Chapter 642 – Episode 629. Why Are You Here Now?

“Senior! Congratulations on your return!”

“… Yeah, it’s been a while.”

I greeted him warmly, but senior Suho still accepted the greeting with an expressionless expression. Cool look as usual.

‘Well, it seems like nothing has changed. I hope my skills are still the same.’

I was actually relieved to see such a cool appearance. Is it reassuring to look the same as before, considering the months you’ve had to endure since getting injured at WBC?

“Senior, are you feeling okay?”

“So I came up.”

“Wow, I feel reassured.”

To be honest, I thought we would have won 1 or 2 more if we had come back a little sooner, but it was very reassuring to see Suho senior come back now.

Our team’s current batting order is the upper batting line consisting of Jeong Hwi-cheol and Baek Jeong-jin, the cleanup consisting of senior Sangju, me, and Seongtae, and the lower order consisting of No. 6 Kim Sang-min, No. 7 Gyeong-ho Hyung or Hyun-seong, No. 8 Butch, and No. 9 tinkering third baseman. I was playing in the batting lineup.

To be honest, numbers 1 through 7 had some structure, but Butch didn’t improve his skills even if I taught him, and was hitting around .205, and third baseman was a fortunate position as long as he played defense. The current third baseman is Oh Hyun-seok, whose salary was around .233.

But now that senior Suho has returned, these worries are over. If senior Su-ho moved to the upper batting lineup and Hwicheol or Baek Jeong-jin moved to the lower batting lineup, the batting lineup would become more solid and the unstable third base could be compensated.

It would be perfect if only Jincheol came back and took Birch’s place.

For your information, Burch was currently thinking about changing players within the club. He’s a good listener, but he doesn’t have much skill.

“Uh, is your brother here?”

“Sangju, are you here? It’s a lot of work to make a claim. Anyway, because of Meng Hao…”

“Did you hear it from Jincheol?”

“I heard it.”

“… “If anyone hears it, they’ll think I kicked Jincheol out.”

I can’t believe senior Suho is having this misunderstanding… What did Jincheol talk about when he went down? Still, it was a refreshing feeling to see Sangju and Suho talking like this.

To be honest, I couldn’t really feel it because the hitters were always in front of me since my debut, but it was very precious to have senior Suho, who boasts the best on-base percentage in the league, and senior Sangju, who boasts the best contact ability in the league, preparing a meal in front of me.

“But it looks like you’ve bulked up a bit?”

“Okay? Is it because I can’t practice defense? He worked out as usual, but he must have gained some weight.”

“… Yes?”

“Huh? “Why are you suddenly surprised?”

“Senior, can’t you defend?”

… Is this byeonsun?

“Hey, I’m 36 too. Now is the time to tighten up the third base defense. … And it also puts a strain on my thighs.”

“Well, if your hamstring is injured, it will continue to be difficult. “It was difficult for him to defend after he injured his hamstring.”

Senior Suho was a player who showed good defense at third base even on the national team, and was a player who won the Golden Glove at third base for the past three years. A person like that can’t even see third base…

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. Unlike the outfield, where you can only see a few balls, the infield has a lot of strong hits and requires a lot of agility. It’s inevitable that things get harder as you get older… On top of that, I was injured, so if I had tried to build a body that could play defense and come up, it would have taken more time.

“… Then who will watch our third base?”

But the problem is that third base is currently empty. It is said that Oh Hyun-seok, who is a good guy, is doing his best on defense, but Su-ho senior’s place is needed for offense. He couldn’t use a better as senior as Suho as a pinch hitter, and the problem of leaving Burch out was that he had the reputation of being a foreigner.

… Well, if I had to remove it, I would have to remove the birch.

“The director will take care of that. But don’t worry, you’ll be able to defend next year when you get back in shape. “It’s Meng Hao.”

“… “I won’t be here next year?”

“…”

“… Anyway, since Suho is here too, let’s train hard today. No, but who are the kids who haven’t come yet even though I came? Hey! “Please call me.”

… It’s coming quickly, but I’m nervous about my juniors. I shouldn’t be that kind of senior. Anyway, there is no good senior like me.

I quickly moved to my seat before a spark could fly, and as time passed, the training proceeded in a tense atmosphere with Sangju senior’s displeased command. The batting training, which started after a light warm-up, ended, and as Suho senior said, it was an atmosphere where only batting training was performed, not defensive training.

“Then how can Suho be at least batting downstairs while the kids are catching the ball?”

“I will.”

That’s how Fungo started when senior Suho disappeared along with the assistant batting coach.

“Then, Sangmin, go to third base. “Third base, I’ve been practicing occasionally, so I can see it well, right?”

“Yes!”

Before training starts, who will watch third base now? I had a question, and the director’s answer to that question was none other than Kim Sang-min.

‘Are you sure you’re okay? Because Sangmin played third base in the opening game.’

Of course, he led the team through a downturn by putting on a horror show, but the Kim Sang-min now is a completely different person from the Kim Sang-min back then. At the time, he was a player who never knew when he would move to the second team, and now he was a good first team starter to the point where even I chose Kim Sang-min over Birch.

Kim Sang-min, who was at peace with himself at that time when he played unnaturally and wanted to show something more, saying that a position makes a person, is just like a different person.

“Good night! Sangmin. One more!”

Kim Sang-min’s defensive fungo was successful, as if that mindset was evident in training. Looking at his defensive form, you can see why he was selected as the third baseman for the opening game.

‘Well, third base is more spacious than first base, which is full of mercenaries and monsters.’

“Then I’ll call today’s lineup.”

