Chapter 750 – Episode 737. A Fateful Rivalry. (1)
-Wooooo!
‘The atmosphere is definitely scary.’
There were boos when Buehler was throwing, and there were boos when I came to bat, so it was clear that Yankees fans were booing like this.
I heard that public opinion was not good after being KO’d by Boston in the last away game, but to hear such boos in the home stadium… Even though I thought baseball was a difficult sport, I also understood the feelings of the fans.
When I was at, there were no people booing for losing streak like this, but there is only one reason why fans of teams like the Yankees boo.
It was because there was no championship.
What if it was AT that lost 4 consecutive league games? Even if they lost 10 games in a row, they would definitely cheer when I came out. In contrast, the Yankees are a team that has been unrelated for nearly 20 years. We hear that we are a favorite to win the championship every year, but we have never won the championship, so it was natural for the fans to become impatient, and it was understandable that they booed like this even after a small losing streak.
‘… Anyway, if you lose 20 games in a row, are you going to criticize me? Well, it’s unlikely that I’ll lose 10 games in a row in Korea.’
The only way to silence these boos is to show off your skills. … He must have been confident, but today the opponent was not easy.
Today’s opponent is Greg Trilling, a right-hander whom the right-hander can best be described as an orthodox opponent, whom he faced once in the WBC.
During the WBC, he hit a curveball for a home run and a fastball for a double, but it was not easy to achieve similar results in training with Mr. Ross B.
Most of the curveballs turned into home runs, but it didn’t look like he would throw a curveball, so in the end I had to hit a fastball or slider, but the slider and fastball were also heavy, so if I didn’t get the timing right, there were a lot of ground balls, and it wasn’t easy to make a home run.
‘I wish they would throw me a curveball…’
‘It’s a fastball. ‘Body side.’
‘Okay.’
However, his first pitch choice was a fastball.
‘Let’s see how much has changed?’
When I checked it in the video, it wasn’t much different from when I met him at the WBC, as he is a complete pitcher, but if you stand at bat, you might notice a difference, so I waited for the first pitch.
“Strike!”
The guy’s strike looked good, hitting the highest part of the strike zone on his body and receiving a strike call. His first pitch was 96 miles (154.5 km/h). It wasn’t a particularly fast ball for the best pitcher in the major leagues, but it was a ball that felt heavy when seen at the plate.
‘It’s a slider. Outside.’
‘Okay.’
Fortunately, Boston’s battery seemed to have decided to stick to the standard ball mix and chose an outside slider. To be honest, the probability of hitting a good ball by targeting a fastball was low, so I decided to aim for a slider this time and waited for the ball.
And the guy’s slider that was thrown.
Perfect!
“Foul!”
He succeeded in hitting the ball, but due to his exquisite control, the ball missed the foul line by about one ball.
‘Oh, fuck. I want to hit the curve. Or even a changeup.’
Now it’s two strikes, so it’s time to throw the deciding ball. For a moment, I thought it would be nice to throw a slow curveball or changeup.
‘Fastball, outside. I think it was a high zone when I saw the catcher sit up slightly.’
‘… ‘Yes.’
He once again chose an outside fastball. In addition, a high zone fastball is the most difficult to hit based on my swing mechanism.
Considering the guy’s command and control, there was a high probability that he would come right into the zone, so he decided to bat as long as he didn’t stray too far and waited for the guy’s ball again. And then the ball that looked like it was going to go right into the zone flew out,
Perfect!
I had no choice but to touch the ball.
“Out!”
And the result was a fly to center field.
‘… You must have come in, right?’
‘It sounds obvious.’
A weak thought crossed my mind that I might skip it, but Mr. Rossby’s words convinced me that I had made the right decision, and I was able to gain some peace of mind.
‘Ha, see you next time at bat.’
When I was about to return to the dugout, promising my next at-bat,
“Get out! Ji! Go back to your country!”
At the baseball stadium, I heard swear words that I had never heard before. When I glanced in that direction, the guy wearing a Yankees jersey and sunglasses fell silent, but I couldn’t help but be shocked.
My current performance is .400 with 14 home runs, bombing the major leagues to the extent that almost all aspects of my batting are ranked in the top tier. But to curse me like this…
‘… ‘This is absurd.’
Since I had maintained good grades since my debut in Korea, I had been scolded by the opposing away fans, but this was my first time being scolded by the home fans like this, so I felt something bubbling deep in my heart.
‘… Still, wasn’t it a batting ball that would have been told to go back? I didn’t even hit a pop fly.’
‘You suck. If you have such a weak mentality, how can you use it?’
‘It’s not that I’m mentally shaken, it’s just ridiculous.’
Are you mentally shaken? If you ask me, of course it wasn’t. I had lived with being abused by Mr. Rossby for several years, but I was not the type of person whose mentality would be shaken when he was finally told to go home.
Is it just so absurd that my stomach is boiling? It felt a bit like racism to be at home while recording this kind of results.
But my thoughts changed immediately.
“Out!”
When Judge, the team’s franchise star and captain, was thrown out with a ground ball, louder boos filled Yankee Stadium.
‘The fans were just angry.’
How thrilling would it be to get these fans to cheer even if you go 0-for-10? It was fun to make women according to my taste, but when I thought that it would be quite fun to make these fans blindly cheer, I wanted to get to bat as soon as possible.
“Strike! Out!”
… When I saw Trilling throwing today, it seemed wrong to go to bat quickly.
However, the good news was that Buehler, the starter today, was in good condition. Although he got on base, Buehler blocked Boston’s batting lineup, and his second at-bat came with the score tied in the bottom of the fourth inning.
However, trilling was still not easy.
Perfect!
