Chapter 523 – Episode 515. Returns as the Number 4 Hitter. (2)

-AT Thunders! 3 consecutive wins with a sweep over UG!

… AT Thunders achieved their third consecutive win with a 2-0 win over UG Overlords. Starting pitcher Jang Yoon tied up the UG Overlords’ batting lineup with 7 scoreless innings, and Ji Maeng-ho, who appeared as the 4th hitter for the first time this season, scored all the team’s runs with 4 at-bats, 4 intentional balls, 2 runs, and 3 stolen bases. Took responsibility …

┗Okay, let’s get over 100 wins this season!!

┗I miss Dal-dong ㅅㅂ After Dal-dong left, I was left in the weak team ㅅㅂ

┗┗Isn’t Moon Ki-taek the one who replaced all the pitchers on your team and got stuck?

-No shit, am I the only one who doesn’t understand? Why is Ji Maeng-ho manure when there is no runner? I don’t understand this bastard. If you’re going to say this on purpose in the first place, why did Moon Ki-taek vote? It’s a shame that the Palkols bastards are picking up Moon Ki-taek and taking second place.

┗I have no doubt that Eugene Hyung knows someone better than you.

┗┗Do you know it so well that you are putting it in 7th place? And Ji Maeng-ho’s home run per plate appearance is 12.4%, and there is no guarantee that he will hit a home run. Why do you filter it out as an intentional out-of-pocket ball that gives 1 point when there is no runner on base?

┗┗You don’t think there was an intentional throw in that at-bat, do you? If I hadn’t filtered it out as an intentional phrase, it would have already exceeded 20%?

┗┗ㅈㄹ That’s just a prediction, and you have to rely on data to win. Wasn’t our team the winning team based on our team’s data? The team is like this because people like you are the fans.

┗┗ㅋㅋㅋ It’s so fucking similar. Choi Jin-cheol’s on-base percentage is 0.348, Yoon Seong-tae’s on-base percentage is 0.362. The probability of those two going out is lower? The batting averages are 0.263 and 0.291, so isn’t it worth a try? What if the home runs per plate appearance is 12%? The OPS is now 1.729 and the batting average is also .400. It is correct to just filter it

┗┗Choi Jin-cheol, don’t you think about frying? That bastard is so old that he just scoops things up these days, but doesn’t he know that he is always given 1 point? No, I understand if it’s two outs. But what are your thoughts on skipping it with one out?

┗┗Don’t you think about hitting a home run and ruining the atmosphere?

┗┗ㅋㅋ It doesn’t work with data, so I’m in a bad mood haha

┗┗Then how are you going to stop Ji Maeng-ho? Is there a way to stop that bastard in the first place? They say it’s better to just collude with the teams and make a lot of deliberate pitches and win when the batting quality is low. Did you know that last year too, I lost my pace and hit .300 in August and September because I had so many intentional throws?

┗┗That’s bullshit because I just went to the Olympics in August, and in September I hit 0.398/0.611/1.060/1.671, but is this a loss of pace? And in October, I hit 0.435 with an OPS of 1.960. You idiot

┗┗It’s lower than the season slash line? And in October, the ranking battle is over, so it’s a shame

┗┗Suchi competed for 12th place with the bastards until the end of last year

┗┗The competition for 12th place is between them, and the teams below have finished competing for rankings. Are you an idiot?

┗┗ㅋㅋㅋ You’re swearing because you have nothing to say, right? Since I couldn’t receive home education from my mom, it’s obvious that I’m cursing right away haha

┗┗Assholes are just fucking fighting haha

┗┗Eh) Let’s just accept that it is a natural disaster. Why are they fighting among themselves? LOL

┗┗Etchalsa bastards are so fucking mean ㅅㅂ ㄴㄱㄲ

┗┗Long live forever, Shin Maengho!

┗┗Surprise worship of Maengcheonji haha

-National heavy rain forecast for the weekend.

… The monsoon front that started in Jeju extended to inland areas over the weekend…

*

You can’t fill up after the first drink.

He ambitiously returned as the number 4 hitter, but the opportunity to hit the bases loaded did not come easily. This season’s first comeback as a No. 4 hitter ended with 4 intentional balls in 4 at-bats, and I was able to contribute to the team’s 2-0 win by coming home two of the four times I got on base.

Today’s Distinguished Player is Jang Yoon. I had no complaints because I performed well as a player of merit, holding UG’s batting line tight with 7 scoreless innings, but I couldn’t help but think the same thing, as that position should have been mine.

