Chapter 565 – 557. The Old Man’s Rebellion. (1)
“Ji Maeng-ho joins the 70, 70 club… Under… “This kid must be good at playing baseball.”
Before entering the coach’s office, Baek Kyung-ho was using his spare time to scroll through his cell phone and look through articles about yesterday’s game. Naturally, the article was full of stories about Ji Maeng-ho, who hit his 70th home run, and the content included numbers he had never seen in his nearly 20 years as a professional.
Absurd numbers like 70 home runs, 70-70 club, return to .400 batting average, and 189 RBI. What was even more surprising was that it wasn’t strange at all to see those numbers. Rather, Ji Maeng-ho could do that… This thought went around in Baek Kyung-ho’s head.
And what remains at the end is envy.
In fact, looking at Baek Kyung-ho’s career, it was not easy for most players to feel envious. Baek Kyung-ho debuted while being hailed as the successor to legendary catcher Yoo Deok-hyun, who recorded 7 Golden Gloves, and became a starting pitcher in 2011, winning Golden Glove Awards in 2015 and 2017.
And he was such a great catcher that he received over 10 billion won through two free agents.
When considering the genealogy of Korean catchers, there was even an assessment that Hyunsung catchers Park Jung-hyun and Baek Kyung-ho opened a new era after the era of Yoo Deok-hyun and Lee Ki-cheol.
Of course, Lee Yong-gi is now holding tightly to the catcher’s lineage, but it is not strange at all to say that Baek Kyung-ho also left his mark on the history of Korean professional baseball.
In addition, after making his debut in UG Overlords in 2006, he played only in UG for 19 years, and although he did not retire from the team, he was definitely treated as a legend.
Even in Baek Kyung-ho’s eyes, Ji Maeng-ho was so envious. The money and fame he will gain in the future, as well as his outstanding ability to play with ball combinations… Baek Kyung-ho, who was proud of having lived the life of a decent baseball player, was very envious of Ji Maeng-ho.
However, there were also feelings greater than that envy. The fear he only felt when he faced it directly. No, he felt that fear even when he saw it on TV, not in person. In particular, seeing him hit the referee with the bat several times made you think he was glad he didn’t make it to the first team.
‘Yes, you chose well. Even if you are in the 2nd division, you still get paid. This is much better than dealing with him and becoming a half-asshole.’
I’m now at an age where I can’t recover quickly even if I get hurt. Thinking about my eldest son, who stays in a dormitory alone in Seoul and goes to school, and my second child, who will soon turn 10, I couldn’t help but break down on him.
‘How did I get here…? . That can’t be happening.’
While Baek Kyung-ho was thinking that, the door to the director’s office opened and a reporter who came to report walked outside, saying a brief hello. Baek Kyung-ho also gave the reporter a brief greeting and looked at the director. The director also looked at Baek Kyung-ho with warm eyes and spoke.
“Guard, are you here?”
“Yes, director. “Did you call me?”
“Okay, come in.”
Why on earth did you call me? Do you want to talk about retirement? Baek Kyung-ho’s mind became slightly more complicated.
Even for Baek Kyung-ho, who spent most of this season in the second team, retirement was something he did not want to hear. Because I still had a family to support.
“So, you know that today’s game is the last home game of the season, right?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Shouldn’t we still say our final goodbyes to the home fans today? “Are you feeling okay today?”
“Ah… Yes…”
The coach’s words to say a final goodbye to the home fans… That meant thinking about retirement. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. Even though he spent time in the first team this season, when the game against AT got closer, he used injury as an excuse to go down to the second team.
Of course, the injury wasn’t a lie. As you play professionally, the number of sore spots is bound to increase, and all players around Baek Kyung-ho’s age endure at least one injury and play. However, Baek Kyung-ho only told the truth about the painful area.
But even so, he did not want to retire. The future that Baek Kyung-ho envisioned was to avoid Ji Maeng-ho, play moderately, get paid, and then retire. Some people might have criticized him, but he thought he deserved to be treated that way after being a free agent twice and devoting himself to one team for nearly 20 years.
