Chapter 19

Sajik Bread House -2-

#

[Oceans! A 3-1 victory against the Vikings in the opening game!]

[Oceans' Joong Kim (Vikings) scored after 7 months and 25 days, and the star was rookie shortstop Kang Geon-woo!]

[The opening game at Sajik Baseball Stadium started and ended with Kang Geon-woo.]

[Leading with a home run and ending with a walk-off home run, Oceans' super rookie Kang Geon-woo proved the value of his record-breaking 1.5 billion won contract.]

[Andy Garfield pitched 8.1 innings with only 1 run, starting off strong!]

[Oceans' only multi-hit player, Kang Geon-woo, led the team to victory with two home runs.]

[The first home run of the 2028 KBO League went to Joong Kim.]

[Debuting with two home runs, what did Kang Geon-woo say in his post-game interview?]

- Who is Yurina, Naeinnoom

- Sb, he's good-looking and plays baseball well, so he has a girlfriend? The world is so unfair

- Yurina, I love you too

- Don't mess with Yurina, you bastards

- My wife's name is Yurina, and we went to a game together? When I said I love Yurina, my wife flipped out and bought five uniforms

- Are you the culprit??? I came late, and Kang Geon-woo's uniform was sold out :(

- Bro, sell me one

- When are you two getting married?

- Yurina is so enviable, I want Geon-woo too :((((

- ??????

[Sales of the bank account with interest rates tied to Oceans' performance increased by 300%.]

- Is this the account that Oceans fans are signing up for with Pirates or Vikings merchandise? Hahaha

- 300% increase just because they won one game? Hahaha

- Haha, so funny, you Oceans fans

- With a top pitcher surpassing Joong Kim and a powerful shortstop, it's definitely possible, yeah

- Oceans fans, we've only played one game...

#

After hitting the walk-off home run and shouting "I love you, Yurina," I received a lot of teasing.

Bae Young-han said to me,

"Hey, baseball genius. If you break up, it'll become a black mark that will haunt you for life? If you marry someone else, or even just date someone, you'll be teased every other day, right?"

"I won't date anyone else, so it's fine."

"You're still young and don't understand. Let me tell you, why do you think I came to Busan?"

"Because they gave me 78 billion won?"

Bae Young-han chuckled at my answer and continued,

"Hey, don't be so blunt. Once, I met a girl I really liked at a club. I was about to make a move, but do you know what she said?"

"..."

"It turned out she was my ex-ex-ex-ex-ex-girlfriend. She told me to get lost. I couldn't recognize her in the dark. The next day, her sister, who was my ex-ex-girlfriend, called me trash, and the following week, a friend of an old girlfriend. Shit. That's why I came to Busan. I thought it wouldn't work in Seoul. You get the picture, right? You're smart, baseball genius."

He's still a useless guy. He received 78 billion won and ended his opening game with a single walk, yet he talks so much.

After the game, No Gyeong-woo, who saw Yurina's photo on my smartphone, went crazy asking for an introduction.

"Who does a minimum salary player date?"

"You're also on minimum salary... Damn. I can't say anything because of the difference in signing bonuses."

"Try to get another home run if you want to date someone."

"Ah, do you only think about baseball?"

"No, I only think about Yurina."

I got cursed at.

Hmm.

I also got teased by my father.

"Hey, if you were going to say 'I love you' to someone, couldn't you at least say 'Thank you' to your father? Usually, when giving acceptance speeches, people first thank their parents for raising them, but you...?"

But my mother was on my side.

"What's the problem? It looked good."

And Yurina...

"Hey! Kang Geon-woo!"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean, 'Yeah'? You really..."

"Really?"

"Ha... yesterday!"

My mother told me that Yurina, who was so excited by my walk-off home run that she almost fainted, screamed and stomped her feet when I shouted "I love you, Yurina!" and then shouted "I love you too, Geon-woo!"

I found it cute that she was pretending not to care. Seriously, it's so cute.

I couldn't stop laughing, but I tried to look gloomy and asked,

"...Don't do that, okay?"

"No, that's not it. Hey, why do you look like that?"

"I didn't think you'd be upset. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not upset, but..."

I laughed inside as I watched Yurina, who didn't know what to do. Yurina sighed deeply and said,

"Hey, relax..."

"Then, are you coming to the game today?"

"Hey!"

My laughter burst out, and Yurina hit my chest with her palm. When I tensed up, Yurina was surprised.

