Chapter 560 – Episode 552. Toward a New Record! (3)
-Ji Maeng-ho, new record with his 64th home run!
… Meanwhile, on this day, Ji Maeng-ho recorded his 63rd and 64th home runs against Na Seung-yoon, leaving a new mark in the history of Korean baseball home runs. Ji Maeng-ho said, “Seungyoon hyung? They say you’re good-natured? If I had thrown a ball like that, I don’t think they would have competed with me… Well, if I keep going, won’t the day come when Seungyoon beats me too? Go for it! Haha,” He said…
┗LOL This kid’s tea bagging is LOL
┗┗Uh-huh, Maeng Ho-shin is giving Na Seung-yoon mental coaching. That kid sometimes gets excited and throws away shots, but I think he will grow from this.
┗Congratulations to Fierce Tiger on his new record!!! ㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊ
┗It’s because they went to the Asian Games together and are close friends. Ji Maeng-ho and Joo Seung-cheol are also close, and Joo Seung-cheol and Na Seung-yoon are classmates.
┗┗Are you sure?
┗┗Maybe? LOL But if not, what should I do?
-Ji Maeng-ho! No hits and 4 walks in 1 at-bat! The opportunity for the 65th home run is next time.
… On this day, in the game against NV, Ji Maeng-ho reached base 4 times with 0 hits and 4 walks in 1 at-bat, but unfortunately, he was unable to hit a home run, and the new home run record that fans were looking forward to was postponed to the next game. …
┗Oh fuck, I need to stop skipping this and look at the records of Fierce Protectorsㅡ
┗No, I can’t go to the fall baseball game anyway, so I don’t know what I can do to avoid it.
┗┗ㄹㅇ Just give me the records ㅅㅂ
┗ㅉㅉThat’s why they’re stuck in the bottom ranking
-Ji Maeng-ho! Break the record again with a grand slam home run! New record No. 65!
… Ji Maeng-ho, who failed to break the home run record with 1 hit and 2 walks in 2 at-bats in Game 15 against Charlotte, once again broke his record by hitting his 65th home run in the last game of the season against Charlotte. Ji Maeng-ho, who recorded two consecutive walks in the previous two at-bats, did not miss the opportunity that came to him with the bases loaded.
… There are 13 remaining games. Baseball fans are paying close attention to how many more home runs Ji Maeng-ho will hit.
┗Wow ㅅㅂ I finally hit it, these bastards are fucking skipping it too ㅅㅂ
┗┗We still have to fight for 5th place, so why don’t we fertilize that asshole? You won the first game after all?
┗No.65 ㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊ
┗I think I’ll hit 70 at this rate. If there are 5 in 13 games, I think I’ll just hit it if I hit it like usual
┗┗73 would probably be possible, but 8 would be tough.
┗┗I absolutely can’t do it. How can I sleep when I’m so blatantly filtering it out?
-Foreshadowing of Seonghyun and Tiny in the last match of the season between Hwasan Falcons and AT!
… Hwasan coach Moon Ki-taek announced that he would give Seong-hyun and Tinie a rest after this game against AT Thunders. Coach Moon Ki-taek said, “There is no reason to put pressure on the pitchers in a situation where the game gap has already widened between first and third place. “With the final game against the AT Thunders, we will give the starting players a break to prepare for fall baseball without losing their sense of game, and we will give prospects an opportunity to grow for next season,” He said.
Meanwhile, when asked by a reporter what to do in games against teams that are fighting for rankings, he responded, “Should I even care about that? My job is to make our team a strong team that can challenge for the championship at any time. “For that, we need the experience of the candidate players.” …
┗LOL Look at Chutaek’s tongue dribble LOL Didn’t this bastard make a fuss about Hwasan intentionally sending out candidates to rival teams during his UG days?
┗┗ㄹㅇkkkk Palboongs were swearing so much back then kkkk
┗┗I don’t do that anymore? Do we even have to worry about the shitty teams?
┗┗Kkkk It was Palkols until the year before last kkk
┗AT doesn’t give the main axis rest? The win is almost guaranteed?
┗┗I heard from an acquaintance that he was aiming for 70% and 100 wins. There’s a lot of time left until the Korean Series anyway.
