Chapter 649 – Episode 636. Hot Summer. (1)
-Expected to be the worst heat wave ever?
… A rainy season was expected across the country, but as the rainy season front rose, it was predicted that there would be no more rainy season. Meanwhile, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration’s prediction, this year will be the worst heat wave on record, surpassing 2018…
┗ㅉㅉ,,,,OOO This is what the country looks like when a bastard like him takes powerㅡ
┗Hey, you bad guys, are you killing farmers again?
┗Why… They… Came… To Korea… To… Play… And turned on the air conditioner… And… It looks like a heat wave…
┗┗It’s a planned… Crime… This is why… They… Should be banned from entering the country…
┗Instead of articles like this, they are publishing articles like this to cover up issues related to corruption and corruption.
┗┗What does heat wave love have to do with corruption? I really don’t know
┗┗Again, do you really not know? Right now, the OOO government is destroying the country by producing greenhouse gases underground.
Is it ┗┗ㅂㅅ? Haha,
┗It’s 36 won tomorrow, and I’m going to die.
*
‘Oh, it’s fucking hot.’
Was Gwangju originally such a hot city?
It’s been about 15 days since July began, and the weather was not good as the rain that was supposed to fall did not fall, and the sweltering heat wave continued.
No, does it make sense that it never rains except for the first day?
It made no sense to drive the 4 Series without stopping in this hot summer.
To be honest, it rained a lot during the summer, so there were rest days between games, so I had a lot of time to recover from my fatigue. But this summer was different. The sunlight felt like it was piercing my skin with a needle, and even though it wasn’t raining, the humidity was so high that I felt like I was getting steamed by an air fryer while I was exercising.
Moreover, playing the game seemed to require twice as much stamina as usual. Until now, in the summer, Mr. Rossby had taught me the types of pitches, so all I had to do was hit the ball without much worry, but since Mr. Rossby was not there, I had to concentrate on each pitch, and as such situations piled up, no matter how I was, I was bound to get tired.
Since I am in this state, other players are also in this state. Not only our team but also other team players were in poor condition.
‘But after today, it’s time for a break.’
The good news is that after today’s game, it will be time for a break. Because both sides were in strange condition, our winning percentage was maintained at around .500, and at least we were able to get a sweep against Silla at the air-conditioned Gocheok Dome, so today, before the end of the first half of the season, our ranking was in 4th place.
But I couldn’t rest assured. The gap with 3rd place Shilla was quite large by 2 games, and the gap with 5th place Charlotte and 6th place Mirae was small by 0.5 and 1 game, respectively. If we lost today’s game, we would immediately be tied with Mirae, who is in 6th place.
“Now. You know that if you work today, you can rest tomorrow, right? There are some All-Star players, but we still have 4–5 days off, so let’s give it our all today and go up. Okay? It’s the last day of the first half, so it’d be nice to win, right? Isn’t it? Even when I rest, I have to win and rest, so I don’t feel bad. Then let’s play well today!”
The coach knows that too, so he encourages the players. Winning was always a good feeling, but as the coach said, if we won during a break like this, we could maintain that feeling for about 4 to 5 days, so the players’ response was also good.
“Yes.”
“I understand!”
‘Okay, let’s win cleanly today and go to Seoul.’
*
[Hello. A match between the AT Thunders and the Mirae Buffaloes and the Mirae Buffaloes and the AT Thunders at Mirae Champions Field in Gwangju. As it is the last game of the first half of the year, a fierce fight is expected, right? Moreover, the gap between the two teams is only one game. The team that wins this game can finish the first half of the season with the fall baseball ticket.]
[You’re right. So, a very interesting match is expected, right?]
[You’re right. Today’s game is expected to be an interesting match. Commissioner. Please explain.]
[Today’s AT’s starting pitcher is Lim Jun-hoo, whose stock is rising these days, and the future Buffaloes’ starting pitcher is Little, who has taken over the position Trey left and is playing the role of ace this season.]
[The pitching of these two players is quite good these days, right? Isn’t it?]
[You’re right. Lim Jun-hoo is 3-1, allowing only 7 runs in 29.1 innings in the last 5 games, while Little is undefeated with 3 wins, allowing only 6 runs in 31.2 innings in the last 5 games. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of match these two hot players will have these days.]
[Yes. I hope that the pitching battle will be as hot as the hot weather. Then the game begins. First, let me call out the AT Thunders lineup. Type 1… …, AT Thunders attack in the top of the first inning. The lead hitter is No. 1 hitter Kim Su-ho.]
