Chapter 826 – Episode 813. A Preview of the World Series? (2)

“Ji, you look in a good mood?”

“How are you feeling? Is there anything bad about it? Let’s finish quickly and go home!”

Still, even Vientos, who I wasn’t very close with even though we had been on the team for a few months, knew that I was in a good mood. Actually, rather than feeling good, I’m just excited to go home and drink Soyoung and Jia’s breast milk at the same time.

And the most delicious way to eat those breast milk was to win the game.

After losing the game, it was clear that if I went home and expressed such an opinion, I would look like I was being foolish, so I wanted to save Gao, the head of the family, by winning today’s game.

‘Today’s starter was Yamamoto, right? I’m a little uneasy because it’s Rodon…’

The Dodgers’ starter today is Yamamoto. Sometimes, some assholes would send me DMs telling me not to make fun of them because the best pitcher in Japan was so-and-so, and the name that was mentioned the most each time was Yamamoto.

Yamamoto’s major league record was not as good as Ohtani’s, with 12 wins in the 3-point range, but because Ohtani had hit home runs against me a few times in international competitions and All-Star games, it seemed like he was pushing Yamamoto, a pitcher he hadn’t met yet, when I read DMs like that. It was fun because I laughed every time.

‘But why are you sending it in Korean?’

Probably, this question will not be answered until I die.

Well, it really didn’t matter if Yamamoto was the best pitcher in Japan, as they said.

Anyway, even if they were the best in Japan, they were barely in the top 10 Cy Young teams. Otaniya says he’s aiming for No. 1 Cy Young, but he’s won a lot so far.

‘That’s it, but I’m worried about the batting lineup. Can Rodon stop the Dodgers’ batting lineup?’

Honestly, Rodon was more of a problem than the pitchers. Objectively, the Dodgers’ batting line was inferior to ours, but it was a batting line competing for 2nd to 3rd place in the major league with Atlanta, and the 1st to 5th lines, starting with Sean, Ohtani, Smith, Tatis, and Seungcheol, were ours. It was just the next level.

The game started with such anxiety.

Perfect!

“Base on balls!”

‘Fuck, that’s right.’

Rodon gave up a hit to Sean and a walk to Ohtani, foreshadowing that this would be a tough game.

Perfect!

Fortunately, Smith’s ball slowly heads toward third base.

‘Okay, it’s an easy grounder.’

At this speed, I could induce a double play, so I stepped on second base, caught the ball, and prepared to throw it to first base.

However,

“Huh?!”

Vientos, who was running forward from behind the third base, missed the ball.

‘Oh, shit… !’

A mistake that occurred because the defensive position was close to the base. It was outrageous, but it wasn’t an absurd mistake. Considering Smith’s main ability, after catching the ball, he steps on third base and throws it straight to second base, and if I throw the ball to first base, there could be a triple hit.

‘Just do the basics, fuck…’ .’

However, even taking that into account, his mistake was too big. As the ball bounced near the foul line, Sean, who was on second base, went home, and Ohtani, who was on first base, went to third base.

Moreover, the pitcher standing on the mound is none other than Rodon, a pitcher who humanizes the word ups and downs.

‘Ah, I lost today. Fuck.’

The strong taste of defeat is already on the tip of my tongue.

Perfect!

“Out!”

However, contrary to my thoughts, fortunately, Tatis hit a ground ball in front of the pitcher, and Rodon, who had tied up the runner on third base, chose first base and the out count went up.

‘Sseu-eup, wouldn’t it have been better to just give 1 point and aim for a double play here?’

However, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been better to aim for a double play. With our batting lineup, we could have scored at least 2 points against Yamamoto.

‘Pitchers usually don’t like to give even one point.’

‘But isn’t it because of a mistake anyway that makes me blameless? The ERA doesn’t go up, does it?’

‘… What do you think they call a bastard like you?’

‘What does it say?’

‘Succi.’

‘…’

Where did you learn bad words… I miss Mr. Rossby, who was so innocent when I first met him… No, wasn’t it pure?

‘When I think about it, Mr. Rossby’s Korean skills, like my English, are my influence, so is it my fault? Well, they say that babies learn their parents’ language habits… Wait, so I’m Mr. Rossby’s dad? Mr. Rossby, try saying ‘Father.’

‘What a crazy bastard… !’

