Potato Ball (2)
To start with the result, Miners won.
It was only one ga, but it was rather noisy.
There is drama in sports.
If it had been just an ordinary ga, it wouldn't have been like this, but apparently even the club owner was greatly delighted.
And for good reason—it was their first opening ga victory since the team's founding.
Moreover, it was quite a high-level ga.
A match that didn't just end with the first opening day win after their founding.
Gang Young-ho, the starting pitcher for the Flamingos, pitched 7 scoreless innings.
He even managed to escape a bases-loaded, no-out crisis—created by a surprise bunt, a hit-by-pitch, and a defensive error—by striking out three consecutive batters.
But Porter beca the hero of this ga by securing a complete ga win with 13 strikeouts and just 1 earned run.
In addition, the drama was completed when Kim Jae-beom, who had worn the Flamingos uniform just last season, hit a go-ahead two-run hor in the eighth inning.
The Flamingos fans, who probably thought of this as just an appetizer they absolutely had to consu, looked shattered.
Even before the ga started, they had applauded forr Flamingos Kim Jae-beom and Yoon Bong-wan, but by the end of the ga, it was probably a different story.
Laughing today, getting mad tomorrow.
Pouring your whole heart into cheering, but cursing three seconds later.
Even the most rational person becos a devil from a single mistake.
That's what baseball fans are, and that's what baseball is.
I used to hate those emotional ups and downs so much they drove mad, but now they were starting to make my heart race.
I was dying to get out there and play.
I wanted to get up on that mound and throw the ball.
I missed those people so much, those who cheered for my strikeouts and cursed at my ho runs.
And, surprisingly, I wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"The pitcher is Seo Tae-seung and the pitching coach is Seo Tae-seung..."
Father closed his eyes and said sothing strange.
"The pitcher was Graham Donald Porter, and the pitching coach was you, father."
"......."
"...... Son."
"Yes."
"You were so focused on sports that you neglected your studies, so you have no grasp of context, do you?"
Anyway, it seed Father was also quite enjoying baseball's return after a long ti.
* * *
Kang Un-deok, the Gangwon Miners' owner and GW Group chairman, was absolutely delighted when the team beat last year's defending champion, the Incheon Flamingos, 2–1 in the season opener.
"Executive Director Jo. Should I treat the team to a dinner party, or should I just hand out cash gifts?"
– Chairman, I already ntioned it to Head Coach Song Moon-jung, but he said it's fine.
"Really?"
– Yes. He said, 'What's the point of a dinner just for winning a single ga...'
Kang Un-deok was, in every sense of the word, an old-fashioned man. If his subordinates did well, he had to hand out envelopes, and if they did poorly, he had to scold them to feel satisfied.
But Song Moon-jung's words didn't sound so bad.
It sounded like they wanted to win frequently, not just once.
"I thought, since he's an old-school baseball guy, he'd welco those sorts of things. Turns out, it was unexpected."
– He seems to be soone who values principles.
"Still, if they win tomorrow, throw them a party."
– Tomorrow, sir?
"Yeah, if we win back-to-back gas at the opening series..."
The owner chuckled low.
"I'm going to call Flamingos' owner Chairman Go and tease him. You know the restaurant his second daughter runs? Eat and drink to your heart's content there, then post it online and brag about it a bit. Got it?"
– Understood, chairman.
It ant he wanted to thoroughly rub it in.
Not just among the baseball fans, but among the owners, too, Kang Un-deok had been the butt of jokes for running a money-draining, image-tarnishing baseball club.
In fact, even now his fingers were itching. He wanted to call and tease right away.
That's how sports work—a person who just won has bragging rights, even if their all-ti record is 1 win to 99 losses.
But what Kang Un-deok wished for didn't end up happening.
* * *
After a loss, the team bus is always somber.
And if that bus is traveling long-distance from Incheon to Busan, it's only natural that spirits would be even lower.
The next schedule was an away ga against the Busan Stars.
For the first ga of the three-ga series, Hwang Seung-tae sunbae was scheduled as the starting pitcher, and for the next ga, according to Father's words, "the guy who looks in the best condition right now,"
Lee Min-gi sunbae, was set to pitch.
And on the last day of the Stars series, it would be my turn.
"Just get so sleep, kid."
"I've been quiet."
"You're so nervous for your debut your eyebrows are twitching, huh?"
"If you can't sleep that much, you could probably feel the earth spinning, couldn't you?"
Harold Bradshaw didn't seem very upset for a starting pitcher who lost his win due to the bullpen's blunder.
He just lounged lazily in his seat, bantering with .
"By the way, why are you coming to Busan?"
He had pitched six innings as a starter, and had no plans to take the mound in Busan.
Yet, he was sitting right next to .
"I don't expect special treatnt for being a foreign player—I truly want to be one with the team."
Bradshaw said this with a soulless expression, then let out a snort.
"Kidding."
"I figured it was a joke. So what's the real reason?"
"Your dad told to."
"Ah."
"......"
Bradshaw gave a look, then smirked and closed his eyes.
"Joking."
"What?"
"I just want to visit every stadium. See what the fields look like, what kind of dirt's on the mound, how high it is, what the grass is like...damn it."
He spoke lazily, but at the end, his voice held a hint of disgust. It was sothing you just had to accept.
Pitchers often have a screw loose in so corner of their brain.
Uh...
Of course, I'm not...right?
* * *
When Miners signed swingman Hwang Seung-tae in the free-agent market instead of a big fish like Yoon Dae-yoon, baseball fans sneered that Miners must now be out of money and was settling for B-tier instead of A-tier.
When Yoon Dae-yoon was pulled from his first outing after just 1.1 innings, clutching his elbow, posts titled [Song Moon-jung's Foresight.jpg] did pop up online, but it didn't make Hwang Seung-tae's reputation rise any higher.