“But the last thing…”
“Hmm… The same goes for injuries this season. Now, even the higher-ups are saying that if the results are going to be like this, it would be better to go for rebuilding. There will be more minor injuries next year… Well, I feel bad too, but what can I do, Guard? “The team situation is such that it wouldn’t be surprising if I were fired after this season.”
“Ah… I see.”
Although he wasn’t speaking directly, the words coming out of the director’s mouth had one meaning. That the team no longer needs him.
‘Under… If I had known this would happen, Ji Maeng-ho and all, I would have just stuck to the first team…’
What I was doing to avoid retirement ended up coming back as a poison.
‘Ha, Ji Maeng-ho, if it weren’t for this bastard… Wait, Ji Maeng-ho?’
Baek Gyeong-ho, who was cursing Ji Maeng-ho in his mind, suddenly realized an important fact. Today, the team’s last game of the season, is against the AT Thunders, to which Ji Maeng-ho belongs. And when I was told to say my last goodbye today, it meant that I would finally have to deal with Ji Maeng-ho, whom I had been avoiding so much, today.
“So, you’re telling me to start today? Before AT?”
“Yes, it’s the last home game, but the club has to do at least that much. Well, if you completely decide on the ceremony, you can coordinate the date together…”
“Fuck…”
When Baek Kyung-ho was told to become the starting catcher against Ji Maeng-ho, Baek Kyung-ho cursed quietly without even realizing it. Retirement and all that, that’s not what’s important right now. The swear words came out of fear that he might become a half-sick and end up being taken to the hospital…
“Huh?”
“Oh, no.”
Baek Kyung-ho quickly said it was nothing, but he could not erase the fear that remained in his heart.
And, he was confused by the thought that this might be his last game as an active player, where he could say hello to the Incheon fans who have supported him for nearly 20 years.
‘Fuck, that bastard Ji Maeng-ho is on the verge of going crazy because he wants to set a record, but yesterday he also told me to retire… If I pull it out, they might try to dip me… No, it’s not that he’s there, it’s 100% true that he’s that psycho bastard. He’s the guy who threw the bat at the umpire, so it would be easier to hit the catcher. Under…, But it could be the last game and I can’t say hello to the fans.’
The fear of Ji Maeng-ho and the feeling that he must repay the fans who supported him…
“Are you a security guard? Is it that difficult to start?”
“No, no. You can do it.”
Of these two conflicting feelings, the one that ultimately won was that I still had to say hello to the fans. No matter how psychotic you are, as long as you don’t make any mistakes during the game, you can easily get through one game.
‘Okay, just go into the game and leave the groove empty, and there won’t be any problems.’
In this way, Baek Kyung-ho was dreaming of a simple dream of finishing the game that could possibly be the last of his baseball career.
*
Perfect!
‘Oh, shit!’
Just as he was preparing to push, thinking it would come to the outside, he was startled by a ball thrown toward his body and instinctively swung the bat, but the timing was off, and the hit ball only floated high and did not extend all the way, so the left fielder easily caught it.
A fastball to the body that seemed to completely read my thoughts… He was looking at 8 on the outside and 2 on the inside, but if you look at the ball combination in his first at-bat, he was completely caught off guard.
‘As expected, Baekgyeonghonga? Tsk. There’s definitely some veteran-like flair. Yesterday it was all pulled out, so I thought it was like that today too…’
However, I wasn’t particularly worried. Still one at-bat. There were a lot of at-bats left, and since I knew that today was a close game, it wasn’t like I couldn’t deal with it from the next at-bat. And we liked the atmosphere of the game.
It was the same as deciding the rankings for both UG and us, but we were aiming for our first 100 wins in history, so even though we used most of our starting players because it was the UG Overlords’ last game at home, we had a different mindset going into the game with a team in the lower tier.
