Chapter 810 – Episode 797. Stress. (2)

[With two outs and a runner on second base, Ji comes to bat. … Bradley sending Ji into the sand dune. Haha, the batsman behind him is Judge, and it’s a fascinating scene to see. It’s a scene you never get used to no matter how many times you see it.]

[Leaves the judge behind and sends the batter in front of an intentional walk. A scene like this would have been completely unimaginable until last year, but it happens. Actually, Judge’s performance isn’t bad, right? With a batting average of .209, 46 home runs, and 125 RBIs, he ranks second in the major league in home runs and tied for first in the major league with Ji in RBIs…, I wonder how this match will play out.]

[At the top of the third inning, the home team, Tampa Bay, is ahead 1:0. Tampa Bay chose to fill Ji Maeng-ho at first base, and the result was! It’s a ball. The first pitch is a ball. … Two strikes, two balls situations. … Uh! The ball hits the body. Now at the plate is Verdugo, who replaced Soto today as the third hitter.]

[Getting hit is not a good result, but in my opinion, it seems better to face Verdugo with 2 outs and bases loaded than to face Judge with 2 outs and 1st and 2nd bases. Although Verdugo still has a batting average of .300, it feels less intimidating compared to Judge, right?]

[… Verdugo’s 2nd pitch! Second baseman! Out! Bradley overcomes the crisis with bases loaded and 2 outs!]

…

…

[… Diaz’s hit high on third base. Caught by the third baseman. Although Gilbert gave up one run with a sacrifice fly, he ended the bottom of the fifth inning without giving up any more runs. At 2:0, the game reaches a turning point.]

*

“Ned Green. There is a record of us meeting once during spring camp. Was John weird back then?”

“Is it so? Ned Green, Ned Green… I think I’ll remember it. Write, I’m not sure. Because I’m not the type of person to remember such things. But that guy definitely has a wide zone for Asian hitters, right?”

“Uh… I’m not sure, but it seems a bit like that. But why is that?”

“No, I think the zone was a bit wide for the first at-bat. I need to know that, so I can deal with it.”

“Hmm… If you don’t feel like it, it’s not a bad idea to keep it in mind. Ah, Ji! “I left my gloves behind!”

“I took it off on purpose. “Ever since I was training, something about the gloves didn’t feel right.”

After the 5th inning was over, and I entered the dugout, the manager brought me the information I wanted. I asked for a favor as soon as I got into the dugout after striking out in the first inning. I felt a little late because I didn’t have much data, but my timing wasn’t bad because I walked to first base after getting hit on an intentional pitch in my second at-bat.

‘Okay, this is a fucking racecist. You are behind.’

As I was about to walk to the plate, pledging to the umpire to never allow racial discrimination again, Mr. Rossby spoke to me.

‘Tsk tsk, it’s unmanly to check something like that… If it were me, I would have kicked it the moment I felt something strange.’

‘Oh, but it could just be because it’s early in the game. I’m not someone who just goes out like Mr. Rossby. … Huh? But didn’t Mr. Rossby say that he couldn’t say anything to the referee? ‘I think I heard this a few years ago?’

‘Shut up. I have never been like that.’

‘No. I think I heard it…’

‘Uh? Ned Green? ‘Isn’t that the referee who gave you a strange decision during spring training?’

‘No, well, it’s still the same now, so it must have been the same back then.’

‘No, I remember clearly. Even then, I struck out because of him.’

‘… Was it like that?’

‘Ha, you stupid bastard. I don’t even remember that, but you remember what I said years ago? I have never begged a referee as much as you did. Instead, the referees gave me the zone.’

Well, when I was looking up information about Mr. Rossby, I remember seeing an anecdote in which the pitcher protested and the umpire responded, ‘If it had been a strike, Mr. Rossby would have told you?’

How do you remember?

I knew this was impossible due to Mr. Rossby’s personality, so I remember arguing with him about this and getting scolded for it.

‘Well, I still don’t believe it, but seeing as there was such an anecdote, it must be true that the referee adjusted the zone to some extent. Perhaps it was because the referees at that time were afraid that Mr. Rossby would hit them with the bat?’

Anyway, I had to prepare for batting soon, so after ending the useless argument with Mr. Rossby, I went into the batter’s box and prepared to bat by doing a routine without gloves.

No, to be precise, I prepared to tell the referee how bad racism is.

‘Racism is a mental illness, so I have no choice but to treat it. Today, I will have to go into doctor Ji Maeng-ho mode instead of teacher mode. Ha, is it okay for me to be this good, even getting treatment for mental illness without receiving any money?’

I don’t remember how many years ago, but there was a guy in Korea who made these ridiculous decisions. And even then, the world’s best doctor and Korea’s Schweitzer treated me.

At that time, that guy came to his senses after being hit three times with a bat, so I was a little curious how many times it would take this patient to come to his senses.

‘Okay, ready.’

‘Yes, this guy is also worried. … Curve. Outside low. Well, does it matter?’

‘Yes, of course.’

The pitcher doesn’t even know what I’m thinking, and he throws the ball. It felt like it was slightly floating, but I didn’t care about that and swung the bat at the timing of the fastball. No, I swung and released my hand at the correct timing.

And the ‘therapeutic swing’ I had been practicing with Mr. Rossby did not go astray.

Puck!

I could hear the sound of a wooden bat hitting flesh,

“Kwaaaaa!”