I exercise for moments like this.

Who hits home runs these days?

Anyway, Yurina said she would come to the game today.

"By the way, you've become a goddess of Oceans?"

"It's because of you. People recognize me more because of my mom."

"Good. Now, you can't marry anyone but me."

"Ah, you crazy Kang Geon-woo."

Even though she said that, Yurina hugged me and told me to do well and not get hurt today.

"Okay, I'll do well."

If you tell me to do well, I have to do well.

#

The team atmosphere is pretty good.

Still, to really see the team's true spirit, you have to check the day after a loss. But the atmosphere is good, so there's nothing bad about it.

The coach reminded us to focus today and even checked my condition separately.

"Did you have a celebration party after yesterday's game? It must have been a great night, right?"

"I exercised a bit and went to sleep."

"What? Why? Wasn't it an incredibly fantastic debut?"

"I don't really like noisy places."

I had never seen the coach laugh like that. The coach, who laughed a lot, added,

"Really? You seem like the loudest romanticist I've ever seen."

It's true, but what can I do? I did something.

Anyway, our starting pitcher today is Kirk Simpson. Unlike Garfield, he has a rather outgoing personality and was joking around with the catcher in the training field even though he's starting today.

"Damn, I don't understand a word you're saying. You too, right?"

"Speak Korean since you're in Korea, you old man."

They were holding their stomachs laughing despite not understanding each other. Kirk also said to me,

"Since you hit two home runs off Andy, you need to hit three today."

"Why?"

"Why? Because Andy is a better pitcher than me. It has to be fair, right?"

He's looking for fairness in a strange place.

The batting order is the same as yesterday. The two-game series against the Vikings will proceed without changes.

Today's opposing pitcher is Simon Tobar from Venezuela.

He's a right-handed overhand pitcher who has been with the Vikings for three years.

He mainly pitches sinkers and is known to be a tough opponent due to the Vikings' excellent infield defense.

Indeed, he's a type that Oceans' batters find challenging.

Most of our team's regular batters are power hitters.

Senior Yang Daegun is a long-ball hitter, but even seniors like Lee Si-wook, Hwang Seok-gyu, and even No Gyeong-woo have large swings, though to varying degrees.

The same goes for Wolfpack.

Bae Young-han is a bad-ball hitter with good contact ability.

As for Senior Jo Yong-su...

To be honest, I don't understand how he's the starting catcher of a professional team. His hitting and defense are not great.

The two center fielders are left-handed batters who swing first and then run to first base before their follow-through is complete.

Since most players swing first, they are naturally weak against sinker pitchers.

My prediction was completely accurate in the first inning.

"Hey, you fans! Thanks for the cool breeze!"

"Can you end the first inning with seven pitches?"

"Swing at it!"

Simon Tobar, grinning, high-fived the infielders and walked towards the visiting dugout.

Honestly, I would feel the same.

If they swing at every pitch I throw.

#

Oceans' new foreign pitcher and second starter, Kirk Simpson, gave up a single to the Vikings' leadoff hitter in the first inning but turned the momentum by picking off the runner with a pickoff throw.

Kirk Simpson is a smart left-handed pitcher. He doesn't rely solely on the analysis data provided by the team's scouting department but also watched videos of the Vikings from the previous season to prepare for the game.

He knew that this team was skilled at making pitchers struggle.

'Fourth batter. A left-handed first baseman with a big build. When there are no runners, he tries to get on base with a short swing. He hit 28 home runs last year, more three-run homers than solo shots.'

A tough type, but Kirk calmly exchanged signs with the catcher.

In baseball, the play starts when the pitcher throws the ball. The rest is up to fate.

After the windup, he threw a four-seam fastball low and outside.

"Strike!"

The batter, holding the bat a bit shorter, still managed to hit it. To check if the bat made contact with the ball, the second pitch was a curveball slightly outside.

"Strike!"

It matched his analysis. The batter had good bat control but no particular strength in pitch selection.

With two strikes, the pitcher has two options: go for a strikeout or try to get a weak contact.

Kirk knew he wasn't a strikeout pitcher. He believed that a strikeout and a groundout were essentially the same.

This time, he threw a changeup low.

"Hit!"

But before Kirk could turn around, Kang Geon-woo had already taken a good position and fielded the ground ball, throwing it to first base.

"Out!"

A good start. Kirk gave a thumbs-up to Kang Geon-woo and returned to the mound.

