Chapter 500 – Episode 492. Young Fans Are Watching?! (1)

“Hey, how did you hit that? “I heard it goes into slider art.”

Dugout returns after hitting a home run. My colleagues also asked me the secret, as if they knew that the ball I hit was a pretty sharp slider.

“From what I see, today it seems like the slider can only be thrown to the outside, that is, to a low ball to the outside for a right-handed hitter. When it’s time to throw a strike, if it’s a slider, aim for the outside and low side, and if it’s a two-seamer, deal with it on your own, and that’ll do it, I guess?”

“… So how do you distinguish between them?”

“I asked the ghost to tell me… ?”

“You crazy bastard. If you don’t want to talk, say no.”

Wow, they don’t believe me even if I tell them the truth.

“Well, you didn’t catch something like Kuse, right?”

Senior Jincheol, who was about to go to bat, asked me back as if to confirm for the last time.

“That’s not it. “I just did it as usual.”

“Okay. Guys, did you hear what Meng Hao said? If you’re going to aim for a slider, aim for the low, outside the right-hander’s standard.”

Lee Ki-cheol, who was listening to me and Jin-cheol talking, also added a word.

“If you don’t know, tell me. “I’ll send you a sign telling me what kind of ball I can aim for.”

“I understand.”

Even though Lee Ki-cheol has a terrible personality, he was a former catcher and a hitting coach with a keen eye for targeting, so I thought he would be able to easily win today as well. If I hadn’t been such a leader in the first place, I wouldn’t have gone to Hanche High School.

Still, the reason why I’m not so upset when I hear Lee Ki-cheol’s voice today is because he fucked Hye-jin before the game?

‘Fuck, I can’t do this. Since it’s Children’s Day today, I think I’ll go over to Gicheol’s house to see Hojin and Hayun.’

“Was it that good that this guy hit a home run? “Why is your expression like this?”

As I was thinking about going home from work to Hyejin’s house, Sangju senior, who had hit a fly ball and was out, sat down next to me.

“Of course it was good. “I feel like I don’t know when I get out like my senior and come back to the dugout.”

“This bastard… Wow, that’s it. Anyway, Meng Hao, I think you should be more careful.”

“Yes?”

“That bastard was so fucking angry? “He kept his four-seamer close to his body against me as well.”

“With four seamers? Doesn’t he throw four-seamers well?”

Miller’s four-seam percentage, which we heard before the game, was less than 1%. When I came to Korea, the number of four-seamers thrown in official games was about 3 to 4, so I didn’t throw four-seamers at all and threw two-seam fastballs. A guy like that threw a four-seamer.

“Are you saying that to guess?”

The pitcher seemed very upset, perhaps because he was given a big celebration after hitting a home run against me. I heard you cursed so harshly earlier…

“Maybe that’s the case. When I asked Hunchan, he said it wasn’t an empty ball. You have to be able to trust it. You know. Those mercenary bastards throwing the ball dirty. Anyway, it felt like an empty ball to me, right? Did he not hit the four-seamer because he couldn’t control it, or did he just make a threat? “I have no idea.”

“Hmm… Maybe they were trying to match it? “If I had the control to match my body, I would have thrown a four-seam during the game.”

“… But why are you so confident? “I almost got hit in the balls because of you, you bastard!”

“So you were scared and just came in after frying?”

As soon as I finish speaking, the weatherman’s hand hits my helmet and passes by. It was clear that he had hit the nail on the head.

“Sir, you know this is all being filmed on camera, right? Later, I will interview everyone to catch my senior.”

“Oh my gosh, are you going to play baseball because you’re scared of your junior?”

While I was talking with Ki Ki-ju, Williams’ hit and Choi Jin-cheol’s walk led to a chance with one out and runners on first and second base. The batter is No. 6 batter Kim Su-ho.

Perfect!

Kim Soo-ho swung the bat widely from the first pitch, and the batted ball quickly headed towards the second baseman. … So damn fast.

“Out!”

“Out!”

‘Ah, it was a good fit, damn shift.’

“Let’s go play defense.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, remember what I say. Be careful next time at bat.”

“Senior. “I’m Ji Maeng-ho.”

