Chapter 528 – Episode 520. Ace Killer. (1)
-Rainy season across the country, all professional baseball games canceled.
… Due to the rainy season that fell across the country, all professional baseball games were canceled today (1st). According to KBA, as of 5:17 p.M…
┗Fuck you don’t even play a single game today?
┗┗I think this shit will last until the rainy season ends haha
┗Why, there is no Gocheok ㅅㅂ
┗ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I almost did it lol
-Ji Maeng-ho selected as monthly MVP for June!
… In the month of June, Ji Maeng-ho recorded a batting average of 0.387, an on-base percentage of 0.616, a slugging percentage of 1.177, and an OPS of 1.794. He also recorded 13 home runs and 31 RBIs and was selected as the MVP for the month of June. Plus, he gets 24 deliberate dubs in one month…
┗Well, I’m not surprised anymore haha
┗Why did you choose this? Anyway, it’s Jimaenghonde
┗Fuck you guys filtered it haha
┗ㅇㅅㅁㅎㅅ
┗Suddenly, I feel once again the greatness of Seonghyun, who stole the monthly MVP from Ji Maeng-ho…
┗Surprise worship
┗ㅋㅋㅋ Seonghyun is a ㅇㅈ
┗This guy seems to be earning a salary with the money he received from being the monthly MVP. LOL
-July 6th, professional baseball rankings
1st place AT Thunders 56 wins, 22 losses, 1 draw, 0.718
2nd Place Hwasan Falcons 47 wins, 31 losses, 0.603 9.0
…
…
…
┗ㅅㅂ Because of the rain, we played two games in one week
┗┗ㅋㅋBut thanks to that, Pilseungjo took a break and had a lot of winning streaks, so I got separated from Pilseungjo, and it seems like good timing
-I don’t have to worry about picking a pitcher for next year’s WBC national team haha
If you watch Maeng Ho-shin’s interview, you will find the answer haha
┗Why?
┗┗Thrower 〉 Intentionally seeking death from fierce guardian. Feature 〉 Competing with fierce guardian. Haha,
┗┗ㅇㄱㄹㅇ It’s so convenient because I only have to take the kids who have completed the Fierce Protector Certification to national university haha
┗┗Then who is the certified pitcher now?
┗┗Seonghyeon, Jang Woojoo, Kim Wonho, Choi Junghoon…
*
“Director. “When I meet AT this time, I want to compete with Ji Maeng-ho.”
“If it doesn’t rain, it’s your turn to rotate… But the team is in last place, so is there really a need for you to compete with Ji Maeng-ho?”
Hancheol’s coach’s office ahead of the game against AT Thunders. Na Seung-yoon, who is Hancheol’s domestic ace and is attracting attention as the next generation national team pitcher, was talking with manager Park Dae-hoon.
The reason Na Seung-yoon came to the manager’s office was AT’s fourth hitter, Ji Maeng-ho. Under normal circumstances, he would not have bothered to come to the director’s office, but Na Seung-yoon had a good reason.
Last year, the game where Ji Maeng-ho set a new record with his 62nd home run. Na Seung-yoon, who came off the mound after giving up 4 runs in 0.2 innings, was ridiculed as a pitcher who ran away because they didn’t want to give him a record because of the pitch he threw.
Experts were still talking about him as the next generation national team pitcher, but that was not the feeling Na Seung-yoon was feeling.
As he is a young pitcher, he occasionally checks his stories on social media and communities, and the stories that come out of those places have always been the same since that day.
-Na Seungyoon? Didn’t that bastard just run away because he didn’t want to hand over his records to Ji Maeng-ho?
