Chapter 730 – Episode 717. Watch Out for That Guy! (4)

[Gerrit Call roars after preventing a crisis with no outs on 1st and 3rd bases! He showed why he is the Yankees’ ace by allowing 2 runs in 7 innings in 3 consecutive games!]

[… Bottom of the 7th inning, the leadoff batter is out. … This batted ball is big! Aaron Judge hits multiple home runs today! He hits his 6th home run of the season! Score 6:2! This score is likely to be a key point!]

[… In the top of the 9th inning, Camacho puts two batters on base with two out counts left. Ah, we are replacing players here. The next pitcher to come up is Yankees closer Mason Miller. He has appeared in 3 games this season, allowing 3 scoreless innings and 3 saves.]

[Since it is a save requirement, it is natural to replace the pitcher, right? In fact, because the Yankees’ firepower was so strong, Miller didn’t have much of a chance to get on the mound, but here he is.]

[… Strike out! Mason Miller clears the remaining two outs with a strikeout! Protecting the Yankees’ 11-game winning streak!]

-New York Yankees 11 consecutive wins!

… Meanwhile, Ji Maeng-ho hit a home run again for the first time in three games and remained tied for the American League home run lead with Baltimore catcher Lutchman, who recorded eight home runs. …

-Logan Gilbert pitched a complete game, allowing 1 run in 9 innings! New York Yankees! 12 consecutive wins!

… Meanwhile, the game, which was tied 1:1, was tilted in the bottom of the 8th inning. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Ji Maeng-ho, who was the leadoff hitter, got on base with a walk and succeeded in stealing second base. Thanks to Judge’s timely hit, the score increased to 2:1. The New York Yankees added one more point with Soto’s hit and Vientos’ sacrifice fly…, Vargas was on the mound in Seattle, but he was ultimately unable to stop the Yankees’ batting lineup…

-Yankees, one step closer to tying the opening winning streak!

… The Major League’s opening winning streak record is 13 consecutive wins, and the Yankees are currently on the verge of tying the opening winning streak record with 12 consecutive wins. Meanwhile, the Yankees’ next opponent is the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels are currently in 5th place in the American League West with 4 wins and 9 losses. …

*

“Meng Hao! Are you doing well these days?”

Training time ahead of the series against the LA Angels. Senior Joo-tae, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was greeting me warmly.

“There was nothing wrong with the major?”

“Yes, I knew it would be you. “I knew you would be good enough after seeing you play at the national team.”

“Well, your senior is also doing well.”

“… “I’m making 202 these days.”

I didn’t know how Joo-tae’s performance was these days, but he seemed bright, so I gave him a throw, and he was hitting .202.

“Ah… That’s not it, the team is doing well.”

I quickly changed my mind.

“… 4 wins, 9 wins.”

“…”

Fuck. For some reason, every pitcher that appeared during the power analysis session was all in the 5-point range… Looking at the Angels’ form, it seemed like it would be a mistake to advance to fall baseball this year. With 4 wins and 9 losses, we were almost like a last place team.

‘Tsk… Well, I’m not surprised.’

Of course, it wasn’t all that surprising that the Angels achieved such results. If you were to pick the team with the most fans in Korea, it would be the Dodgers, where Joo Hyung-jin and Seong Hyun played, and Trout, the best hitter of the 2010s, and Ohtani, who is said to be the second coming of Babe Ruth, started his major league career and won the Golden Glove for six consecutive years in Korea. He was able to select the Angels, which had Choi Joo-tae, who was loved by fans as a genius shortstop.

The Angels were a team that Koreans were familiar with, comparable in popularity to the Dodgers, and even I knew that it had been quite a long time since the Angels had been invited to fall baseball.

“Well, it will rebound soon.”

“Yes, I plan to grab you and go up.”

“But is there a game today? It’s 20% 2p…”

“… “You’re going to come out, right?”

“That’s good. You know that Rodon is our starter today, right? Rodon is the worst at throwing these days, so let’s hit him and build up his stats.”

Rodon’s current score is 6.55 in 2 games. Although he is a small sample, Rodon’s performance in the last two games was not that good, so if he had the batting ability of senior Joo-tae, he would be able to record a hit or two.

It seemed like he was hoping the team would lose, but honestly, we weren’t ready to lose to the Angels even if Joo-tae hit one or two hits. Because the Angels’ starting pitcher today, Rosenberg, had an ERA in the 8-point range.

What is the probability that Rosenberg will block our batting lineup? He could be seen as being close to zero.

Senior Joo-tae has been with us several times in the national team, so I hope he does a little better

“Anyway, let’s have a light dinner after today. Oh, it’s the season, so I won’t drink.”

“Are you living there?”

“A guy who makes a lot of money… Yes, of course your senior should buy it for you. “If there is a rumor that I got food from my junior, my brother will go to Korea and be buried.”

Besides, he was a good senior who even bought me food, so I thought it would be good if I did well in this game to be guaranteed a starting spot.

When I was about to say hello to senior Joo-tae and say goodbye…,

“Hey, Choi. Please introduce me too. “Is this friend the friend who’s been making a fuss these days?”

A face that was very familiar to me walked towards us. In the Angels, which have no stars, there is only one face I am familiar with.

“Uh, this is Trout. “You know?”

“Of course I know.”

The main character was Trout, the best hitter of the 2010s. When I just started playing baseball, Trout was in his prime, and I used to create my batting form by referencing a lot of Trout’s videos.

In fact, the batting form that Mr. Rossby cursed at me when he first met me and asked me what kind of idiotic batting form this was, was also a batting form that was customized in its own way, imitating Trout’s.

‘… When I saw him, he was completely different from that guy?’