‘Now, wait a minute! Still playing! Seungcheol hyung! Seungcheol came in! Concentration! ‘Focus!’

I stop Mr. Rossby, who is suddenly trying to attack me with a double insult, over something that is nothing special, and focus on my at-bat. Seungcheol is at bat.

Although he was not the type of hitter who hit hard balls to second base, he still needed to be careful, so he concentrated and watched the at-bat, and before he knew it, the ball count became one ball, one strike.

And then,

-Containment.

A check signal was heard through bone conduction earphones connected to Peachcom. Looking towards first base, it looks like Tatis, the runner on first base, is about to run.

‘Did you say that kid stole 30 bases? I think I heard you joined the 30-30 club?’

Well, to me, who is now in the 70-70 club and aiming for only one stolen base out of 100, it was a record that was like a baby’s that hasn’t even taken a step yet, but in any case, recording 30 stolen bases meant that caution was needed.

‘Run!’

The moment I focused on the runner on first base, his foot twitched,

“It’s done!”

Rodon’s lightning strike heads toward first base.

“Fuck!”

Tatis, who thought it was already too late, cursed and ran toward second base. The most important thing here is to prevent Ohtani, the runner on third base, from getting into the groove!

If you were lucky, you could have eliminated the runner on third base by sniping him, so this situation required a high level of concentration.

But even so, there was a way for me to focus entirely on the runner on first base.

‘Mr. Rossby!’

‘I know even if you don’t say it.’

If Ohtani, the runner on third base, runs home, Mr. Rossby will tell you.

I have complete confidence in Mr. Rossby and am completely focused on the runner on first base. Tatis takes his time going back and forth between us, and the ball goes my way. The distance from Tatis is about 3 to 4 steps. I picked up the pace and chased after him,

‘Third base!’

The moment I placed Tatis in front of me, I heard Mr. Rossby’s voice. The moment I heard that voice, I took the ball out of my glove to make it easier to throw, touched Tatis with the hand holding the ball, and immediately threw the ball toward third base.

“Safe!”

“Oh, that’s alive.”

But it’s safe at third base.

‘Wait, shouldn’t I have tagged it?’

‘Well, then I might have been able to catch the runner on third base, but there was also a chance that I couldn’t. You were right here. I shouted for third base, so I could do the same. The sense of taking the ball out of the glove and tagging it was good.’

As I was discussing with Mr. Rossby about not being able to catch the runner on third base, an unfamiliar voice called me from the side.

“Hey.”

“… Huh?”

There was no one on the team who called me ‘hey’, so of course the voice was Tatis.

“Where did you learn tags to do it that way?”

“… “What kind of bullshit is this?”

What’s wrong with this guy? It was so absurd that I almost burst out laughing.

“Ha, you fucking tag me and then get away with it. “What kind of coach teaches you to hit a runner with your fist?”

“I didn’t fucking tag you, you fucking ran. “I don’t think I would have been caught in the first place, right?”

Why is this idiot talking to me when he was captured? Are you going to fight?

“Stop! Stop!”

As I was wondering whether I should tell him what it means to hit with a real fist, I heard the referees’ voices.

‘Under… I, the kind person I am, have to endure it.’

However, if a blank ball came my way, I was not going to hold back and run to first base. In this situation, if an empty ball was thrown, it was clear that that bastard had instigated it.

Anyway, thanks to a series of disturbances, the atmosphere in the stadium becomes cold. To be precise, the Dodgers’ atmosphere became cold as the chance of 1st and 3rd bases with 1 out was changed to 2 outs and 3rd bases.

Perfect!

“Out!”

And as if reflecting that atmosphere, Seungcheol’s batted ball is caught by the center fielder.

‘Anyway, those kids who can’t even play baseball have bad tempers. It just ruins the team atmosphere.’

‘That is correct. Because your temper is also dirty.’

‘… Yes? What nonsense is that…’

Correction. Even among people who were good at baseball, there were people with foul tempers. No, it’s not a person, it’s a ghost?

It was so sad that people like Mr. Rossby, even people like me, who are good at baseball and kind, had to suffer from such prejudice.

As the top of the first inning ended, and I went into the dugout to gather my batting equipment, Coach Mattingly approached me for the first time in a long time.

“Ji.”

“Yes, director.”

