Chapter 805 – Episode 792. Oh, My Back Hurts! (1)
The schedule may have been planned this way on purpose, but the second half of the season started with a game against rival Boston.
Considering that after the game against Boston there is a game against Baltimore, a team in the same district, and then against the San Francisco Giants, a popular team in the NL, and after the game against the Giants, there is a game against Houston, which has been competing for the league title for the past few years, it is probably clear that the schedule was designed like this on purpose. .
And of course, the first game of the second half began with Cole and Trilling, the aces of both teams, on the mound.
“Strike! Out!”
“Out!”
“Strike! Out”
Our attack started with Cole blocking Boston’s attack with a three-way strike in the top of the first inning, and it started with me, the number one hitter.
‘Then shall we go?’
‘Okay, let’s go.’
Fortunately, Mr. Rossby seemed to be in a good mood because he met Julianna yesterday and had intense sex that satisfied Mr. Rossby. Anyway, I’m not worth the night.
‘The first pitch is a slider. ‘Body side.’
‘Okay.’
Trilling’s first pitch is a slider. Yesterday, I practiced with him, but it wasn’t a good idea to throw out the bat on the first pitch of a pitcher I haven’t seen in a long time, so I thought I would skip it unless it came in the middle of the strike zone and waited for his pitch.
“Ball.”
And the guy’s ball falls low and is declared a ball.
‘The angle is still scary.’
His slider is in excellent condition today. When I checked the bending angle, I thought that it would be difficult to hit a good slider unless it came at about eye level.
‘Then I should aim for a circle changeup or fastball.’
In that case, what I would aim for is his changeup or fastball that bends towards the body.
“Ball.”
“Strike.”
Perfect!
Foul!
“Ball.”
As I wait to pick out a good ball, the count fills up before I know it.
‘Fastball, it’s toward the body.’
‘Okay.’
And in a full count situation, what he chose was a head-on battle of strength versus strength. Well, it wasn’t anything strange. Trilling was the heaviest ball-heavy player I’ve ever faced, and he’s the one with the fewest home runs per nine innings of any pitcher since his debut.
But no matter how much of a pitcher he is,
Ta – Aak!
It was meaningless if the ball was read. Although the ball was slightly out of the zone and the launch angle was high, the refreshing feeling in his hands made him throw the bat away and point his finger toward where the home fans were.
-Wow!!!!
Check the batted ball? There was no need for that. Because my senses have never betrayed me.
-Uh? Ahhh…
But then, the crowd’s cheers turn into sighs. At that change, I looked toward the batting ball and saw the left fielder holding his glove, leaning against the fence in the deepest part of Yankee Stadium.
‘What, this was caught?’
Although he is said to be the player with the best pitch in the major leagues, his timing still seemed perfect…
‘Hmm… The swing form is a little strange. He was fine with imagery training.’
And Mr. Rossby immediately pointed out my problem.
‘Yes?’
‘I felt it when I got fouled earlier, but it seems like I’m not applying my strength properly.’
‘Write… My back hurts a bit, so I can’t turn completely… Is there any way?’
‘… If you get hurt, the only way is to wait for time to pass.’
But even if he recognized my condition, Mr. Rossby also had no solution. Because if you get hurt, the best thing is to wait until it heals.
‘But why does my back suddenly hurt? I’ve never had anything like this in Korea. Is it really because of sex?’
But so far, I have never had pain that interferes with my hitting… Could it be that your body got weaker while playing in the major leagues? The only thing that changed my routine was that I couldn’t get a message after the home game, but it seemed like that was somehow the reason.
There was a professional masseuse hired by the club, but I didn’t receive it because I didn’t want men’s hands touching my body. After several months, I felt tired.
‘Joeun needs to come quickly…’
I had already told the club that I was planning to hire a personal trainer next year, so there was no problem in getting a massage from Jo Eun as long as she got her license and came to the United States.
No, maybe the situation was better than in Korea? In Korea, it was unthinkable for a personal trainer to follow a team’s training, but in the major leagues, it was not unusual for a personal trainer to follow a player.
‘Tsk, but if it wasn’t for the grilling, I think I would have climbed over the fence.’
As I returned to the dugout, regretting that I would have been able to get over the fence just like that if it weren’t for the grilling, my teammates started laughing at me. I didn’t even go over the fence, but I thought it was funny how excited I was to throw the bat and point to the stands.
Haha, Ji is really fun.”
“No, I didn’t hit a home run, but is that perfect?”
“Haha, if you had seen the look on your face as you ran to first base, you would have laughed like me.”
Soto smiles and heads to the waiting box, and then the laughter subsides in the dugout. I was no longer in the mood to laugh as Judge and Soto, my next batters, were out in succession.
And even after that, the pitcher’s battle was maintained as if the aces were facing each other. However, the pitching battle became slightly balanced in the top of the fourth inning. Boston succeeded in scoring two runs in the top of the fourth inning due to an error by Stanton, who came out as a substitute for first base.
After that, Judge hit a solo home run to make it 2:1, but the score remained 1 run until the end of the 7th inning, and both teams’ starters each allowed 2 runs and 1 earned run in 7 innings and 1 run in 7 innings, respectively. I went down from the mound.
‘I finally went down.’
Trilling was probably a bit too much for me to face with my back hurting, so my record was 0-hit in 3 at-bats. And in the bottom of the 8th inning, Volpi, who was the leadoff hitter, hit a hit that passed by the shortstop, giving him a chance to reach first base with no outs.