-ㅋㅋㅋ He seems to know that Ji has something to do with being in the same class as Joo Seung-cheolㅋㅋㅋ When I see Jang Woo-joo or Kim Won-ho of the same age compete with Ji Maeng-ho, it seems like that bastard is the worst lol
– Haha, this kid just happened to post a story saying he didn’t give up a run. Anyway, if he meets Ji Maeng-ho, he’s going to throw it out there and say it was intentional haha
… Stories that disparage and criticize oneself, such as. Na Seung-yoon was a young player with a lot of pride, and he wanted to restore that reputation. And he wanted to prove that he was not the ‘low-level pitcher’ that Ji Maeng-ho said.
That’s why I came to the director’s office.
“Wouldn’t it be right to just take care of the records, Seungyoon? It’s raining a lot anyway, so I think we’ll only have one game at most.”
However, coach Dae-Hoon Park did not seem to be the energetic coach he used to be. Dae-hoon Park has always been like this since being swept in the Korean Series by the AT Thunders without Ji Maeng-ho last year.
‘The director didn’t do this before… The director is also very old now.’
Park Dae-hoon, in Na Seung-yoon’s memories, was a person worthy of being called a master. Park Dae-hoon, who led the previous year’s 7th-place team to the championship in 2015, was a master who led the fall baseball season every year, winning three championships and two runners-up with his unique charisma and strategy to catch opponents off guard.
However, Park Dae-hoon, the charismatic coach who led the team last season after suffering a loss in the Korean Series, disappeared. Should I say that he was depressed? He had become a completely different person from last season. The person in charge of the team’s direction showed a lack of motivation, so the team ended up in 10th place.
Seungyoon Na didn’t like this whole situation. He was in a situation where he was being intimidated by Ji Meng-ho, a situation where he was being criticized in various communities, and a situation where the team was in 10th place.
So, I wanted to use this opportunity to prove myself by catching Ji Maeng-ho and create an opportunity for the team to bounce back. In a difficult situation for the team, his sense of responsibility as the team’s ace began to burn.
“Director. Please believe me. I’ll try it. “I am confident.”
“Under… Yes, I understand.”
The look of a man who is determined to do something. Director Park Dae-hoon had no choice but to nod his head at that sight, and when Na Seung-yoon left, a thought suddenly appeared in Director Park Dae-hoon’s mind.
“That Seungyoon came to me and said something like this… Is it time to quit now?”
In fact, Ji Maeng-ho was the reason why coach Dae-hoon Park became a different person.
Last year in the Korean Series, he instructed his favorite students to secretly support Ji Maeng-ho, but Park Joong-ki, who was supposed to be the center of the team for 2-3 more years, completely lost his balance after injuring his finger and was thinking about retiring.
An Si-Hwon, who should have brought only good memories in the last Korean Series, was given only the worst memories of being beaten and fainted by a distant junior on the big stage of the Korean Series.
After that, the team lost. The players lost momentum after the bench clearing and were unable to beat AT Thunders and ended up in second place.
Situations that arise from your own instructions. He thought he had chosen the best move to win, but it ended up being the worst.
If only he had trusted his players and chosen a different move to win…
As those regrets continued, I became unable to be confident in my own judgment. According to the coach, the team, which was always aiming to win the fall baseball championship, fell to 10th place as the first half of the season is almost over.
In a situation where the team fell to 10th place, Park Dae-hoon became a bystander who watched the team while receiving money every day.
In the meantime, a young ace came. It was clear to him that if he had been the same as before, this would not have happened. He was the one who showed the young pitcher the way before he had the courage to come and say such a thing.
But now, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Also, his wrong judgment could have ended a player’s life, and Park Dae-hoon was afraid of such a situation.
… And Park Dae-hoon knew very well that a person with that kind of mindset should not become the head of a team. Now it’s time to make a decision, both for the team and for yourself.
‘Yes, it should have been like this a long time ago after the Korean series ended…’
After organizing his thoughts, coach Dae-hoon Park began walking toward his general manager’s office.
*
“Strike!”
‘Oh, you throw a strike on the first pitch? I’m surprised.’
The game takes place 4 days after the game against Mirae on Saturday. I was waiting for the ball, thinking it would be a difficult game, but surprisingly, Na Seung-yoon boldly put the ball into the strike zone from the first pitch.