Still, the good news was that Wonho would appear in this three-game series against Silla. Wonho currently has an ERA in the low to mid 2-point range and has achieved 7 wins in Silla, becoming the ace of Silla. It was clear that if Wonho like that was on the mound, Silla’s coaching staff would not skip me. Because it was as important for him to protect Ace’s pride as it was to win the game.

Moreover, since there was a record of blocking our batting line perfectly until the 9th inning last year, it didn’t seem like they would trample on the ace’s pride by intentionally filtering me out.

But…,

‘The problem is empty… In order for Wonho to appear, the game would have to not be canceled for 3 days. Even if I were the coach, I wouldn’t necessarily use the sure-win card against us, who are in overwhelming first place. If the game is cancelled, it will probably be postponed. Anyway, I am pitching after 4 days of rest.’

… The problem was that these days were the rainy season. There was a high possibility that today and tomorrow’s starters would avoid me as Silla’s 4th and 5th starters. At least Yang Ji-man, today’s starter, was playing the role of Silla’s ace until Won-ho stood out, but there was a high possibility that he could be avoided.

“Hey, what are you thinking about before the game?”

As I was calculating Silla’s starting rotation and the probability of the game being canceled in the locker room, senior Jincheol spoke up.

“I was just thinking about the starting rotation.”

“It looks like you have a lot to worry about. Is it because everything is filtered out through intentional phrases these days?”

“That’s right. Even if the senior had hit like the year before, or even like last year, I wouldn’t have been able to skip it.”

“Anyway, what this bastard says. Okay, I’ll try my best today.”

Jincheol senior has 13 home runs this season. Although he had the most home runs on the team other than me, his batting average wasn’t that high, in the mid-.200 range. Still, last year he hit 38 home runs at around .277, but it seems like time has passed. But I think Mirae paid 203 cents to get there…

“Senior.”

“What.”

“But why did I only hit .203 in the final season at Mirae? The record… 28 home runs? “What is it?”

Out of curiosity, I looked it up on my cell phone and found that senior Jincheol’s 22nd season performance was .233 with 28 home runs, an OPS of 0.786, and a WAR of 2 points. He moved to the AT and his performance was clearly inferior to that of the Golden Glove for two consecutive seasons, with 44 home runs at .300 and 38 home runs at .700. .

Now that I think about it, I remembered that when I read the article back then, I saw a question asking why I bought a product that had an aging curve. If we find the reason for his dramatic performance after transferring to our team, I thought we could find a clue to a rebound this season as well.

“I wasn’t that good at it back then, so what’s the secret to suddenly hitting well at? “You’re not weak, are you?”

“What about medicine? Are you crazy? “When I was the home run king, I took a doping test like you.”

“And… Was it that much, senior?”

“It looks easy to hit 50 home runs for two years in a row…, I guess. “For you.”

“Hey, it’s difficult for me too. If the season ends like this, I won’t even be able to hit 40 home runs. “If my senior gets back in shape quickly, then I can play some as well.”

“The reason my grades fell back then was because I was older and couldn’t defend third base. Since I can’t defend, I can’t hit. Suho This guy is amazing. How is he still playing third base at his age?”

First, the burden of defense. This didn’t help. Because first base was not a position where defense was that burdensome.

“And?”

“And, our child was young at that time. Is parenting a bit difficult? Oh, when I think about it, it’s really… But these days, I still wait and message Dad’s shoulders to tell him he had a hard time and say, “Would you like to take a look at the picture?” I saw you last time on Children’s Day, right? Probably 10 cm bigger than then? Maybe it’s because he resembles me, but his physique is no joke. “It’s a complete long body type.”

Ah… Granulation. It was a reasonable reason for my grades to drop.

‘But when the story of the child comes up, you suddenly become more talkative. Anyway, what are the men?’

“No, he just entered elementary school, and his dad goes around bragging that he’s Choi Jin-cheol. My friends don’t even know who I am…”

When the topic of children came up, I suddenly saw the talkative Sangju senior, so I quickly cut off Choi Jin-cheol.

“Is there anything else besides that? Ah! Then why did my score go up when I came to AT? “Isn’t parenting the same for a year anyway?”

“Are you stupid? Of course, it went up because of you.”

“Me?”

“You support me in front of me, I steal signs, and tell you the type of pitch, but if I can’t even accept that, I should quit baseball.”

… It was like that. At that time, I played number 4 and Jincheol played number 5. Now that I think about it, I thought that the reason last year’s grades weren’t the same as the year before was because I came in second often. And since I was approaching 40, it was natural that my grades would decline further.