Originally, Kirk Simpson would have been released mid-season due to poor performance caused by Oceans' terrible infield defense.

Of course, he didn't know that his fate would change because of one shortstop.

He just believed what his teammate Andy Garfield said.

'Kirk, isn't this team strange? You have players like Gang and Kim on the same team. And Kim makes twice as much as Gang.'

#

Oceans fans were waiting for the bottom of the second inning.

The lineup of Yang Daegun, Wolfpack, and Kang Geon-woo was up.

"Daegun! If you hit a home run, I'll buy you chicken legs!"

Yang Daegun shivered as he stepped into the batter's box. He loved chicken legs more than anyone, but after that incident, he had only been eating boneless chicken for a while.

"Daegun, hey."

"Senior, please do your best."

Vikings catcher Jo Yong-su was a senior Yang Daegun admired. As he prepared to bat, Jo Yong-su grumbled,

"Hey, your rookie."

"Geon-woo, what about him?"

"Geon-woo, you know. He's good, but he throws the bat too well."

Yang Daegun hesitated. Even if he admired his senior, he didn't think the Vikings should be saying such things.

How the Vikings had treated Oceans.

Didn't they treat them like a meal?

"I don't like saying this, but Changyeol was a bit out of control yesterday. I thought it would be better if I told you."

Seo Changyeol.

As fans would say, a player who fits better in the news than in baseball.

Yang Daegun thought, 'If he has something to say, he should say it to me directly.'

But what came out of his mouth was different.

"He didn't mean it badly. I'll talk to him."

The conversation ended there. The umpire interrupted.

"Let's play baseball."

"Okay."

Yang Daegun is a batter who only swings at pitches in his strike zone.

Simon Tobar tried to tempt him, but it was 3-0.

The pitcher was now trying to get a ball count, and Yang Daegun reaped the rewards of his patience. Regardless of the ball count, he only swung if the pitch was in the zone and he could hit it.

Thwack!

It was a solid hit. But the annoying Seo Changyeol quickly fielded the ball, and the slow-footed Yang Daegun stopped at first base.

Wolfpack, who didn't get a hit in the previous game, managed to get his first KBO League hit this time.

Thwack!

[-Live- Vikings 0 : 0 Oceans.]

- Hahaha

- Wow hahaha

- Two extra-base hits and 1-2 bases are out? Hahaha

- One bad car after another

- So slow, damn it hahaha

- Geon-woo!!!!!!!

"Kang-Geon-Woo! Kang! Geon! Woo! Oceans Kang Geon-woo-!"

"Gang! Geon! Woo!"

And now, despite it being only his second game, Kang Geon-woo, who has become the hope and dream of Oceans fans, was up to bat.

Simon Tobar spat and prepared to face Kang Geon-woo.

It was fine until the first inning, but in the second, he gave up consecutive hits.

Both hits were on four-seam fastballs.

The first hit was a four-seam fastball he had to throw because the count was against him, and the second was a four-seam fastball he threw to start the count.

It's hard to throw a four-seam fastball in such situations. Catcher Jo Yong-su suggested throwing the curveball he had only thrown once today.

Simon nodded. The combination of four-seam fastball, sinker, and curveball is powerful. If you think the pitch will be high, you'll likely swing and miss the curveball, and if you think it will be a sinker, the different nature of the pitch makes it hard to time.

The battery agreed to throw a curveball in the strike zone and called a time-out to disrupt the timing of the rookie who hit two home runs yesterday. They then threw two pickoff throws to make the batter impatient, even though it wasn't a situation for a stolen base.

"Ma!!!"

Oceans fans shouted to intimidate the pitcher, but Simon ignored it. He was in his third year in the KBO and was now used to it, though he was initially a bit surprised.

Rookies are full of spirit but lack patience. If you disrupt their timing and throw an unexpected pitch...

Thwack!

The annoying center fielder Seo Changyeol chased the ball but gave up and threw his glove into the outfield.

Simon bit his lip, and Kang Geon-woo, after throwing his bat back even harder than yesterday, ran the bases and sent a heart sign to where Yurina was sitting.

Two large flags were waving, and no Oceans fans were sitting down.

"Geon-woo!"

"Gang! Geon! Woo!"

"Kang-Geon-Woo! Kang! Geon! Woo! Oceans Kang Geon-woo-!"

"Where did you come from? You're crazy!"

"Geon-woo!