A Sudden Accident
"Hey! Kang! Are you really gonna do that? No way, right?"
The day after my start on the mound.
I was taking my time getting to the stadium, finishing up a massage on the way out, when I ran into Marte.
And right there on the spot, I made my declaration. I was going to hit five double plays, no matter what.
Ever since then, he'd been chasing me around like this.
It was the kind of thing you could just laugh off as a joke and move on... yet he stubbornly trailed after me and only me, nonstop.
"Marte. You really think that's gonna happen? It's not like you can just decide to hit double plays whenever you feel like it."
"NO! Kang can do it!"
What the hell does this guy think of me?
His faith is way over the top.
As I looked thoroughly annoyed at Marte, my teammates snickered among themselves—and right there with them was Ko Youngsu.
It had only been three days since he joined the team. Even so, with help from a few friends he'd already known, Ko Youngsu had mixed into the group surprisingly fast.
Given the nature of our league, every team always had at least a few familiar faces... and from what I heard, they'd known each other since high school?
Min Gyeonghak was much the same. Our bullpen was young, so they quickly showed him the ropes and pulled him in, with Kang Chanjung's help making a big difference.
Both of them had been around long enough that even though they'd been on different teams, they'd somehow crossed paths before.
With no major upheavals on our roster, the newcomers adapted quickly, and the dugout atmosphere was genuinely good.
At least, it was up until then.
Crack.
"Aaagh!"
[Ah! He's been hit by the batted ball. Michael Len. Looks like it caught him in the leg. He's trying to get up, but he sinks right back down.]
[Looks like it hit him just below the right knee. That's a bad spot to take one. No need to even check—he's going straight to the hospital.]
Top of the third. The Dolphins' number-seven hitter, So Youngjin, squared up Michael Len's fastball.
It was a solidly struck ball, and of all places, it smashed straight into Michael Len's right leg before caroming down off the mound.
The ball hadn't bounced high. Stunned by the impact, Michael Len had dropped to a knee, then tried to rise and field it, but...
"Hyeon-bin, get ready—now!"
Hyeon-bin scrambled up into the empty bullpen and started throwing in a hurry.
The pitching coach and players including Ko Mandeok rushed out to the mound and flashed an X toward the dugout...
An ambulance raced onto the field.
Michael Len couldn't even stand properly through the pain.
They loaded him onto a stretcher, transferred him into the ambulance, and headed straight for the hospital.
"What the hell is this all of a sudden..."
It was an accident no one saw coming.
The dugout, which had been riding high, sank completely.
Michael Len had been our ace ever since the days when the team's results were poor.
Quiet as he was, he was a pitcher you could trust—and even though he could have chased another shot at the majors, he'd chosen our team. We owed him for that...
No matter how you looked at it, the spot where the ball hit him was terrible.
If it was just a bruise, we'd be lucky. But if it was a fracture... we wouldn't see Michael Len for months at the very least.
No... the odds of a replacement might even be higher...
Our team asked the Dolphins for a little extra time, then sent Hyeon-bin to the mound.
Even with the sudden call, Hyeon-bin stayed calm and threw his stuff. He got the number-eight hitter, Jang Seongbae, on a center-field fly, then induced a double play from number-nine Park Jun, successfully navigating the chaotic third inning.
[With the Savers leading 5-3, we head into the bottom of the seventh. Word is the results are in from Michael Len at the hospital.]
[Ah... is it a fracture?]
[Yes. That's what they're saying. He's going into surgery right away...]
"It's a complete circus..."
That was Ho-min, who'd come to pick me up after the game.
Just like he said, it really was a circus.
Our team still managed to win the game. Final score, 7-5.
Hyeon-bin came in in the third and held them through the sixth, giving up three runs (two earned). Oh Gyushin surrendered a two-run homer to Park Kang-su, but the lineup's power carried us through.
Even after a win like that, the dugout stayed gloomy right to the end.
That just showed how big Michael Len's impact on the team really was.
"Think they'll replace him?"
"Wouldn't they?"
Ho-min answered without even taking a breath when I asked about a replacement.
