Chapter 84

Just leave me alone for a bit -2-

#

Whether it's the Major League or the KBO, there are some peculiar people.

Well, there are many people with peculiar personalities. If we were to look for examples, Park Eun-hyun and National Sung would be the most representative. In fact, No Kyung-woo and Da-geun also have peculiar traits, and it's hard to consider Hwang Seok-gyu and Bae Young-han as normal.

What I'm talking about are people whose very existence is peculiar.

If we look for one each from pitching and batting, it would be Senior Yi Hoon and Senior Yi Si-wook.

The reason they are peculiar is this. Their performance isn't particularly outstanding, but they are very popular. Actually, they have a lot of anti-fans too. I'm not sure which side is more dominant. But especially, when you look at the Yurine family, it seems like they can go from being a fan to an anti-fan depending on the situation. When they do well, they are King Noru and My Hoon, but when they do poorly, they become Noru the Kid and Nego Hoon. There are even harsher insults, but I can't bring myself to say them...

Anyway, people seem to like these two players because they see their potential.

It's difficult for ordinary baseball fans to verify what that potential is.

I don't know for sure, but fans might have judged their potential based on one particular tool of these players.

Fastball.

And power hitting.

That fast ball often turns into home runs, and they swing for the fences, leading to many strikeouts and double plays. However, strong fastballs and home runs are undoubtedly the most attractive points for fans.

In that sense, National Sung is the complete opposite. The terrifying thing is that general baseball fans and former coaching staff had similar perspectives.

But that's all in the past now.

Let's talk about the pitcher.

If I were an Oceans fan and had high expectations, I would be the type to get really frustrated.

"Ball!"

"Hey! Yi Hoon! Did you forget how to throw a splitter?"

The pitcher, who had been looking at the batter walking to first base with a pitiful expression, sighed deeply and bowed his head. From a fan's perspective, to put it in Yurine's words, one might say, "What did you do well to look so dejected?"

But the funny thing is, after hitting himself a few times on the head, he strikes out the batter.

Of course, when the first two pitches almost looked like home runs, flying far and wide, the audience was filled with curses and insults. But when the next pitch, a forkball, was thrown perfectly, inducing a swinging strikeout, the fans immediately changed their attitude.

"Yi Hoon! Yi-Hoon! Yi! Hoon!"

"Hoon! I love you!"

"Kills the ball!"

The batter, who struck out on a bouncing forkball, bowed his head and retreated to the dugout, just like the pitcher a moment ago.

Park Eun-hyun quickly blocked the bouncing ball and threw it to first base. The runner, who had moved forward a bit in case the ball went behind, hurriedly returned to first base. Although he didn't catch the runner, Senior Yi Hoon's expression brightened up.

Well, that guy.

When I made a diving catch, he looked a bit dumbfounded and said, "Perfect."

But after Park Eun-hyun showed off his impressive skills, something changed a bit.

The pitcher didn't reject the catcher's signs at all and nodded immediately.

And the result was...

"Strike! Out!"

The fifth pitch, a forkball, resulted in the second out of the inning.

"Strike! Out!"

The fourth pitch, a fastball, resulted in three strikeouts in the first inning.

"King-Hoon!"

"Hoon! As expected, you're the best!"

"Hoon, go to the Olympic national team!"

These people have the most extreme emotional fluctuations and are hard to understand, but I think I understand them quite well.

I've been watching Yurine for a long time.

#

[Why is Nego Hoon suddenly striking out three batters in a row??? Did he take drugs??]

└Are you friends with Mr. Yi Hoon??

└F*ck, calling him Mr. Yi Hoon for striking out a few batters 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

└Hoon, that guy is really good at League of Legends

└Are you friends with him, f*ckhead

└Huni, I love you. Please pitch a complete game, Huni

└😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Check out the sudden surge

└If that guy throws one more home run to Hoon, I'll cut off my hand and write a post

└The guy who wrote the comment above will start using one hand from tomorrow

└Don't compare Hoon with the Noru and Huni factions today; it hurts my pride

└But why is the Dungshan faction so quiet lately? Is Yang Da-geun not popular anymore?

└Is the team captain your friend?

└Seeing you look for friends, it seems like you'll have a class reunion soon

└Normal person: Seeing Hoon strike out three in a row, he'll probably give up three home runs in the next inning / Huni faction: We ask for a complete game from Mr. Hoon

└Just one question, why do the Huni faction support Hoon? What for???

└Then why do you support the Oceans?

└Ah

└Ah, wtf 😂😂😂😂😂😂

└Check out the self-reflection speed

└If Hoon goes to another team, will the Huni faction switch teams too?

