The First Game
Caster: Before the game starts, we'll introduce the starting lineups. First, the home team, the Daejeon Eagles. Leadoff hitter, left fielder Lee Yong-gyun; number two, second baseman Jung Woo-geun; number three, center fielder Pie; cleanup, first baseman Kim Tae-hoon; number five, right fielder Kim Eun-kyung; number six, shortstop Kang Si-hak; number seven, third baseman Song Min-gwang; number eight, catcher Jung Mo-beom; number nine, designated hitter Chu Woo-seung. And today's starting pitcher is Albus.
Next, the visiting team, the Seoul Bears. Leadoff hitter, center fielder Jung Soo-jin; number two, second baseman Oh Won-jae; number three, right fielder Kim Soo-hyun; cleanup, Kantu; number five, left fielder Min Byung-hoon; number six, third baseman Heo Min-kyung; number seven, catcher Yang Ui-jin; number eight, shortstop Kim Ho-jae; number nine, designated hitter Oh Il-jae. And today's starting pitcher is Yoo Kwan-hee.
The key point of today's game is the debut of the newly appointed manager Lee Jin-ho, right? He's the new skipper for the Eagles amid all the recent noise, and things are still pretty controversial.
Commentator: That's right. The big question is how well this 25-year-old rookie manager will do. The Eagles have put a guy with basically no pro playing experience in the dugout as their rookie skipper, so even the fans are still scratching their heads.
Caster: Exactly. This game should show us what kind of manager Lee Jin-ho really is.
Commentator: We'll have to wait and see.
Caster: Haha. Anyway, the game's underway. Let's watch.
The radio broadcast of the game commentary flowed into my ears. Even after the press conference, the commentator still didn't seem too thrilled about me. And who could blame him? He'd been a star pro baseball player himself once, so he probably wasn't happy about some inexperienced manager stepping in.
I had to brush it off and not let it get to me. Our starter, Albus, took the mound and warmed up. His average velocity was around 140 km/h—not particularly fast—but his control was solid, with a low walk rate. He made up for the lack of speed with good command and breaking balls, though his four-seamer wasn't great, so hitters often adjusted once they got used to him. Still, he was steady through five innings with no big ups and downs, which made him a decent ace.
Albus's first pitch slammed into the catcher's mitt. The Bears' leadoff hitter, Jung Soo-jin, watched it calmly. Knowing he didn't chase first-pitch strikes, the catcher called for a four-seamer right down the middle. I saw the corner of Jung Soo-jin's mouth twitch upward—his pride stung.
I signaled for a breaking ball. Albus threw a curve that dropped out of the zone, and Jung Soo-jin swung through it. Two strikes in a flash. But then things got tricky. He didn't bite on the changeup, fouling off pitches and expanding the zone. By the sixth pitch, it was two strikes, two balls.
I gestured to the catcher to go for the win. Jung Mo-beom called for an outside fastball. Jung Soo-jin let it go, thinking it missed. But...
"STRIKE!!! OUT!!!"
The umpire's call rang out. Jung Soo-jin thought it was a ball, but to the ump, it looked like a perfect outside corner fastball. It was one of those calls where you could argue either way, so he trudged back to the dugout with a frustrated look.
With the pesky leadoff man struck out, Albus gained confidence. He fanned the second hitter, Oh Won-jae, and got the third, Kim Soo-hyun, on a fly to right. A clean first inning.
Now it was our turn at bat. If the Bears had Jung Soo-jin, we had the even nastier Lee Yong-gyun—what they called the "Yong-gyun Game," his relentless fouling. His contact skills and plate discipline made it possible. Quick on his feet with great baserunning smarts, though he'd been slumping since joining the Eagles. Still, his bat stood out, especially against a slow pitcher like Yoo Kwan-hee.
He fouled off pitches all the way to eight and drew a walk. Yoo Kwan-hee's face twisted a bit. But up next was Jung Woo-geun, who'd come over from the Wyverns and been tearing it up. No steal attempt since he was hitting well. Sure enough, a clean single sent runners to first and second in a blink.
Yoo Kwan-hee shook his head, sensing things unraveling. No outs, runners on first and second. Next up: Pie.
The foreign slugger's at-bat hardened Yoo Kwan-hee's expression further.
Steal. Double steal.
I flashed the sign for both Lee Yong-gyun and Jung Woo-geun to go. Yoo Kwan-hee's stuff was slow, making steals easy—though he was sharp with pickoffs. But right now, he looked too rattled.
Time to pour it on and score. As predicted, Yoo Kwan-hee threw a slow curve to work the count. Pie saw the runners go and didn't even swing.
"STRIKE!!"
The catcher, Yang Ui-jin, grabbed the ball and fired to third, but Lee Yong-gyun had already tagged up. A perfect jump—he was safe before they could throw.
"Wooooaaahhh!!"
No outs, runners on second and third in the bottom of the first. The fans erupted—the first cheers we'd heard in ages. Somehow, I had a feeling they'd keep coming today.
"It's okay! You've got this!!"
Yang Ui-jin pounded his mitt, encouraging Yoo Kwan-hee—a mental reset for the pitcher. He'd taken over as the Bears' catcher from Hong Sung-hoon, earning the starting job with his steady game-calling and bat. Young, but full of fire.
Yoo Kwan-hee's face softened a little. Now it was all on Pie. A fly to the outfield would plate a run.
Crack!!
Pie crushed one high into the air toward center. Great trajectory—Lee Yong-gyun and Jung Woo-geun bolted.
"Hey!!! Tag up!! Tag up!!!!"
I yelled. Amid the noise, they heard me, stopped, and retagged. Their center fielder was the sure-handed Jung Soo-jin. The ball could be caught, so playing it safe was smart. They watched, ready to go.
The ball sailed over Jung Soo-jin's head—or so it seemed. He dove and snagged it. The runners sprinted—Jung Woo-geun to third, Lee Yong-gyun home.
Jung Soo-jin's sliding catch left him no time to throw, so Jung Woo-geun was safe at third. A close call, but we'd scored one. If they'd run blindly, we might've gotten zero and wasted the rally.
Commentator: Wow, great call by the Eagles. The ball looked like it might carry over the center fielder, but they held and tagged up instead.
Caster: Yeah, they started running at first, but then manager Lee Jin-ho yells "tag up," and the players hear him and get ready.
Commentator: I was wondering if a rookie manager with no pro debut would get buy-in from the vets, but seeing them follow his shout... guess I worried for nothing.
Caster: Spot-on judgment from the manager, and the players executing it perfectly. Great baseball all around.
The commentator who'd been shading me earlier was now saying nice things over the radio. But I decided not to get too excited. People's opinions can flip anytime.
One out, runner on third. Our cleanup hitter, Kim Tae-hoon, stepped up. Another guy who could go oppo. He had power, but elite contact too—high expectations.
Craaack!!!
Kim Tae-hoon's liner rocketed toward the right-field wall and banged off it. The right fielder scooped it and fired to second, but the hit was too pure for Tae-hoon to stretch it. Still, Jung Woo-geun tagged and scored easily.
Back in the dugout, Jung Woo-geun high-fived me. "If we hadn't heard your tag-up call, coach, that could've been bad. Thanks."
Hearing a vet follow a younger manager like me was gratifying enough, but him coming over to thank me personally? It lit a fire in the team. He high-fived the others on his way in. Scoring two in the first had the dugout buzzing like I hadn't seen in a while.