Chapter 634 – Episode 621. Not Happy to See You, Friend! (2)

[Three batters struck out in a row! Kim Won-ho ends the first inning with perfect pitching.]

[Hey, it’s Kim Won-ho, of course. It’s pitching like Kim Won-ho’s, isn’t it?]

‘How is it? ‘Do you still think you can beat a dog?’

Wonho, who had struck out three batters in a row and was coming down from the mound, had this thought as he looked at Maengho at bat, but unfortunately, Maengho turned around and was walking to the dugout, so he could not confirm his reaction.

‘Well, it will happen soon anyway.’

However, the disappointment was short-lived, and Wonho’s body began to be filled with anticipation, just like before the game started. With the expectation of being able to show his merits to his close friend.

And that anticipation was mixed with a certain amount of confidence.
The confidence that his own merits work.

Moreover, Wonho’s confidence was not groundless. Wonho’s performance was such that it is safe to say that he is currently the best pitcher in the KBA league.

Wonho’s record this season is…

12G 7W 1L 1.51ERA 83.2IP 99SO

(G/game, W/win, L/loss, ERA/ERA, IP/innings, SO/strikeouts.)

… Two months after opening, he was emerging as a strong Golden Glove candidate. Wonho, who gained confidence in himself by making a save against the world’s strongest batting team, the United States, in the WBC finals, was really confident this year.

‘Wait, Meng Hao. Let’s stick together properly.’

Did heaven listen to Wonho’s thoughts?

[… Jang Yoon ends the inning with a three-way throw! AT Thunders also ends the first inning with no runs.]

The opportunity came sooner than expected.

‘… Give me some time to rest.’

It came sooner than he expected, but since it was the pitcher’s job to throw his own ball even in such a situation, Wonho headed to the mound without much complaint. As he headed to the mound, his heart was pounding harder than usual, but Wonho looked into Maengho’s eyes, enjoying the heartbeat.

‘It’s still bloody…’

Is it because I heard a false rumor that Meng Ho called the players and attacked them, and Choi Jin-cheol, who resisted, was hit and was sent down to the second team? The look in his eyes seemed even bloodier than usual, but Wonho gathered his composure and looked at the catcher’s fingers. The sign sent by the catcher is a two-seamer that is placed toward the body.

Wonho, who thought it was a perfect ball to check the liver, nodded at the sign.

‘Whoa…, Phew… Let’s go.’

Wonho threw out the first pitch, taking a few deep breaths to erase any distracting thoughts.

“Ball.”

[Cheek. The result was 153 km/h.]

[Looking at the trajectory just now, it looks like a two-seam, but it hit deep inside the body well, right? Ji Maeng-ho also endured well.]

Wonho’s first pitch was a ball that went deep into the body. Meng Hao nodded at that ball.

‘This is not what you expected, right? Well, I didn’t plan on catching the first pitch either.’

The ball was thrown anyway to test the liver. Wonho also calmly prepared for the next ball because he had no intention of getting a strike or an out with this ball.

‘This time, let’s take it to the outside with a two-seamer.’

‘Outside? Okay, OK.’

‘I want to see what kind of ball you’re aiming for, so go all the way outside.’

The second ball the catcher requested was a two-seamer that went completely outside. Although the ball count would be unfavorable, it was not easy to win against Meng Ho at a favorable count, so Wonho nodded again this time.

And after a brief deep breath, the second ball was thrown.

‘Ah… !’

Contrary to the catcher’s request to throw it completely to the outside, Wonho’s ball rolled further inward and headed into the zone. The ball is getting closer and closer to the zone… And Meng Hao’s bat rushes towards the ball.

Perfect!

However, the sound was not that clear.

‘Please, please!’

Although it is not as good as Jamsil, it is Gocheok, a pitcher-friendly stadium, so Wonho prays to the sky and watches his batted ball. And just in front of the warning track, Meng Hao’s batted ball began to sink.

“Out!”

‘Phew… I got lucky. I was dragged in, but I lived near the borderline.’

It was a missed throw that went against the catcher’s request, but the ball that got caught near the borderline actually led to a hit. If he had gone a little further inside, it would not have been surprising if he had hit a home run, so Wonho congratulated himself and looked at Maengho, saying he was lucky.

“Oh, fuck!”

‘Oh my, I’m so angry. But what can I do, Meng Hao? Luck is also a skill. ‘My skills were better.’

When I saw Meng Hao returning to the dugout, breaking the bat in half because he was angry, a little laughter escaped me, and then our eyes met.

‘… ‘What are you looking at?’

‘Bye. God.’

The guy who asked, ‘What are you looking at?’ With his mouth, said that he had an interview the day before, and when I told him the winner’s profanity, it seemed like the old congestion was going away. Since he won this match, it was quite refreshing to see Maengho go into the dugout without saying anything.

‘Whoa, let’s focus again.’

