Chapter 51

Can't play baseball, but nice friends -4-

#

The day of the second game between the Oceans and the Angels.

Manager Hugh Breadman spoke to the reporters.

"I have a new plan. I'm looking forward to the day when we can show our fans a more sophisticated level of baseball."

It wasn't a particularly significant statement. Foreign managers often give the impression of saying something special.

Sometimes it feels that way due to translation differences, or it could just be lip service.

"Of course, change doesn't happen the moment you decide to turn around. It may require a little patience and a very big decision. If this is successful, we will be playing at a higher level..."

It was abstract and lacked any clear points. Still, the reporters reprocessed the language in their own ways.

[Manager Hugh Breadman, 'The Oceans are leveling up.']

[Oceans Manager, urging the team to step up despite leading the league with a strong performance.]

[The slowly changing Oceans and Manager Breadman's baseball philosophy.]

[A completely new Oceans. At the center is Manager Hugh Breadman's bold player selection.]

[Oceans Manager Hugh Breadman, 'Patience and decisiveness are important in baseball.']

Of course, the headlines were different, but the context was similar.

The manager's interview didn't receive much attention. The content was somewhat abstract, but it was also because there was another article that caught the attention of Oceans fans.

[(Yonggil's Baseball Circuit) Exclusive Interview with the Mother and Daughter of the Oceans' Goddess at Sajik-dong Twin Flags!]

The most notable part of this interview article was this: "Kang Geon-woo plans to propose to Jeong Yoo-ri with the Korean Series championship ring!"

- Kang Geon-woo is serious mode 😂😂😂😂😂

- Isn't that a declaration of celibacy???

- What the hell? It's a declaration that they will get married right after the season ends.

- What a joke, the Cools winning the championship 😂😂😂

- Idiots, even if Kang Geon-woo hits .400 for the full season, the Cools won't win the championship 😂😂😂😂

- Well, the day after the Korean Series, there will be a wedding at Sajik Stadium for Kang Geon-woo and Jeong Yoo-ri (congrats)

- He's hitting home runs to get married 😂😂😂😂

- I support the cute couple

- Idiots, don't block Yoo-ri's wedding path, just get lost

- Kang Geon-woo (45, unmarried): You bastards, let's get married

- What kind of nerve does he have to say that 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

- Baseball isn't about individual performance 😂😂

- Everything that falls has wings, except the Oceans 😂😂😂😂

- Well, the Angels have angel wings

- What about the Meteors then?

- That's a natural phenomenon

- Why are you picking on us, you bastards?

- Kang Geon-woo keeps talking about Yoo-ri, he's a bad guy, is he just playing with her???

- Ah, Kang Geon-woo and Yoo-ri are getting married this fall

- If he can't even get to the playoffs, it will be hilarious 😂😂😂😂😂

- Just wait and see who will be laughing at the end

- Probably the Oceans

- You know your stuff

- I can already see the Oceans fans going crazy after missing the playoffs 😂😂😂

- You don't know anything, idiots

#

The outstanding performance of two foreign pitchers, the renewed enthusiasm of Kim Jeong-yong, and the emergence of a national hero.

While fans of other teams might not know, Oceans fans believed their starting rotation was among the best in the league.

Of course, it's hard to predict how they will perform in the long term. But at the very least, Oceans fans believed their starting rotation had undergone a complete transformation.

And on the mound for the Oceans was a young pitcher even Oceans fans didn't trust.

Top speed of 149 km/h.

According to his profile, he is 180 cm tall and weighs 90 kg. Lee Hoon, a former Angels youth member.

"Strike-out!"

In the first inning, Lee Hoon struck out the Angels' leadoff hitter with three pitches.

As a passionate Angels fan who always kept his love for the Angels in his heart, even while playing for the Oceans, Lee Hoon tried not to show his excitement.

There was some applause from the stands, but it was still the first inning.

The fans who came to Sajik expecting a fiery offensive performance from the Oceans' batters were more focused on opening their chicken boxes and didn't really notice the strikeout.

In fact, Lee Hoon was the pitcher who benefited the most this season.

The Oceans' pitching coach taught the pitchers how to throw a forkball, but the battery coach couldn't train a catcher who could handle it.

Park Eui-hyun is a catcher who can block bouncing forkballs. The keystone combination of Kang Geon-woo and No Gyeong-woo provided more stability for Lee Hoon than Jeong Gwi-hyun and Ko Eun-tae.

No Gyeong-woo's defensive skills weren't better than Ko Eun-tae, but his range was much wider. In fact, Kang Geon-woo's shortstop defense gave a great sense of security to the pitcher.

