Chapter 487 – 479. Opening Series. (5)
[Bottom of the 3rd inning, one out. Ji Maeng-ho, who hit a home run in the previous at-bat, comes into the batter’s box.]
[Ji Maeng-ho is showing good condition, right? Two home runs in two games. In 2023, his debut season, he hit 60 home runs in 115 games, and in 2024, he hit 63 home runs in 109 games, hitting more than one home run every two games. This season, he hit one home run per game. Haha.]
[Of course, those results won’t last forever, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who looks forward to Ji Maeng-ho every time he comes out to bat.]
[Yes. Last year, he broke the KBA League’s home run record by hitting 63 home runs, and if Ji Maeng-ho plays in all games, he can easily break Bonds’ record for most home runs in a season. It will be very interesting to see whether Ji Maeng-ho can write a new record in home run history by participating in all games.]
[Oz’s first pitch, 154 km/h, ball. Ji Maeng-ho, I am watching.]
[After hitting a home run by Ji Maeng-ho, Oz has been throwing first-pitch strikes. He looks a little nervous.]
[The second ball falls. This ball is a strike! Comes into the zone. Ji Maeng-ho, he looks dissatisfied, right?]
[It was low. Of course, it would have been a ball last year, but the strike zone has expanded slightly this season, right? It was a ball that could easily be considered a strike.]
[But Oz’s confidence is also great, isn’t it? You hit a home run by throwing a splitter in the last at-bat, right?]
[Yes. Looking at things like this, he seems to be a mentally good player, but what is the reason why he can’t control his pitch? Of course, looking at him today, he seems to be in control quite a bit.]
[If we keep showing things like today, I think Hwasan fans will really like it. The moment I tell you, outside. Two balls, one strike. Ji Maeng-ho tolerates this ball.]
[Conscious of Ji Maeng-ho’s power, he only asks for fastballs to go outward, right? No matter how fast you throw a ball, it has already been proven in the Olympics that if you throw it toward your body, it will go over the fence. Lee Yong-gi, who watched it right next to him at the Olympics, probably knows that fact.]
[Foul on the next ball! Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball falls toward the left stands. Two and two.]
[This time it was an outside slider, and Ji Maeng-ho looked like he should have missed it. The outer zone was widened, so the bat was put out, but this would be quite disappointing with the batter’s perspective, right?]
[Yes. Now, in Two Ball Two Strikes, which ball will the Hwasan Battery choose… Oz, shake your head. You seem dissatisfied?]
-You bitch, don’t shake your head and do as Lee Yong-gi says.
┗Ah, I’m so nervous about showing off that bastard.
┗When new mercenaries come, they always say that shit
The Hwasan fans who were watching the broadcast were all thinking the same thing and praying to hear Lee Yong-gi’s words, but their prayers could not reach Oz.
‘No, no. ‘High fastball is correct here.’
Oz shook his head at Lee Yong-gi’s ball combination, once again requesting an outside fastball. In Oz’s opinion, what was needed now was not a ball that was clumsily thrown out, but a ball that could clearly fool the batter’s eyes.
The outside ball was thrown too many times in this at-bat, so it seemed like Ji Maeng-ho’s bat would not catch up. However, I did not have the control to throw the ball that hit the borderline as I wanted. If Ji Meng-ho did not swing the bat, the count would be full at once, and in that case, he would have no choice but to stick it in the middle of the zone.
As confirmed in the video, Ji Maeng-ho was a more demanding player as a runner than as a batter, so when he was driven to a full count, he did not want to throw a baited ball, hoping that the batter would swing the bat.
So the ball Oz chose was a high fastball. The high fastball was the ball that could most elicit the batter’s desire to bat because it came closest to the batter’s eyes. Of course, if it goes too high, I won’t swing it, but I still wanted to bet on a high fastball rather than the outside ball that I showed a lot today.
Moreover, Ji Maeng-ho is an upper swing type hitter. Even if Ji Maeng-ho hit the ball, the probability of a good hit was not high.
‘Oh, just listen to me.’
