Countryside Ace

Chapter 22

Me? (2)

I had always been strong against the Stars. However, I never really liked their home field, Sajik Baseball Stadium.

But it wasn't just Sajik. I felt the same about other stadiums too.

Still, I could never grow fond of the "Ma!" that Stars fans shouted, as if pulling energy up from the very core of their bodies.

"Ma!"

Normally, this shout would have exploded at the opposing team's pitcher. Today, since I was their opposing starting pitcher, I was probably the main target.

But right now, the target was Lee Hoon-jung, known as Busan's Seo Tae-seung, who was the Stars' starting pitcher.

Of course, not every Stars fan shouted like that.

Still, the shouts were thick with anger.

"The mound seems a bit slippery."

"Yes, I think so too."

Lee Hoon-jung hit our team's leadoff, Lee Seung-bin, with a pitch on the fifth throw.

He then threw over to first base twice to keep Woo Hyun-geun in check while he was at bat, but tripped while starting his pitch, resulting in a balk.

I had already changed into spikes that were less slippery to account for the wet mound, and Woo Hyun-geun, after a seven-pitch at-bat, poked a short hit between first and second base.

"Ah!"

"Lee Hoon-jung, get off the mound!"

"How can you be Busan's Seo Tae-seung?!"

With runners at first and third and nobody out, the Stars fans began to wail.

It was only the top of the first, but they were always like that.

Next up was Domingo Batista.

On a 2-1 count, he hit a ball into the right fielder's glove, recording the first RBI with a sacrifice fly.

Today's fourth batter was Lee Tae-joon, who always wore a baseball pouch around his waist.

A former Daejeon Missiles player, he looked like someone who could hit 60 home runs but instead was a master of extreme plate discipline.

He was one of the few players at Miners who actually performed up to his salary, but he hadn't always been considered a great hitter.

After the introduction of ABS (Automatic Ball-Strike System), he became an S-tier player.

Even so, the fans often referred to Lee Tae-joon with unflattering nicknames, calling him lazy or a walk collector.

Last season, he batted .285 with 19 homers.

For a player with his build and as a veteran in the heart of the lineup, his numbers felt a little lacking.

"Boooooo!"

But his on-base percentage was .429.

Just now, he drew a walk without even swinging the bat, reaching base on five pitches.

Once again, Stars fans booed their own starting pitcher.

* * *

- Finally, the top of the first at Sajik Baseball Stadium comes to an end.

- Yes, it was long. Lee Hoon-jung gave up two runs in the top of the first, but the real issue is his pitch count. He threw 32 pitches. When that happens, your fielders get tired from the start.

- It seems the fans are getting tired too?

- Haha. The Stars hitters will need to cheer up their fans.

- What do you think?

- Well, we'll have to see. Seo Ye-sung is highly anticipated, and he showed great pitching against the Stars in the exhibition game, but he's just out of high school.

- Right.

- Plus, he essentially showed the qualities of a two-pitch pitcher, didn't he? The Stars must have prepared for that, so it's hard to predict how today's game will go.

- So you're cautiously predicting a slugfest?

- That's my cautious take. Both teams' bullpens aren't exactly strong.

- All right, the bottom of the first is starting! On the mound is Seo Ye-sung! Will he follow in his father's footsteps and become Korea's next ace? Let's watch!

* * *

Standing on the mound, something felt off.

I'd been up here during the exhibition game too.

But this time felt different.

I took a deep breath, feeling the air around me. It was as if the restless atmosphere was being sucked right into my lungs.

Angry fans disgruntled by the top of the first, a slight sense of tension, Yoon Bong-wan hyung raising his thumb—just as we'd discussed before the game—my father, calmly standing with arms folded, the head coach's sullen face, and our fielders in high spirits after scoring two in the first inning.

After my warm-up pitches, my condition was pretty good, right before actual play.

Yoon Bong-wan signaled for a first pitch slider.

My opponent was Jo Kyu-chan.

A right-handed hitting left fielder, he combined excellent contact with decent power and the fastest base running in the KBO.

But his weak point was his lack of plate discipline.

Fans even called him "FirstPichan" because of his obsession with swinging at first pitches.

I gripped the slider inside the glove.

But suddenly, I felt a chill.

How do I throw a slider again?

Was I nervous?

Seeing myself nervous felt a bit strange. But then I smiled a bit.

This, too, was a fun experience.

After all these years of pitching, was I still getting the jitters?

As soon as I thought that, my shoulders loosened, and my vision widened.

No need to hold back. I began my pitching motion. I knew exactly what I had to do.

Dropping the first pitch slider low was a prearranged play.

