Chapter 652 – Episode 639. Is This a Slump?
[… Game over! The AT Thunders won the first game of the second half as Choi Jin-cheol returned with 3 RBIs. … Now, let’s take a look at Choi Jin-cheol’s interview. Hello! Choi Jin-cheol! Long time no see, right?]
“Yes, it’s been a while. Haha.”
[First of all, please tell us your thoughts on winning today’s game.]
“Ah… First, I am glad that we were able to win the first game of the second half of the season, and I would like to thank the fans who have waited for a long time.”
[Then, in today’s game… … Now, please give me one last word.]
“The captain has been underperforming and has not been able to help the team as he has been sent down to the second team, but I will work hard during the remaining second half of the season and aim to win the championship. Thank you!”
[Yes, so far we have met Choi Jin-cheol, the decorated player of today’s game. Caster so far…]
*
-AT Thunders winning series in one season!
-Hyunseong Mad Cats defeats AT Thunders to secure a winning series!
-AT Thunders! Defeat JT with 3 consecutive wins!
-With the first heavy rain in a long time, all professional baseball games on July 31 are canceled.
-AT Thunders! Shared 1 win and 1 loss with Hancheol.
-Kim Won-ho, who won the KBA League MVP in July.
… Kim Won-ho, who recorded 4 wins and an ERA of 1.16, won the KBA League MVP award in July… He recorded a voting score that was only 3% different from 2nd place Ji Maeng-ho (43%)…
…
-Baseball players laugh at the sudden typhoon forecast.
… This summer is said to be the hottest on record. Professional baseball players who could not get a proper rest smiled brightly at the news of the typhoon. …
-KBA League Leaderboard on August 17th.
1st Place Hwasan Falcons 65 wins, 43 losses, 2 draws, 0.602 0
2nd place Hyunseong Mad Cats 59 wins, 49 losses, 1 draw, 0.546 6
3rd place Shilla Triggers 60 wins, 51 losses, 1 draw, 0.541 6.5
4th place AT Thunders 58 wins, 51 losses, 2 draws, 0.532 7.5
5th place Charlotte Blue Mariners 56 wins, 51 losses, 3 draws, 0.523 8.5
6th place Future Buffaloes 55 wins, 52 losses, 2 draws 0.514 9.5
7th place UG Overlords 50 wins, 60 losses, 2 draws, 0.455 16
8th place JT Golden Eyes 48 wins, 61 losses, 1 draw, 0.440 17.5
9th place NV Rex 47 wins, 63 losses, 1 draw, 0.427 19
10th place Hancheol Grizzlies 46 wins, 63 losses, 1 draw, 0.422 19.5
-Professional baseball, 2-game series begins.
… Starting on August 18th, the KBA League will begin a two-game series. The traditional method of playing 3 games, moving after 2 games, and then moving again after 2 games, seems to be a cut that will increase the physical burden as the number of moves increases once more. … The game gap between the 6th-place Mirae Buffaloes and the 7th-place UG Overlords is 6.5 games, meaning that the teams in the fall baseball qualifiers are almost confirmed, and the 2nd-place team Hyunsung and the 6th-place Mirae Buffaloes have narrowed the gap to within 1 game per ranking. Starting with the two-game series, attention is being paid to which team will be able to advance to the fall baseball season.
*
It was truly fortunate that senior Jincheol joined. There was already a lot of physical strain, but with senior Jin-cheol coming, the veteran players were able to take a break as they rotated.
In addition, the batting lineup became stronger, and when senior Jin-cheol came into the lineup to replace Birch, who was still struggling despite continued coaching, the offense became more active. In the past, he was a batsman aiming for a lottery-like hit, but these days, he seems to be acting as a lubricant for the batting lineup.
Senior Jin-cheol, who has maintained a batting average around .300 since his return, has been a great help. There has been only one home run in over 20 games since his return.
To be honest, the style I liked was the old style, but I was getting almost two walks per game, so the current style wasn’t that bad. His OPS may be lowered, but he’s going to retire soon anyway, so he doesn’t seem to care about that.
‘Well, anyway, all I have to do is get into the groove. Mr. Rossby!’
‘It’s a curve.’
‘Okay!’
“Safe!”
I trusted senior Jincheol and landed on second base again. As soon as I arrived at second base, I sent an autograph to senior Jincheol.
Perfect!
“Out!”
‘Oh my…’
But this time, unluckily, the out count increases as he goes directly in front of the fielder. And so the inning ends.
“Under… I’m sorry, Meng Hao.”
It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I told Jincheol that it was okay because Jincheol called me home twice out of the three times I went out.
“I have to hit a little better, so you don’t walk…” . “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, it’s really okay.”
But Jincheol seemed to be upset that I walked. However, because my walking wasn’t a matter of the batter behind me hitting well, I felt like he was making fun of me by saying this.
