Chapter 847 – 833. 2027 World Series. (2)

“Aaaaah!”

“… Huh?”

I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by the sudden scream that erupted from the mound. No, you’re screaming even before you hit a home run…

“… Are you okay?”

Normally, I would have liked the sight of him suddenly holding his elbow and rolling on the mound, thinking that the opposing pitcher was trying to avoid me, but I couldn’t do that now.

… Because the pitcher standing on the mound was my teammate.

“Hey! Brady! Are you okay?!”

And after seeing that during a practice game, other teammates felt something was wrong and ran onto the mound.

An injury like this two days before the World Series…

I also went to the mound and took a quick look at Singer’s expression. His face was stained with tears. The boy throwing the ball from the mound couldn’t have shed tears because he was in pain, so these tears must have been tears of sadness about not being able to play in the World Series.

‘… Is it Tommy John because it’s an elbow? Write it.’

I have mixed feelings about hoping it wasn’t a major injury and being glad that the person who got hurt was Singer.

Singer is the 5th starter. And since the playoffs usually use a 4-starter rotation, there was no need to go to the 5th starter, so Singer did not appear in the Division Series or Championship Series.

So, is it a good thing that Singer got hurt? Well, he was more stable than Rodon during the season, but Rodon showed good performance in the two playoff games, so if I had to choose among the starting five, it was better for Singer to get hurt.

However, when the starting pitcher collapsed earlier than expected, the only pitchers to pitch were Woosung senior and Merda, who scored 5 points, so I was worried about that, but there was nothing I could do about the injury.

Hehe, you piece of trash. ‘My teammate got hurt, and he’s only thinking about the game.’

‘Hey, Mr. Rossby. Baseball is war. What does it mean for one person to die during a war?’

Well, because he didn’t die.

Anyway, Singer went down the mound crying, and from then on, the practice game was held in a somber atmosphere. There was nothing I could do about the tragic news of a colleague I had been with for a year right before the World Series…

‘If you’re going to do this, you’ll get hurt at home, but you’ll get hurt here for no reason and the atmosphere will be weird.’

‘… ‘What a bastard.’

‘What is it? I learned everything from Mr. Rossby.’

‘I? ‘It’s absurd.’

Since Mr. Rossby denied it, it seemed like I learned more from him than I thought. Mr. Rossby had a habit of denying it when he thought I had surpassed him.

“Big, big. There was bad news today, but everyone has been following along well so far. “I only have a brief meeting tomorrow, so let’s rest well and look healthy for the rest of the day.”

“Director, is the singer okay?”

“Hmm… “I’ll have to do a detailed examination to find out, but the problem is with the ligaments on my elbow.”

“…”

‘Look. The atmosphere is strange right now. If you’re going to get hurt anyway, it’s better to get hurt without anyone knowing. ‘Don’t let my enemies know of my death, haven’t you heard that?’

If he had been injured in the actual game, other players might have lost their fighting spirit, but Singer’s injury was the worst injury that only worsened the team’s atmosphere.

‘… Yes, you are good.’

‘Well, something new.’

Mr. Rossby is a true man of this era who does not lie. It was always a good feeling to receive recognition from such a manly man.

Just like that, the last training before the World Series and a brief meeting the next day ended. I spent the remaining time practicing imagining the Dodgers’ pitchers I had faced in the regular season, and the day of the World Series arrived.

“Ji! “Can we win this time?”

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

“Please! Ji!”

New York was excited about the possibility of winning for the first time in 10 years…,

“Are you here?”

“You came early. You’re usually late, right?”

“Haha, it’s the World Series. It’s been almost 10 years for me too, so I can’t be late.”

… Fortunately, the condition of his colleagues seemed to be quite good, so much so that even Soto, who always came to work at the last minute, came early. Is it like I’m burning with the will to fight?

“Whoa…”

‘… You should relax a little.’

However, I was a little worried about the state of Judge, who was sitting in front of the locker room, shaking his legs and showing his fighting spirit. I don’t know if he was nervous or excited, but Judge was so fired up with fighting spirit that I felt uneasy.

‘I think I did both…’ .’

Well, making military officers holy is my hobby. I was used to this kind of thing because I had experience helping seniors Gwanhyeong, Jincheol, and even Hyuna win international competitions.

In times like this, what is needed is relaxation.

“Jersey, are you nervous?”

“… “Is it you?”

“If you feel nervous, tell me. “I know a special medicine.”

“… Done. “He’ll say something strange again.”

Well, if you feel like you’re too excited to even play the game later, you can at least slap him.

And besides those judges, there was one more unique person.

“Hey, Ji.”

“Huh? Verdugo?”

It was Verdugo, with whom I had been living in a close relationship since that incident.

“I have a favor to ask you later…”

“What is it?”

“That… It may seem strange to ask this, but could you give me a slap on the face before the game starts? Of course, it’s not that I like being hit. However, I think this helps me concentrate better.”

… In fact, this request from Verdugo was not new. It was an open secret within the team that Verdugo hurt himself by hitting himself in the face every time the game went wrong, and since his batting concentration seemed to increase every time, other people just shrugged it off.

Besides, I also slapped Park Jun-hyung, who was very nervous in Korea, on the cheek every fall, so it wasn’t an unreasonable request.

Honestly, I don’t know what help a player like Verdugo would be, but the jersey was in such poor condition that I had to borrow it if I could.

