Chapter 828 – Episode 814. Best Player. (1)

[… Ah! Here comes a fatal mistake! The New York Yankees succeed in tying the game! Score 5:5! And now, with the bases loaded, it’s Ji Maeng-ho. … I hit you! Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball! Fence! It hits and falls! Ji Maeng-ho’s come-from-behind sweep and timely hit with the bases loaded! Score 8:5!]

[… Ah. Buehler collapses. Walker Buehler came to the mound in the 6th inning, but ended up leaving the mound without hitting a single batter. The score was 9:8. The pitcher who came out next was Jung Woo-sung. Ah! Padlo’s sacrifice fly tied the game. … Jung Woo-sung finishing the inning.]

[… Judge’s hit! Let’s go! The jersey that marks the 54th home run of the season is a come-from-behind home run! … Soto’s batted ball too! Let’s go! Back to back home runs! Score 11:9!]

[… With the Yankees ahead by two runs at 11:9, it was Yankees closer Mason Miller who took the mound in the top of the ninth inning. … Out! … Out! … Strike! Out! Mason Miller finishes the game! The Yankees take their second win!]

[In yesterday’s game, Rodon and Yamamoto had a pitching battle, but today, the starting pitchers of both teams, Miller and Buehler, collapsed and a slugfest broke out. It was a feast so famous that it was called a preview of the World Series, and there was a lot of food.]

[Wow, it was a really rich match, right? If this is the case, I can’t help but look forward to tomorrow’s game.]

[Yes. I think it will be even more fun tomorrow with Ohtani as the starting pitcher.]

[Then we will end the broadcast here. Caster so far…]

*

-New York Yankees! After a fierce battle, the Dodgers are defeated!

… Meanwhile, Ji Maeng-ho raised his batting average to .407 by recording 3 hits in 3 at-bats, 3 runs, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, and 1 stolen base.

┗What is Otani’s 1 hit in 5 at-bats? Haha, he’s being scolded by Ji Maeng-ho

┗┗Including the previous game, he had 1 hit in 8 at-bats. Haha, Maeng Ho-shin had 4 hits and 4 walks in 5 at-bats. Just from now on, the bastards who are rubbing up against Otani are cluelessㅇㅇ

┗┗See you at the next game haha

┗┗The Koreans beat the Japanese, so why is this guy so angry?

┗┗? Are you rooting for the Dodgers because you’re a fan of Joo Seung-chul? Why do you control my cheering team?

┗┗ㅋㅋ You would say so

┗┗It’s just that Otani was also a normal guy before Meng Ho-shin debuted in the major league. LOL

*

‘Whoa, we just need to win today…’

Soyoung’s suggestion was enough to boost my competitive spirit. Perhaps thanks to that, I was able to see the ball quite clearly yesterday, and I was able to boast that I got on base every time I batted.

And today, my condition during training was pretty good, just like yesterday.

However, yesterday Miller was the 5th starter, but today’s starter was Ohtani, which was different from yesterday.

Unlike Miller, who has a 4-point rating, Ohtani is currently a pitcher with one of the top five scores in the major league. Since he was a contender for the National League Cy Young nomination along with Alcantara, it was impossible to be optimistic that he was in good shape.

Moreover, it has already been two years since I met Otani. He was a little nervous because he couldn’t get help from Mr. Rossby. To some extent, I was nervous before meeting Trilling, Alcantara, or McClanahan… ?

The good news, though, was that it was much better than thinking we were dealing with Cortés.

‘Tsk, I wish Cole or Gilbert had come out today…’

Although it was unavoidable due to the rotation, it was a bit disappointing that the pitcher facing Ohtani was Singer, the team’s fifth starter.

Of course, it seemed like I wasn’t the only one feeling this tension. Because I could feel that not only my teammates but also the Dodgers players were nervous.

Seeing that Seungcheol, who I had talked to without any pressure before the start of the first and second games, did not come to see me, does it seem like he wants to give the team’s ace a win in addition to winning the last game of the series? 〈 Br〉

But, the ace gets robbed by our 5th starter? It seemed like fun just imagining it.

“Then, let’s apply it again today and tell the Dodgers’ minds who will win this year’s World Series, right?”

“The season isn’t even over yet, but we’re talking about the World Series.”

“Hey, let’s go with confidence. Be confident.”

I felt like confidence surged on the faces of the players in the dugout as I heard them. Do I really have the qualities to be a leader?

‘For that matter, that guy turned white?’

‘Who is it?’

‘It’s about selecting your team.’

‘Hey, white people are naturally white.’

The game started after listening to Mr. Rossby’s unnecessary worries with one ear and letting them go with the other.

“Base on balls.”

When I saw that he caught the first batter, Sean, and gave up a walk to Ohtani, I thought that Mr. Rossby was right, but fortunately, Singer only allowed a hit to Smith and Tatis and Seungcheol got his brother out in the first inning. He blocked the second without giving up any points.

And then our attack came.

“Ji! Please!”

“Let’s go! Ji!”

I went to bat with the support of my teammates on my back.

‘Okay, let’s see how much it is.’

What kind of pitch will Ohtani throw, who has consistently maintained his position as the best player in the Major League until my debut?