There is only one reason why I walk. It was because there was no slump in the eyes and feet.
In fact, I haven’t been hitting the ball well with the bat these days, probably due to a slump due to low stamina due to the hot weather that started in July.
I had a little rest due to the sudden typhoon, but swinging the bat while concentrating on each at-bat drained a lot of my stamina, and since I was an indispensable person in a situation where the team was competing for rankings, I was not able to get enough rest, so it was probably because I was not getting enough rest. Recovery was not going well.
Fortunately, the pitchers were basically throwing the ball with the intention of avoiding me, so it wasn’t that difficult to walk.
I asked Mr. Rossby for advice on this matter, and Mr. Rossby’s answer was the same as I thought, concluding that my stamina was low, and my swing speed was slow, so all I could do was play snow baseball and wait for summer to end quickly. .
‘A bastard like that has sex on a regular basis. Tsk tsk.’
‘No, Mr. Rossby knows! If you don’t do it, you won’t be able to concentrate!’
To be honest, I could have recovered my stamina better if I stopped having sex, but I couldn’t because I couldn’t concentrate on the game. It was already part of my routine, so it wasn’t easy to change it.
‘Ha, but it’s a two-game series now, so it’s a problem. I don’t have time to have sex, and I’m probably exhausted from all the traveling…’
There were a lot of canceled games scheduled from mid-September, so it was easy, but it didn’t concern me because the Asian Games were scheduled by then. In other words, we have to endure in this condition for the remaining month or so.
‘I hope the cool fall comes soon…’
Well, even if I lamented to myself like this, nothing would change, so I erased all unnecessary thoughts and focused on the game again.
As time passed, the fourth at-bat came in the top of the 7th inning, 4-4, with no outs on first base.
The pitcher is Shin Jeong-hoon, a bullpen pitcher. He was a guy like me who was selected in the first round by Charlotte in the 2023 draft. However, not everyone who is selected in the first round can play in the first team, so he spent several years honing his skills in the second team, and only now, in his fourth year, has he been able to secure a position in the bullpen.
Still, being able to come up in this situation means that you have some skills.
‘Hmm… What did you say during the meeting? You said the style is to target the inside with a two-seam and the outside with a sweeper, right? I tend to play a lot of sweeper games against right-handed hitters… Last time we met, the angle was a bit nice. Let’s take a look at the situation first.’
Without letting my guard down, I went to bat while thinking about his main weapons.
“Ball.”
And the first pitch he threw was a two-seamer that was thrown close to the body. It was already hot and a ball that hit my nerves was annoying, but I tried my best to endure it. If I made a show of something like this, there was a chance that they would keep throwing things at me and get on my nerves.
If that were the case, I would walk and get to first and second base with no outs, but that wasn’t what I was aiming for right now.
Charlotte is a team we are likely to meet in fall baseball. Here, I had to be a bit discouraged against Charlotte’s key bullpen to be comfortable in fall baseball, so the next time we met, I wanted to make them pee out of fear.
To do that, all we need now is one perfect home run.
“Strike!”
“Ball.”
He continues to endure the ambiguous ball and waits for his timing. In such a situation, the ball he saves until the end is a sweeper. It was the kind of ball that put a 4-year-old in Charlotte’s winning team, so I can clearly read Battery’s desire to use that ball as the deciding ball.
‘Well, the sweeper doesn’t match my swing, but…’
Anyway, his sweeper is around 130. He was a side arm, so the angle was big, but he wasn’t fast, so I wasn’t scared. Although the swing speed dropped slightly, it wasn’t that difficult to pass with this much velocity.
And the fourth ball. A strange sense of incongruity, different from what I’ve been used to throwing balls until now, catches my eye. The pitches I have seen so far are two-seam and four-seam.
There was an occasional curveball in his repertoire, but since he wasn’t going to throw a curveball against me, I decided in 0.1 seconds that this ball was definitely a sweeper and remembered his trajectory.
‘… ‘It’s coming!’
And while thinking about the trajectory, the bat he swung makes contact with his ball. The position of the bat is slightly above the sweet spot. However, I continued to maintain my strength and pushed the guy’s ball straight.
Perfect!
The ball flies with a slightly dull sound because it does not hit the sweet spot. The ball, which flew slower than the usual hitting speed, headed for the high wall of Sajik,
-Wow!!!
That was enough.
‘Wow, the power hasn’t died yet.’
As long as you hit it like this, it goes well… I was a little worried these days because my swing speed was slow, and my batting average was dropping, but I thought I wouldn’t have to worry anymore when the weather gets cooler.
‘By the way…’
As I glanced at his expression without worrying, I saw that he was frustrated at the fact that the first member of Hoesim had pushed over the fence.
‘Well, at this rate, I don’t have to worry even if we meet in the fall.’