“I am welcome. Oh, if you see someone who is nervous, just drag them in front of me.”

If the rumor spreads that my weak hand is a special medicine that relieves tension and improves concentration, Judge may also ask me for a favor.

After willingly granting Verdugo’s request, I trained as usual and waited for the game.

The starting pitcher for the LA Dodgers in Game 1 was, of course, Ohtani, as he had practiced.

Ohtani appeared in 3 games this fall, allowing 7 runs in 15 innings, and recording an ERA of 4. Although his performance was far from reliable compared to his regular season performance, the Dodgers’ manager seemed to have faith in Ohtani.

Moreover, in the Division Series, he hit .500 with 3 home runs and an OPS of 1.8, but in the Championship Series, he was sluggish with .500 and 1 home run, so hitter Ohtani wasn’t that scary.

On such an important stage, the first game is always important.

But is Ohtani, who showed great performance throughout the season, collapsing? If that happens, it would have been an opportunity to give the Dodgers a bigger shock than the shock we received when Singer got injured.

“There’s no need to say anything else. “Let’s give the citizens of New York the pride of being a world champion.”

The game started with a simple word from the coach.

‘Sean, Otani, Tatis, Betts… Betts moved up to number 4? Wasn’t he doing poorly? ‘Do you believe in experience?’

Our starter to face the Dodgers’ batting line, which has a different lineup from the championship series, is Cole.

Although Gilbert was better in terms of performance alone, Cole’s experience and high scores were trustworthy enough, so the coach selected Cole as the starter in Game 1,

Ta – Aak!

‘What the fuck!’

The World Series began with Cole, being Cole’s true name, hitting a home run from the first pitch to Sean, the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter. I was expecting Cole to give up two or three home runs, but he hit them so quickly that it was embarrassing for a moment…,

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It happens all the time. Call! I’ll give you points in the first inning. “Don’t get excited.”

… As the leader of the infield, I calmed down the excitement of my teammates. Cole chuckled at my words.

‘Isn’t it good to see that kind of reaction even after hitting a home run? ‘I’m not as excited as usual.’

Fortunately, Cole regained his composure after hearing my words and blocked the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th attempts by Otani, Tatis, and Betts, and our first inning came to an end.

‘Then shall we give one point first?’

Baseball was a sport of momentum, and momentum was even more important in games like this, so the most important thing in times like this was to quickly tie the game.

If you keep being dragged along, you could lose without even realizing it.

-Now batting, Number 74, Maeng-Ho Ji!

-Waaaaa!!!!

As he enters the batter’s box while receiving cheers from the audience, Ohtani is seen maintaining a poker face.

‘… Should I shake it once?’

Since pitchers are creatures that can produce uncontrollable results if they are shaken once, I decide to shake the guy’s poker face once and lay down the bat.

When I lay down the bat, Otani’s eyebrow twitches for just a moment.

‘… Did I see it wrong?’

‘It’s a fastball. ‘Body side.’

‘I didn’t see it wrong. Anyway, pitchers are easy to understand.’

You threw me right away just because you provoked me once. Pitchers were very simple creatures.

Well, considering Otani’s personality, there was no way he could hit me, so I comfortably waited for Otani’s attack,

“Ball.”

Ohtani’s first pitch goes deep into the body and the ball is declared.

You can get a head start with just one provocation. At this level, it was quite a profitable business.

‘Anyway, all pitchers are the same.’

I nodded with satisfaction and waited for his next ball.

‘Sweeper. Outside.’

‘Okay.’

And his choice is sweeper.

Ace pitchers like Ohtani tend not to want to lose the initiative in a fight with a batter, so when they get near the zone, they decide to swing the bat and wait for the batter’s pitch.

‘… ‘It’s coming!’

As soon as it looked like the guy’s ball was coming from inside, I decided it was a strike and immediately turned the bat.

Perfect!

However, I felt the tip of the bat hit by a pitch that was bent more outward than when I practiced with Mr. Rossby.

‘Sweet, are you a little excited because it’s the World Series? I should have waited…’

I regretted waiting and seeing, but fortunately, the direction the batted ball headed was between the second baseman and the right fielder.

-Wow!!!!

Although he didn’t hit a home run like the opponent’s first batter, he succeeded in creating a no-out first base situation.

And to me, this situation was no different from a home run.

To be honest, the Angels and Houston I met this fall were both teams with very different power levels, so I didn’t steal bases as much as possible during this fall, but you have to do your best against a team as good as the Dodgers.

A slightly chilly wind and the noise of expectant fans.

It was the perfect time to run.

“Safe!”

“Strike! Out!”

“Safe!”

Taking advantage of Judge’s strikeout, when he wasn’t expecting a hit, he quickly reached third base. Now the situation is 1 out and 3rd base.

‘Tsk, I wasn’t even expecting it. Let’s go slowly from the tie.’

Soto, the number 3 hitter, now comes to the plate. Soto is a hitter who can hit the ball with the bat whenever he wants.

Perfect!

And as I expected, Soto made light contact with the ball, and Soto’s pushed ball landed in front of the left fielder.

-Waaaaa!!!!

Yankee Stadium is filled with cheers again as Soto hits home.

‘Tani, wouldn’t it be fun if we took it easy? ‘Trying to get ahead from the first episode is crossing the line.’

And then Otani gives me an intense look behind me. It seems like they won’t allow even a single on-base hit now.

Well, it might not work out as he thought.