└What are you talking about? Hoon will be a permanent retired number for the Oceans

└Please don't talk to the Huni faction

#

Yi Hoon thought.

'Maybe I really was a great pitcher?'

But after giving up his second home run to Meteoros' foreign batter Pio Gerichson, his mind was emptied again.

'I'm trash. I'll just do as I'm told.'

Either way, by the end of the fifth inning, he had only given up two runs.

Both were solo home runs.

True to his feather-like pitches, both runs were given up as home runs, but if we only look at today's performance, it was a great result.

"Ah, I want to throw 166."

Yi Hoon muttered this as he returned to the dugout after finishing the fifth inning.

Then, Kang Geun-woo, who was walking in from behind, said,

"166?"

"Ah! 166! Oh, did I say that out loud?"

Perhaps his mind was so empty from throwing the pitches that it really was empty, and Yi Hoon said it stupidly. Park Eun-hyun came running over.

"Huni, Huni! You're a strong pitcher even without throwing 166 km/h! Don't worry, just believe in me and throw with all your might!"

Huni, Huni was a nickname Yi Hoon disliked. A catcher should care for the pitcher's mental state, but since Yi Hoon didn't say he disliked it, Park Eun-hyun kept calling him that.

"Huni, Huni..."

"I've been checking the Oceans gallery to understand the fans' hearts! I envy you, Huni!"

"What for?"

"One of the most popular people in the Oceans gallery! I, Park Eun-hyun! I dream of the day when I'll be called Hani, Hani, and I'll keep working hard today!"

"..."

Park Eun-hyun moved to take off his catcher's gear, hyping himself up, and Kang Geun-woo said to Yi Hoon,

"Just pretend you didn't hear it. He's always like that."

"Pretending I didn't hear it is my specialty, so it's fine."

"Your mental state is the best."

"Geun-woo."

"Yes."

"How do you throw 166?"

Kang Geun-woo paused at Yi Hoon's question, took off his cap, and scratched his head before answering.

"If you throw it a bit harder..."

"..."

"..."

The reason he trailed off was because when No Kyung-woo hit three home runs, and Yi Hoon asked, "How do you hit home runs like that?" he replied, "Just hit it hard, and it goes over," and was called a bad guy.

Kang Geun-woo quickly changed the subject.

"Look at Senior National Sung. Velocity isn't everything."

National Sung, who has good hearing, turned his head, and No Kyung-woo clicked his tongue.

"Senior Hoon. This guy is really a bad guy. Don't ask him anything."

"Why are you like that?"

"When you ask how to hit home runs, he says just hit it hard and it goes over."

"Ah..."

"Such a bad guy..."

"..."

Kang Geun-woo sighed.

It's completely over.

"So, how do you hit it hard?"

"What did he say?"

"He told me to just hit singles. I'm so frustrated."

"No Dung-woo! Don't disturb the starting pitcher's rest and come in quickly!"

"Ah, Senior Captain. Why are you only picking on me? Kang Geun-woo did it first."

While No Kyung-woo was feeling wronged, Kang Geun-woo whispered to Yi Hoon,

"Actually, when I pitch, I just throw what Senior Eun-hyun tells me to."

It was a lie.

"Just close your eyes and do as you're told. He talks a lot, but he's good at leading."

"...Should I try it?"

Yi Hoon was fooled and decided not to reject the catcher's demands today.

#

Surprisingly, while Yi Hoon was pitching a pitcher's duel against Meteoros' Vito Rodriguez, Jung Yurine was taking notes.

-Yi Hoon: If tunneling and four-seam grip are improved, there's a possibility of improvement.

It takes 0.4 seconds for a pitch to reach home plate. The batter has less than half that time to react. Once the bat is swung, it's almost impossible to adjust the trajectory. Of course, there can be exceptions.

Tunneling is a pitching technique that uses these elements. The distance from the mound to home plate is 18.4 meters.

The batter decides whether to swing and what kind of swing to make at the 6.4-meter point from the release point (where the ball leaves the pitcher's hand).

Tunneling is a technique to throw different pitches with the same trajectory up to 6.4 meters.

"There's no suitable pitch..."

A four-seam fastball, curveball, sinker, and slider are good combinations for tunneling. Studies have shown that the swing-and-miss rate increases by over 30% when a four-seam fastball is thrown followed by a curveball compared to just throwing a curveball.

"But what about a forkball?"

If a four-seam fastball and a forkball can be made to look the same up to 6.4 meters, Yi Hoon might not be treated the same way.

The problem is, the four-seam fastball has a feather-like movement. If the tunnel point (6.4 meters) is adjusted to the same trajectory, the swing-and-miss rate for the forkball after the