┗┗Woo Gwan-hyung also had a retirement tour, but it seems like he just tanked. There are still a few magic numbers left.
┗Still, since I’m Seonghyun Tiny, I won’t avoid a fight with Fierce Tiger LOL
┗┗If I had planned to avoid it in the first place, I would have won, of course, since Tinie is not Delkom and is a saint even when she is old.
*
[In the top of the 9th inning with a score of 5:0, the runner with two outs is on first base. And today, Ji Maeng-ho, who had no hits in two at-bats and one walk, stepped up to the plate. And his opponent is the best pitcher in the league, Seonghyeon.]
[Seonghyun looks to be in really good condition today, doesn’t he? Seonghyun was given 6 days of rest before today’s game, but he still had perfect ball control and was able to catch all the balls that Ji Maeng-ho threw in front of the fence.]〈 Br〉
[Yes. There is only one out count left until the shutout. Seonghyun’s 99th ball. Strike! Ji Maeng-ho nods his head.]
[It was a pitch that came in perfectly aimed at the borderline. From a batter’s perspective, it’s hard to hit a ball like this with the bat, right?]
[But the batter is Ji Maeng-ho, right?]
[You’re right. Ji Maeng-ho is a hitter who can hit at any time. Seonghyun shouldn’t let down his guard just because he got a strike, right? The fans in the outfield also know this, so they don’t leave their seats even when the game is almost over. Probably, since the game is almost decided now, Hwasan fans are also hoping for Ji Maeng-ho’s 66th home run. Haha.]
‘Whew, it was almost dangerous.’
Seonghyeon, who hit a fastball into the outer borderline from the first pitch against Ji Maeng-ho, breathed a sigh of relief. The ball he intended was a ball that went wide outside. However, perhaps due to his lack of stamina, the ball ended up hitting the borderline rather than outside the zone he intended.
Of course, it was a very threatening ball against other batters, but it was different against Ji Maeng-ho, who had a threatening look in his eyes at the plate. Ji Maeng-ho was a hitter with the power to get over the fence at any time even if he missed one or two balls.
‘I was lucky.’
Seong-hyun, who caught a lucky strike, glanced towards the dugout to check for signs from coach Moon Ki-taek.
Score 5:0. And a runner on first base and two outs. Also, this inning is the opponent’s last attack, the 9th? If it were a normal match, Seonghyun would never have any intention of competing with Ji Maeng-ho. He just had to get-outs against the remaining batters anyway.
Seong-hyun thought that it would be disqualifying as a professional and a pitcher to compete with Ji Maeng-ho, a batter who could hit a home run at any time, when the game was over.
However, a quick glance at the dugout showed no significant signal. A sign to do as you have done so far…
‘Let’s compete.’
I could hear Moon Ki-taek in the dugout speaking in a stern voice.
‘Tsk, no matter how much I hate being taxidermied.’
Meanwhile, catcher Lee Yong-gi’s signal is a two-seam to the body. The two-seamer thrown by a left-handed pitcher had the characteristic of being rolled to the outside of a right-handed batter, so if he threw it incorrectly, it could result in a long hit.
Asking for such a pitch now means throwing the ball exactly across the body border. Seonghyun, he thought, if the catcher just threw the ball the way he wanted, he would most likely be the best pitcher. But his arm was sore. Until 10 years ago, or even 2–3 years ago, my stamina did not decline even if I threw the ball to this extent…
‘It looks like you’ve gotten older. I’m exhausted after throwing this much in Korea.’
However, my partner’s thoughts seemed to be firm, as he had no regard for the age of the pitcher who was throwing.
‘Yes, you believe in me, right?’
He believed that his partner, the best pitcher in Korean history, would throw the ball exactly where he put his mitt. The pitcher can’t run away from this when his partner is showing such trust.
Seonghyun focused his mind on his hand, which was holding a ball of random thoughts in his head. And the runner on first base didn’t even care and lifted his leg. As much as Lee Yong-gi believed in himself, he believed that even if he did wind up, he could catch the runner running to first base.
Seonghyun’s outstretched right leg hit the ground, and he scattered the ball with perfect timing, as he always did.
‘It’s done!’
The moment the ball leaves your hand, you feel like you’re in perfect control… ! No batter can hit a ball that lands in this position. Seonghyeon thought so.
