Chapter 8

Home Plate's Villain - Chapter 9 (9/363)

# 9

Tear-soaked... Bread? (1)

1

"Kid, you can't stay there for long. Come up quickly."

"Sure. Don't retire until I come up. We need to compete for the starting position."

In the end, I was transferred to the minor league camp during an exhibition game.

In my first at-bat in my first game, I hit a massive home run, but in the next at-bat, I grounded out to the third baseman. I didn't get a chance to show anything in the field.

Two days later, in a split-squad game (where the team is divided into two and plays against different teams), I started, but my performance was...

Hmm. To be honest, it wasn't good. I struck out twice. The opponent was last year's Cy Young Award winner, and I definitely felt the gap.

"Hehe. You need to come up quickly. My playing career isn't that long. Crush everyone and come up. Don't show mercy to anyone, okay?"

"Of course. Thank you for everything. Can I call you?"

"Sure, anytime. Advice costs $100 per minute."

"I'll pay you 100 won in Korean currency."

"Alright, I'll give you a special discount, you cheeky kid."

I shook hands with Gavin, who was chuckling, and left the major league camp. I went to the camp right next to it, though.

My performance in the exhibition games was 4 games, 15 at-bats, 2 hits, 3 walks, 1 home run, and 1 stolen base. Since I was facing pitchers I had never seen before, I had a bit of trouble adapting. The coaching staff seemed to think that my balance was off after hitting the home run in my first at-bat.

However, I never showed any flustered moments in the field. I didn't make any big mistakes and caught two stolen bases. I gave one up, though.

I was transferred to the Single-A team, the Lakewood BlueClaws, and I performed quite well until the end of spring training.

I thought I might start in Double-A, but it couldn't be helped. In my case, I was just too young. It might be fortunate that I didn't go to the rookie league.

Being young is good, but maybe I'm too young?

2

"Sure, I'm fine. I'll hang up now. I have to go. I'll call you again."

Even though I'm over 40... or maybe because I'm that age, sometimes when I talk to my parents, I feel like I might cry.

Maybe it's because of the experience of holding their funeral when I was a child who knew nothing.

My parents are worried that I, who is in the minor leagues, am only eating cheap bread with strawberry jam.

Hmm. Actually, that's true. It's a Single-A team where even Spam isn't available. I want to buy Powerball, but I'll wait a bit longer...

"Ben, do you have a moment?"

I was lost in happy daydreams when I heard someone calling me. It was Bob Emerald.

He's our team's starting pitcher, and Single-A team manager Ducky Brown calls him a "shotgun pitcher."

This has two meanings. When his control is good, he can blow the opposing team away like a shotgun, but when his control is off, his pitches are as scattered as a shotgun.

"Why, what's up?"

"Ah, it's about tomorrow's game. Do you have a moment?"

"Sure, if it's about the game."

"Great, thanks."

It had been two weeks since the Single-A league opened.

For the first week, I alternated with another Single-A catcher, Brick Addington, as the starting catcher, but since then, I've been the starter and Brick has been the backup.

Well, if I can't handle this, I should quit baseball.

"Thanks."

Bob took me to an empty dining room and handed me an electrolyte drink.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well..."

When I first met Bob, I was very happy. Actually, I didn't know he was on this team.

He came to Korea. And to our team.

He won about 30 games with an ERA in the low 3s over two years before leaving for Japan.

But that's a story from about 10 years later. Bob and I met as young minor leaguers.

"I'm starting tomorrow, and I want you to guide me completely."

"Completely?"

"Right, completely. I won't shake my head even once tomorrow."

Bob has always been like this. Even though he's a foreigner, he likes to learn and follows the coaching staff's instructions well, a model foreign pitcher.

But even so, this is a bit surprising. It's possible to entrust an entire game to someone in Single-A. Maybe Bob sees me as a player of a similar age.

"Really? Hmm..."

"Is it possible?"

Actually, until now, I've been focusing on my personal performance.