Last season, seven out of Jo Kyu-chan's nine homers were off first-pitch four-seamers.

Whoosh.

The first pitch of my second career regular season flew into the air.

The slider seemed to curve toward the zone before dropping down, and, as we expected, Jo Kyu-chan swung without hesitation.

Crack!

He swung hard, but the ball hit the upper half as it was falling.

The ball bounced quickly toward me, and I grabbed it smoothly.

Jo Kyu-chan dashed toward first like a wild buffalo.

Pitchers sometimes get flustered and make mistakes in moments like these.

"Out!"

But I had plenty of experience.

Without any panic, I threw accurately to the first baseman's mitt, recorded the first out, and smiled wryly.

* * *

The second batter, Jeong Seung-ho, was also looking for the four-seam.

The versatile second baseman Jeong Seung-ho boasted outstanding contact.

In preparing for today's game, he focused on my four-seam.

Left-handed pitchers usually have trouble throwing sliders to right-handed hitters.

If you miss even a little toward the middle or don't get full spin, you might as well hang a sign that says, "Hit me!"

I had thrown a few curves during exhibition, but not often.

Jo Kyu-chan got himself out on a poorly hit slider, but I had no plan to change my approach.

Crack!

Even for a rookie pitcher, my timing was difficult to match.

The ball would hide behind my body before popping out, making the rhythm tricky.

He managed to make contact, even though I'd thrown a slider when he was expecting something different.

"Out!"

But it was a weak hit and ended as a fly out to the second baseman.

Miners's second baseman, Woo Hyun-geun, grinned unpleasantly and tossed the ball to another fielder.

"What? Another slider?"

Park Seong-hoo, the third batter, approached the plate, and Jeong Seung-ho returned to the bench and let him know the pitcher was still throwing sliders.

Crack!

Before he even set his helmet down, there was another crack of the bat.

The pitcher's interval was remarkably quick.

"Oh!"

"Whoa!"

Turning around at the shouts that might have been screams, I saw that after making the pitch, Seo Ye-sung had pulled the ball from his glove, showing it off as if to say he had it.

"He caught that?"

He handled a sharp line drive straight at the pitcher's mound calmly.

In just three pitches, Seo Ye-sung had completed his first inning in his debut, heading off the mound.

"That was a slider too, right?"

"Yeah."

"Man, this high school rookie is really crafty."

"It must be Bong-wan hyung's idea. You think a kid like that came up with it himself?"

"True, you have a point."

* * *

[Day 5: Petition for Dol Hyun-seung's Dismissal]

└ These batters keep swinging at the first pitch, missing the timing on breaking balls and taking huge hacks. How's that the manager's fault???

└ Can't you see it's obviously the manager telling them to swing first pitch? Get your eyes checked.

└ How would you know?

└ Ah seriously, our defense takes forever and our offense ends in a flash.

└ Classic game flow for us, lololol

└ Feels like I'm watching a rerun, damn

└ Season opened five days ago, and we're already five days into the fire-the-manager thread lololol

└ Freaking annoying, they always target us for spot starts

└ Today is that kid's debut, why would you call that a spot start???

└ Of course they can't hit a rookie lefty, duh

* * *

I had finished my first inning in just three pitches, but all three were strikes.

I couldn't deny I'd had some luck.

Still, it was because I'd anticipated the Stars' batters' tendencies and prepared accordingly.

This time, unlike before my regression, I didn't focus on velocity or movement.

Instead, I focused on tunneling.

All my pitches would come out of the same delivery as the four-seam, making it as hard as possible to differentiate until late, confounding the hitters.

By the way, the leadoff next inning would be Baek Jung-woong.

I was Baek Jung-woong's personal RBI refrigerator, and he was the one who reduced even what little confidence I had left to dust.

Didn't I allow a .500 batting average against him in his retirement season?

Stars fans left tens of thousands of thank you comments on my SNS alone.

My rhythm just never matched with him.

Whether I changed my delivery or my patterns, it was always the same.

No matter what I tried, he always hit me.

Maybe it was an issue of "trajectory," as Day Olson had mentioned.

Or perhaps, starting with putting the wrong step forward with him, it ended up as a psychological barrier.

When I was a rookie, I insisted on going head-to-head with every hitter. But I am no longer that Seo Ye-sung.

There's no reason to square off directly. That's what I did in the first inning.

Hoping a batter will swing at balls is foolish, but never throwing balls at all is just as dumb.

"Hey."

Bradshaw tossed me a hot pack. It was still chilly.

I flashed him a big grin and rubbed the hot pack between my hands.

