Stolen Homer, Biceps Pose
Romero, taking the mound as today's starter, kept his quality outing rolling.
Whiiish—
"Strike!"
The ball smacked into the exact spot where I set my mitt, and admiration slipped out of me before I could stop it.
He really can pitch.
Romero loved burying his 150 km/h four-seamer up in the zone, and his high fastballs—built to induce flyouts—meshed perfectly with Jamsil's famously deep outfield.
Whiiish—
"Strike! Out!"
On top of that, he mixed in a knuckle-curve that dropped dead off the table in front of the plate and a sweeping slider, and he carved through the third inning on just nine pitches.
"And that's the end of the bottom of the third for the Hawks. Romero looks sharp again today, doesn't he?"
"He's been pitching well enough to string together quality starts over his last five outings. And honestly, I'd like to give some credit to Kang Hyuk as well."
"What part of his game are you talking about?"
"His monstrous hitting stats tend to steal the spotlight, but his defensive reliability is outstanding too. With so few passed balls on his record, our pitchers never hesitate to throw curves or breaking balls."
"That's true. Which is probably why the word 'veteran poise beyond his years' always seems to follow Kang Hyuk around."
"Sometimes he doesn't even feel like a high school rookie—he feels like a journeyman who's been playing ball for forty years, you know?"
"Haha, high praise indeed. The Hawks lead 1–0, and when we come back, it'll be the top of the fourth—Hawks at the plate."
The heart of the order began with our #2 hitter, Seo Ji-hoon.
Thanks to Yoon Jun-seo's solo homer we were up by one, but that margin still felt fragile, so this inning mattered.
"Let's go!"
For a first baseman, Seo Ji-hoon's slugging percentage wasn't anything special.
His game was built on singles, and he wasn't exactly fast—but his on-base percentage hovered near the .370s.
As he stepped in, the senior proved exactly why the team trusted him in the two-hole.
Crack—!
A lightning-quick swing sent a clean single shooting into left-center.
First and second—no, first base, nobody out. A golden chance.
The moment I stepped into the box, the catcher called time and trudged out to the mound.
"The battery conference is dragging on a bit here."
"Can you blame them? Runner on first with nobody out, and up next is Kang Hyuk with his extra-base power."
The next pitch came in.
Whiiish—
"Ball."
The pitcher was leaning hard on breaking stuff that dove down and away.
Judging that I'd struggle to square up anything solid, I backed well off the plate.
In situations like this, forcing a swing was never the answer—letting the hitters behind you do the work was the smarter play.
A shame, though...
Not an automatic intentional walk, technically—but the other team had effectively declared they were pitching around me.
Back in the first inning, with two outs and the bases empty, they'd challenged me without a second thought. Now that there was a runner aboard, apparently they'd rather avoid me entirely.
"Anderson steps to the plate. He struck out in his previous at-bat."
"He can't be thrilled about it, either. In effect, they're walking Kang Hyuk to take their chances with Anderson."
You'd think he'd be steaming, but Anderson just grinned wide and loosened up his swing.
Whiiish—
"Ball."
He watched the pitch with total composure.
Two balls, one strike.
From his set position, the pitcher snuck a glance at the runners, then delivered.
Craaack—!
The instant I confirmed Anderson's bat coming through the zone, I broke for second without hesitation.
He won't clear the fence.
The exit velocity was plenty, but the launch angle was far too low.
Rather than turning to track the ball, I trusted the third-base coach and put everything into my base running.
"A line drive scorching toward the wall—that ball is going to hit the fence!"
"They have to relay it immediately. Jamsil's distances from wall to home are enormous, after all."
As I closed in on third, the base coach whipped his arm in a big circle.
Shhh—
Sprinting full tilt for home, I dropped into a leg-bent slide.
"The runner from first is challenging the plate... he's safe! Anderson's first hit as a Hawk turns into a clean-up double, and he plants his flag firmly in front of the Hawks' traveling fans!"
"Heh. Say what you will—even if he was mostly used in a platoon late in games, this man logged two full years in the Major Leagues. He's certainly got a swing that's all his own."
"Two more runs cross the plate—the Hawks now lead 3–0!"
Once I confirmed the safe call, I dusted off my backside and looked toward second base.
"Nice bet, Ander...son?"
The thumbs-up I'd been raising died on my hand, and all I could manage was an awkward chuckle.
Anderson was standing on the bag, flexing his biceps toward the visiting section, flaunting arms that looked ready to burst at the seams.
There he was, planted on second, showing off those magnificent forearms to the away stands.
So a squat was off the table, but apparently he'd been itching to do a little celebration after his hit anyway.
I shook my head slowly.
What a weirdo they signed.
And yet, at the same time, I couldn't help the flutter of excitement in my chest.
The more Anderson delivered, the harder it would be for opposing pitchers to keep pitching around me.
And above all...
Should I try a pose of my own sometime?
Honestly? The muscle celebrations looked cool.
As always, Kang Hyuk's father Minjun had tuned in to the Hawks-favoring broadcast stream.
