Chapter 9

Home Plate's Villain - Chapter 10 (10/363)

# 10

Tear-soaked... Bread? (2)

1

Baseball players are a very interesting bunch.

Sometimes they overestimate themselves, and sometimes they undervalue themselves too much.

And the Grinsboro Grasshoppers' second batter is a perfect example of the former.

He walked up to the plate, swinging his bat wildly.

A bad-ball hitter is a style that doesn't fit the current baseball trends, but a batter with power can make a pitcher tremble with fear. Moreover, with a star mentality, he's likely to be a typical slugger.

By combining the keywords, you can roughly gauge the player's personality as well as his playing style. Generally, players with the star mentality keyword are strong in scoring situations and tend to be self-absorbed. Of course, not all of them are like that.

"Foul!"

He swung wildly at the first pitch, a slider that broke sharply outside.

Actually, it broke more than I asked for, but getting ahead in the count on the first pitch is still an advantage.

'A changeup that drops low outside the batter’s reach.'

If he swings at a pitch well outside the strike zone, it's best to induce a ground ball comfortably. I think there's a good chance he'll swing and miss at a pitch that buries itself in front of home plate.

Without nodding, Bob went into his windup after receiving my sign.

Crack!

...The changeup came in a bit high.

No, not a bit.

It came in at chest height.

The ball flew up, and Bob's head sank to the ground.

As if getting a home run would shorten his life by eight months.

Well, he might get a home run.

2

"It's okay, calm down. Hey, Bob! What's my name?"

"Ben, Ben. I'm okay. I'm fine."

Bob's problem isn't just that he can't control his pitches, but also that he loses his composure after the first run is scored.

Does that even make sense?

He should do one or the other.

"Did you know?"

"What?"

"How many runs did last year's National League Cy Young Award winner give up?"

Bob just looked at me with a bewildered expression.

It's time to give the young Bob the right answer.

"61 runs. And he gave up 12 home runs."

"Hmm..."

"Forget it, damn it. If you're going to look like you lost the game after giving up just one run, go play a video game. The best pitcher in the world gives up dozens of runs and over ten home runs."

Bob once told me that after barely making it to Double-A, he heard this from his pitching coach and pulled himself together and worked hard.

"But this isn't the majors. Just in Single-A..."

Damn. Did he lie when he said he pulled himself together after hearing that?

Or does it only work when said by a pot-bellied uncle?

"That guy who just hit a home run might be in the majors next year. Isn't that right?"

Yeah. It's a lie.

I've never even heard of a guy named Ben or Barney.

But who knows?

"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Just do your job. Look at my signs and throw the ball accurately. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay."

I turned my back and headed back to home plate.

I heard Bob say "thanks" from behind, but I pretended not to hear it.

I don't know. Maybe he'll pull himself together a bit faster.

Whether he pulled himself together or it was just a coincidence, he got the third batter to fly out to right field and struck out the fourth batter looking, ending the first inning.

"Good, just keep throwing like that. We'll double or triple the score."

I said it was good, but I'm not sure if it really improved. There was no significant change in his pitching.

The fly out was just a lucky break, and the strikeout was because the batter decided to just watch the pitch.

Most pitchers have a childlike side.

You just have to cheer them on and say "good job."

If the pitcher is the king, the catcher is the slave.

Damn. Maybe I should have tried to make it to the majors as a pitcher.

Thinking about it, that makes sense.

Why did I insist on being a catcher again?

The fairy didn't specifically say I had to be a catcher to challenge the majors.

3

Our team has a few players who will play in the majors in the future.

Of course, there might be more who get called up for a short time. I can't remember all the players.

One of them is Chris Holloway, who bats third for the team. He has an incredible batting sense, is fast, and is a good fielder. He's a future leadoff hitter for the Phillies.

"Walks!"

After falling behind 2-0, he repeated a few foul tips and eventually drew a walk on a full count.

Now it's my turn to bat with two outs and a runner on first.

I already knew from the scouting report that he's a Japanese-American pitcher who mixes in various breaking balls.

If there's a keyword like pinpoint in there, I'll have to be a bit more careful...

"Ball!"

"Ball!"

Ball count 2-0.

Too obvious, trying to get a ground ball, consecutive breaking balls low in the strike zone.

The infield is slightly shifted to the third base side and is playing a bit deeper, and the outfield is playing a bit deeper.

I've hit 3 home runs and 5 doubles in 10 games, so they're trying to prevent a long hit and get an out on a deep infield hit.

But 2-0 is a batter's count. To get a strike here, the pitcher should throw a four-seam fastball.

But pitchers are complex creatures (even a dissected fish isn't that complex), and from the way the opposing pitcher shakes his head a few times, I can tell he's refusing to throw a four-seam. If it's not a psychological game or a change in his mind, there's a 90% chance he'll throw a breaking ball.

"Ball!"

That's right.

The pitcher's four-seam fastball tops out at 92 mph and averages 89 mph.

A well-located fastball can be powerful even if it's slow, but it's hopeless if the pitcher lacks confidence. Throwing a forkball in this count...

It's easy to face a pitcher like that as a batter, but if our pitcher starts throwing like that, it's a disaster.

The pitcher, with a determined look, glanced at the first base runner and started his pitch.

A four-seam fastball should be thrown with a 3-0 count.

There's no risk here.

It's already two outs, so there's no need to worry about a double play.

Just aim for the fastball. If it's a breaking ball and you swing and miss?

There are still at least two more chances.

Crack!

It was a solid hit, but the low launch angle sent the ball flying over the third baseman's head.

This might make it hard for the runner on first to score, but Chris Holloway started running at full speed as soon as the ball hit the bat.

Thanks to the opposing left fielder barely touching the ball, the runner scored safely. The throw to home plate also went wide.

Hmm. The opposing catcher looks pitiful.

He already looks like he has an ulcer.

Well, if the pitcher and outfielders are causing such chaos, the catcher's blood pressure will skyrocket.

I stepped on the base with the next batter's home run. Given Bob's style of pitching, which improves when the team is leading, today's game might go smoothly.

4

"Strikeout!"

"Out!"

"Out!"

Sure enough, Bob started pitching with renewed energy. After the first-inning home run, he retired 11 batters in a row. By the fifth inning, the score was 6-1.

I thought that if he can pitch well regardless of the score, he might have a chance to make it to the majors.

"Good, how's it going?"

"It can't get any better."

Bob, with an excited look, extended his hand to me first.

Indeed, pitchers of this style tend to go on a rampage once they get into a rhythm.

If they go on a bad rampage, it's a headache, but if they go on a good rampage, the opposing team's batters can only hope the pitcher gets replaced quickly.

"Don't forget that feeling. Let's go for a complete game."

"Thanks."

Bob, with a grin that doesn't match his size, went back to his position.

Sometimes the opposing pitcher will do this.

He'll throw powerful pitches almost continuously without much thought.

When that happens, the batter needs to break the rhythm.

But most of the players here lack the experience to do that, so they just get overwhelmed.

The game ended with Bob's 96-pitch, no-walk complete game victory. The score was 13-1.

After the game, I don't know what Bob said, but the next day, the starting pitcher Brad came to me.

"Hey, Ben. Bob... told me that if it's okay, I want to follow your lead 100% tomorrow. Is that okay?"

Of course.

And spread the word a bit more. Especially to the coach's ears, okay?

ㅡㅅㅡ : Tsk. Against kids...

ㅡㅅㅡ : Well, I recognized him when he hit a home run and did a celebration in high school.

ㅡㅅㅡ : Does he have even 1mg of integrity left?

What the hell.

It's not like he's hitting an extra home run because he's nice.