Chapter 764 – Episode 751. Yankees Captain. (4)

“So, you’re tired because I can’t play baseball? Ji?”

Are you tired because I can’t play baseball? Judge felt dizzy hearing this for the first time.

Who is Judge? Since winning Rookie of the Year honors by hitting 52 home runs full-time in 2017, he has always been selected as a player with the potential to become a slugger representing the league. Since winning American League MVP in 2022, he has won two more American League MVPs,

When selecting the best hitter in the league, the first player chosen was Judge.

And as of this season, he has hit a total of 434 home runs, putting him in the top 50 in the history of the Major League over 100 years of home runs. He is a hitter who is certain to hit 500 home runs unless he suffers a major injury. Br〉

In particular, from 2022 onwards, players whose status in the league and within the club were sky-high were also stopped.

So, it was natural for Judge to be taken aback by something he hadn’t heard in nearly five years.

The feeling I had when I first heard Ji Maeng-ho’s words was one of absurdity.

It was the first time in several years that someone pointed out to me about my baseball skills.

Of course, he hasn’t performed very well in the last few games, but any hitter has a period during the season when he can’t hit, and he knew that his batting skills would improve again, so Judge, a 35-year-old veteran who has played in the major leagues for more than 10 years, has been playing well these days. I wasn’t paying much attention to the slump.

Based on my experience over the past 10 years, it felt like a hit to return to my original position. During this slump period, he had the experience of manipulating something and things ended up getting worse, so Judge was watching the current situation as if it were going by.

In addition, the fact that he recorded 10 RBIs in the last 10 games was also a factor that put Judge’s mind at ease.

In general, as baseball data became more precise, analysts tended to dismiss the statistic ‘RBI’ as a meaningless garbage stat, but for many batters, RBI was still a fairly meaningful stat.

In the end, it was the score that led the team to victory, and like all sports, players were bound to play for the team’s victory.

And the fact that he scored 1 RBI per game means he is helping enough.

A simple calculation would mean that if he played in 162 games, he would score 160 RBIs, and since Sammy Sosa in 2001, no batter had surpassed the 160 RBI mark, so scoring 1 RBI per game was quite meaningful. .

Without knowing what kind of sacrifice is hidden in that record of 1 RBI per game.

“Of course I’m tired. “I’m always running like crazy in front of the jersey, how can I not get tired?”

“What does that mean?”

“No, I want you to hit a home run, so I can walk in.”

“So?”

“Oh, it’s hard to steal, so hit a home run!” Why can’t I understand this?! Oh, it’s frustrating.”

Ji Maeng-ho’s sacrifice was behind the record of 1 RBI per game.

After the ‘incident’ in which Judge’s batting skills deteriorated, the number of stolen bases that Ji Maeng-ho recorded in 12 games was 11. Even these days, the number has been increasing.

In May, the Yankees’ schedule was a hell of a 20-game schedule with no rest days, and they were barely able to enjoy a rest day before the game against Toronto.

Of course, Ji Maeng-ho played 18 consecutive games due to suspension, but playing all 18 games without a rest day is a huge force. Other players were given stamina adjustments throughout their schedules, but Ji Meng-ho continued to play without any rest, so it was natural that his stamina would decline.

Ji Maeng-ho’s position is not that of a catcher, but he is a center infielder who consumes a lot of stamina.

As the number of left-handed batters increased, the number of balls going to second basemen continued to increase, and Ji Maeng-ho was not a fielder with good defense by major league standards, so he often covered with his athleticism, which was a style that consumed more stamina when fielding.

Moreover, as he had good athletic ability, he tried to keep up with balls he couldn’t catch, so it was natural that he used up a lot of his stamina.

It would not have been strange for an ordinary infielder to have already requested a break, but Ji Meng-ho’s body was steadily growing tired, as he was holding on with his unique monster-like stamina.

But on top of that, if you get on base, you run all the way to third base? Stealing bases was not just a matter of running, but a battle of timing with the pitcher, so it was bound to take a lot of mental and physical strength.

In particular, these days, as the waiting time for the judge increased, the number of stolen bases was increasing, so it was natural for even Ji Maeng-ho, who boasted of his stamina like a golden stone, to make such remarks.

In particular, the rest day before the game against Toronto was crucial. If he had continued to play, he would have endured it through inertia, but after taking a day of rest before the game against Toronto, Meng-ho’s body had already learned the taste of rest.

Of course, he could have saved his stamina if he stopped having sex almost every morning except for special days like Lee Dong-ho, but that would be nonsense to Ji Meng-ho.

He didn’t want to give up going to games, playing defense, or having sex. So the only way to preserve his stamina is not to run.

He could have asked if it was okay to not run, but if the base in front of him was empty, it was Ji Meng-ho who ran and watched. Not saying you were tired when you could do it was sabotage, and sabotage was a word that was not in Ji Maeng-ho’s dictionary.

So, it was not strange for Ji Maeng-ho to express his dissatisfaction with Judge. Because he trusted Judge, he decided that Judge had the ability to make him not run.

Before the change, Judge was a hitter who would call him home without having to run, and in reality, it wasn’t that difficult in the early part of the season.

Of course, it was natural that he was more tired after two months than at the beginning of the season, but rather than thinking about such things, Ji Maeng-ho chose to blame others as usual. In fact, he wasn’t really the wrong choice as the increase in stolen bases these days was the main cause of his fatigue.

Just like that, Ji Maeng-ho stabbed Judge like he was complaining without much thought, as usual,

‘… ‘This can’t be right.’