"It's just as well. Nobody expects 15 wins from anyway."
Hwang Seung-tae, with his sly personality, didn't seem all that bothered by his low evaluation.
Seo Tae-seung let out a small laugh and added,
"People say we signed you just because your na is my na inverted."
"...... One of my nicknas is 'Gunjeoyite.'"
"What's that?"
"At one ti, one of your nicknas was 'Taser Gun,' right? Well, mine's that, inverted."
"Oh."
Back in his Major Leagues days, Seo Tae-seung had earned the nickna 'Taser Gun' when a batter swung and missed at his 97mph (about 156.1km/h) splitter, but then the splitter hit the batter's foot and he collapsed, shaking, as if shocked by a taser.
"In my case, I cramped up covering first and shook like I'd been tasered..."
Seo Tae-seung laughed incredulously, and Hwang Seung-tae grinned in response.
It's not like you have to have that kind of personality to be a good pitcher, but having it doesn't hurt.
Even with a starting appearance ahead, he didn't seem nervous at all.
Seo Tae-seung might have set himself on fire just to prove all his doubters wrong.
But Hwang Seung-tae was different. Whatever, he just went with the flow, but prepared like a pro.
He really did have powerful pitches, just as I'd heard.
"To be honest, I worked pretty hard. Didn't want other people to get flak because I ssed up..."
By other people, he probably ant the head coach, General manager, or pitching coach. Seo Tae-seung replied lightly,
"Then pitch so no one takes the bla."
In the last ga, bullpen pitcher Yuk Kang-oh had allowed the tying run in the seventh.
It was sothing that could easily happen in baseball, but Seo Tae-seung had taken flak for poor bullpen managent.
"It's out of my hands."
Hwang Seung-tae said, laughing, but looked confident enough.
Busan Stars had a powerful batting lineup, but Hwang Seung-tae was a pitcher they struggled against.
Especially last season, he'd pitched 17 innings against them, allowing only 2 runs in two starts and three relief appearances, with an earned run average of 1.05.
Although he's rarely been a full-ti starter, he was well-prepared this season.
"Still, I'll do my best!"
When Hwang Seung-tae declared this with a salute, Seo Tae-seung asked,
"You served in the military, right?"
"Yes. I couldn't make the national team..."
"So you were in Sangmu?"
"Nope. Regular service..."
"Really?"
"Yes. When I was in boot camp, the drill instructor heard I was a pro baseball pitcher and said I'd probably be good at throwing grenades."
"Oh?"
"The instructor said he wanted to see how a pro pitcher throws a grenade, but since I throw sidearm, they all freaked out."
"......."
"No one knew who I was, so they didn't even know I was a sidearr. Hah."
* * *
Chairman Kang Un-deok grumbled that if he'd treated the team to a dinner in advance, morale would have been higher and they might have won the second ga against the Flamingos—but that was just hindsight.
Now, he was watching Miners's third ga.
"tsk. I could've brought in an even better pitcher."
To this, Executive Director Jo Woo-jin replied uprightly,
"Pitching coach Seo Tae-seung says there's reason to be optimistic."
"Well, just as well we didn't bring in Yoon Dae-yoon. He reached the world's top in baseball, after all—he'd know best."
Yoon Dae-yoon's first ga after signing as a free agent ended with a season-ending elbow ligant injury. He was reportedly to undergo Tommy John surgery.
"It's starting."
Since joining the main league, Miners had never played an opening ga at ho. Year after year, they finished last. No wonder.
A manager fad for developnt failed. A manager promising data-driven baseball failed.
To be honest, for soone like them, Kang Un-deok's interference was considerable.
Song Moon-jung–Seo Tae-seung.
Because they were people the owner had worked hard to bring in, he was trying not to interfere.
Miners's offense in the top of the first ca to nothing.
Lee Seung-bin, acquired via trade, reached base on a walk, but the following hitters failed to deliver. Frankly, even that choice was hard for Kang Un-deok to understand.
A star player in the sa position ca out on free agency and, even though Kang Un-deok offered to buy him, he was rejected. Instead, they traded a first-round power pitcher for this guy.
Now it was Hwang Seung-tae's turn to take the mound.
Despite his round face, he had a relatively slender fra.
Executive Director Jo Woo-jin provided comntary as if he'd been waiting for it.
"For sidearm pitchers, flexibility is key. Pitching coach Seo Tae-seung is especially taking care of his weight managent."
"Hmph. Good, good."
That made more sense to the old, wealthy owner than a complicated sabertrics explanation.
Hwang Seung-tae induced a grounder to shortstop from the first batter, then struck out the second with a swinging K on his fourth pitch, a slider.
Against Park Seong-hoo—whom Chairman Kang Un-deok originally wanted to sign in the free-agent market—he threw six straight sinkers, getting a grounder to third.
The color comntator's voice rang from the TV.
– Wow, look at Hwang Seung-tae's sinker. The pitch quality is remarkable. He's not the type to use a wide repertoire, but he's got a deadly weapon—slider to righties, sinker to lefties. When you have faith in your pitches, this is the result.
Even Chairman Kang Un-deok found his lips curling into a smile, despite not liking so choices.
It was early, but just seeing this much was enough.
The pitcher he'd originally wanted was out for the season with an injury, and the pitcher he hadn't been satisfied with had just handled the hitter he wanted to recruit.
"If Coach Seo Tae-seung asks for sothing, just do it. He's done well with free agents and trades."
"Understood, chairman."
No one could say when the owner's moods might change, but Executive Director Jo Woo-jin answered as courteously as ever.
The cara was panning between a beaming Hwang Seung-tae and the fuming Busan Stars crowd after just one inning.
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