Chapter 807 – Episode 794. A Familiar Face. (1)

-Did you see something terrible again in the Stargram of the Fierce Protector?

This time, I was giving a bad lip to the guy who sexually harassed my girlfriend on Byeolgram. LOL

┗The fierce god of defense doesn’t do that for a day or two haha

┗LOL Then, if you sexually harass Mang Ho-shin’s girlfriend, can you have a 1:1 fan meeting with Mang Ho-shin? Is this a huge benefit?

┗┗Bangpyeong haha

┗┗This is a harsh review kkkk

┗But Joo Ji-Ah was also a legend haha. The live broadcast was funny, but I understand that the managers were angry. Haha, they were almost at the level of being a guest haha.

┗┗But the legend is that he is going to upload a vlog haha. He wants to betray all the viewers and take their money, but this mindset is so fucking disgusting haha

┗┗? Meng Ho-shin’s annual salary is $55 million, but it doesn’t seem like he’s doing it for the money? Could it be broth?

┗┗Wasn’t it just a baseball information broadcast? Betrayal of viewers is a long way off? Haha, this shit looks like broth?

┗But after declaring my relationship with Meng Ho-shin publicly, the number of subscribers increased haha. Wasn’t there an abyss atmosphere when I saw it posted last time?

┗┗Does it seem like the number of overseas subscribers has increased? And anyway, it’s just a small group of people in the community, so what’s wrong with Hell?

┗┗I saw it posted last time and subscribed, right? Honestly, aren’t you really curious about how Meng Tiger lives? ㅆㅅㅌㅊ The life of an alpha male who lives with only women… I’m jealous ㅅㅂ

*

–

Yankees! 6 consecutive wins while capturing Houston!

… The Yankees took the lead with Stanton’s grand slam… Meanwhile, Tucker struggled in the bottom of the 5th inning and Altuve hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th, but they could not overturn the score gap that had already widened.

WP: Gerrit Cole (6 innings, 2 runs, 6K, 16th win of the season)

LP: Hunter Brown (3.1 innings, 4 runs, 2K, 5 losses of the season)

SP: Hayden Merda (3 innings, 1 run, 2K, 6th save of the season)

*

“How are you these days? How are you?”

“Well, not as much as Korea.”

After the first game against Houston, it was time to have a meal with Wonho, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. Wonho’s expression darkened when I asked him about his current situation.

‘Boy, it must be hard.’

Well, it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand that Wonho was having a hard time.

I didn’t exactly remember Wonho’s performance in Korea, but I remembered that Wonho was a monster pitcher who consistently recorded an ERA in the 2-point range during his time in Korea, and that he won the Triple Crown with an ERA in the 1-run range in his final season.

Although they won MVP from me.

Anyway, Wonho’s record in the major league was 7 wins, 2 losses and an ERA of 4.55 over 93 innings in 19 games. I remember that the strikeouts were similar in number of innings, and I saw it during today’s power analysis class, so I was probably certain.

If you look at Wonho’s performance alone, he was a decent 4-5 starter, but in Houston, he was at the 2nd starter level. Today, after beating up Houston’s ace, Brown, Brown’s ERA also went up by 4 points.

In addition, Wonho’s performance was not that bad, as Urias had 6 wins at 5.19, Javier had 4 wins at 5.73, and McCullers had 5 wins at 5.25.

‘But Houston is also great. With this kind of selection, we are ranked 2nd overall in the AL.’

When I think about the performance of Houston’s starting lineup during today’s power analysis session, I realize that Houston’s performance right now is amazing.

Houston was the second-best team in the league after us with 56 wins and 43 losses, and they were making up for the failing starters with the strength of their batting line.

If you look at Houston’s batting lineup, there were more than eight batters who hit double-digit home runs, and it was a batting lineup that ranked in the top five in the entire major league, but ironically, it was not a good match for us. Our batting lineup was the strongest in the major leagues, with only three hitters hitting 30 home runs (Na, Judge, and Soto), and our fifth starting lineup was stabilized.

“Under… I need to do better… “If you meet me this time, hit me gently.”

“Take care to prevent it.”