'Let's start with a fastball to get the count? Sounds good.'

Lee Hoon wound up and threw a fastball. A slightly inside pitch. The batter's bat swung powerfully.

Thwack!

"Hey! Hoon! Get your head in the game!"

"Hey!"

The crowd, thinking he had given up another home run, started to boo, but it was just a foul ball.

Some pitchers throw fastballs that, despite their speed, tend to go far when hit. Lee Hoon was exactly that type of pitcher.

It's hard for fans to dislike a fast, athletic starting pitcher, but Lee Hoon's pitches had a feather-like lightness.

He was a bit unlucky. He could throw an impressive forkball, but the catcher wasn't up to the task. His changeup was decent, but his fastball lacked power, reducing its effectiveness.

While he had a clear weakness with his fastball, he was undervalued due to the catcher and the shaky infield defense.

Second pitch, forkball.

"Strike!"

A well-placed forkball that induced a swing and miss from the batter.

Third pitch, high fastball.

Thwack!

"Foul!"

Fourth pitch, forkball.

"Ball!"

And the fifth pitch. A changeup to a batter who was expecting a fastball or forkball.

Thwack!

The left-handed batter's bunt went toward the shortstop. Kang Geon-woo smoothly fielded it and threw accurately to first base for the second out of the first inning.

"Geon-woo! Nice play!"

"Kang Geon-woo! Kang Geon-woo!"

The pitcher was the one who threw well, but the shortstop received the praise.

That's how important a player's image can be.

Still, Lee Hoon didn't care at all. He was only focused on the next batter, Song Byung-jae.

It wasn't a desire to outperform the batting champion from last season, who hit .361.

'I want his autograph on my uniform.'

He was just excited as a passionate fan of Song Byung-jae.

'But if I wear a uniform with an Angels player's autograph, I'll probably get killed.'

#

Thwack!

Angels outfielder Song Byung-jae hit a home run on the first pitch. Song Byung-jae casually rounded the bases, and senior pitcher Lee Hoon, with a moistened gaze, watched the scoreboard as he was booed.

"Another one!"

And the next batter, Angels' foreign third baseman Mida Valdez, also hit a home run on the first pitch.

Thwack!

"Home run factory, huh!"

Well, it's what they call a "straight fastball." It means a fastball with almost no movement, making it easy to hit.

Of course, not all straight fastballs are bad. A fastball doesn't fly in a straight line; it naturally drops due to gravity. A fastball that drops less has a different movement compared to a typical pitcher, which can confuse batters.

However, Lee Hoon's fastball, which batters can easily target, doesn't exploit this advantage. When the strike zone is slightly higher, the pitch becomes more honest, leading to solid contact.

It's just that he's an easy target.

Despite giving up back-to-back home runs after getting two outs, his mental stability is a strength. He usually gets excited by good defense, but today he's less expressive.

"Strike! Out!"

Still, he induced a swinging strikeout with a forkball against the fifth batter.

"Forkball is really good, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

When I tried to boost his spirits, the moistened gaze from earlier was gone, and he grinned.

I'm not sure if he has a strong or weak mental game. His eyes often get moist, but he quickly forgets.

Looking around, there are quite a few players like this on the team. They might have adapted to the aggressive nature of the fans.

Anyway, it's our turn to bat.

The opposing pitcher is right-handed starter Oh Seong-jin, born in 2003. He's known for inconsistency, especially with his slider.

Senior player Hwang Seok-gyu was given the task of watching the pitches.

And Bae Young-han looked very relaxed.

"Brother Young-han, aren't you the Angels' nemesis?"

"Yeah, I can't deny it."

"Your batting average against the Angels last year was .490, right?"

"Without the Angels, I wouldn't have gotten my 70 billion won contract."

He was joking with senior player Lee Si-wook.

Sometimes, a player can be a nemesis not just against a specific player but against an entire team.

There can be various reasons. It could be psychological, or it might be due to a good match-up against the team's pitching coach.

Speaking of which, Pirates' Cho Jun-yeol is known as the "Oceans Killer." 'When the Oceans come, it's a sure win.'

According to Hyun-su, without the Oceans, he wouldn't have won the MVP.

Out of his 37 home runs last year, 10 were against the Oceans, so it's understandable why he says that.

And it's also understandable why Oceans fans dislike Cho Jun-yeol.

"Out!"

Hwang Seok-gyu's hit was caught by the right fielder. The fans were disappointed, but not for long.

Thwack!

Bae Young-han hit Oh Seong-jin's slider, not a pull, but a push, over the fence.

The fans cheered his name, and Bae Young-han, rounding the bases, smiled at me.

