Chapter 719 – Episode 706. Wonho, Be Happy! (4)

Perfect!

Judge’s batted ball passes over the second baseman’s head. A hit in front of right field. For a moment, Wonho held his tongue at Judge, who was able to attack the splitter that entered the zone without missing it, and actually laughed at the fact that Judge was also unable to get his ball over the fence.

‘Yeah, it’s not like my ball can easily go over the fence.’

Hits are determined by defense regardless of the pitcher’s ability. The home run that could not be helped by the defense was clearly his fault, but the hit was not his fault, so Wonho forgot about the hit he got from Judge and focused on the next batter.

The next hitter is Juan Soto, who is said to be a genius hitter even in the major leagues. Although he was said to have performed poorly last season, he was not a hitter to be ignored.

‘It’s a mountain beyond a mountain. Are they the Yankees after all?’

First, I wanted to know what kind of stance Soto had at bat, so he threw a fastball that went outside,

“Jitterbug! Strike!”

As Soto’s bat spins, the strike count goes up.

‘I was aiming for it from the first pitch.’

A swing full of intention to hit a home run. Thinking that he had done well to throw the first pitch out, when he was about to catch the ball from the catcher, Soto, who was standing at the plate, started shaking his head and moving around like he was dancing.

‘… Seeing it in real life makes me furious. … Shall we guess?’

If the game was tilted, he would have hit a fastball straight to his body, but now it’s the bottom of the first inning. Wonho controlled his frustration and threw his second ball. The second ball also flows outward.

“Ball.”

The ball is called, and Soto dances again.

‘… ‘Do you keep doing that, ball by ball?’

I feel more annoyed than when Ji Maeng-ho hit a pre-emptive home run before hitting the ball or when he was hit with a bat after hitting a home run… If Ji Maeng-ho’s behavior is like swearing to his face, does Soto’s current behavior seem like he is being gently sarcastic?

Each person may feel differently, but Wonho disliked the latter more.

‘Fuck, let’s see if I can keep throwing it at my body.’

Wonho immediately loaded a fastball and fired the ball toward Soto’s body.

“Ball.”

‘Do it again?’

Once again.

“Ball.”

Now the count is three balls and one strike. Now the ball count could no longer be wasted, but Soto’s dance continued.

‘It really bothers me.’

For a moment, I thought about making it right and preventing them from making jokes again, but this time, the catcher gave the sign first through the pitch com. The catcher’s signal was an outside backdoor slider.

Isn’t this a very obvious ball combination? He thought for a moment, but since he was a rookie, he did as the catcher said and threw an outside slider.

Perfect!

Soto’s batted ball, whose timing is slightly off, drifts toward left field.

“Out!”

And the result is out. Won-ho, who got two outs against a strong team of Ji Maeng-ho, Judge, and Soto, was able to successfully end his first inning of his major league debut by striking out the fourth batter, Oh Hapi.

‘Good. Let’s just leave it like this for today. Even if the batters only give up 1 run, if I’m in good shape today…’

Was it because the sky was moved by the strong desire for victory? Alvarez, the fourth batter, came out with a single, and Diaz hit a double to right-center, allowing Alvarez to come home and score the first run. As No. 6 batter Mount Castle’s advanced base hit continued, the situation was 1 out and 3rd base.

‘One more sacrifice fly… !’

Wonho prayed earnestly for a sacrifice fly,

Ta – Aak!

The batted ball pushed by 7th batter Morel goes well over the right wall. Not a sacrifice fly that was desperately hoped for, but a home run that clearly widened the score gap! With that one home run, the score of 1:0 suddenly increased to 3:0.

“Hey, newbie. Is this enough points?”

“Of course.”

Wonho confidently responded to Morel’s words, and the end of the second inning came with no more scores.

But is it because I was too relaxed due to the widening score gap?

Ta – Aak!

[Vientos hits the ball to the right! Right! Right! Ah… Let’s move on. Kim Won-ho’s first run and home run are recorded as Vientos’ home runs. Score 3:1.]

[Oh, I got through the first episode well, but it’s okay. Kim Won-ho is in perfect condition today, so he will be able to report his first win.]

‘After… Is this because a major-leaguer is a major-leaguer?’

This is a place where even a moment of inattention can turn into a home run. I felt ashamed of myself for letting my guard down just because I had barely blocked the first inning and had a bit of scoring support. Moreover, Vientos is clearly a hitter who hit 34 home runs last season, as we heard in the power analysis class.

Letting down your guard against a batter who hit 30 home runs in the major leagues… !

‘Since when did you throw so well? Concentrate! Kim Won-ho!’

Wonho gathered himself and threw the ball toward the next batters.

[… A hit by the 6th batter, Derek Hall! A runner enters Musa. … Strike out! Kim Won-ho strikes out Volpi! … This batted ball gets stuck in the infield! Shortstop! Throw to first base! Out! Situation with 2 outs and 2nd base! Now the number 9 batter, Verdugo, is at bat.]

[From Kim Won-ho’s point of view, the inning should end here, right? If Verdugo gets on base, the batting lineup behind him will be Ji Maeng-ho, Judge, and Soto. He’s two runs ahead, but in front of this lineup, two runs aren’t that big of a lead.]

[I hit 2 pitches! A sharp hit… ! The first baseman catches it! Fantastic defense that blocks line drives! Step on first base yourself! Kim Won-ho, smiling brightly!]

[There should be times like this when we get help from the defense. Kim Won-ho, overcame the crisis well.]

[The game now goes to the top of the third inning! … Three outs like this! Rodon ends the inning with a three-way strike. See you at the end of episode 3!]

*

‘Sweet, I was used to the trajectory earlier, so my hand went out even though it was the ball.’