And because of such odds, Lee Yong-gi had no choice but to swear inwardly. Last year, there were many pitchers who saw Ji Maeng-ho’s swing type and hit high balls. However, everyone knelt in front of Ji Maeng-ho.
Considering Ji Maeng-ho’s strength, it was a high fastball that went over the fence even if it was slightly missed, and if Oz was a pitcher who knew how to throw the ball in a delicate position to induce a swing and miss against Ji Maeng-ho, who boasts the best pitching plan in the league, he would have come to Korea. There was no possibility.
The future was clearly visible in Lee Yong-gi’s eyes. A future scene where a ball comes into an extremely high zone and throws away a poor ball count, or a batted ball flies past Jamsil’s left wall with a sound as if it is splitting.
In that case, it was best to rely on the expanded strike zone and get a strike, or to have Ji Maeng-ho, who was used to the outside pitch he showed all day, push the outside ball and catch it in front of Jamsil’s wide fence.
‘No!’
But Oz’s thoughts were stubborn.
‘Ha, fuck. This is why mercenaries.’
The vain confidence that mercenary pitchers who face Ji Maeng-ho for the first time often commit. The confidence that he could defeat Ji Maeng-ho made Lee Yong-gi’s head hurt.
The mercenaries who had played in Korea for a long time and the local pitchers recognized Ji Maeng-ho, so they tended to avoid him with the mindset that he had no choice but to give them walks, but the new mercenaries were stubborn like this.
If the ball that hit the home run in his first at-bat had not been a miss, Oz might have changed his mind, but now he was determined to make up for the miss.
‘Is it fortunate that you don’t get upset about throwing curveballs? Under… Yes, since you will have to deal with AT a lot anyway, it is better to get your vaccination here. Then, if you’re lucky, you might strike out.’
Anyway, Ji Maeng Lake was a natural disaster. It wouldn’t have been a bad idea to give up one point here and break the pitcher’s stubbornness. Even if he gives up a home run, the lead difference is 3 points. Since it was still the beginning of the third inning, we were able to get by about 3 runs.
‘Okay, try throwing a high fastball,’
In the resigned Lee Yong-gi’s mind, a happy circuit was running, ‘If an amazing high fastball comes here, wouldn’t it be possible to strike out Ji Maeng-ho?’,
‘Fuck you!’
That thought changed in Padrip just one second after Oz threw the ball. An incredible misfire from its trajectory toward the middle of the strike zone!
The will to control the ball perfectly led to the ball being aimed towards the middle of the zone.
And, Ji Maeng-ho was not the type of batter to miss such a ball.
‘I will eat well!’
Ta – Aak!
The 156 km/h fastball made a tremendous hitting sound and headed toward the fence, but Lee Yong-gi’s gaze was directed to the ground.
“Ugh.”
With a deep sigh. Still, it was a good decision for Lee Yong-gi to turn his gaze to the ground. Immediately, Ji Maeng-ho’s bat was headed towards Oz.
“Fuck! Fuck!”
The fans and the scene were in a festive mood at Ji Maeng-ho’s sniping ceremony for the first time in a long time, but it was natural that swear words came out of Oz’s mouth. It was clearly a ceremony seen on video, but there was no pitcher on earth who would feel good after receiving such a ceremony.
“Ha, Ji Maeng-ho, that cheap bastard.”
Of course, the director is also angry. I knew that Ji Maeng-ho said on a variety show that it was a ceremony to honor his parents in heaven, but Moon Ki-taek did not believe him. In the first place, it was such an absurd statement that anyone who knew Ji Maeng-ho at all would have realized that it was a blatant lie.
‘… Shall we guess?’
When he saw Ji Meng-ho circling third base, making eye contact with him and laughing once more, a strong urge to direct his beanball welled up in Moon Ki-taek’s heart.
‘Under… Let’s be patient for now.’
But now we are down by 3 points. Moreover, since it was the bottom of the third inning, it was too early to give up the game by calling for an empty ball. Even in yesterday’s game, it was difficult to turn the game around if the starting pitcher went down early and the starting pitcher came off the mound due to bench clearing in a situation where a lot of pitchers were used up.
“Coach Seo, go up to the mound and tell him not to throw revenge balls.”
“I understand.”