* * *

Five straight years of a .300 batting average, .400 on-base, .500 slugging.

Despite being the league's worst left fielder defensively and with so many strong hitters at the left field position, he was always named the league's best left fielder.

Baek Jung-woong.

Whenever he stepped up to the plate, Stars fans felt as if dopamine was surging through their brains.

"Oh! Stars' Baek! Jung! Woong!"

"Hit it! Baek! Jung! Woong!"

Whether the pitcher was a rookie or a veteran didn't matter.

All Baek Jung-woong wanted was to hit the sweet spot.

"Hello."

Baek Jung-woong gave a slight bow to the umpire and the catcher as he entered the batter's box.

Catcher Yoon Bong-wan, a long-time national teammate, unusually just nodded back in silence.

He was someone who always commented as part of his routine. Had Yoon Bong-wan ever done this before?

Yoon Bong-wan called for a four-seamer. High and outside.

We'd discussed this before the inning began: throw it just outside the zone.

Pitchers don't always get the ball where they want. In fact, it's far more common for things not to go how you want.

Standing on the mound, Seo Ye-sung stared down Baek Jung-woong and then spat.

Baek Jung-woong's brow twitched, and, at the perfect moment, I hurled the pitch like a bolt of lightning.

CRACK!

Screeeeeee!

The stadium safety stewards blew their whistles wildly.

A foul ball over the fence behind home plate. The display showed the velocity as 152 kph.

"Huh."

Baek Jung-woong genuinely admired it. He seemed to have guts. Most rookies could hardly make eye contact.

"Hey hyung, is that kid gonna actually hit you?"

"He's not that kind of guy."

If he isn't, then am I that kind of guy?

Baek Jung-woong tensed and stepped back in.

He didn't dislike brash rookies. They always tuck their tails after getting hit around a bit anyway.

He gripped his bat tightly. It would be either a four-seam or a slider.

Baek Jung-woong timed all his swings for the four-seam, but could always adjust and control the bat to swing if it turned out to be a slider.

But this time, Yoon Bong-wan called for a changeup.

The pitch came flying in—then suddenly dropped.

With a bit of reverse spin added.

Whoosh.

"Strike!"

A completely fooled swing and miss.

Baek Jung-woong, with an uncharacteristically flustered look, glanced down at Yoon Bong-wan.

Behind the catcher's mask, Yoon Bong-wan's lips twitched.

"Ha."

This was absurd. Had he prepared a secret weapon already?

No matter how much you practice, debuting it in your very first game?

And against Baek Jung-woong, no less.

"Tsk, hyung, this is really something."

"What? Are you stealing signs? So blatantly?"

"Haa......"

Baek Jung-woong turned his focus forward after getting told off.

No matter how great he was, his opponent was KBO's living fossil.

Of course, mention that and he'd get angry.

He was down 0-2. The pitcher and catcher exchanged signs.

Baek Jung-woong wasn't sure what kind of pitch he'd just seen.

But it had dropped sharply.

"Was that a splitter? Though, it felt a bit too slow."

A four-seam, a slider, and a breaking pitch that drops.

It didn't have extreme break, but the timing and drop were difficult.

He was completely fooled.

The battery finished exchanging signs.

Even as a rookie, the pitcher's timing was impossible to read, but Baek Jung-woong was the best in Korea when it came to this.

The instant the pitcher lifted his foot from the rubber, he focused completely.

"Slight turn and, huh?"

His body twisted a bit, and as his right foot hung in the air and dropped back down, his arm came through—but the foot didn't float.

The foot and arm both shot out much faster and at a completely unexpected timing.

The pitch flew toward the plate.

Normally, Baek Jung-woong wouldn't swing on this off rhythm, but the pitch was coming into the zone.

"Hup!"

He'd missed the timing, so he sped up his swing.

Baek Jung-woong's bat chased the trajectory, but came up empty.

"Strike! Out!"

The umpire's called third strike.

Baek Jung-woong, his swing so big his form collapsed, lost his balance and sagged to one knee, while the ball nestled in Yoon Bong-wan's mitt.

"Wow..."

I couldn't help but murmur in awe.

He'd lost the timing on a delivery thrown with no windup from the set position, and although he swung hurriedly, his bat couldn't catch up to the ball.

"Hyung, what even..."

"See? He's incredible, right?"

"Wow..."

"Go on, my back hurts too much to crouch for long."

Yoon Bong-wan smiled brightly, and Baek Jung-woong was speechless.

A falling split-changeup mixed with a circle changeup with reverse spin.

It was the changeup that once helped make Seo Ye-sung a twenty-game winner.

Now, only two people knew about those twenty wins.