I wait for his first pitch with anticipation.

‘It’s a cutter. ‘Body side.’

And the first pitch he chose was a body cutter. The reason why Ohtani is able to achieve good results as a pitcher is because he can perfectly use similar types of pitches, such as cutter, slider, and sweeper.

I heard that he couldn’t handle those pitches to this level until a few years ago, but seeing how this talented guy put in the effort, I thought I could understand why he became the best player in the major leagues.

Of course, that was before I appeared.

‘For now, let’s watch the first pitch.’

Anyway, there was no need to swing the bat from the first pitch, so I decided to wait and watch him hit the ball.

“Strike!”

And contrary to what Mr. Rossby said, his cutter is on the body, it goes into the outer borderline.

‘… Are you feeling well today? Looking at the cutter’s speed of 93.6 miles (150.6 km/h), it seems like the speed is good.’

Although Ohtani was not a pitcher whose strength was control, he was a pitcher who had some control. Throwing an opposing pitch like this meant that Otani might not be in good shape today.

Of course, it was bad news for me that my opponent was having trouble controlling his pitch, but on the other hand, it was also good news because I was able to easily score one point by walking and stealing bases. In particular, in today’s game, the team’s victory was more important than my personal record, so this was closer to good news.

‘It’s a mess?’

And as a professional, you have to be happy when your opponent is in poor condition. Since it was the opponent’s fault for not managing his condition in the first place, there was no reason not to take advantage of the situation.

‘Let’s start with 1 point.’

I wait for his next ball with the intention of watching the ball as calmly as possible.

‘It’s the cutter again. This time, on the body.’

‘Okay.’

Where will the ball come this time? Is it just because it’s the first ball that I can’t control it? Or am I in a bad mood today?

‘Well, if you keep watching, you’ll understand. … ‘It’s coming!’

And the guy’s ball is thrown. This time, contrary to Mr. Rossby’s statement that it was towards the body, the moment the ball was thrown, I had a different feeling that the ball was thrown closer to the outside. And it was a little closer to the body than before.

And, the fact that it is closer to the body than the first pitch means that the ball was thrown toward the center!

After making all the decisions in an instant, I turned the bat without delay. Not swinging the bat even though you knew it was coming to the middle was the same as disqualifying the batsman.

Ta – Aak!

When I only heard the hitting sound, I felt like I hit it at the perfect time.

‘Write… !’

However, unlike the perfect timing, I could feel that I had hit the bottom of the ball the moment I hit it.

As I felt, the speed of the ball was quite fast, but the launch angle was not that good, so the ball flew high and headed toward center field.

‘Oh, of course, the direction too.’

If the direction of the batted ball had been to the right, where the distance was short, it would have been possible to expect a home run, but the batted ball was headed toward the deepest part of Yankee Stadium, and Seungcheol, standing with his back against the fence, caught the batted ball with ease.

‘Ah, I should have watched a little longer. It was too urgent.’

For a moment, I thought about watching his trajectory a little more, but since it was common for a hit to be called out, I swallowed my regret and spoke to Judge, who was heading to the plate from the standby at-bat.

“I think my control is a bit poor today, so please take note.”

“Okay? It looks like a knife is being inserted into the borderline? Same with the first pitch and the ball just now.”

“… Hmm. Well, you could look at it that way. Anyway, just keep it in mind.”

It might have felt that way to Judge, who didn’t know where the mitt was, so I returned to the dugout, leaving a message to just be patient.

And although Ohtani hit a fly to right field and Soto hit a double, he ended the bottom of the first inning by catching Stanton with a grounder to shortstop.

‘… Aren’t you in a bad condition? Tsk. Today won’t be easy. Well, it’s no fun if you take it easy.’

Unless Otani was in bad shape, I was the only one who could score.

After that, the tension must have eased, as Singer made a three-way error in the top of the second inning and Ohtani put three batters out in the bottom of the second, and the game began to smell like a pitcher’s battle.

But in the top of the third inning, two outs. Ohtani’s return to bat.

Ta – Aak!

‘What the fuck. I don’t need this kind of fun…’

Watching Ohtani pull Singer’s slider perfectly and clear it over the fence, all the fun is gone.

-Wow!!!!

Additionally, when I saw Otani circling the base while receiving cheers from the audience, I honestly thought it was cool. Every baseball boy has at least once fantasized about throwing a ball and hitting a home run to win the game.

‘… I’m jealous.’

And I was also jealous because there was a time when I went to sleep imagining something like that. Do you understand why you are said to be the best player in the Major League?

‘No, but it’s ridiculous. He hit a home run in his starting game after being so bad in the previous two games… ‘Isn’t that enough?’

But that was before I debuted in the major league. Unlike the cool one-tool, romantic one-tool, batsman one-tool, and pitcher one-tool Succi, who lost two games in a row, I was prepared to lead the Gyeonggi team to victory today.

‘Okay, let’s have a fight for the first time in a while. Well, I will win, just like in the Olympic finals.’

‘The guy who bunted and won…’

‘Hey! Please don’t insult my intelligent play!’

‘Intelligent play… Hehe, that’s the word that doesn’t suit you the most. It was the funniest joke in a long time. Gorilla.’

‘…’