[The pitching coach comes up and breaks the flow.]
Could it be thanks to Moon Ki-taek, who prevented Oz from getting emotional and ruining the game?
[Starting pitcher Oz gets on base with a walk, but ends the bottom of the third inning with a double play. The game now goes to the top of the 4th inning.]
Oz came off the mound in the bottom of the third inning, blocking AT’s attack,
[The Hwasan Falcons trail by one point with back-to-back doubles from Choi Si-woo and Lee Yong-gi! 3:1! The Volcanic Falcons give chase. … Three out. Bellingham closes out the top of the fourth inning.]
[The Hwasan Falcons showed a perfect strategy, including Han Seong-jin’s hit and stolen base, Kim Joo-yeop’s bunt, and Choi Si-woo’s sacrifice fly. He succeeded in scoring 1 point in the top of the 5th inning.]
‘Okay, just recover your score slowly.’
The Volcanic Falcons began to narrow the score gap.
[… At bat with one out was Ji Maeng-ho, who hit two home runs in a row. First pitch hit! Breaks through the 3rd gap! Safety! … Ji Maeng-ho’s attempt to steal a base! Ji Maeng-ho easily steals second base! … Oh, and a walk is allowed for the weatherman. One out, 1st and 2nd base. At bat is Williams, the number 4 hitter. … Walk. One out, bases loaded. … Choi Jin-cheol! I endure this ball! Push walk!]
… Until Oz’s control shakes.
Oz, who had been showing perfect form until the 4th inning except for the home run hit by Ji Maeng-ho, began to shake rapidly when he once again allowed a hit and a stolen base to Ji Maeng-ho, and once a pitcher with poor control was shaken, the result was obvious. I did it.
“Director, Pilseung has fully warmed up.”
“… Replace it.”
“I understand.”
Oz, who failed to recover the zero point, had no choice but to end his Korean debut by giving up three consecutive walks.
“Fuck!”
A swear word and the sound of a glove being slapped could be heard from the back of the dugout, but Moon Ki-taek’s eyes were focused on the ground. The score is 4:2. The score wasn’t close enough to give up, so all that was left was to pray that the pitcher who went up would stop it.
[Out! Su-ho Kim attacked the first pitch of the changed pitcher, but the out count increased as he flew high into the outfield. And the runner on third base went all the way to home. 5:2. AT Thunder adding a runaway score! … Seongtae Yoon’s batted ball! Right! Right! It passed! Seongtae Yoon records a three-run goal! The score becomes 8:2!]
Of course, baseball was not a sport where prayers worked as expected. Moon Ki-taek sighed as he watched Yoon Seong-tae’s batted ball disappear over the fence. 8:2. It wasn’t a score gap that couldn’t be overturned, but it wasn’t a score difference that could be guaranteed to be overturned.
In that situation, there was only one choice for Moon Ki-taek.
“… Ji Maeng-ho, prepare to throw an empty ball in your next at-bat.”
“Ah…, Yes. All right. “I’ll tell the kids.”
Raising the morale of the players by hitting Ji Maeng-ho with an empty ball. In addition, the calculation that passed through Moon Ki-taek’s mind was that if he could get Ji Maeng-ho suspended by clearing the bench, he would still have some business even if he was swept in the opening series.
However,
[There is a defensive change in the top of the 6th inning. Instead of Ji Maeng-ho, major defender Kang Joo-hyun is in? Is it an injury?]
-Why is the fierce tiger missing?
┗Isn’t it sudden poop? LOL
Lee Soo-hyun, who knew Moon Ki-taek’s personality, boldly removed Ji Maeng-ho from the game in the 6th inning, and the game went smoothly even without Ji Maeng-ho, and the AT Thunders solidified their victory.
[The game ends with an out count. AT Thunders’ batting lineup performed well today, winning 8-5. We end today’s broadcast with the news that the AT Thunders were swept in the series by the Volcano Falcons.]
So, the opening series, which attracted the attention of baseball fans as a match between the first and second place teams in last year’s regular season and a jaw-dropping series between Moon Ki-taek and Ji Maeng-ho, ended with a sweep win for the AT Thunders.