And that thought wasn’t wrong. It made no sense to perfectly hit a ball that came toward the batter’s body and then entered the zone from an indistinguishable location.
However, Seonghyeon had overlooked it. Ji Maeng-ho was such a nonsensical hitter.
Ta – Aak!
Ji Maeng-ho’s bat swung in a perfect arc, and with a clear sound, the ball flew toward the left wall in a perfect arch.
[Ji Maeng-ho’s hit! High! Far! It flies! Ji Maeng-ho hits his 66th home run against Korea’s best pitcher, Seong Hyun! This batter is Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maengho! This is Ji Maeng-ho!]
‘Under…, Fucking hit this too?’
Seonghyeon turned his head back, thinking about something. But the experience he had accumulated so far told him that this ball would not come back. That’s why Seonghyun’s gaze was directed at the electronic display board. The ball recorded on the electronic display board was 146 km/h. A ball that can be considered quite fast in the KBA league…
‘Sseuup, your control was perfect, but maybe your velocity was a little slow?’
However, in places other than the KBA league, even if the ball was perfectly controlled, there were places where a ball with this speed would easily go over the fence. The Major League is full of monsters… This was something I always felt every time I dealt with him, but he had the scent of the monsters there.
And the scent of the ‘kings of monsters’ like Trout and Judge, who are at the forefront of those monsters.
‘Are you saying we can just see this level of restraint and overlook it? Tsk, I came here in my later years to try to win a championship with my hometown team… If I had known this would happen, I would have returned 2–3 years later.’
It would have been a more interesting match if the ball had been thrown at 96-7 mph like before the injury. One regret remains in my mind, but the past is the past, and I cannot turn back time. What remains is the future game.
‘In the Korean series, if the game is not in perfect condition, there will be a need for a more elaborate game. If you don’t use more counts, this level of velocity is just a batting ball.’
Seonghyun quickly gave himself feedback and then focused on the next hitter. Curve-curve, and fastball to the body.
Perfect!
Choi Jin-cheol’s timing was off when he threw a fastball after seeing two consecutive curves, and the result was an ordinary infield fly.
“Hyung, good job. It’s been a while since I had a complete game. “Did you leave it to the end because it was your last appearance?”
“Yes, Yonggi, you did a good job catching the ball too. “If it wasn’t for Meng Ho, it would have been a complete shutout.”
‘Wow, it’s so easy for other hitters. … But how can that guy’s timing never be off? Are you really reading my thoughts?’
Even though he pitched a complete game, the only thing that remains in his mind is thoughts about Ji Maeng-ho, a hitter he cannot understand with his common sense.
“Hey, are you going to compete head on tomorrow too?”
“Tomorrow? Why?”
“Bitch, then do you want your brother to be considered an acceptable pitcher?”
“I am indeed. The director will be signing autographs tomorrow anyway? Since the second half of the season, it has been like that every time I face a fierce tiger.”
… Plus, he was slightly annoyed that he was excluded from the home run record. If someone sees it, does the sage of the world care about that? I might have been surprised, but as long as I was a human being and had a competitive spirit, it was natural that I would not want my name listed on such a dishonorable record.
If he didn’t have that level of competitive spirit, it was natural that Seong Hyun wouldn’t have been able to make it to the major leagues and reign as a top pitcher for one or two seasons in the major leagues.
And the next day,
Ta – Aak!
[Ji Maeng-ho hits a home run for two days in a row! Ji Maeng-ho hits his 67th home run in just two at-bats! Ji Maeng-ho’s momentum cannot be stopped!]
‘With this, I avoided taxidermy.’
Seonghyun watched Ji Maeng-ho hit his 67th home run from the dugout and looked satisfied without his teammates noticing.
‘But even a fast ball like that is easily passed over. Isn’t restraint the problem? No, that guy is a two-pitch guy, so it could be something like that… Under… It’s complicated, it’s complicated. Should I throw a new pitch? Write… No matter how much I think about it, there is no way to face him in the Korean series. After all, I have no choice but to mess up his zone by covering it as much as possible? … It will be a fun match.’
And his expression also contained excitement as he imagined himself completely defeating Ji Maeng-ho in the Korean series.