Judge, who felt absurd at first, was shocked by Ji Maeng-ho’s words. He realized that the actions he thought were playing for the team were actually putting pressure on his teammates.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve been waiting for Ji to be able to run these days… Ji must have run because he had to do his best… Yeah, if I just hit a home run or hit a big ball, Ji would have come in on his own, so why was I waiting for that?’

It was after ‘that incident’ that he took this approach at bat.

I wasn’t conscious of it because I thought it was a natural play for the team, but it was natural that if the ball count was high while waiting for a stolen base, I wouldn’t hit a good hit.

And once he recognized his mistake, he was able to immediately realize what mistakes he had been making while at bat.

Even though he has been struggling in the last few games, Judge was a top-level hitter with major league talent.

‘When I think about it, it seems like I used a bit of force at bat… How has the batted ball direction been shaping up recently? I think I need to check…’

When Judge was thinking about his recent at-bats,

“He brags about how many home runs he hit at the beginning of the season, but that doesn’t work for me, does it? Anyway, I’m tired because of someone who can’t hit a home run, so I guess I should go to sleep.”

Ji Meng-hao, who once again plunged a dagger into Judge’s chest, put on his eye patch and laid back on his seat.

“Phew.”

The once silent atmosphere returns to its original state with just one smile from someone. The only one who can laugh in this situation is Soto.

When he saw Soto’s expression, smiling as if he found this situation amusing, Judge returned to reality.

Following the absurdity of being criticized for his baseball skills, the shock of knowing that he was causing damage to the team came over Judge, and now all that was left to him was the humiliation of having his mistakes pointed out by a pale-faced young guy who had debuted less than two months ago. .

‘Fuck… ‘I couldn’t believe I didn’t know something that Ji also knew.’

Returning to reality, Judge reflected on his humiliation and quickly grabbed the tablet where all of his at-bats were stored.

The only way to relieve this humiliation is to show your skills.

‘What, are you tired because of me? I won’t let you make any noise in the future.’

So, Judge began watching videos throughout the flight to see what had changed between when he was at his best and what he was like now.

*

“Yes? Excluding starters? Why? “Am I okay?”

“Didn’t you do that on the plane? “I’m tired.”

“… That was just a joke. But did you hear that?”

“How can you not be heard when you speak in such a loud voice?”

“Director, think again.”

“No, no. Being tired is a signal your body sends. And I saw many players who ignored the signal and got injured. You may not know it yet, but you need rest to survive the brutal Major League schedule. When it’s your first year since debuting like you, you don’t know the timing. “It’s more damaging to the team if a player like you leaves due to injury, so get some rest today.”

“Ah…”

Fuck, it was wrong. I tried to open my mouth to persuade Mattingly, but like all old people in the world, they tend to become stubborn as they get older, and it didn’t seem easy to change the mind of this old man in front of me.

“Don’t make such an expression. Ji. “We are a strong team that can win even without you.”

In the end, the death sentence fell from the mouth of Mattingly, who had a kind smile on his face. If you say this, there is nothing I can say to refute it.

‘Fuck, we need to play at least one more game when the pitchers aren’t missing…’

I wanted to go out to at least one more game before the pitchers skipped the game and build a record, but Mattingly’s words were straight forward, so I had no choice but to leave the manager’s office without saying anything.

‘… Still, is it because it’s a major? ‘The gang is amazing.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘If it’s not gangster to leave out a player like me just because he’s given a break, then what is it? And that’s against the second-place team in the world.’

In Korea, I was never left out of the lineup unless I asked first.

However, Mattingly informed me first that he would remove me from the lineup, and considering that today’s game was against the second-ranked team in the district, Mattingly’s behavior was definitely remarkable.

‘Hmph, there are so many players like you…’

To be jealous again.

While I was walking down the hallway with Mr. Rossby’s jealous words toward me, who was already bombarding the major leagues, going in one ear and out the other,

“Ji!”

Someone called my name. When I turned around at the call, the person who heard that voice was Judge.

“Take a good look today. “What kind of batter am I?”

What? Take a good look? In situations like this, shouldn’t you usually say you’ll do your best? There was no reason for the judge to tell me to watch closely when we were playing together.

… Unless you know I’m starting on the bench today. And since it just happened, there was no way for the judge to know that I was missing today’s game.

‘Could it be that you got upset about what happened yesterday and told the director to get rid of me?’

Unless Judge asked the coach.

“Haha, don’t worry, I’ll do my best to make it easier for you today.”

Effortlessly? This was also a difficult thing to say unless you knew that I was taking a break from playing today. There seems to be a sneer on the corner of Judge’s mouth as he taps my shoulder.

I thought he was a cool person, but he did something like this just because I said I wasn’t good at baseball. There was no such thing as an old man.

‘… Was it because of this old man? Somehow, there’s no way the coach would just leave out a player like me.’

It made no sense to exclude me, who was ranked first in various batting categories and was also ranked almost first in detailed statistics. A coach is someone who is there to win the game, but it honestly made no sense for him to leave out me, who was the most important person to win the game.

Unless there is external pressure…

And, looking at the current situation, it was clear that the external pressure was Judge’s influence. I’m not an idiot and I knew that much.

Moreover, Judge’s position in the team is that of captain, who can manage the squad. All the puzzles fit together.

‘… Umm. If you become captain, can you influence the lineup?’

Also, since I told him to remove a player like me and the coach listened to that, I guess he could easily remove other players as well.

To be able to exert that level of influence in the Yankees, a team of superstars…

‘Then you can get rid of all the ones you don’t like?’

… I was a little jealous of the Yankees’ captain position.