‘… It was a batting form created by a high school student on his own without the help of a coach.’

‘Hehe, he seemed like an idiot.’

‘…’

As Mr. Rossby said, when I think about it now, compared to the real Trout, the leg kick movement was so unnatural that it felt like the arms, legs, and torso were playing separately.

“Mike, this is Ji. “He’s ‘my’ junior.”

“It’s been a while. Ji. Have you seen us on the international stage?”

“Do you remember?”

“We can’t easily forget the man who beat us to win. I was thinking that I would see you in the major leagues someday. I heard a lot from Choi as well. “Look forward to a good match today.”

Trout, who was shaking my hand, seemed very close to Joo-tae. Well, Joo-tae has been playing for the Angels since 2019, so it was natural.

“Is it so. Let’s have a good fight.”

And when I held Trout’s hand, contrary to what I expected, what Trout gave me was just an ordinary handshake.

‘I thought it was a fight, but it wasn’t.’

To be honest, I thought he was going to fight with Cole by shaking his hand like he did when he first met him, but it was unexpected to see him just shake hands with a genuine expression of pleasure. If it were me, I would have taken this opportunity to discourage a better as strong as me. It is better if the pain interferes with the game.

‘Well, since I don’t have that competitive spirit, I probably wouldn’t be able to go to fall baseball even with that skill.’

“Haha. The young friend is bold. Okay, let’s have a great game today. “I’ll show you what it’s like to be a major-leaguer.”

After shaking hands, Trout laughed at my words and returned with senior Joo Tae.

‘But you seem to be playing pretty well these days. If you see that you want to compete with me.’

And as soon as I returned to the locker room, opened my phone, and looked at Trout’s records, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘1.778 ERA, 1 home run, 6 RBIs? OPS is 0.710 and WAR is 0.2? What on earth made you want to join me?’

Because he was recording results that did not live up to the name Trout. To be honest, I didn’t expect him to be able to do this, but it was a bit shocking.

‘Last year, I hit 0.896 with 36 home runs? Wow, age really is scary. ‘How can someone get hooked like this?’

After checking Trout’s performance, I immediately realized why the Angels were 4 wins and 9 losses. For pitchers, the 1st to 3rd starters score in the 5-point range, the 4th-5th starters score in the 8-point range, and the team’s main hitter scores 10%.

Of course, is it Kjusta? Anyway, one hitter with a strange name was posting the best performance on the team at No. 3, hitting .301 with 6 home runs and hitting 6 home runs, but seeing as I didn’t even know what his name was, it was clear that he was a bad hitter, and overall, the Angels’ hitters were hitting .200. It was such a lineup that Joo-tae, a senior who could hit two pennies, could play the starting role.

‘Well, I guess I’ll just sweep it lightly.’

The game started with such a light heart.

Ta – Aak!

From the start, Rodon was hit with a home run by the leadoff hitter, causing people to laugh out loud.

‘Is Rodondo’s age thirty-four in American years? Trout is thirty-five years old. Now that I think about it, senior Joo Tae is also thirty-four around this age, right? Is this usually how far it goes? No, Cole is 36 years old and he does well. Judge is also 34 years old, and seeing him do so well makes him look like Kebake…’

It suddenly occurred to me that the aging curve was scary, but considering Cole and Judge, the center of the team’s two-strokes, it didn’t seem like it.

Anyway, seeing the leadoff hitter hit a home run really made me want to slap myself.

‘Ugh, even Rodon will come to his senses if he gets hit a few times.’

It has already been proven in Korea that my spasms are a special medicine for players who are losing their senses, so I wanted to rush over and slap Rodon, who was looking somber, but I was old, and we weren’t that close, so I could only think about it.

Fortunately, however, Rodon struck out the next two players, and it was Trout’s turn as the fourth hitter.

Perfect!

And Trout’s batted ball rolls toward me. Is it a throw-away hit, like a match between old and old? I caught the ball lightly and threw it to the first baseman, and the top of the first inning ended with the final out count going up.

When I returned to the dugout and was about to go to bat with the bat,

“Ji. “I know very well that the leadoff batter of the inning after scoring is important.”

Mattingly put his hand around my shoulder and spoke to me. Are what Mattingly said the same as the basics of baseball?

“Yes.”

And I was a batsman who was very good at following the basics.

‘Fastball. Outside.’

The ball Rosenberg chose was an outside fastball. As confirmed during power analysis, Rosenberg’s highest velocity was 93 mph (149.6 km/h) and his average velocity was around 90 mph (144.8 km/h), making him a left-handed pitcher who made a living with various breaking balls rather than fastballs.

As a left-handed pitcher, he survived in the major leagues despite his slow velocity, but the fact that he chose to throw his first pitch with a fastball was a bit cocky. Even though I haven’t been hitting the first pitch much these days, I could clearly see his intention.

‘You’re going to take a strike and leave, right?’

Since he is not a guy who makes a living from velocity, he will have good control, so as Mr. Rossby said, aim outside and prepare to hit. And the guy’s ball was thrown.

As a left-handed pitcher, the ball felt a bit far, but I swung the bat confident that he would cheekily hit it into the zone.

Ta-ah!

‘… Should I pass over?’

It’s a good feeling to take a moment to admire the batted ball. The launch angle was too low and the speed of the ball was fast, so I ran towards first base, but the ball bounced off the fence as fast as the speed of the batted ball, so I had no choice but to stop on my way to second base.

‘Anyway, the fence on the right here is too short.’

Well, whether I hit a double or a single, the result was the same in the end.

In the bottom of the first inning, when we started trailing by one run, I succeeded in getting on base as the leadoff hitter, and we began a counterattack.