At the sight of Anderson lining his hit, he shot straight up out of his chair.
"That's it! Did you all see that, folks?"
"A true baseball fan knows how to support a player calmly, with patience. You can't judge a man off one at-bat. Honestly."
"Oh, come now. Stop slandering me."
"Kim Kwangseob chose this player with great care. I believed in him from before first pitch, thank you very much."
Watching the game, Minjun broke into a beaming smile at the sight of Anderson flexing for the crowd.
"Haha, would you look at this kid? He's even got that star quality about him."
"Now, now. Stop badmouthing retired players with these obscure comparisons. You're banned."
"You all know slander of my players is what I hate most in this world~"
Having steered the chat back on course, Minjun casually tossed out a hook.
"And wasn't Kang Hyuk's base-running instincts just beautiful? A split second later and he never would have made it home."
Minjun read the comments praising his son with a father's soft smile.
How heartbreaking it had been, watching his boy grind through all those struggles.
If Kang Hyuk struck out or flew out, at least there'd be nothing to feel cheated about.
But walking himself onto base via automatic intentional walks and free passes, only to be stranded inning after inning—there was nothing more pitiful to watch.
If Anderson kept producing like he just had, though, opposing pitchers would no longer be able to hand Kang Hyuk a free pass so comfortably.
And that exact prediction played out before long.
Top of the sixth. Kang Hyuk's at-bat came around again.
Minjun, who'd been brushing his teeth mid-broadcast, scrambled back into his chair.
"An intentional walk again this time?"
But the pitcher chose to battle.
Kang Hyuk calmly cut at the first two offerings, and on the third pitch he launched one skyward.
Craaaack—!
The ball climbed on a home-run arc, sailing toward the wall lined with advertising boards.
"That's my boy! Attaboy! Dough-Dough Pizza! It's going! It's going!"
Hands shot skyward as the ball seemed destined to clear the wall.
But the Grizzlies' center fielder sprinted to the base of the fence, leapt, and snatched Kang Hyuk's home run out of the air.
A highlight-reel catch straight out of MLB.
Before I knew it, a curse had burst out of my mouth.
"You little—! Are you out of your damn mind?!"
Minjun heaped effusive... compliments... upon the opposing center fielder.
His son was in the middle of a home run race. Every single homer was precious—and this man was stealing them one by one.
"Aaaargh—!"
He clawed at his hair in anguish—but only for a moment.
Then it dawned on him what he'd just said on stream, and he froze.
When he checked the chat, the comments were scrolling at a positively alarming rate.
"Ah. My sincerest apologies, everyone. I lost my composure for a moment there..."
"Well... it looked like the ball was going to clear the advertising boards by a hair, and... Kang Hyuk does love Hawaiian pizza... it is absolutely, positively NOT a sponsorship plug. Though if an ad offer comes in, I'd be most grateful."
That day, Minjun had to sweat bullets just keeping his chat under control.
Robbed of a home run before my very eyes, I clicked my tongue.
If I'd trained upper body instead of legs yesterday, would he not have caught it?
The regret didn't last long.
"That's it!"
Watching from the dugout, I broke into applause as Anderson ripped another double.
And true to form, he followed it up with the biceps-flex celebration.
Two doubles in today's game alone—Anderson had himself a multi-hit afternoon.
How should I put it...
With that imposing physique, you'd expect towering home run swings.
But his swing itself was compact, and his raw strength was simply off the charts—which was probably why so many of his balls carried into the gaps. A powerful middle-distance hitter, you might call him.
Between his heroics and Romero's seven scoreless innings, the win was all but sealed.
The top of the eighth brought me my fifth plate appearance of the day.
Whiiish—
"Ball."
The opposition's bullpen arm opened with a ball.
When the second pitch was called a ball too, I tilted my head.
Pitching around me again?
Whiiish—
"Strike!"
But the third pitch clipped the corner of the zone.
...So he just couldn't find the plate, then.
I took one practice swing and steadied myself.
Keep it simple. Just put it in play.
After getting robbed of a homer in my last at-bat, I'd resolved to go compact—not trying to drive it out, just looking to reach base.
At last, the fourth pitch arrived.
Whiiish—
Craaaack—!
The ball, punched squarely out over the plate, kept extending and extending as it flew.
...Wait, where exactly is this thing going?
"A bullet off the bat! It keeps carrying—carrying! Just inside the foul pole... it's gone! Kang Hyuk launches the dagger!"
"Heh. No wonder they call him the Korean Monster. A line drive that clears Jamsil itself—remarkable."
I kept the bat flip in check and jogged the bases, then came to a stop in front of Anderson, who was waiting in the on-deck circle.
"Yo, bro. Loved that swing just now."
"Anderson. Should we do it?"
When I pointed a finger toward the broadcast camera, he burst out laughing—he got it immediately.
Together, we struck the double-biceps pose.
Admit it. It looks awesome.
In that moment, I finally understood why Hyung-jun sunbae had always wanted to do his "Hoo" celebration.