Chapter 784 – Episode 771. Mini Korea-Japan War. (4)

‘Insolent guy.’

Murakami thought as she watched Ji Meng Hao stand at bat.

He knew that this guy was currently a hot player in the major leagues. And if he maintains this performance, he will be the player with the most perfect season in the major leagues.

However, even though I was cocky, I was too cocky.

Asians were a race that was not easily seen in the major leagues. Whether they are Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, or second-generation Asian immigrants, the number of them all is very small, so it is natural that when Asians meet, they have a meal together and talk about their longing for leaving their hometown and build friendships. That’s what Murakami was thinking.

Of course, most of the players Murakami met did not eat together because they were Asians, but because they were of the same nationality, they ate with Murakami, but Murakami thought so.

Last year, when she was struggling to adjust to the major leagues, Korean closer Ko Young-hwan, who was her teammate until last year, helped her a lot.

So she said Murakami this time she wanted to play that kind of role herself. Well, she also wanted to become friends with Ji Maeng-ho, who is the best player in the major league.

But, he was too arrogant.

She glared at him without saying a word when she greeted him, and in the end, he left, saying that he couldn’t be trusted by someone who made less money than him. I can’t believe I said that to myself, who is older than I.

Murakami was the first Asian baseball player to be so rude.

Japan was also a place with an old man culture, and this trend was more severe in the sports world. So, it was natural to be angry when someone so young came out so rudely.

‘Tsk, she’s had such good results since her debut, so it’s worth noting that she’s not cheesy. If I were a senior in Korea, I wouldn’t have left that guy like that.’

The reason his personality is like that is probably because he was treated like a superstar since his debut. Murakami was also a superstar in Japan, so he knew this very well.

So on the one hand, she felt sad. It was because I thought that if I had met good seniors like myself and learned about etiquette, I wouldn’t have ended up like that.

However, Ji Maeng-ho is currently 23. It is not too late to meet good seniors. And since he was indebted to Go Young-hwan, he had a duty to guide him down a good path.

Of course, for that to happen, prerequisites were needed. The prerequisite is to be better at baseball than him. If Murakami had been scolded by his seniors who were hitting 100 or 200%, he certainly wouldn’t have heard it, so he knew how he felt.

‘I’m sure there was no one in Korea who was better at baseball than him… And Americans are too individualistic to teach them such manners.’

Although the Yankees had some of the best hitters in the major leagues, such as Judge and Soto, Murakami did not think that the highly individualistic Americans would guide Ji Maeng-ho on the right path.

When Murakami was thinking about Ji Meng-ho’s guidance,

Perfect!

… The ball hit by Ji Maeng-ho was shot in front of him at the end of an 8-ball match. Murakami instinctively put his glove on the ball with an exit speed of nearly 200 km/h. If you have been negligent in fielding practice even a little since coming to the major leagues, you will never catch a batted ball.

“Out!”

And then an outcall comes in. He didn’t know how he caught this batted ball, but Murakami was able to realize one thing when he saw Ji Maeng-ho walking back to the dugout with an expression like ‘Did I catch that?’

Even though he is currently the best hitter in the major leagues, the fact is that he cannot hit a home run in every at-bat.

If he got better results than that guy even just for one day, for example, if he hit a home run, and he didn’t, he would be able to teach his cocky junior a good lesson.

He is a person who will only watch a few games anyway. He may not be better than the guy all season, but if he outperforms the guy in even one out of three games and gives him some advice, he’s sure to learn something.

The Yankees’ starter is Buehler, who pitched well in the last game, allowing two runs in 6.1 innings, but has repeatedly allowed many runs in the last five games. And the next game is Singer, the 5th starter.

Although he was scheduled to be called in the rotation in the third match of the series, Murakami was also a player full of confidence in himself as befits the major league, so he thought he could have performed better in one of the two games. I heard this

So Murakami took his first turn at bat, waiting for a chance to teach Meng Hao Ji a lesson.

But is it because the motivation is too advanced?

“Strike! Out!”

Murakami took a refreshing swing and stepped away from the batter’s box.

[… This batted ball! Let’s go! With two outs, Contreras hits a solo home run and Minnesota takes the lead! Score 1:0!]

Afterward, the sixth batter, Contreras, hit a home run, giving them the first run, but Murakami was not happy with that situation. Baseball is a sport where 162 games are played throughout the season, so one loss does not have a big impact, so it was unlikely that Ji Maeng-ho would listen to just winning the game and giving advice.

‘Tsk, if you’re going to throw a misfire, throw it at me…’

If this home run was his home run…

But fortunately, Ji Maeng-ho’s condition didn’t look that good today.

[… With two outs and first base, Ji Maeng-ho takes his second at-bat of today’s game. … This batted ball! Right field! The right fielder catches it in front of the fence! Three out!]

He was out in his second at-bat as well.

‘… ‘I can’t believe I’m in bad shape with only 0 hits in 2 at-bats.’

And Murakami only recorded no hits in two at-bats, and he was dumbfounded because he thought Ji Meng-ho was in bad shape.

He only had 0 hits in 2 at-bats, so they decided he was out of shape… As a batter, Murakami also knew how harsh this evaluation was.