The opposing pitcher is Scott, a left-handed pitcher.
‘Sweet, one home run is all it takes to turn things around.’
While I was hitting no hits in 3 at-bats, there was no runner in front of me, so I was exercising restraint. But now, the situation can be turned around with just one home run. Despite the pain, I turned the bat sharply,
Ta – Aak!
Fortunately, this time the batted ball went over the fence.
-Wow!!!!
-Ji! Ji! Ji! Ji! Ji!
‘Write it. ‘Maybe I should go to the hospital?’
… With pain felt in the lower back.
*
-New York Yankees win 3:2 in rivalry!
… Meanwhile, Ji Maeng-ho’s two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning led the Yankees to a comeback, and closer Miller earned his 25th save of the season…
*
“So, your back muscles are inflamed?”
“Yes, it’s nothing serious. It’s just a minor injury. A minor injury that will heal after a week or two of rest.”
“What if I participate in the game?”
“It might take a little more time. “The period can be shortened if combined with injection treatment.”
“Coach, is it okay to get this shot?”
“Probably, it won’t be a problem. As long as TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption: Permission to use drugs for therapeutic purposes) is approved. And this hospital is affiliated with the club, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“Ah, instead, it is better to refrain from throwing your body, such as defense or stealing, for the time being. “It is bound to have an effect on the body.”
“Is it so? Is sex possible?”
“… Well, it would be better to restrain yourself. Even so, it could be too much trouble.”
“But, it doesn’t hurt during normal times or during sex. It only hurts when I’m batting or when I bend my back too much.”
“… Hmm. Still, it is important to make your body as comfortable as possible.”
“Do I feel comfortable during sex?”
“Ji, I respect you as a baseball player, but if things are going to be like this, isn’t there any point in listening to me?”
“… Yes.”
*
-Yankees win 5:1 over Red Sox!
… Meanwhile, Ji Maeng-ho recorded a double on this day, but performed poorly, recording 1 hit in 4 at-bats. …
-Ji Maeng-ho, no hits in 5 at-bats! The batting average of .400 collapsed!
… Ji Maeng-ho recorded no hits in five at-bats, collapsing the .400 batting average he had maintained since his major league debut. … Meanwhile, in this game, starting pitcher Rodon collapsed, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings, and the Yankees lost 11:3.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees, who finished a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox, begin a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium…
-Baltimore, 2 wins and 2 losses to the Yankees!
*
The four-game series against Baltimore ended with a slightly disappointing record of 2 wins and 2 losses. During that period, my record was 6 hits and 0 home runs in 16 at-bats. As my back hurt, I was able to get on base as much as possible because I aimed to get on base as much as possible rather than aiming for home runs.
However, because I couldn’t have sex, my concentration was bound to drop, and in the end, I couldn’t hold back and recorded 3 hits out of 5 in the game the day after I had sex, so I was able to realize that my back pain wasn’t due to sex.
‘I couldn’t have sex for no reason because of the quack. … But if that’s not the case, why did my back hurt?’
Fortunately, the injection treatment was effective, and my back was fully recovered within a week of going to the hospital. However, I felt that something like this would happen again if I did not know why my back was suddenly hurting, so I kept trying to figure out the reason. I found it.
And by Game 2 against the San Francisco Giants, I realized why my back was hurting.
Randy Luba, who started in Game 2 against San Francisco, was a left-handed fastball pitcher who, as his name Randy suggests, threw a fastball in the low 90s. This season, he showed off his potential, recording 7 wins, 3 losses, and an ERA of 2.98. .
And in my second at-bat against him, I was able to hit his ball, and just when I thought my bat timing was late for his fast ball, I turned my waist a little more and was able to pass his ball over the fence.
However, as soon as I put in more effort and crossed the fence, I felt the pain in my lower back that I had become accustomed to over the past few days, and at that moment, the situation of the All-Star Game flashed through my mind. To be exact, it was the situation at the time when I had to apply a lot of force and turn my body to pass a knuckleball in the All-Star Game.
‘Fuck, it was a bit off at that time.’
However, even in Korea, there were many times when I had to force myself to turn my back all the way, but I was puzzled because I never once felt pain because of it.
‘It didn’t hurt this much before… Am I old?’
In the end, in order to find the reason, after the game, I had no choice but to perform the only routine I did in Korea that I did not do when I came to the United States.
“Ji. “I’m honored that the athlete entrusts his body to me. This is my first time touching Ji’s body.”
“… Please take care of me.”
‘Fuck, I can’t believe I left myself in the hands of a man.’
I didn’t like the touch of a man’s hand physiologically, and I didn’t feel much of a woman’s hand unless it was Jo Eun, who knows my body well, so I hadn’t gotten a message in a while, but I was worried that maybe it was because I was in pain because I didn’t get a massage, so I was hired by the club. I had no choice but to go to a male masseuse.
‘Eww… If it weren’t for that kid throwing knuckleballs… !’
It was truly disgusting to allow a man to massage my body, but I felt refreshed after the massage, perhaps because he was a skilled masseuse.
And training time the next day.
“Ji, is the waist teasing light? “Is the injury all better now?”
“… “Maybe?”
I was able to train in the best condition for the first time in a long time.
‘Fuck, the fact that my back isn’t stiff right now means it really hurt because I didn’t get a massage… If this is the case, do I have to keep getting massages from that person?’
But the thought of a man continuing to massage my body for the rest of the season made me miss Jo Eun so much in Korea.