But my performance was dominant at the Single-A level, and I often took the initiative to impress the manager when needed. In those cases, my choices were usually correct.

This request is probably because of those things. Judgments from a long career.

Others might see it as a flash of insight.

Bob was a pretty nice guy even before the regression, and he still is. Plus, he taught me English diligently.

I'll try to help Bob as much as I can. Of course, if it's a day when his control is off, there's nothing I can do.

"Well, it won't hurt."

It seems like he's grasping at straws because he didn't perform well in his first two starts after the opening. Coincidentally, both times were with Brick, not me. Brick is strong in offense, not defense. To be precise, he's just terrible at defense.

When I readily agreed, Bob smiled brightly, shook my hand, and shook it vigorously.

"Great, thanks. I'll do my best."

"Sure, get a good rest today. You need to maintain your condition."

Bob shook my hand again, took the empty drink container I had finished, and disappeared.

Hmm... Actually, this is a beneficial proposal for me.

Anyway, this is the guy who was called the "Destructive King Bob General" in Korea for striking out batters relentlessly. It's sad to see him looking so deflated.

I'll try my best tomorrow.

3

The next day, a home game against the Single-A team of the Miami Marlins, the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

I nodded to Mr. James, today's umpire, adjusted my mask, and took my position.

Soon, Bob, who looked a bit nervous, started his warm-up pitches.

Thud!

Thud!

His power is even better than when I met him in Korea. His fastball is fast and has a good trajectory, but it's a bit high.

His control seems unstable because his upper body is too tense. His pivot foot slightly lifts just before he throws. It seems he's trying to throw too fast and hard.

The warm-up pitches ended, and the opposing batter approached the plate.

There are no particular players in the opposing team that I remember. Usually, there are one or two players in each team whose names I've heard... Is the Marlins' farm system this bad?

'Report on.'

A week ago, I received the reward skill, 'Master of Analysis (A).' I got it by tormenting the fairy, and it's definitely a useful skill.

Since the skill level is 1, not much information appears. More information will be available as the level increases.

'First pitch...'

Each keyword represents the player's tendencies, listed in order of the highest grade.

If bunting is A-grade, then patience is lower, and power and contact are even lower. They are likely B to D grades. At level 1, E or F grade keywords don't appear.

Looking at the keywords for contact and patience, the batter is likely to be a typical leadoff hitter who likes to see many pitches.

'Four-seam fastball to the center of the zone.'

Bob nodded without any objections and started his powerful windup.

Thud!

"Strike!"

As expected, the batter just watched the ball without any intention of swinging from the start.

The problem is that the pitch was a bit high today.

Telling Bob to relax his upper body right now won't fix it.

We just have to play the game as it is. It's better to be aggressive and push the batter back so that his control issues don't become a problem.

'Second pitch, four-seam fastball inside.'

Bob's strength is his 97 mph fastball.

His second pitch is a 93 mph straight slider. He also has an 87 mph changeup.

He's a speed freak. In Korea, there are many pitchers who throw slower fastballs than his changeup.

Crack!

"Foul!"

I asked for a low inside fastball, but it came in high due to a subtle control error.

The batter, probably waiting for an outside fastball, swung instinctively.

The batter shifted his feet, standing about two inches further back than before.

He's aware of the inside pitch.

In Single-A, batters often reveal their weaknesses like this.

Gavin advised me to stand a bit more inside and glare at the pitcher when an inside pitch comes.

It seems there's no one on their team to give such advice.

"Strike-out!"

Even a straight slider from Bob can be a formidable weapon against a batter who has moved back. The slider came in low and outside, and Bob's expression brightened as he struck out the first batter in just three pitches.

Of course, Bob threw the pitch, but the catcher's pride rises when things go well. I called the pitches, after all.

"Great, Bob! Just twenty-six more! Let's strike them all out!"

I shouted boldly, and the opposing team's second batter glared at me as he stepped into the batter's box.