Chapter 688 – Episode 675. A Battle of Wits Between Two Coaches With Strong Pride. (2)

[Game over! Hwasan Falcons defeat AT Thunders 5:2 and balance the Korean Series!]

‘Okay, this is a proper game.’

Game 2 of the Korean Series was a matchup between Tinier and Diaz. Moon Ki-taek looked satisfied that Tinie achieved victory by controlling the batting lineup as he had planned.

If I were to pick the biggest factor in today’s victory, it would definitely be Tinie’s good pitching. Tinier dominated the AT Thunders’ batting lineup by pitching well in 8 innings, allowing 2 runs.

And it all started in the top of the first inning when Ji Maeng-ho, who appeared as the leadoff hitter, was caught out.

‘As expected, my plan is perfect.’

Ji Maeng-ho’s performance today was 1 hit, 0 hits, and 3 walks. As he completely blocked Ji Maeng-ho according to his plan, AT Thunders’ batting lineup collapsed without much strength. Victory through perfect strategy.

‘The problem starts now.’

But the real worry started now. Seonghyun and Tinie are among the best pitchers in the league. Seonghyun was a pitcher who could outsmart even major-leaguers in terms of game management, and Tinie was a pitcher who had the ability to catch batters in the back row even if he gave up a lot of walks.

However, Chae Jae-hyun and Tyler, who will now be starting, were not of that level.

‘This is why I should have scheduled the game yesterday…’

Thinking about that, Moon Ki-taek’s head hurts again. Ji Maeng-ho’s home run that hit in the top of the first inning of Game 1 was a home run with such power that it was hard to believe that it was hit by a person, so we couldn’t blame Seong Hyun, who shut down AT’s batting line by allowing two runs in seven innings, but it was inevitable that he would be disappointed. .

With Chae Jae-hyun and Ji Maeng-ho on base at numbers 8 and 9, will he be able to block the heavy hitters like Ki Ki-joo, Choi Jin-cheol, and Kim Su-ho that come after him?

Although Chae Jae-hyun was considered the best among young left-handed pitchers over the past few years, the pressure of the Korean Series stage could not be ignored. This was especially true because last season, when Chae Jae-hyun had similar results to this season, he was criticized for giving up 4 runs in 3.2 innings in the Korean Series.

‘After all, we need the first score to reduce the pressure on the pitchers.’

I knew for sure because Moon Ki-taek himself was a pitcher. The important thing on a stage like this was to reduce the burden on the pitcher, which meant scoring the first run.

Moreover, the player likely to take the mound as a starter is Lim Jun-hoo. Since it had only been four years since his debut and he had no experience as a starter in the past three Korean series, there was a high possibility that he would collapse if he conceded a goal first.

In this way, Moon Ki-taek was preparing for Game 3 of the Korean Series, pledging to intervene more actively in the game.

*

“Junhoo. “If you go 5 innings without giving up any runs today, I’ll introduce you to Yeon-ae.”

“Oh, don’t talk nonsense. “Brother, you always say that and don’t even introduce me.”

“Ah, it’s real this time. Hey, you know it’s white?”

“White? “That colorful one?”

“Uh. I know it well, how about an introduction?”

“Mr. It’s okay. How does your brother know him? “Please lie.”

Locker room before the game starts. Baek Kyung-ho, who was selected as Jun-hoo’s partner today, sighed deeply when he saw the starting pitcher, who should have been nervous, talking.

“Ugh.”

Of course, so that Meng Hao can’t hear the story.

This was because it would not be good for a psychopath who felt no remorse for assaulting his colleagues to hear his sighs.

His only interest is baseball. Some people may have thought that Ji Maeng-ho was crazy about women after the scandal, but Baek Kyung-ho thought differently.

The only reason he met a lot of women was because he was good at baseball.

Ji Maeng-ho is the guy who shamelessly says that his routine the day before a game is sex. Since he was a man who never lied, it was obvious that what he said was true, and if so, he was simply taking women he could have sex with as wives to improve his performance.

It was behavior that ordinary people couldn’t understand, but he was a psychopath who was crazy about baseball. He didn’t want to understand the thoughts of a psychopath.

And if a guy like that heard his own sigh, it was natural that he would beat him up before the game to relieve his nerves by asking him what he was sighing for.

Because he truly believed that if he beat a player, his performance would improve.

… Just like it was with Birch.

‘… ‘Let’s pay attention.’

If you pay attention to a guy like that, it’s your own loss.

Baek Kyung-ho began to reflect on Jun-hoo’s characteristics that backup catcher Hyun-seong had told him about during the meeting.

In fact, Jun-hoo, who was selected as the starting pitcher today, was a pitcher who matched up with his classmate and dedicated catcher, Hyun-seong. However, Coach Lee Soo-hyun felt that this series was a series where every point was important, and he used Baek Kyung-ho, who has punching power enough to hit 16 home runs this season and has a good record against Chae Jae-hyun, as the starting catcher rather than Hyun-seong, who has weak offensive ability.

A pitcher is a very sensitive creature, so there were some pitchers whose skills were halved unless they were a dedicated catcher, but fortunately Jun-hoo was not that type, and Baek Kyung-ho was also a veteran, so it was a choice he could make.

Baek Kyung-ho felt responsible for the director’s choice.

… Unlike the starting pitcher who is having fun with a psychopathic guy while talking about women.

‘Yes, the catcher is a sinner. What does a guy who just throws balls know?’