*
Perfect!
Senior Suho’s batted ball rolls in the infield and the shortstop catches the ball. And he throws to first base.
‘Sseu-eup, Senior Suho’s patta is also a bit slow.’
Even senior Suho, who is playing as a designated hitter these days, could see his bat speed slowing down, so it was clear that the players were not in good condition. Even after that, Baek Jeong-jin, who has a fairly fast bat speed, and Gyeong Gi-ju, whose batting skills are among the top in the country, were unable to use their strength and returned to the bench.
“Wow, I’m really going to die like this.”
“Hold on a moment. “After today’s game, I’ll have a few days off.”
“Huh, I have to defend in that scorching sun again.”
The facial expressions of the fielders going out to the ground for defense looked like slaves being dragged.
‘Hmm… This is an expression I’ve seen a lot of times. ‘Hehe.’
‘… Mr. Rossby. Until there.’
Hehe. Your expression is the same.’
It was inevitable that I had similar facial expressions to other beasts. Because it was hard for me too. Even though I was only standing at bat, I felt like I was starving to death.
‘No, but weren’t there any slaves when Mr. Rossby lived?’
‘Huh? Didn’t I even say a word about being a slave? Don’t you just see that kind of difficult expression everywhere? ‘You fucking racecist bastard.’
Damn it, a curveball!
“Hey, Ji Maeng-ho! What are you doing?!”
“… Yes “I’ll go!”
I felt like the beasts that went out first would kill me if I waited any longer, so I quickly ran to my position. The moment I left the dugout, I felt like I was going to lose my mind because of the heat rushing in, but I tried to endure it at the end of the first inning.
Fortunately, as if the opponent was having a hard time, Junhu ended the inning with a three-way strike in the bottom of the first inning.
“Meng Hao! “Try a refreshing blow!”
“Yes!”
And then came the beginning of the second inning.
“How are you?”
I went in with a cheerful greeting, but perhaps because it was a hot day, there was no one to accept me.
‘It’s tough. Tsk. No, let’s not think like this, focus.’
The pitcher I have to deal with is Lucaine Little, who is acting as the team’s ace on behalf of Woo Joo, who was hit hard by the aftermath of the WBC. From what I remember when I faced him in the past, he wasn’t a very difficult opponent, except that it was difficult to distinguish between four-seam and two-seam.
“Ball.”
‘Sseu-eup, 153 km/h… There is some restraint.’
The first pitch is a two-seamer that goes deep into the body. Seeing as he threw the ball confidently from the first pitch, it seemed like he wanted to end the inning quickly.
‘The first inning ended with 8 balls, right? Okay, if you want, I’ll give you a quick fight too.’
Win quickly? I also liked it. Because it was a hot day, it was natural for the pitchers to have low stamina, and they obviously wanted to end the inning as quickly as possible.
‘Then aim for the fastball type…’
So get ready to swing and wait for the second ball. Each second passed like a minute, and finally he was ready to throw the ball.
‘No, what to throw is already decided, so why worry about so long?’
After a long period of hard work, his feet hit the ground and his hands swung like a whip.
‘Jig umm… ?’
However, contrary to my expectations, the ball flew out with the feeling of floating.
‘Amy!’
I tried to stop the bat, but I had already released the bat at the timing of his fastball. The guy’s ball was falling.
Perfect!
A batted ball hit at wrong timing floats high and weak.
‘Ah! Fuck!’
I can’t believe I missed this curve. It was clear that my judgment was clouded, perhaps because it was so hot.
It was a mistake I wouldn’t have made under normal circumstances, but I made this mistake because I wanted to quickly decide the game and go into the dugout.
‘Under… Let’s really focus from the next at-bat.’
*
[Although he put one batter on base, Little ended the inning safely by striking out Hyunseong Kim.]
[It was really important to catch Ji Maeng-ho, the lead hitter, right? When you get on base with no outs, you need to be careful because the most difficult hitter is Ji Maeng-ho, but Little caught Ji Maeng-ho, resulting in a good result.]
[Then the game moves to the bottom of the second inning and the Future Buffaloes attack. … Strike out after walk! Lim Jun-hoo ends the second inning with KKK.]
[It looks like the hitters are not in normal condition due to the hot weather, right? I think today’s game will depend on which pitcher has managed his stamina better.]