“So, avoid it. “You’re not planning on having a picnic on Children’s Day, are you?”

“…”

“… “Why aren’t you answering?”

I think I should show Hojin, who came to the stadium on Children’s Day, how cool his dad is… Well, I still hoped that there would be no bench clearing. It wasn’t pleasant to see my teammates fighting without me because I was suspended.

“… “I will try my best.”

“Let’s go on Children’s Day without worrying, without worrying.”

“… Yes.”

*

[AT Thunders take the lead with Ji Maeng-ho’s home run in the top of the first inning. The game now goes to the bottom of the first inning. Now, let me introduce you to the Hancheol Grizzlies’ batting lineup. 1st hitter Kim Dong-jin, 2nd hitter Lee Tae-kyung, 3rd hitter Kim Jeong-hyun, 4th hitter Timothy Thompson, 5th hitter Baek Cheol-soo… AT’s defensive position. Pitcher Bellingham and catcher Kim Hyun-seong. Choi Jin-cheol from first base…]

[Bellingham showed good performance with 4 wins in April, right? It’s been exactly 5 years since I started playing, and now I’m a Bellingham player who doesn’t feel out of place even though I’m Korean. With an ERA of 2.32, he is worthy of being called the best one-two punch in the league along with Cronks. I think Hancheol’s players will have to target Bellingham well if they want to give victory to young fans in today’s game.]

[The reason AT Thunders is on the rise may be due to the overwhelming power of the batting lineup, including Ji Maeng-ho, but we cannot ignore the performance of this starting lineup, right?]

[Yes. Crongs, Bellingham, Yun Jang, and Junhyung Park. In addition to the pitcher who won 10 games last year, Lim Jun-hoo, the 5th starter, is performing well. AT’s overwhelming performance can perhaps be seen as natural. Of course, at the center of it all, we cannot leave out the performance of Ji Maeng-ho, who hit a home run today.]

[Just then, the scene of Ji Maeng-ho’s home run appears. Are the young fans really happy?]

[Hey, looking at it again, it’s a perfect swing. Ji Maeng-ho is probably the only player in Korea who can lift that slider like that.]

[Now Hancheol’s leadoff hitter Kim Dong-jin comes to the plate. … Out! Second batter Lee Tae-kyung. … Jitterbug! Strike out! … Kim Jung-hyun’s hit! … Thompson’s batted ball! High! Far! I can’t get over it. Ki Gi-ju, who catches this batted ball! Hancheol’s attack at the end of the first inning ends like this.]

AT’s starting pitcher Bellingham, who received scoring support from the batting lineup, finished off Hancheol’s attack in the bottom of the first inning with a pitch worthy of a foreign pitcher. And Miller, Hancheol’s starting pitcher, who was watching it from the dugout, sighed deeply.

‘You bastards of trash. ‘I can’t believe I can score even one run against a pitcher like that.’

In Miller’s opinion, Bellingham was nothing more than a pathetic pitcher. For Miller, playing in the KBA league in Korea, a small country in the East, for five years meant giving up on challenges and becoming complacent.

Miller, who was 209 cm tall and threw a two-seamer in the mid-150s and a slider in the low 140s, was a prospect who received special treatment in the major leagues, as evidenced by his physicality and velocity. However, due to his chronic ball control problems and hot-tempered personality, he did not perform well even in the AAA league, and when he reached the major leagues, he was unable to play garbage games and failed on the stage.

When clubs were giving up on Miller, it was Japan who reached out to him. However, he could not adapt there and was released, and eventually ended up in Korea. The standard route taken by failed major prospects.

But Miller had a dream. He dreams of returning to the major leagues.

The KBA League was the lowest level of the Korea-US-Japan professional leagues, but that did not mean it was a league that could be ignored. Van den Berg, a pitcher, and Jay Weaver, a hitter, returned to the major league after signing a contract in the KBA league and showed good performances, so Miller was also dreaming of returning to the major league based on his performance in Korea.

‘Hmph, if I just adapt, I’ll be able to beat these guys with a perfect game in every game.’

In Miller’s opinion, Bellingham, who had spent five years in Korea and had no intention of returning to the major leagues, was a pathetic pitcher who had given up on his dream of becoming a baseball player, and the hitters on the team that could not target such pitchers were trash hitters.