If Lim Jun-hoo was hit here, there was a high possibility that he and the manager who chose him, who replaced Kim Hyun-seong, the exclusive catcher, would be accused of being the culprit rather than Lim Jun-hoo. And Baek Kyung-ho did not want to cause such trouble to coach Lee Soo-hyun, who accepted his old self and enabled him to have a second prime season.

In addition, his performance in games 1 and 2 was no hits, although he did get two walks. Nevertheless, Baek Kyung-ho wanted to repay the coach who believed in him.

-The waters of the East Sea and Mt. Baekdu…

-No. 1 hitter, center fielder, Kim Joo-yeop.

After spending so much time and coming to his senses, Baek Kyung-ho found himself wearing a catcher’s mask.

‘Whoa, let’s focus. I have to come to my senses. Let’s see where the first pitch goes with a curveball.’

‘Yes.’

Whether the lead hitter gets on base in the top of the first inning is an important game that can change the outcome of the game. Baek Kyung-ho, a veteran catcher, knew very well the importance of the game,

Perfect!

[Kim Joo-yeop’s batted ball is a hit that goes past the shortstop! Hwasan Falcons with the leadoff hitter on base from the top of the first inning!]

The worst situation Baek Kyung-ho had imagined happened from the beginning of the first episode.

‘He was talking about women before the game…’

Lim Jun-hoo, who got a hit from the first pitch by putting a carefree curveball into the zone, was angry inside, but he couldn’t vent those feelings to the pitcher, so Baek Kyung-ho suppressed his anger and gestured to the pitcher that it was okay.

Now with no outs and 1st base. And the batter who came to bat was the second batter, Han Seong-jin.

And as if it was natural, Han Seong-jin laid down the bat. Since it is a Korean series where 1 point is important, the decision was made to score 1 point from the beginning of the game. Moreover, the coach of the opposing team is Moon Ki-taek. Baek Kyung-ho, who had won two championships and four runner-up finishes in six years with Moon Ki-taek, was all too familiar with this situation.

During my UG days, I always started off by scoring first like this.

‘Then, all I have to do is bunt, send Choi Si-woo to first base, and then get a grounder against the slow-footed Schreiber.’

Baek Kyung-ho requested a ball that was easy to bunt with the idea of ​​exchanging a bunt and an out count.

“Strike!”

“Ah… !”

Second batter Han Seong-jin let the ball go. Then he started hitting his head and blaming himself.

‘What? It was a ball that was given to me.’

And Baek Kyung-ho was all too familiar with this situation, where he let go of a pitch that was good for bunting. Especially the way he blames himself.

‘Is this really possible?’

The series of moves that clearly planted in the opponent’s mind that he was aiming for a bunt was the Buster strategy, which Baek Kyung-ho himself practiced thousands of times over six years with Moon Ki-taek. Moon Ki-taek himself even told us that such gestures can be used to distract people from their guard.

When I glanced at the dugout, coach Lee Soo-hyun was making a gesture to leave the decision up to him.

Director Lee Soo-hyun’s feelings of trusting and entrusting the role to him as a veteran were conveyed to Baek Kyung-ho.

‘This is definitely a buster.’

Baek Kyung-ho sends a sign to the infield. A defensive shift is a sign that you will pretend to defend a bunt and then change to a buster shift once you start pitching. AT’s infield moves at that sign.

And,

Perfect!

As expected, Han Seong-jin’s bat swung,

“Out!”

A line drive like a thunderbolt hit Ji Maeng-ho’s glove.

[Line drive out! And the runner on first base cannot return! Even at first base! Out! AT Thunders get two out counts in one go!]

[AT Thunders’ defensive shift was perfect just now, right? At first, they were shifting as if they were bunt fielding, but as soon as the pitch started, the second baseman and shortstop adjusted their positions in preparation for the buster. Director Lee Soo-hyun read Director Moon Ki-taek’s strategy perfectly!]

Two out counts in one go.

‘What the fuck… My strategy was read?! To a guy like that? I… ? To Lee Soo-hyun?’

And Moon Ki-taek’s face hardened at those two out counts. In this situation where anyone would have to bunt, he expected that he would use the buster strategy… When I looked at the opposing dugout, Lee Soo-hyun was making a joke of himself by making a disgustingly surprised expression.

‘That bastard… ! ‘Okay, let’s do this, right?’

So Moon Ki-taek bit his lip, pledging to show the various strategies he taught while working as a professional coach.

[… Strike out! Lim Jun-hoo strikes out Choi Si-woo! The inning ends after just 8 balls. The game now goes to the bottom of the first inning!]

A golden opportunity where the leadoff hitter got on base led to the worst result: three batters out.

“Guardian, it was a good order.”

“No. Thank you for your trust.”

And while Baek Kyung-ho, the main character who destroyed that golden opportunity, returned to the dugout and calmly took off his catcher’s mask,

Ta – Aak!

[Ji Maeng-ho’s hit! Go over the left wall! Ji Maeng-ho’s first pitch hit leads to a home run! Score 1:0!]

Ji Maeng-ho fired a congratulatory gun to celebrate having prevented the crisis.

‘Okay, how about being a little psycho? As long as you’re good at baseball, that’s fine.’

Perhaps thanks to what I have learned over the past 6 years, I understand the opposing team’s strategy and provide strong first-scoring support.

Today, Baek Kyung-ho was fully prepared to repay director Lee Soo-hyun for believing in him.