The lineup announced after training and a few tens of minutes before the game,

“No. 1, nominated Kim Su-ho. No. 2 Right Baek Jeong-jin, No. 3 First Ki Ki-joo, No. 4 Second Ji Maeng-ho, No. 5 Short Yoon Seong-tae, No. 6 Third Kim Sang-min, No. 7 Catcher Kim Hyun-seong, No. 8 Left Butch, No. 9 Center Jeong Hwi-cheol.”

It was a lineup in which Hwicheol, who had been playing as number 1, went to number 9 and senior Suho came in as number 1.

‘Phew, I’m still not good at defense, but as my senior said, I think my batting is good. Well, it may have been posted. Well, this isn’t that bad, right?’

It was a little unsettling to see Sangju senior, whose original position was left fielder, play first base, but it wasn’t that strange because Sangju senior also had a history of occasionally receiving balls at first base during defensive training.

‘Is it possible that senior Sangju can’t see first base? Not anywhere else, just 1 rune. He is in an infield position where he only has to catch the ball, so he won’t make a mistake.’

Of course, you have to use your brain a bit, but it wouldn’t be that difficult if you have a BQ of a senior resident’s level.

“Everyone got it, right? And Sangju, please stay on first base until Jincheol comes.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Senior Sangju seemed confident in his answer.

“Senior, now that I’m a senior, the batting line is strong, really. “I missed you.”

“… “Thank you, even if it’s just empty words.”

“It’s not a joke, it’s really salty. Really, please make it harder for me to get on base.”

“Okay, let’s try.”

If Williams were here, it would have been fun to hit it 4 times…

‘… Did you really think you should have given me another year? Tsk, I heard you’re playing well in Japan, but I heard you got life tuition very cheaply.’

I was a little sad about Williams leaving for Japan, but bygones are bygones. Even if there were just the two of us, Suho and Sangju, there was enough food on the table.

And the fact that my thoughts were not wrong

Perfect!

-Kim Su-ho! Kim Soo-ho! Kim Soo-ho!

It was proven that senior Suho, the lead hitter in the bottom of the first inning, hit a hit and got on base.

“Nice! Okay, let’s go first today too!”

“Jeongjin! Let’s show it!”

“Out!”

Although Baek Jeong-jin, the next batter, was unfortunately out, the situation was one out and one base on base.

“Hyung Jeongjin, how do you think that kid’s ball is today?”

“It doesn’t seem much different from the last time we met, but your slider is a little off today.”

“Okay, OK.”

Baek Jeong-jin, who returned to the dugout, checked the information about today’s starting pitcher, Yang Han-byeol, and went to bat. As Baek Jeong-jin said, Yang Han-byeol’s slider looked quite sharp when he was at bat.

Perfect!

However, the batter currently at bat is Ki Ki-ju, who was evaluated as having the best contact ability in the country!

-Wow!!!

– Weather warning! Weather warning! Weather warning!

Senior Sangju’s exquisite bat control created a situation with one out and first and third base.

‘… Do you want to filter it out?’

He was a little worried because there was one empty base, but since it was still one inning and one out, he didn’t seem to have any intention of skipping the future battery.

“Strike!”

If you look at the count from the first pitch to the outside fastball.

“The first pitch is good.”

“Don’t praise me.”

“Hey, you say you like a good ball, why are you angry? “Did you bet on losing?”

“… “What kind of bullshit is this?”

“No. But why are you angry? I really doubt it. You know how to catch those manipulators, right? “Sir, I will watch over you.”

“… “No!”

Following the battery’s thoughts, I also slightly provoked the gunner.

‘I scratched this much, I wish I could put a ball in the body.’

… To get the ball I want.

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

But the world was not easy either. When I debuted, I would verbally scratch the catcher like this and immediately get an inside ball, but Future Battery kept asking for an outside ball as if he had no intention of giving me an inside ball, and before I knew it, the ball count became two balls, one strike.

‘You probably want to bet on the game by now…’

… Just the count when the battery thinks it wants to strike.

‘I said the slider was good today, so I think I’ll throw a slider…’

Before coming out of the dugout, based on the information I heard from Baek Jeong-jin, I prepared to hit, aiming for the outside slider this time.

And the guy’s ball was thrown…

‘… Write it!’

However, contrary to my expectations, the ball came straight and gradually fell down. The ball he chose was a changeup.

Perfect!

At a timing that was far from what I had imagined, I forcefully slowed down the bat and kicked the guy’s ball away with force. The direction of the batted ball is towards the first baseman!

‘Please! Don’t get caught!’

As I ran to first base, praying earnestly, the ball passed the first baseman’s height and landed near the foul line. … Did you come in?

‘Mr. Rossby!’

‘Run!’

When the ball landed in a slightly ambiguous position, we called Mr. Rossby, and Mr. Rossby’s judgment was fair!

-Wow!!!

Senior Sangju, who was in the middle between first and second base, seemed to have made the same decision at the same time and quickly circled the bases, and I also ran while looking behind him.

‘Third base!’

And thanks to Mr. Rossby’s words to aim for third base, we reached third base!

“Three leaves!”

“Oh, shit!”

As expected, Mr. Rossby’s judgment was correct, and I was able to land on third base. 2 points from the 1st inning. Moreover, our starter today was Bellingham, synonymous with solidity, so even if it was only 2 points, this level of scoring support was meaningful.

‘And since it’s 1 out and 3rd base…’

Perfect!

“Meng Hao! Run!”

“Safe!”

In addition, Seongtae took advantage of his sacrifice fly to add 1 point!

‘Good. This is our team, this is the AT Thunders!’

“Meng Hao, it was good.”

“Wow, this is all thanks to my senior getting on base as the leadoff hitter and shaking things up.”

“I mean…”

A batting lineup that feels like a return to last year, and a scoring route similar to last year!

With senior Suho joining, the team finally seemed to be functioning properly.