at their expressions, it looks like they are cheering all the time haha
┗ Perhaps he kept making that expression because he was sorry that he was left out.
┗Hmm… Aren’t you just grumpy because you can’t play?
┗┗Again, again, it’s unreasonable ㅡ
*
“The 2024 KBA Korean Series MVP is… Woo Gwan-hyung! Congratulations!”
“Woo Kwan-hyung led the team to the championship with 7 hits in 16 at-bats, 2 home runs, and 9 RBIs, including a walk-off home run in Game 2. Congratulations!”
“Woo Kwan-hyung! Woo Gwan-hyung! Woo Gwan-hyung!”
“Hey, Kwan-hyung receives this. Well, the second game was critical.”
“Hyung Kwan! Congratulations!”
Clap! The sounds of applause and congratulations echo throughout the baseball stadium.
‘Ha, that seat should have been mine…’
I was clapping along with the atmosphere, but I felt like a part of my heart was blocked.
I think I did an interview like this last year, but I was so happy at the time that I couldn’t even remember, so I was really preparing properly this year…
It wasn’t that I hated Woo Kwan-hyung, but I was so angry that I felt like all the spotlight had been taken away from me that I almost cried. No matter how good my senior was to me, losing the spotlight in the stadium was something I never wanted to experience again.
“Meng Hao, are you crying?”
“This guy is still crying that Kwan-hyung is getting MVP. Brother! Look at him! “I’m crying!”
“… It’s not like that!”
It becomes even more unfair when I hear seniors around me making fun of me. My record in this Korean Series was 3 hits in 4 at-bats and two walks. And even one home run. If I had appeared in four games normally, it was almost certain that the MVP of this Korean Series would have been mine. But to have that glory taken away with just one punch…
I only punched him once because I couldn’t get over the emotions of the moment, but the result was very painful. It felt exhilarating at the moment I shook my fist, but there was nothing left for me.
‘Fuck, I’ll never hit you next time.’
‘Really? ‘Can you bear it?’
… It seems like I can’t stand it?
‘… Starting next fall baseball, I will never hit you again.’
Still, on an important stage like the fall baseball game, I planned to hold back and remember today’s humiliation. I may miss a few games during the regular season, but losing my spot on a stage like this was definitely infuriating.
‘Fuck, the next time something like this happens, I’m going to soak it like Park Joong-ki. If you hit me, the damage will be too great.’
As I listened to Woo Kwan-hyung’s Korean Series MVP award interview, I engraved today’s humiliation in my mind.