Thinking about it that way made me a little sad. A person like Choi Jin-cheol, who made a huge mark in the history of Korea’s home run kings, is still struggling by hitting 13 home runs even though June is coming to an end.

“Hey, why are you looking like that all of a sudden?”

“I just thought you were old too. A person who used to be able to hit over 50 has only been able to hit 13 so far.”

“That’s because you’re crazy, son of a bitch. Jinmo now has 2 home runs and 18 home runs. Her home is Munhak, and my home is Jamsil. And I’m still ranked 5th in home runs. “I’m still fresh.”

Although he said that, he had an old look on his face. … Isn’t it? Has this face been like this since the first time you saw it? Now that I think about it, I think the face I saw in Highlights when I was young was also this face…

“Is it so? I don’t care about such a low ranking… Anyway, I think I’ll be hitting number 4 in the next few weeks, so I’ll help you out a lot. “If the senior is good, I should at least buy him a baby.”

Anyway, if Jin-cheol plays well, my chances of batting will increase even a little, so even if it is not an important situation, I thought I should tell Jin-cheol the pitch type.

“Okay, thank you. Bastard. But why are you calculating the starting rotation? Ha, this guy didn’t look good for the first time in a while, so I wondered if something was wrong, but seeing him talk made me just want to go. I’m just going to leave it alone as long as there’s no argument, ha… So, what’s going on?”

“It’s just that we skip everything these days. If mercenaries or aces appear, we will compete. I was praying that it wouldn’t be canceled due to rain because I wanted to swing the bat when Wonho appeared in this series. “If it’s canceled due to rain, Wonho’s rotation won’t be pushed back.”

“Are you stupid?”

“Yes?”

“We are Gocheok. “This is the first time in all my life that I’ve seen a kid worry about the weather in Gocheok.”

Uh? Right. Fuck! Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the intentional throw, and I’ve forgotten that we’re playing at Gocheok Dome. Fuck! I was training until now! For no reason, I had nothing else to do, so I was scrolling through my phone and saw an article saying that another stadium had been canceled… !

And then Jincheol, who was talking to me, started to look playful on his face. That expression…

“No! Seongtae Yoon!”

I tried to cover Senior Jincheol’s mouth, but human hands cannot move faster than air. Moreover, I was sitting and Jincheol was standing, so the moment I got up, Jincheol’s voice was already echoing in the locker room.

“Yes! Senior! Did you call me?”

“Aren’t you going to educate your partner? How many seasons has this guy played in the pros? Is he worried about the weather at Gocheok Dome?”

“And… This stupid bastard. “Are you really that stupid?”

Seongtae Yoon with a pitiful expression,

“What? What are you talking about just now? Who worried about the weather at Gocheok Dome?”

“Hey, it must be a fierce tiger. “If not Meng Hao, who would do such a stupid thing?”

Teammates gather around like hyenas who have found their prey at the loud voice of senior Jincheol… People’s laughter echoes like an echo in the locker room.

“Stop laughing. Look at Meng Hao’s face turning red. My face is going to explode. “You can’t kill our number 4 hitter before the game even starts.”

“Honestly, Kwan-hyung is also funny.”

“Keuhum, big.”

Fuck. Even senior Kwanhyung… !

… It seemed like I had no choice but to resolve this embarrassment at the stadium.

‘Just once. Fuck. Just take it once today.’

*

[In the top of the third inning, with one out and bases loaded, the batter who was just looking for this opportunity comes to the plate. #4 hitter Ji Maeng-ho.]

[Ji Maeng-ho, his eyes are full of venom, right? Today too, I got an intentional walk in the first inning, so I’m going crazy because I want to swing the bat right now. Probably, I still feel that way these days. The look in their eyes was unusual from the start of the game. If I were a pitcher, I think I would have just ignored Ji Maeng-ho in that condition.]

[However, Yang Ji-man chooses to win. Replace battery, autograph. And first pitch! 1 RBI! 2 RBIs! 3 RBIs! 4 RBIs! Ji Maeng-ho hits the first pitch and hits a grand slam! Score 4:0! Ji Maeng-ho never misses a single opportunity! AT’s number 4 hitter Jimaengho!]

[Hey… Swinging is terrifying, right? It’s a swing full of anger. I need to check to see if the ball is broken. Haha…]

[Ji Maeng-ho records his 100th RBI of the season with this home run! Ji Maeng-ho records 100 RBI for 3 consecutive years! This player is Ji Maeng-ho!]