Chapter 572 – Episode 564. The 100-Mile Man. (4)

Perfect!

Perfect!

A weak hitting sound is heard continuously and the ball deviates from the foul line. The speed recorded on the electronic display board was 154 km/h. Although it was a fast ball rarely seen in the KBA league, the person who threw the ball was Jang Woo-joo, the fastest Korean pitcher, so it seemed slow rather than fast.

‘Baby, it looks like you’re in pain somewhere. Has the restraint already dropped like that? I’m barely throwing a slider… ‘Is my elbow still a problem?’

Moreover, the batter standing at the plate is Ki Ki-joo, who has the best batting ability in the league. With a fast ball approaching 100 mph and a slider blocked, it seemed difficult even for the universe to deal with the weather starter.

Perfect!

Perfect!

‘Well, even if my body was normal, dealing with senior Sangju was difficult.’

Although it was a shortened season, the number of pitches in the universe continued to increase as Gyeong Gi-ju, who hit .300 in the major leagues, focused all his efforts on getting the right hits without thinking about correct hits.

At the end of the second inning, the number of balls thrown by Woo-ju was only 17. However, in the 3rd inning, starting with the 7th batter Woo Gwan-hyung and ending with the 1st batter Kim Su-ho, 25 pitches were thrown, and now Ki Ki-joo cut 7 balls by himself, and the number of pitches in the 3rd inning was approaching 50.

Well, the hitter also had the disadvantage of not being able to hit well if he was aiming for fouls like this, but this game was the last game of the season anyway. Because I had enough time to rest and recover my batting skills, I was able to increase the number of pitches considerably by focusing only on cutting without that pressure.

Isn’t this a pitch that doesn’t suit Woo-joo, who throws aggressive pitches using fast balls?

Perfect!

And the 50th ball thrown by Jang Woo-joo also could not avoid the weatherman’s bat.

“First base!”

However, the problem was that the direction of the hit was inside the infield this time. Well, it was something that could not be helped. Even if you cut and try to make a foul, where the ball lands is up to the sky.

‘Still, 8 is a lot. With this momentum, I think I can get off before the 5th inning.’

Now the batsman is Williams. Williams was also a pretty good guy when it came to hitting skills, so he was something to look forward to this time too. Of course, it was usually difficult for foreign batsmen to participate in such operations. In sports where records are important, this strategy was a strategy that completely consumed one at-bat.

But Williams is the guy who got a crash course in etiquette from me.

“Strike!”

“Ball.”

“Strike!”

Perfect!

“Foul!”

The guy who waited until two strikes started the engine according to plan.

‘I told you to take out about 10 before going to bat. We can expect about 6 or 7, right? Anyway, whoever trained me did a perfect job.’

Of course, Future Battery, who noticed our strategy, was trying to induce strikeouts or base hits by putting strikes in the zone as much as possible, but it didn’t seem easy to strike out a batter who had already given up on hitting.

Perfect!

This is already the 4th ball…

“[Good! You’re doing great! Williams!]”

When Williams, who was properly increasing his pitch count, praised me from the standby at-bat, he must have heard my voice and nodded with a smile.

‘You bastard. Since you did well this season, I’ll let you go next year without any fuss.’

“Ball.”

“Foul!”

“Ball”

“Foul!”

“Base on balls!”

And even picking the ball… I felt like I could now forget about the cocky guy from last year. Thanks to learning from me, there are no more work-related problems, so even if I go to Japan or the United States, I think they will provide me with basic bread.

‘Hmm, I guess I’ll forgive you if you learned this from me.’

With Williams walking, the situation is now 1 out and 1 base. When I entered the batter’s box and looked at Woo Joo’s expression, he seemed to be very tired, as if he was stiff.

‘The fastest ball in this inning was 154, so I had to match the timing…’

‘It’s a fastball.’

‘Okay.’

Fastball in the mid 150s. The universe also knew that we had increased the number of pitches, so we were able to get into the zone. And I was confident that I could hit a home run if that ball came into the zone. Besides, I was the only hitter on the team who could hit as I wanted, so I had no problem swinging for a home run here.

‘Should I aim? Or should I just get a haircut too?’

I’m in a situation where I’m a bit worried about whether to aim for a home run or cut… After a short period of deliberation, the method I chose was to observe the situation. There were still a lot of counts left anyway. I decided to watch the situation further and waited for the first ball of the universe.

“Ball.”

After a short period of time, the first ball in the universe was thrown. No matter how much we knew that we came in determined to see a lot of balls, it seemed like it was burdensome to hit the ball in the zone from the first pitch against me.

‘Wait, it’s a bit fast, isn’t it?’

However, it seems as if they have saved their strength up to now, and the ball has a different sense of speed than when it was seen from the standby batting box… When I looked up and checked the electronic display, the speed of the ball shown on the electronic display was 159 km/h, which was not much different from the velocity of the ball that Wooju usually throws.