The sound is soon drowned out by the referee’s screams.

‘Hmm, whether you’re Korean or American, if you get hit by a bat, the scream is the same.’

After a moment of being amazed at having learned a new fact, I quickly opened my mouth.

“Ah! I’m sorry. This bat is slippery! Are you okay? “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My arm! “Arms, arms!”

As soon as the referee falls to the ground, Tampa Bay’s trainers come running with air masks.

‘Anyway, I’m going to kill you. If I were a player, I would break something.’

Did this cure his racism?

However, in my experience, no patients were cured with injections.

“Ugh, Ji! Watch out for the bat!”

And as soon as I saw the guy speaking informally and being rude to the doctor as soon as he received treatment, my experience was not wrong.

“Oh, sorry. “It was summer and my hands were sweaty, so the bat slipped.”

“Gloves! Just wear gloves!”

“It’s because my gloves are worn out.”

“There are other players’ gloves too?!”

“Are you telling me to hit with gloves that don’t fit?”

“…”

“I’ll spray a lot and hit it. … This is enough, right? Anyway, I’m sorry.”

When about 1/3 of a can of anti-slip spray was sprayed in front of the referee, the referee’s ferocious expression calmed down slightly. Well, the treatment was going to continue regardless.

‘It’s a slider.’

‘Okay.’

The pitcher’s slider was thrown after the situation had calmed down a bit. Perhaps because the game had stopped slightly, this ball missed an absurd amount, and it made no sense to swing the bat at a ball like this, so I didn’t bring out the bat.

“Ball.”

And the referee calls for the ball. Someone could have asked whether the patient was treated, but if this ball was called a strike, it would be innocent for the batter to break the umpire’s head with the bat, so it was not possible to judge whether the patient was treated based on this.

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

However, since then, unfortunately, there have been no conditions to treat the patient again during the three-ball period.

‘Oh, just throw it in the fucking zone, I’ll give it a nice swing.’

‘It’s a fastball. The mitt is in the middle.’

‘Oh, since it’s a three-ball, I guess you’re just thinking of putting it in the zone?’

The opposing pitcher finally decided to throw a strike when it was a three-ball, one-strike situation, and I swung the bat only after the fastball had almost passed the zone.

Pop!

‘… ‘Huh?’

And a different sound is heard than before. Previously it was clearly the sound of flesh hitting the bat, but this time it was the sound of hitting a harder part.

“Kwaaaaa!”

“Ah… “It slipped again.”

“Ugh, my fingers, my fingers!”

Seeing him crying while holding his finger, it seemed like he broke his bone while trying to block it with his hand.

‘… Uh, wait a minute. If this happens, won’t the referee be replaced?’

We need to see that the patient is completely cured through treatment, but we can’t believe they are replaced without being able to see the progress. … This was a medical accident.

‘Ha, I made this mistake…’ . I’m sorry. I tried to completely fix it.’

In the end, the referee with a broken bone is taken away in an ambulance.

‘Sorry. I’ll definitely fix it the next time we meet. In order to be completely cured, you need to undergo treatment over and over again.’

So I said goodbye to the patient for the next treatment with a tearful apology,

“Base on balls!”

I was able to walk to first base with a full count.

This walk also felt a bit blatantly filtered, but perhaps thanks to the interaction with one patient, this walk wasn’t as unpleasant as yesterday.

*

[Ah, the referee is eventually replaced.]

[Ji’s swing is very dangerous. This kind of swing that hurts people should not be done.]

[Why do I suddenly miss the bat like this?]

[Maybe it’s because I don’t have gloves, or maybe my grip strength has weakened because the weather is hot.]

[Okay. We wish referee Green a speedy recovery. … Ji gets a walk.]

“No matter how you look at it, it seems like it was done intentionally…”

Yankees general manager Eric, who was watching the game, saw Ji Maeng-ho throwing the bat and couldn’t help but wonder if he did it on purpose. No, I was convinced that it was intentional.

He said that Maeng-ho, whom he had seen and recognized in many ways, including his time in Korea, was a person who could do that.

“… For some reason, there have been rumors that things are not going well these days, and this is what happened in the end.”

Director Eric knew that Ji Maeng-ho’s condition was unusual these days. Coach Nick, who gave Ji Maeng-ho a massage, as well as other team members, had been telling him that Ji Maeng-ho was under stress these days.

So, it was somewhat expected that Ji Maeng-ho would do something like this. Perhaps this incident happened because of that stress.

The good news was that it was not a situation that would result in disciplinary action. Although Ji Maeng-ho’s actions were suspicious, it was because he was not the player himself and there was no way to prove his intent. Moreover, the Major League office, which likes superstars, had a favorable view of Ji Maeng-ho, so there was little chance of him being disciplined.

“Tsk, you seem to be quiet these days, but then you have an accident again. It would be a big problem if a huge accident happened like this…”

However, even if there was no possibility of disciplinary action, he could not continue to watch Ji Meng-ho’s behavior like this. If this continues, it could lead to a major incident at any time.

“Hmm… They say that Asians listen respectfully to their seniors. Should I recognize one Korean player? First, typing is impossible. Neither Joo nor Choi are in a position to join our team. Then you have to choose between pitchers…”

So, with the trade deadline just around the corner, General Manager Eric began looking for a Korean who could curb Ji Maeng-ho’s erratic behavior.