The ball I hit in my first at-bat was a splitter that fell outside the zone. Honestly, I wouldn’t have hit that ball if I had faced another pitcher, but since Wonho’s trajectory was familiar, the bat went out without me even realizing it.

However, one mistake was enough.

‘Come to your senses and let’s go. Because it would be embarrassing if it was revealed to Wonho.’

This was my second at-bat with such mental preparedness.

‘Fastball. ‘It’s the body.’

‘Okay.’

Wonho’s first pitch was thrown, and he flinched when the ball came at eye level, but was able to endure it.

“Ball.”

And the results are worth the effort.

‘It’s a splitter. Outside, low.’

‘Yes, I will eventually throw a splitter.’

The splitter’s condition looked pretty good today, so I was already expecting Wonho to use the splitter often.

And as Mr. Rossby said, the splitter falls low to the outside. However, since it was a low trajectory, I waited quietly,

“Ball.”

Once the ball was declared, they were able to immediately gain the upper hand with two balls and no strikes.

‘Splitter. ‘Body side.’

‘Are we going to count today with a splitter? I guess I’m praying that I’ll be lucky enough to catch one.’

It was a reasonable idea. Because Wonho’s splitter was definitely dancing today. However, does Wonho’s arrogant expression seem a little annoyed?

I felt like I wanted to destroy the splitter he was showing off.

‘As soon as you enter the zone, I will crush your head, Wonho. ‘Relax.’

I made up my mind and waited for a few seconds. I could feel Wonho’s splitter coming in slightly higher. And if the splitter is high, it means it is in the zone. I swung the bat like crazy.

Ta – Aak!

A truly authentic taste. Unfortunately, because the launch angle was completely line drive, the ball ended up hitting the fence directly. It was disappointing that it wasn’t a home run, but anyway, getting on base is getting on base. Since the batted ball was to the left, I stood up to second base without overdoing it and made eye contact with Wonho, who was moving to back up.

‘So, how many splitters do you throw? Against me.’

And I immediately provoked him by slitting his throat with my thumb. At that time,

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

Altuve, who was standing on second base, spoke up.

“Why don’t you do something provocative like that?”

‘What? This bastard. Anyway, when friends joke around, the idiot always reacts seriously.’

Altuve was a legend that even I could learn from watching his videos, but that didn’t mean he could get away with picking a fight.

In the first place, it’s not even my team, so why should I treat it like that?

“Why did such a polite person steal the autograph?”

“… The cub is still wet behind the ears. And that goes for you too… !”

“What do you say, dwarf? “Don’t talk to me, I have to bend down to hear your voice.”

“… !”

“Stop, stop!”

When the two of us were about to catch fire, the second base umpire stopped our argument.

‘Well, that’s all for today. Being suspended after only 3 games is a bit too much for me.’

Still, there were plenty of ways to make him look like this.

To be honest, since the batter was the judge, it didn’t matter if he was on second or third base, but you have to do something the opponent doesn’t like. I was already familiar with Wonho’s pitching form as I had seen it many times in Korea, and I didn’t think Wonho would pay attention to the runner on second base with the judge in front of him, so I set the timing right away and ran from the first pitch without even hearing the pitch from Mr. Rossby.

“Safe!”

And the result is safe. It was a slightly close race, but I was able to land on third base as my hand touched the third base first.

‘Well, there’s nothing special about being a major league catcher.’

‘I guess it was quite dangerous for something like that?’

‘Hey. ‘Stealing third base is inherently difficult.’

Honestly, it was close. I was so angry that I just ran, but from now on I thought I would have to listen to Mr. Rossby and run.

Anyway, hitting a double and stealing third base was ultimately the best play.

Perfect!

Judge sent the ball to the right, but it was caught by the right fielder and if he had been on second base, he would have missed home.

“Good! Let’s follow!”

“It was a good base running play.”

The score is now 3:2. However, perhaps because the bases were empty, and the flow was cut off, the inning ended with Soto getting out with a ground ball to second base and Ohapi striking out.

‘Is there one point left now? I’ll catch up with you soon, Wonho.’

After this score, the game reached the bottom of the fifth inning with both Rodon and Wonho allowing no runs.

And the leadoff batter in the bottom of the 5th inning is me.

‘Leave it alone, this bastard keeps breaking the flow in front of you…’

‘It’s an outside fastball.’

‘Okay.’

The first pitch Wonho chose in his third at-bat was an outside fastball. However, contrary to what Mr. Rossby said, the fastball hits low on the body.

“Strike!”

‘Huh? ‘What is it?’

Moreover, the speed is about 88 miles (141.6 km/h). It was a restraint that did not suit Wonho. And that means…,

‘Are you tired?’

Wonho now has 86 balls. Wonho wasn’t the type of guy who would get tired after throwing this much, but this is the Major League. Considering that he had been throwing the ball with all his might from the beginning under the pressure of the major leagues, he was quite tired. Even though he was in good condition, he had been over-pacing from the first episode.

Moreover, considering that the pitch he threw a lot today was a splitter, which requires a lot of grip strength…

‘Well, it’s almost free like this?’

Wonho, in full condition, was a heavy pitcher who could not be outdone in the major leagues, but a tired Wonho was just prey. As I was waiting for the ball, the ball I wanted flew out. The splitter that was supposed to fall didn’t fall,

‘… I’ll eat well!’

Ta – Aak!

This time, I was able to kick the ball away with perfect timing. Did the ball I hit go over the central wall and end up at the memorial? Anyway, I fell into a place where there were strange copper plates. A perfect home run. With this, the score was tied.

‘The women also gave in, but if they try to take it to the game, will they use it? Wonho, you’ll win today.’