‘What, were you saving it?’

The reason why the universe was throwing the ball with all its might against me was so clear that I didn’t need to explain it.

‘Okay, let’s stick together properly, right?’

And when I saw the first pitch of the universe, all thoughts of making a cut and tormenting the guy disappeared. To be honest, I remember him laughing during his first at-bat, and I was a little annoyed, but seeing him like this made me want to stick with him properly.

Honestly, I thought it would be more fun to hit a home run and crush the guy’s arrogant thoughts than to bother him by making cuts, so I decided to aim for the big one.

‘Good. I’ll make it easier for you with one home run. Mr. Rossby! What about the next ball?’

‘It’s a change-up.’

The second ball chosen by the universe is the change-up. It was a somewhat understandable choice because it was a breaking ball that put the least strain on the elbow.

‘John? Outside? Hmm… If it’s a one ball, I think I could take out one more…’

A ball that catches the count rather than a deciding ball. However, it was widely known that I was strong at changeups, so there was a high probability that I would get it out of the zone. Then my choice is to watch his balls…

“Ball.”

And as I expected, the second ball in the universe also hit outside the zone, bringing the count to two balls and no strikes.

‘This time it’s a fastball.’

‘Okay.’

The ball that Universe chose this time was a fastball. Honestly, if I had to choose the most difficult pitch among the pitches that Woosoo throws right now, it would be the fastball. The state of the universe was not normal now, and there was no guarantee of throwing with a certain velocity.

In other words, like in the first at-bat, a slow-paced fastball could come even if the guy didn’t intend it… Moreover, since it was a two-ball no-strike, the probability of entering the zone was very high.

However, there is a possibility that the bat may be late when a ball hits over 100 mph, and it is difficult to make a judgment by looking at the velocity… If I didn’t get the timing right and hit, I would feel so embarrassed that I wouldn’t be able to see my teammates properly.

‘Do you trust the universe and set your timing at around 100 mph? Or should I just watch and wait because there may be trouble?’

While he was thinking like that, Woo-ju started to twist his body, as if he was getting ready to throw.

‘Er, I fucking don’t know.’

In the end, my last choice was…,

‘Yeah, Woo Joo is not the kind of guy who would throw a fucking ball in a situation like this. He’s a kid blessed by the baseball gods who can throw 100 mph…’

… It was about believing in the universe. Although he was a bit of a jerk in front of women, he was quite trustworthy when he was standing on the mound.

‘Come!’

His ball flies at high speed toward the outside. It could be out of the zone, but a player who throws 100 mph on a two-ball, no-strike pitcher out of the zone? There was no such ‘Pitcher’ on earth.

And Jang Woo-joo is not a ‘Thrower’ but a ‘Pitcher’!

Ta – Aak!

The satisfying sound of hitting a ball that went deeper than expected comes through the bat. The feeling of perfectly resonating with the bat! I pulled the bat and followed through to the end as I usually practiced and played,

-Wow!!!!

The moment the batted ball flew, the fans, who sensed it was a home run, cheered loudly.

‘Oh… !’

And the batted ball flies over the fence in a beautiful arc. The batted ball, which was released with a beautiful hitting sound, went over the fence, past the outfield spectators who were standing up to catch the home run ball, and disappeared out of the stadium.

A batting ball that even I, who hit close to 200 home runs in 3 seasons, can’t help but look at with admiration.

‘Wow, the ball is so fast that it flies so fucking far.’

As I was amazed at the home run I hit, I turned my attention towards the universe that played a supporting role in my 75th home run.

‘Uh… ? Are you crying? Anyway, damn it, how can you get upset just because a guy hit a home run…’

Tears dripping from the corners of the universe’s eyes. It seemed so unfair to allow the 75th home run. Well, whether he feels unfair or not, a home run is a home run. I walked towards first base, savoring his tears.

2:0 with this. Woo Joo, who had a mental breakdown, could have conceded many runs, or he could have held his nerve and ended the inning without scoring any more points, but in any case, the atmosphere in the stadium was leaning towards us thanks to my one large home run.

“Nice!”

“Meng Hao! I love you!”

“Love is a bit…”

“Anyway, this amazing bastard!”

“What is Ji Maeng-ho’s over-the-park home run?!”

And the atmosphere of the stadium could be felt more clearly in the dugout.

“Meng Hao. First, the club employees ran to catch the home run ball…”

Moreover, I was able to prevent anyone from picking up my home run ball and demanding an exorbitant amount of money, so I killed two birds with one stone… !

So I turned my attention back to the ground, desperately praying that the club staff would catch the ball.

“… Huh?”

… And inside the field, Woo Joo was seen holding his elbow and talking to his coach with tears in his eyes.

“… “Didn’t you cry because you were unfair?”