Chapter 530 – Episode 522. Ace Killer. (3)

-“Swanson come out!” Ji Maeng-ho picks Swanson as his next opponent!

… Meanwhile, in an interview after the game, Ji Maeng-ho said he hoped the Charlotte Blue Mariners would give up Swanson and said, “Swanson, you’re doing well these days, right? “I’m looking forward to it,” He said. … Rain is expected for the game between the Charlotte Blue Mariners and AT Thunders to be held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on Friday and Saturday…

┗Ji Maeng-ho, this guy is so cocky haha

┗It looks like we won’t even be able to play a single game because of the rain.

┗Hmm… Do we really need to give Swanson? We’re currently tied with Mirae, so wouldn’t it be better to save it and use it to catch a lower ranked team?

┗┗Anyway, there are 6 games left in the first half, and since it is the rainy season, it makes sense to keep playing aces. Just go to Swanson-B-B-B-B-Swanson haha

┗Ji Maeng-ho is going crazy haha. I’m trying to get my dog ​​robbed by Swanson

-Director Choi Doo-young, “Ji Maeng-ho, he was bold.”

… Charlotte Blue Mariners coach Choi Doo-young said of Ji Maeng-ho’s interview, “The young guy was bold. In our time, we couldn’t make such remarks…” He chuckled. After that, “The rotation goes as it should.” “The outline of fall baseball is slowly being decided, so I will do my best in each game,” He said. …

┗If things go according to nature, Swanson will be released? I’ve been resting for 5 days now

┗┗Maybe it will be released?

-Southern region, rain falling.

… Due to heavy rain, the games of Sajik, Changwon, and Gwangju scheduled for today were canceled due to rain. …

-Director Choi Doo-young, “Swanson goes to Bonn for the weekend.”

… Meanwhile, coach Choi Doo-young said, “The two games this weekend are going to Swanson and Bonn. It has been five days since neither player pitched in action. “Now is the time to find some sense.” … Meanwhile, Charlotte’s foreign one-two punches Swanson and Vaughn are leading the fight for Charlotte’s fall baseball rights with eight and six wins, respectively. …

┗LOL You damn bastards are going crazy and meeting mercenaries in a row LOL

┗┗ㅋㅋHe’s been robbing all the aces these daysㅋㅋㅋ It would be nice to see him use two mercenaries and win 2 times in a rowㅋㅋ

┗┗How can a bastard who played against a lower ranked team be an ace haha

*

“Mr. Ji Maeng-ho, all the mercenaries are coming out because of you.”

“Hey, I took a few days off, so of course I have to pay. If I throw it today, I can rest for 4 days and come out on Thursday. “I see that Swanson is paid first, so that’s exactly it.”

“Are you confident? Let’s see what we’re doing today. Do it right.”

“Well, as long as I don’t skip anything, I’m always confident.”

-Woowoo!!

During the pre-game training session, when I entered the ground chatting with Seongtae to play catch, boos poured in from the audience. Probably because of my interview.

Well, it didn’t really bother me or anything. The booing of the opposing team’s fans has always motivated me.

“Look at the boos. “You can’t go out to downtown Busan anymore.”

“Me? “Why?”

“You shaved your mouth like that, kid. If you win today, the fans will probably kill you. “You wouldn’t know it if you saw the boos.”

Well, regardless of that, I didn’t like Seongtae, who was smiling brightly when I came back to my hometown. I heard this guy smiles like that every time he comes to Busan.

“Ha, bro. Are you still so clueless? You’re booing because of your brother. “My brother always accuses me of being a spy whenever he meets Charlotte, so I tell him to do it fairly.”

“Bastard! “He’s my spy!”

“Evil! Brother! Throw the ball gently! Anyone who sees it will think it’s Tusun. Did you get stabbed and thrown hard?”

Seongtae hyung throws the ball hard, probably because my words hit the nail on the head. I heard it tastes like teasing.

“Brother, tell me honestly. “Hyung, when you become a free agent, you’re going to go to Charlotte, right?”

“… Is it true? “Are you not going?”

… Judging by his slow response, he really seems like a spy sent from Charlotte.

“Ugh. Just make a mistake today. “I will tell everything to the director.”

“Sure, dude.”

Although I said it as a joke, looking at the state of the ground today, I thought there would be quite a few mistakes. Because it had been raining for several days, there were potholes everywhere and the grass was in a bad state.

The game started with a bit of anxiety.

Perfect!

“Short! Short!”

“Ah!”

“Aren’t you concentrating?!”

In the top of the first inning, an ordinary ground ball to shortstop hit by Suho, the lead hitter, bounced in front of the shortstop’s glove, allowing Suho to reach first base without an out.

‘I thought we would catch it well because it was the home team… Well, if the ground is like this, it’s home and nothing else.’

Perfect!

And then a meteorological hit exploded. The batted ball passed by the second baseman quickly rolled toward right field, leaving runners on first and second base with no outs. The game started with a mistake, but it started to smell like multiple goals from the beginning.

‘Okay, shall I start preparing soon?’

“Meng Hao. If you look at the forecast, it says it will rain in 1–2 hours, so we need to get as many points as possible first. “You know, right?”

“I understand.”

After listening to Lee Ki-cheol’s request, which was meaningless because he was planning to shake the dust even if it didn’t rain, Williams’ entrance song and cheering song were heard as he headed to the stand-by batting box. I listened to that song and focused on Swanson’s pitch.