However, the joy of victory was also a moment to refocus. Yoon Seong-tae, who hit 20 home runs last year and won the shortstop Golden Glove award, was not an opponent to be taken lightly, and Kim Sang-min, who has been playing first base since Choi Jin-cheol left, was also recording quite good results these days.

Of course, it was true that AT’s batting line went down one weight class compared to last year, but even so, it was a batting line that could be considered top-tier in the league, so we couldn’t let go of tension.

‘Wow, I think they said they were in the bottom tier just a month ago, but does that mean the batting lineup is going to move up? … Or is this really because Meng Hao hit him? Oh, I guess so. He also said that as a joke.’

For a moment, he was curious about AT’s batting lineup, which had risen from a disorganized batting lineup to the top of the league in just one month. Then, Seongtae Yoon came to the plate, and Wonho erased all his thoughts and began to focus on winning against the batter.

[Swing strikeout! Kim Won-ho continues his streak of hitting five batters in a row! … Kim Sang-min’s batted ball! It flies high! High! Far! But the left fielder catches it, and it’s three out! Kim Won-ho finishing the inning!]

And the result is a tripartite failure. In this way, the match between the two friends was proceeding as a pitcher’s battle, as it had always been.

*

‘Tsk, I think I threw it as expected, but that doesn’t get me on base. Well, Wonho’s ball is hard to hit.’

Before marking the final out count of the inning, I signaled to Sangmin Kim that it was a splitter, and the ball thrown to Sangmin Kim was a splitter as I expected. The result was a fly out to left field. However, I never felt like blaming Kim Sang-min for not hitting Wonho’s ball.

Because Wonho’s ball today was that powerful. No, if you look at his performance, he’s been throwing balls like that all season.

Wonho, who felt like he had taken a step-up since last year, was still showing his best performance this season. To be honest, I had some thoughts that he might be a bitch, but when I met him in person, I found out for sure.

Wonho throws the ball that deserves such results.

When we were rehabbing together, Wonho and I jokingly talked about advancing to the major leagues together, and today’s pitch is so different from the pitchers we met in international competitions that the joke could become a reality. It was the kind of ball that didn’t work.

And, that fact wasn’t that surprising.

Because Wonho was originally a talented guy. Major League scouts were probably thinking the same thing as me while looking at Wonho.

‘… Right, Mr. Rossby?’

‘Huh?’

‘What do you think, Mr. Rossby? Wonho, do you think he’ll succeed in the big leagues?’

‘… Well, I guess that guy can make it through the rotation.’

Because Mr. Rossby, a racist, went so far as to say this. Although he may be racist, he doesn’t lie in baseball, so this much was almost certain.

When I was rehabilitating with Wonho, he would jokingly ask me to go to the major leagues with him, and I was very happy that both he and I had the skills to go to the major leagues.

… If only it weren’t now.

‘Fuck, why is it happening at a time like this? I wouldn’t have known it when I was completely fucked, but now is a bad time.’

If we had met when the team was in the bottom tier, we would have been purely happy because we could have had an interesting match, but unfortunately, we were not happy to see Wonho showing such skills now.

Of course, it wasn’t because he outed me and cursed at me. Because pranks like that were part of everyday life for us. The reason is the team’s circumstances.

Our team was now at a crossroads whether we would make it to the fall baseball qualifiers.

Looking at our team’s schedule, excluding the match against NV in the middle, we were meeting 1st to 5th place in a row, and all the teams we met were competing teams for fall baseball, so if we were to be defeated here, fall baseball would have virtually ended.

Therefore, the first step was important to create a winning atmosphere. The current series record against Shilla Triggers is 1 win, 1 loss. We wanted to lift the mood by winning today’s game, but looking at Wonho’s condition today, it didn’t seem like we would lose easily.

Moreover, the problem was that today’s impact could affect the next game.

Because it was common in the baseball world for the batting lineup to be silent for 2–3 games after meeting the opposing team’s ace. It was not uncommon for batters to fall into a slump after trying to hit a ball that was not their hitting timing, such as a fast ball in the mid-150s, and their hitting timing was disturbed.

‘Tsk, if that’s going to happen, I should at least take victory…’

“Out!”

Although Jang Yoon, who appeared as a starter, was pitching well, he was 36 years old. He was at an age where it was not surprising if his physical strength declined at any time. The best fatigue relief for pitchers is also to help them score.

The tight pitching battle was enough to wear down the pitcher’s physical and mental strength, and scoring support was needed to prevent it.

“Out!”

“Strike! Out!”

“I’m in a good mood today too, right? Just give me 2 points. “I will try my best to stop it.”

Jang Yoon also knew this, so he looked at me while smiling and telling a serious joke. There is only one thing I can say to the starting pitcher who is desperately hoping for scoring support.

“Sir, please wait a moment. “I will do it for you.”

And Jang Yoon smiled as if he had been waiting for the answer.