In fact, it made no sense to look at Ji Maeng-ho’s batting and think that he was in bad condition. Ji Maeng-ho’s batting quality today was so good that in his first at-bat, he hit a hard hit and hit a ball that hit third base, and in his second at-bat, he pushed it and made a hit that went in front of the right-field wall.

However, since the batter who hit that ball was Ji Maeng-ho, he couldn’t help but feel that he was in bad condition.

Other players probably feel the same way. It was probably clear when you look at the rising momentum of starting pitcher Ryan.

‘When I first saw him, he looked like a kid, but he was like that…’

And that appearance reminded Murakami of the first time he saw Ji Maeng-ho. When I first saw Ji Maeng-ho at the 23rd WBC, Ji Maeng-ho was clearly younger than he is now.

Of course, he didn’t remember Ji Meng-ho’s name at the time, but after that year, when he heard that the guy had hit .400 in Korea, Murakami had engraved Ji Meng-ho’s name and face into his memory.

After that, the next time I saw Ji Meng-ho was during the Olympic finals. At that time, I had a strong image of him as the guy who cowardly ran away and bunted against Ohtani.

Therefore, when he heard that Murakami had broken his own record for the most home runs in Asia, he quietly ignored him. He thought, ‘The guy who was running away from Otani broke his own record in a low-level league.’

However, after that, his name resonated even in Japan as he set various incredible records, such as breaking the world home run record and hitting .400 for 3 consecutive years. Murakami felt amazing when he heard Ji Maeng-ho’s name, but on the other hand, he This is what I thought.

‘Records like that are just records made in a low-level league. If I go to Korea, I’ll pay that much too. Heh, we’ll meet in the major league anyway, and then everyone will know that the record he made was nothing.’

Murakami entered the major league a year before Ji Maeng-ho with the desire to prove that he was a better hitter in the major league, and became the American League Rookie of the Year by hitting 33 home runs.

However, due to his low on-base percentage, experts evaluated him as a typical blackmailer with no productivity.

After that, Ji Maeng-ho debuted with the highest salary in the major league, and unlike himself, he hit hard as if he was not going through an adjustment period and suddenly became the best hitter in the major league.

He is the type of hitter who, no matter how good his batted balls are, if he gets no hits in two at-bats, you’ll think he’s done poorly.

Perhaps Ji Maeng-ho was in poor condition today if he had no home runs even if he recorded hits in all of his remaining at-bats and hit .500 with 2 hits in 4 at-bats, right? You will hear what I say.

Unlike his reputation, he performed well despite hitting 1 hit in 4 at-bats.

You can’t show a good performance if you’re thinking about such things.

“Out!”

In Murakami’s second at-bat, he hit a ground ball in front of the pitcher and had no choice but to retreat to the dugout.

Still, the good news for Murakami is that the team added one point, making it 2-0?

But that advantage did not last that long.

[In the top of the 6th inning, the leadoff batter is 9th batter Ohapee. … Take off! Ohapi walking with a walk! … Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball cuts into right-center field! Ohape ordered to stop at third base! Ji Maeng-ho reaches second base! Oh, Ji Maeng-ho is glaring at Ohapi? It’s a shame we didn’t hit a triple.]

[In fact, if there were no runners in front, Ji Maeng-ho could have aimed for third base, but since Oh Hapi was a catcher and had a slow pace, he couldn’t run all the way to home.]

[Oh, Ohapi also smiles and apologizes. … Soto’s batted ball is in front of right field! Ah! Ji Maeng-ho also runs all the way to home! Three leaves at home! Ji Maeng-ho’s incredible base running play!]

Ji Maeng-ho created an opportunity by hitting a decisive double, and Soto, who replaced Judge, who was absent today, as the number 2 hitter, succeeded in turning the game back to square one.

[… Kelnick’s double play ends the inning. However, the New York Yankees succeeded in tying the game with Ji Maeng-ho’s double and Soto’s timely hit!]

Murakami, who came to his senses only after the score was tied, made a hit, but the hit did not result in a score.

‘Hehe, first, I got the number of hits right. If I hit just one home run in the remaining at-bats, I might be able to give him some advice.’

After matching the number of hits with Ji Maeng-ho, Murakami clenched his fists after hitting a home run in his next at-bat, imagining that he would give Ji Maeng-ho advice to be humble as a senior, but unfortunately, Murakami’s imagination did not come true.

[In the top of the 7th inning, with one out and runners on first and second base, Ji Maeng-ho comes to bat. … Full count match. And Sans throws the ball!]

Ta – Aak!

[This batted ball! Behind left field! Behind left field! The left wall! Let’s go! Turn the tables in an instant with three runs! Score 5:2! Ji Maeng-ho’s home run hits the second floor of Target Field!]

[Hey, I thought Ji Maeng-ho was in bad condition because he couldn’t get on base in his first two at-bats today, but at the crucial moment, Ji Maeng-ho hits a shot.]

Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball split the night sky at Target Field, Minnesota’s home stadium,

‘… A home run like this at this timing. Is it really impossible to beat him? .’

It was as if Murakami was being loved by the god of baseball, or as if he had sold his soul to the devil, at Ji Maeng-ho’s show of force at the perfect time…

‘Yes, if you have that kind of skill, you don’t have to be cheap. Haha, I think it would be more unlucky to be humble. Just like Otani-senpai.’

…
Her heart broke.