Trilling’s change-up was targeted, but the top of the ball was hit, and the result was a ground ball. He ran toward first base as if he were dying, but no one could be faster than the ball, and the first base umpire’s hand went up.
‘Oh, fuck. The changeup is much more broken than it was then. No, how on earth did Seongtae make a home run with this kid’s ball?’
Once again, Seongtae is amazing for hitting a home run against a kid like this. Since I knew the curve, it was probably natural for me to hit a home run, but to throw this kid’s ball over the fence without any information…
‘I feel a little sorry for Seongtae for no reason.’
To be honest, whenever we had dinner together, I felt like I was going to get into a fight every time the story of hitting a home run against Trilling in the WBC finals was repeated like a saga, but I thought that a hit like this was enough to brag about.
-Wooooo!
Well, the booing continued, but it felt good. The pleasure of turning these boos into cheers was bound to be more thrilling than ever.
Of course, this feeling was felt when away fans booed and then shut up at the away stadium, but it was a new kind of pleasure that had never been experienced in Korea, so it seemed even more thrilling when they heard the cheers.
After that, Soto got on base with a walk, but Stanton struck out, and the inning ended.
‘Please just hang on until I score.’
As I watched Buehler climb the mound, I prayed earnestly that he would hold out until I scored.
“Strike out!”
“Out!”
“Out!”
Fortunately, Buehler also seemed to be aware of the atmosphere in Yankee Stadium, where the crowd was likely to storm in at any moment, so he threw the ball as if it were the postseason, and the game continued with a scoreless streak.
… Until the bottom of the 6th inning when I get to bat for the 3rd time.
‘Huh, let’s go.’
In the previous at-bat, I couldn’t get the timing right for the changeup, which had a sharper angle than in the WBC, but I was familiar with the trajectory of the changeup because I kept watching it during the break.
‘Please, throw me another change-up.’
The ball most likely to become a home run here is a changeup. I sincerely hoped that he would throw a changeup based on his previous experience,
“S~Trike!”
“Ball.”
“Ball.”
Perfect!
“Foul!”
‘It’s a change-up. Outside.’
With two balls and two strikes, he chose an outside changeup.
When I saw him pitch until now, he wasn’t the type to throw the ball away even if it was just two strikes. Like an ace who needs to get as many innings as possible, is this the style of attacking the zone even in a two-strike situation?
He has shown the same ball combination against me as well as against hitters like Judge and Soto, so there is zero chance of the combination changing now.
‘It goes outward and then inward, so let’s swing even if it feels like it’s farther than you think.’
I braced myself and waited for the guy’s ball for a few seconds. The ball leaves his hand and flies at a speed that seems almost similar to a fastball. If you didn’t know the type of pitch, you could only assume it was a fastball…
But…,
‘… ‘Two three!’
I knew that his pitch was a change-up, so I swung the bat according to the change-up trajectory and a speed of mid to high 80s.
Ta – Aak!
I raised my hand when I felt the sensation in my hand.
-Wow!!!!
The cheers that fill Yankee Stadium as the batted ball flies into the line drive castle!
When you try to slowly turn the diamond while savoring that thrilling pleasure,
‘You idiot, run!’
Mr. Rossby’s harsh voice was heard. There was no way Mr. Rossby would harm me, so I reflexively ran toward first base, and from the corner of my eye, I saw the batted ball hitting the top of the fence and falling toward the left field fence.
‘Fuck, if it was Jamsil, I would have passed!’
Jamsil was the standard for most of the things I felt I missed, and the ball I just hit was a line drive even if it was Jamsil, but I was overlooking the fact that the left-center field here is deeper than Jamsil.
‘Fuck, I’m screwed. If you can’t even get to second base during the ceremony… !’
Thinking that if I died on second base, real Yankees fans might turn on their chainsaws, I ran toward second base with a feeling of atonement. Fortunately, the opponent’s left fielder is Masataka, whose defense is not that good.
‘Head first!’
Without even having time to see where the batted ball was, he listened to Mr. Rossby’s words and slid into second base. The sensation of the mitt felt as soon as you sweep the base with your hand. Put your foot on the base and wait for the second base umpire’s call.
“… Safe!”
And the result was three leaves by a narrow margin.
‘Whew, I almost got screwed.’
-Wow!!!!
Fortunately, the cheers at Yankee Stadium were maintained. Although the fans, like me, mistook it for a home run, there was some disappointment.
‘Well, all you have to do is go into the homepage anyway. He throws the ball well, but let’s check if he’s mentally in order. Mr. Rossby.’
Is this guy as mentally strong as the ball he throws?
‘It’s a fastball.’
‘Okay.’
“Ball.”
‘It’s a slider.’
‘It was good.’
To check it out, I took advantage of the slider and reached third base.
“Safe!”
When I took my stance, I was almost 4–5 steps away from second base, so I was able to easily steal third base and face the right-handed pitcher.
‘Have you ever experienced something like this?’
And after looking at his face and laughing at him once, I started to widen the lead as much as possible as if I was going to steal home.
Then the guy’s expression hardened.
‘So, this is your first time doing something like this?’
It usually takes about mid-one second for the checked ball to enter the glove and tag the sliding player.
In the meantime, I made a distance to return to Lu and widened the distance as much as possible.
‘Fastball.’
‘Because it’s a fastball, place the center of gravity on third base…’
“Safe!”
The guy must have been unable to withstand my lead and kept me in check with third base. There is now only one check left. After throwing one more, I was in a position to aim for a home steal, so I widened the lead again and looked straight at the guy.
‘Sigh, you idiot.’
The guy must have heard my heart and turned his head and focused on batting.
However, even the best thrower in the league couldn’t keep his composure when the runner on third base was almost a third of the way out and was facing him, and the ball ended up in the middle,
Ta-ah!
Judge did not miss the chance.