He lifts his middle finger to block Wonho’s whining in advance. Wonho talked about baseball, so his thoughts drifted towards that, but honestly, I wasn’t that curious about him other than how difficult it was.

The reason I asked how he was doing was whether he was maintaining a good relationship with the woman he met then. I even made concessions, but I was very curious whether Wonho would continue meeting.

“But then, did you get along well with the person you met back then?”

“Him? Who? Oh, Joohee?”

Right. Joohee. When I see my name called, it seems like it went well…

“Oh, I didn’t tell you. “I’m dating Joohee.”

“Baby, that’s good.”

Mmmm. Good. If you didn’t accept it even after I gave in, I was going to hit you in the back…

Anyway, Joo-hee was the girl who passed the personality test I gave, so she was a good match for Won-ho.

“But, do I have time? Aren’t you busy?”

“Oh, Juhee is busy. But these days, the concert schedule is over, so we meet often. My agency contract ends next year, so I’m thinking about getting married. Joohee also wants to get married quickly.”

“… Already?”

Are you already thinking about getting married? No matter how important it is for the family to be stable, the two seemed to be quite compatible considering they were thinking about getting married less than a year after meeting.

“Why? You’re married too. Oh, that’s right. I heard about your pregnancy. Congratulations on your second, Meng Hao.”

“Oh, okay, thank you.”

“But it’s really amazing. You weren’t that interested in girls when you were in high school. At that time, I always went to the back of the warehouse and swung by myself… I knew you would succeed, Meng Hao. It’s strange that you don’t succeed when you try so hard. Well, I didn’t know it would be this successful.”

“Bitch, that was then. Anyway, congratulations girlfriend. “I helped you a lot, so I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life.”

Wonho tries to bring up an unfamiliar story, so he immediately changes the topic.

“What kind of help? At that time, I thought you were crazy. “Why are you joking like that?”

Anyway, this guy doesn’t know how to appreciate friends. I helped you so much, but you don’t know how grateful I am. Later, she thought that she should only give 500 won as a congratulatory gift when he gets married.

‘No, actually, since I was the matchmaker, shouldn’t I get paid?’

“I almost got screwed because of you, so if I really get married, you should pay me double the congratulatory money, bitch.”

… I felt like I had to show my skills in the stadium to my ungrateful friend.

*

-Judge’s multi-home run explosion! Yankees 7th win in a row!

… Meanwhile, thanks to Judge’s performance of 4 hits in 6 at-bats, 2 home runs, and 6 RBIs, the Yankees defeated Houston 14:2…

WP: Logan Gilbert (6.2 innings, 2 runs, 7 Ks, 13th win of the season)

LP: Julio Urias (4.1 innings, 4 runs, 4K, 8 losses on the season)

*

A series against Houston, which won a landslide victory in the starting matchup. Houston’s starters could not block our batting lineup, and as I expected, Cole and Gilbert were able to block Houston’s batters as top-ranking pitchers in the league and get two wins, but I was a little uneasy looking at today’s starting matchup.

Because today’s starting pitcher was Rodon, the most unstable pitcher in our rotation.

Rodon was a truly unpredictable pitcher. He was the kind of pitcher who would give up 7 scoreless innings and 1 run, but then give up 5 runs in 4 innings and 5 runs in 5 innings in the next game.

After changing the catcher, the former ratio increased, but in order to win, the only way to win was to pray before the game that Rodon would throw well in today’s game.

‘Sseu-eup, I want to win today…’

And the opposing team’s starting pitcher was my friend, Wonho, who didn’t know the favor and spoke out as being ungrateful. That’s why I wanted to win today more than other games.

“Meng Hao, please be gentle today. “I’m having a hard time these days.”

“I told you. I’m having a hard time these days because of my injury. “I’m saying the feeling of hitting isn’t coming back.”

And when we ran into each other before the game, we confided in each other,

“A kid who is 3-for-8 in this series alone… Okay, today I’ll give you a complete blow.”

“Yes, work hard.”

The short conversation ended with a friendly exchange of middle fingers. When I looked at Wonho’s eyes, they seemed to be full of sincerity, but the thought of those eyes being colored with despair already made my heart flutter.

My first at-bat with such excitement.

‘Two-seam, it’s towards the body.’