“Although we gave up one point, the atmosphere was on our side. “You know, right?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, keep going with the flow.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Coach Mattingly wasn’t the type to give these kinds of instructions, which probably means that today’s game is very important.

And I was a hitter who could faithfully carry out the director’s role.

‘Okay, Moto, let’s have a fight.’

What kind of pitch will the ‘best pitcher in Japan’ whom we meet today throw? I was even more curious because Yamamoto was quite famous for his unique pitching form.

‘It’s definitely unique. If this is the case, I’ll have to watch a few things to get a feel for it.’

And Yamamoto’s pitching form, which I watched closely through practice pitching, was definitely unique. It was quite difficult for guys who used such a unique pitching form to hit the right timing, so it was better to just watch rather than deal with them aggressively from the beginning.

‘Surely, it’s not completely wrong like Cortés?’

Honestly, among the guys who threw with strange pitching form, there were guys like Cortes whose hitting timing was completely off, so I felt uneasy for a while.

“Strike!”

‘… Is this worth it?’

Although Yamamoto’s ball was fast, he didn’t seem that difficult to hit.

‘You said there were about 6 breaking balls, right? Slider, curve, cutter, sinker, changeup. And even a splitter. There are a lot. Well, if you’re not confident with the ball, you should at least learn some tricks.’

Of course, no matter how difficult it looks to hit, since it was his first time seeing the pitcher, he decided to wait and watch the guy hit the ball.

“Ball.”

“Ball.”

Perfect!

“Foul!”

“Ball.”

Perfect!

“Foul!”

Perfect!

“Foul!”

As I waited for the ball to be cleared, the situation was already at full count.

‘It’s a splitter.’

‘Okay.’

The eighth ball he chose was a splitter, the deciding ball. It was the second ball I saw today, so when I feel like it’s coming high like I usually do against splitters, I decide to swing the bat and wait for the guy’s ball.

And the guy’s ball was thrown…

‘It’s coming!’

I momentarily thought about taking out the bat, but I held back the bat as it seemed like something was coming below my waist.

“… Base on balls!”

The umpire declared a walk.

‘Have you tried it? He throws it out of the zone at the end. Anyway, I’m lucky.’

I was a little disappointed because I felt like I could have cleared the fence if I had gotten into the zone, but to me, a walk was no different from a triple, so I took off my gear and walked to first base.

“…”

And Tatis, standing at first base, glares at me as I walk with my arms crossed.

“Are you still upset? “Isn’t it too narrow-minded?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, yes. They say small dogs bark well.”

“… What a bitch…”

“My brother will show me what stealing is today, so learn well.”

Deciding to teach Tatis what stealing is, he watches the match between Judge and Yamamoto.

‘It’s a curve.’

When the timing for the breaking ball came, I ran toward second base without looking back.

“Safe!”

The result is, of course, safe.

-Waaaaa!!!!!

And cheers echo throughout Yankee Stadium.

‘What? ‘With just one stolen base?’

For a moment, I wondered why I suddenly heard shouts when I was just playing the game I normally play, but the message on the electronic display and the second baseman, Sean, standing next to me, explained the reason.

“Congratulations on your 100th steal.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

As far as I know, I think I heard that this guy is the hottest second baseman in the major league right now, excluding me, and he definitely seemed like someone who was good at baseball and had a good personality, except for Mr. Rossby.

“As far as I know, I heard this is the first time he has stolen 100 bases since 1987. That’s amazing.”

“But you look a little young? What year were you born? .”

“Me? “You were born in 2004?”

Born in 2004? Holy shit…

“This little bastard…”

“… ?”

“Don’t stop talking, you bastard.”

The young bastard said something at first sight…

‘If it were our team, we would have killed half of it, but how does Seungcheol manage the team? Why are there so many trash people on the team?’

I tried to give him a lecture on character, but unfortunately, I didn’t stay on second base for very long.

Perfect!

-Wow!!!!

‘Run to home!’

Because Judge’s batted ball exceeded the second baseman’s height and landed in right-center field.

I ran home on that batted ball, and we were able to tie the game right away in the first inning.

“Director, this is enough to keep the mood going, right?”

“As expected, the ability to carry out operations is excellent.”

And even praise from the director.

The taste of breast milk I would drink today seemed even sweeter than yesterday.