And as I expected, we started the game ahead by scoring 3 points in the 2nd inning. The second at-bat that came in such a situation.
“Hi.”
“…”
“What is the ball on your body? “I want to hit you.”
Baek Kyung-ho’s body flinches greatly when he says he wants to hit a home run. It seems like he’s boldly taken a stab at me since he hasn’t seen me in a long time. If he gets the idea that I can hit a home run at any time like this, there’s a good chance he’ll ask for an outside hit.
… If you’re an average catcher.
However, Baek Kyung-ho is a veteran catcher. Rather, there was a high possibility that he read my thoughts and threw the crystal ball towards me. Therefore, the ball I should aim for this time is towards the body.
“Ball.”
“Ball.”
“Foul.”
‘As expected, most of them are directed outwards, right? I guess this is the build-up to throw a crystal ball towards your body?’
‘This time it’s a slider.’
‘Okay.’
Ball count is two balls, one strike. Plus a slider. The battery’s choice is either to throw a slider to the body to induce a hit or to pull it to the outside once more.
From what I saw, it seemed like Baek Kyung-ho would not come in right away due to his personality. Therefore, the ball thrown this time is outside.
‘If you come in vaguely, I will hit you right away.’
So he formed a batting zone on the outside borderline, prepared to hit, and waited for the pitcher’s slider. And as I expected, the trajectory seems to be heading outward…
Ta – Aak!
The batted ball curves to the right with a light hitting sound. A foul that jumps over the pole.
‘Sweet, it’s more broken than I thought.’
Sometimes, when pitchers who do not have complete control over their balls throw the ball, they throw the ball at a different angle than expected, so these fouls sometimes occur, so I don’t think much of it and wait for the next ball.
‘After all, the final ball is on the body.’
‘This time it’s a fastball.’
‘Okay.’
Perfect!
“Foul!”
Perfect!
“Foul!”
Perfect!
“Foul!”
After kicking out about 3 balls while waiting for the inside ball, I felt like the timing had come. All balls thrown after two strikes are outside. Now is the time when you have no choice but to throw even if you don’t want to throw.
‘It’s a slider.’
‘Yes.’
There’s a slider, a breaking ball. As I was throwing this ball towards my body and timing it to the outside, I could clearly feel the intention of inducing a missed swing or a bad hit… But it was clear that the battery probably had no idea that the ball was the one I was waiting for.
‘Come…’ !’
The slider of the guy who waited after making all the preparations. The ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, and it gets farther and farther away from his body… ?
‘Uh? Outside?!’
I was able to force the bat to stop by applying force to the bat that was already going out, but
Tick.
The ball rolls forward with an ominous sound.
‘What the fuck! Did you throw it outside again?’
A batted ball that is hit by a check swing and rolls in front of the pitcher. I ran towards first base as best as I could, but no matter how fast I was, I couldn’t be faster than the ball.
“Out!”
“Oh, shit!”
It’s outside again…
‘Baek Kyung-ho, did you study while you were in the 2nd team? ‘I can’t predict the location.’
‘Tsk, so why didn’t you just look at it and hit it? When I was playing alone, I just looked carefully and played.’
‘No, in literature, even if you hit lightly, you can go over the fence, so it is correct to hit accurately.’
Although he spoke confidently to Mr. Rossby, he has already hit two batters in a row. It wasn’t common for him to get a bad hit in two consecutive at-bats due to a poor mix of balls, so he slowly started to get stronger.
Baek Kyung-ho, who awakened by sharpening himself in the 2nd Army… As expected from a veteran catcher, he was not an easy opponent.
To be honest, he was a little caught off guard. He also had a good record, and was a little excited about the thought that he was close to hitting a new home run record. But now I know for sure. Even though the season is over, and the rankings have been decided, the opponent is also a professional. With a complacent mindset, I could have ended up not hitting a single home run in literature.
‘Sweet, I guess I’ll have to concentrate a little more today.’