"Hey, baseball genius. I'm a baseball genius against the Angels too, right?"

What is he trying to say?

I'm not sure, exactly.

I hit a slightly curved slider on a 2-ball, no-strike count.

Thwack!

The timing was a bit off, but it went through the gap between the center and left fielders.

I stopped at second base and scanned the stands.

My future mother-in-law said it would be easier to find today...

"Kang Geon-woo! Kang Geon-woo!"

...I see a shiny flag over there.

What did he make?

#

[Live) Seoul Angels 2 : 1 Busan Oceans.]

-1 out, runner on second.

-Second base runner: Kang Geon-woo.

-4th batter: Yang Daegun.

- Daegun, show them you're not just a big, useless guy!

- Is that an insult or encouragement? 😂😂

- Does anyone else feel this game will be long?

- If it's an Engola, it should be 20-20 😂

- Don't compare us to the Angels. The Oceans are a strong team.

- You crazy Oceans fans, while you were in 10th place for three years, we went to the playoffs for three years.

- We did have a three-year streak, but the Angels are a bit 😂😂

- You Oceans fans are so ridiculous 😂😂

- First pitch.

- Two-run home run to right field (distance: 114m)

- Second base runner Kang Geon-woo scores.

- Score: 2-3.

- Haha 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

- The Angels are nothing special 😂😂😂😂😂

- What? You Oceans fans are ridiculous? 😂😂😂😂😂

- If you're ridiculous, then your pitchers have no stuff, you bastards 😂😂😂😂😂

- Oh Seong-jin, when he gives up hits, they're all long balls 😂😂😂😂

- Your Lee Hoon gives up home runs too.

- That's just who Hoon is.

- Yeah, Hoon is fine because he always gives up home runs.

- What's fine about that, you idiots??

- 😂😂😂😂😂 Your pitchers' stuff is like feathers.

- No, are they using hardballs? How can all five hits be long balls?

- Hardballs? No way. If they were, Kang Geon-woo's hit would have traveled 500 meters.

- 😂😂😂😂😂

- Your pitchers always get shelled by God Young-han, and Daegun is in great form lately.

- Damn, your starter gave up two home runs too.

- Yeah, that's just Hoon.

- Leave Hoon alone 😂😂

#

The game, which started 2-0, was flipped to 2-3 and flowed without much change until the fifth inning. The problem started after both teams' starting pitchers were taken out.

The Angels' counterattack began.

- Oh! Yun Se-hwan's two-run home run! The game is now tied!

When the Angels' power-hitting shortstop Yun Se-hwan came to bat, the Oceans' reliever, who inherited a runner from Lee Hoon, gave up a home run. The score was now 4-3.

And in the next inning.

The previously quiet Wolfpack hit a massive tying home run against the Angels' bullpen.

- It's going! The ball is! Far, far away! It's over the fence!

All runs were coming from home runs. The internet was flooded with suspicions of hardballs, and in the seventh inning, Angels' catcher Cha Jong-yun even hit one over the fence.

- Today's game is a home run show!

In response, No Gyeong-woo hit a home run.

Angels' foreign batter Mida Valdez hit his second home run of the game, putting the Angels up 6-5.

"Geon-woo!"

"Yoo-ri is hitting a home run and coming over!"

A catchphrase that's like a universal spell for Oceans fans.

With Bae Young-han on base, Kang Geon-woo showed a powerful swing.

Kang Geon-woo's hit, which had been bombing the opposing team with home runs, hit the fence. However, it bounced high off the top of the fence, allowing Bae Young-han to score, and the Oceans challenged for a home run, but it wasn't recognized.

Following Yang Daegun's walk, the Wolfpack struck out, and then Lee Si-wook's RBI hit.

- The Oceans have successfully taken the lead again! 7-6! The Oceans are ahead! This game is really exciting!

With the Oceans leading by one run in the top of the ninth inning.

The man who could make Oceans fans tense just by his presence, Cho Hyung-oh, took the mound.

"Ah..."

"Hyung-oh..."

"Please..."

Cho Hyung-oh thought.

If he could cleanly save this chaotic game, he could become the hero of the game.

He could be the ray of hope for the worn-out Oceans bullpen and overturn the fans' harsh evaluations.

But.

That didn't happen.

Cho Hyung-oh recorded a blown save in his first closing situation of the season.

The Oceans, who were trailing, couldn't turn the game around again.

And Kang Geon-woo witnessed the true anger of Oceans fans for the first time.

"Damn, retire!"

"Why did you come back? Just stay retired!"

"Shit Hyung-oh, go die!"

"Break your arm and get out!"

"You bastard!"

"What kind of closer are you!"