‘Was I right?’
Many games are canceled during the rainy season. As such, it was clear that each team had the intention of making full use of the club’s aces. Right now, our team alone has shut out two games against Bellingham and Cronks in the past week.
In other words, unless consecutive games were played during the rainy season, the starting pitchers facing me were likely to be aces, and it was somewhat natural for each team’s ace pitcher to compete with me.
Mercenary pitchers also took the mound in the two games last week.
Therefore, it was not surprising that Na Seung-yoon, who took the mound as a starting pitcher in this situation, put the ball into the zone. Na Seung-yoon’s highest speed was initially 154 km/h. Because he was a pitcher who threw a good ball with an average speed of 146 to 147 km/h.
However, what I was a little worried about before the game started was that Na Seung-yoon’s main weapons were curveball and changeup. He was the worst matchup against me, so I was a little uncertain whether he would be able to win…
‘Well, if you do it anyway, it’s fine for me. So you’re saying you’re only going to win with fastballs? Against me?’
‘It’s a fastball again.’
‘Oh, fastball. Okay’
Na Seung-yoon’s second ball was also a fastball. I felt like I could roughly understand what he was thinking. These days have been the rainy season and games have been played sparsely, so batters are likely to lose their ability to hit. For that reason, I was also in a situation where I could not be considered to be in the best batting condition. And this is Jamsil, which has the largest stadium.
It was not a judgment without basis.
“Ball.”
“Oh, no matter what, no one will be fooled by a ball like this.”
“…”
Na Seung-yoon’s second ball is a fastball of about 150 that comes at eye level. No matter how bad his batting skills were, he was not at a point where he would swing at a ball like this. And then the battery signs again.
‘It’s a change-up.’
‘Okay… Yes? ‘Change-up?’
Changeup here? You’re throwing a changeup at me. I was a little embarrassed by the changeup I hadn’t seen in quite a while. Seonghyun was the only pitcher who threw a changeup at me, and even Seonghyun had a changeup that would go over the fence the moment he threw it if the umpire’s zone didn’t help. .
‘What, I thought I was going to win, but was I just crazy?’
Still, there was a possibility that the changeup would fall out completely, so I waited for the guy’s changeup with that in mind. And then the guy’s windup started…
‘It fell slightly!’
An outside changeup that misses about half a ball in its trajectory. It’s a ball, but if it’s in this position… !
Ta – Aak!
The moment it was hit, a cheerful sound was heard, and the ball began to fly high. After throwing the bat along the grain of the swing, slowly depart for first base.
“… Huh?”
However, unlike my leisurely pace, Hancheol’s center fielder ran quickly to the fence and jumped high as if he had caught the falling ball near the warning track.
“… Fuck.”
And with the batted ball gently caught in the glove…,
“Aaaaah!”
I heard Na Seung-yoon’s roar in my ears.
‘What, I’m not playing the Korean Series alone, I just got one out. You fell behind in your next at-bat. Really.’
As I was returning to the dugout, leaving behind Na Seung-yoon, who was roaring as if he was playing the Korean Series alone, Jin-cheol, who was in the waiting box, called me.
“What was it? Change-up?”
“Yes.”
“Uh? “You missed the changeup?”
“Well, it’s been so long since I played that I guess I missed the timing a bit.”
“Well, there aren’t many pitchers who throw changeups at you. Anyway, there’s nothing else to be careful about, right?”
“Yes. It seems like Na Seung-yoon is the same as usual.”
“Okay. “I thought there was something wrong with your changeup.”
There weren’t many games due to the rainy season, and it had been a while since I had tried the changeup itself, so I couldn’t get over the fence this time, but there were some good things about it. If I had confidence that the change-up would work, it was clear that I would focus on the change-up in my next at-bat.
… And I was confident that if a ball like that came again, I would get it over the fence.