Although I saw him at the pre-game meeting, he was the first pitcher I met this season and I needed to keep an eye on the pitcher’s pitches as they change from day to day.

“Strike!”

The first pitch to Williams is a low strike. Looking at the velocity, it seemed like a splitter, which was the deciding pitch. He threw a fastball to senior Suho and senior Sangju and allowed him to get on base, so it seemed like he threw a splitter from the first pitch.

They probably think we came in looking for a fastball.

And Charlotte Battery’s idea was correct. Our basic strategy against Swanson was to hit the ball at the timing of the fastball.

Swanson is a right-handed pitcher who throws an average fastball in the low 140s, a slider in the low 130s, and a splitter in the mid 130s. He was basically the type of player who used fastballs and sliders to count and used the splitter as the deciding ball. It is said that his highest velocity was around 153, and although the ball was not that fast, he was a pitcher with strong control.

However, his disadvantage is that the angle of the slider is not very good, so it is caught at the same time as the fastball. So, to attack that point, we came up with a strategy from the beginning to hit the ball at fastball timing, but it seemed like the guys figured out our intention faster than we thought.

‘Hmm… From what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t seem like Charlotte’s battery coach or catcher is that bright… After all, you’re thinking of a pitcher, right?’

Unless there was a hard-to-hit pitch like Seonghyun’s changeup, it was a good thing that pitchers who thought they were smart were easier to deal with. However, I was a little anxious because the more pitchers were like that, the more likely they were to skip me if the base was empty.

‘It’s Williams. Please get on base just once… !’

Perfect!

However, contrary to my thoughts, Williams’ batted ball ended up high in the infield. And the shortstop runs screaming as if trying to make up for his earlier mistake. And umpires who raise their hands before the batted ball lands.

“Out!”

‘Wow, are you fucking hitting infield here? Williams Does this bastard have an idea or not?’

After Charlotte’s shortstop caught the ball, he quickly looked back to first and second base, but like experienced veterans, the runners did not budge and kept their feet on base.

-4th batter, second baseman, Ji Maeng-ho.

My at bat came in a situation like that with 1 out and 1st and 2nd bases.

‘Please, don’t skip it. Don’t skip it.’

I went to bat while praying earnestly and enjoying the boos from the audience.

“How are you?”

“Ma, your interview is presumptuous?”

“Did you see it? It’s just showmanship.”

The catcher’s voice is heard as soon as he enters the batter’s box and says hello. I don’t know if it was the dialect, but I could see that he was very angry. And the fact that they start talking to you as soon as you enter means that you have no intention of stopping.

Fortunately, my interview seemed to have succeeded in getting the Charlotte players off their feet.

‘Well, it’s clear that if you don’t compete here, you’ll be branded as cowards, but real men in Busan can’t do that.’

Of course, there was a possibility that he would just pretend to be angry and throw all the balls out, but the starting catcher for Charlotte that I have met so far, Yang Chan-woo, was not a catcher capable of that level of acting ability and brain power.

‘The first pitch is a fastball.’

‘Okay.’

I’ve seen a lot of videos, but this was my first time dealing with him in person, so I decided to watch and wait for him to pitch for a while.

“Ball.”

‘What, look at this guy?’

Swanson’s first pitch was a ball thrown close to his body. It was a ball that could have hit you if you had even thought about throwing the bat at all. Of course, since this was not the first time I had seen a ball like this, I was able to avoid seeing the ugly sight of him falling backwards.

And Swanson is looking straight at me.

‘Baby, you have a temper.’

This is his response to the interview provocation. To be honest, rather than being angry, I laughed a little. The fact that he reacted so strongly meant that he also had pride, and those words were like a declaration that he would not miss me while he was on the mound.

As expected, provocation through an interview seemed like the right answer.

“Sorry, I lost control a little.”

“You look too crazy for something like that? Are you doing this because you want to get away with it?”

“Are you confident?”

“So are you confident about that? “How will it end and die?”

“…”

Of course, regardless of that, I didn’t like it when the catcher tried to trick me, so I signaled him not to try and looked at the pitcher again.

‘Slider.’

‘Okay.’

His slider is a horizontal slider that curves outward and falls. There was a high possibility that I would guide my bat by throwing to the outside, so I set up a batting zone outside and waited for a few seconds.

‘… ‘Oh!’

However, contrary to my expectations, his ball came toward the body, deflected toward the strike zone, and passed through the body zone.

“Strike!”

‘Fuck, that’s why I showed the body fastball. Okay, so you use your brain a bit, right?’

A ball combination that makes the batter flinch by showing a fast ball to the body and then throwing a slider to the body. It was a good ball combination, but if it was pushed even slightly, the ball would have gone straight over the fence. It certainly seemed like he was confident in his control.

‘You have a good head and good command, right? Well, I guess he won 8 games in Charlotte. ‘Good, good.’

There was a clear reason for the confidence of the guy who didn’t ignore me on first and second base with one out and one out. Even if I were a pitcher, if I had this much ball, I wouldn’t want to skip the hitters.

This guy was definitely a pitcher worthy of the name Ace.

And my hobby is to shatter these pitchers’ vain illusions. After beating up the guy, I was already starting to get excited at the thought of seeing his tearful expression.