‘Okay.’

“Ball.”

“Wow!”

The ball was declared as Wonho’s two-seamer almost grazed his side. When I looked at the mound in surprise, I saw Wonho smiling and looking at me.

‘… ‘You bastard!’

The speed recorded on the electronic display board was 88.9 miles (143 km/h). When I looked at the speed, it didn’t seem like he threw it with all his might, and it seemed like he just threw it to tease me. But the meaning of this ball was not simply a joke. It was a ball that gave me confidence that I could take on myself by throwing away one ball.

‘Is this all a smokescreen for all the whining?’

Wonho’s season performance wasn’t that good, but if you look at his last 10 games, he wasn’t bad. Excluding the two games where he conceded many goals, he has won 5 of the last 10 games while scoring 2 points.

Is this a grade that will make him feel confident?

‘Yes, this is how it’s fun.’

I quickly think about the analysis of Wonho I heard in power analysis class. Not much has changed since my time in Korea, but the only thing I should be careful about is that, perhaps due to the tight Major League schedule, I occasionally throw low throws in the low 140s, like balls I just threw for fun?

Wonho’s fastball was forming at around 153~157 km/h, so I was careful of the ball suddenly flying in the low 140s and figured out Wonho’s condition today.

“Strike!”

“Ball.”

‘The condition looks normal… Okay, analysis complete. You are left behind.’

After seeing about three balls like that, I was able to figure out Wonho’s condition today. Was it a little easier to figure out because he was the pitcher you faced all four years? Like Suho, who I met before San Francisco, and Wonho, who I’m dealing with today, it was nice to be familiar with him.

‘It’s a fastball. Outside.’

‘Yes.’

And Wonho’s fourth ball was thrown. I swung the bat without hesitation at the fastball aimed at the high outside area, which was known to be my weak point.

‘Uh… ?!’

The moment I put out the bat, I could feel something strange. Wonho’s ball was thrown much slower than my timing.

Perfect!

‘… What the fuck?!’

And a high-flying ball.

“Out!”

He ran to first base, but the center fielder caught him, and he was declared out.

‘Oh, you lucky bastard. Are you throwing a pitch there? Ah, if I were in good condition, I would have supported it and played!’

After getting out in my first at-bat, I went into the dugout cursing at Wonho’s good luck.

“Out!”

“Base on balls!”

“Strike out!”

He gave Soto a walk, but I felt something strange when I saw Wonho calling out Judge and Stanton.

‘… Wasn’t it a loss of focus?’

“Coach. Can I see Wonho’s analysis data? “Let’s see after the defense is over.”

“Wonho? Ah! Kim? “I’ll prepare it.”

‘My grades have suddenly improved these days. It can’t be true, right?’

Defense in the bottom of the first inning after requesting data from the coach. Fortunately, Rodon’s condition was good, so the inning ended with a three-way throw, and I was able to find meaningful data on the power analysis sheet I looked at after entering the dugout.

‘My grades have improved since I started throwing misfires. I don’t think it’s really a lost pitch? … Could it be that you adjusted the speed and speed?’

After thinking that it wasn’t a devitalization, my head started spinning.

Major league power analysts who don’t know Wonho well might just dismiss it as a lost throw due to lack of stamina, but anyone who has seen Wonho for nearly 10 years could tell.

The fact is that a ball that looks like a miss is a ball that was 100% thrown with intention.

Wonho was not the kind of weak guy who threw a few balls and threw a miss. Wonho, who had been proud of his physical strength since high school, was inferior to me in terms of strength, but his physical strength was similar to mine.

Even after over 100 pitches, Wonho, who used to throw over 150 km/h, is having a hard time and throws pitches in the low 140s? That made no sense. In order for Wonho to throw such a slow ball due to his stamina, he had to force himself to throw the ball after three days of rest like in the semi-playoff game last year.

And in the meantime, Hall and Vientos strike out and return to the dugout.

The way Wonho is throwing the ball in the field now resembles the Wonho that I envied and was jealous of when I was in middle school and high school.

‘You’re not just playing around either, right? … ‘It’s fun.’

Of course, unlike back then, what I felt was not inferiority but excitement.