‘Well, what can I do? That’s the level of monkey babies.’

Miller, who harbored an underlying hatred of Asians, perhaps because of his nature or because of the humiliating years he spent in Japan, thought racist thoughts in his mind and grabbed his glove to pitch again.

“[Miller, you hit a home run, but your slider is the best today, so let’s focus on the slider.]”

“[I get it. Please give me a good lead today as well. Just like the last game.]”

Of course, he wasn’t thinking enough to say such a thing out loud, so he responded kindly to the catcher who spoke to him and then walked to the mound.

In the top of the second inning, AT’s first batter was 7th batter Yoon Seong-tae.

[Yoon Seong-tae, as soon as he gets hit, he lowers his head. This batted ball lands in the second baseman’s arms. One out.]

‘Good. I’m slowly getting used to this damn league.’

Miller, who disposed of Seongtae Yoon with an infield fly after just three pitches, looked satisfied, perhaps feeling more confident. And the next batter, Kim Hyun-seong, a right-handed batter.

‘It’s easy to target such a low-level monkey baby.’

Threaten the first pitch by putting it toward your body to knock it off the home plate and then attack the outside. It was easy to target right-handed batters as long as they weren’t the ones who hit a home run against you. And as planned, I brought the pitcher closer to my body.

“Ball.”

Normally, it was a threatening ball that hit a lot of right-handed batters, but today I feel like I am controlling it well… Miller maintained that feeling in his fingers and threw a slider that fell outward following the catcher’s lead. He throws a slider that makes you feel confident that he threw it well… !

Perfect!

However, Kim Hyun-seong, who was not afraid and did not step away from the plate, lightly touched the slider and produced a hit that fell in front of right field.

‘Tsk, I’m lucky.’

Was it shaken by Kim Hyun-seong’s lucky hit? Miller allowed a walk to the next batter, Baek Jeong-jin, leaving the situation at 1st and 2nd base with one out. And the batter is Jeong Hwi-cheol. Since he was the batter who got a hit in the top of the first inning, Miller hit the ball harder…,

Taaak!

Jeong Hwi-cheol succeeded in making contact with the ball, but he was outclassed by the ball and ended up only getting a base hit that advanced the runners. With 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases, the catcher came to the mound with an interpreter.

“[Here, we will fill Ji Maeng-ho. Got it?]”

If it were an ordinary Korean pitcher, he would have intentionally thrown a pitch without even asking in a situation with 2 outs and 2nd and 3rd bases, but Miller is a mercenary. Since most mercenaries disliked intentional firing, Hancheol’s gunner kindly explained that they would make intentional firing. However, Miller shook his head.

“[Huh? You’re not going to skip Ji Maeng-ho here? It may be because you don’t know, but Ji Maeng-ho is the guy who throws Otani and Gerrit Cole’s balls over the fence. It’s too dangerous.]”

“[No, I’m not saying I won’t skip it. But I will filter it in my own way.]”

“[… Huh?]”

Miller also knew that Ji Maeng-ho was a great hitter. If he wanted to go to the major leagues, he had to record good results in Korea, and to do that, analysis of hitters was essential. I already knew a lot about Ji Maeng-ho, who won MVP for two consecutive years and led Korea to WBC and Olympic victories.

The fact that it was right to avoid the game as much as possible was already keenly felt by the home run hit in the top of the first inning. Among the major league hitters he faced, there were not many hitters who showed destructive power like Ji Maeng-ho.

… However, Miller remembered the ceremony Ji Maeng-ho showed at the beginning of the first inning. He completely ignored himself and pointed the bat like a gun during the ceremony.

“[It would hurt my pride to just skip it, so I will skip it by taking as much credit as possible. Then, if you’re lucky, you might catch an out.]”

In addition, when an empty ball is thrown, the catcher even gives appropriate words to dissuade the batter. The preparation was perfect.

“[Uh… ? Uh, I understand.]”

‘You little monkey. You are left behind.’

As Miller watched Ji Maeng-ho walk up to the plate, he imagined him groaning in pain as he held the four-seamer grip that he only used when throwing an empty ball.