"It's four months, right? Worth waiting for, isn't it?"
"They say four months, but his whole balance is going to be shot. Getting that back..."
"Haa..."
That was the bleak forecast we'd been making, and then...
I was stunned when I saw the articles that dropped the next morning.
A decision from the team I never saw coming.
"They're insane."
Like Ho-min said, depending how you looked at it, it was a crazy call.
"What would you know about our tight-knit teamwork?"
"You're full of shit."
From a pure team standpoint, it was a decision that offered zero upside—and yet it put me in a good mood.
And I wasn't the only one who felt that way.
Tuesday. Road game against the Dragons.
"Wahahaha. Hajin, you ready for five double plays today?"
"Of course~ I'm just gonna tap soft grounders right at the shortstop. Heh heh."
"Nooo!"
The dugout atmosphere was completely different from before. As if the gloom had never happened—it couldn't have been better.
And that energy carried straight into the game.
CRACK!
[Kang Hajin! Back-to-back home runs! And it's a back-to-back after Shane! The score is now 10-1. That's already the Savers' fifth homer!]
[The Savers' lineup is truly terrifying. Kang Hajin with two, then Shane, Park Jeonghun, and Seo Gyeongmin with one each. The heart of the order is just massive.]
CRACK!
[Ko Mandeok! Even Ko Mandeok clears the wall! Back-to-back-to-back! There's no stopping the Savers' bats!]
A lineup that exploded for fifteen runs behind six home runs. Marte's complete-game gem, nine innings and one run allowed.
We completely dismantled the Dragons and secured our third straight win since Opening Day.
Riding that momentum, our team...
[Kang Chanjung. With one out left to get, Na Jeongbok steps in. Ball count 1-2, fifth pitch! Strikeout! Swinging strike three, and the Savers take today's game as well. Four straight wins to open the season!]
[Hwang Chan-young started and really pitched well. The lineup was a little quieter than yesterday, but Hwang Chan-young hung in there stubbornly and brought home the win.]
...made it four in a row.
[After the runs score, another pitching change. Score tied 8-8. To close out the Savers' final regulation at-bat, the Dragons send their sixth pitcher, Yu Changgi, to the mound.]
[So it's come down to this. Early on, when they were solving Lee Yong-hun, it looked like the Dragons might have the edge today... but the Savers have fought all the way back.]
[Incredible late-inning power. The Savers plate three in the ninth alone to tie it, and now Na Seungwon steps in.]
[Ah... intentional walk there. First base is occupied.]
[With one out and runners on second and third, the Dragons fill first. The bases-loaded chance now falls to number-nine Choi Mingi.]
[Huh? Kang Hajin is coming out with a bat. They're pinch-hitting Kang Hajin.]
[Kang Hajin, who hadn't played today, steps in as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth.]
CRACK!
[He got it! Left field! Left field! He can't get it! A hit that sneaks past the left fielder! The runner from second! The runner from first!! Everyone scores! A bases-clearing double from Kang Hajin!]
[Wow... he squared up that two-seamer perfectly. He swung like he'd been waiting for it.]
[The Savers' bullpen gets busy. Kang Chanjung is warming up. And the runner at second is swapped for rookie Park Chungho.]
[Park Chungho can play both second and short, right? Looks like a move with the bottom of the ninth defense in mind.]
...
...
...
[Kang Chanjung. He gets the final out on a popup to first, sealing the Savers' five-game winning streak!]
We swept the Dragons series and opened the season with five straight wins.
Our team's name sat at the very top of the standings.
But even with five wins in a row, we weren't the ones starring in the articles that day.
Because the Dragons' new manager, Min Gucheol—leading 5-8 in the ninth—held his closer all the way and put in a rookie instead, only to get walked off and suck up every last bit of attention.
Dragons fans, already full of complaints about Min Gucheol coming in as the new skipper, completely exploded.
We had to head back up to Seoul after the game, but worried something might break out, we couldn't even leave and just watched the mood from the locker room.
The Dragons looked like they had a road trip of their own coming... and for a second I wondered if we were about to see one of those bus burnings people said only happened in the '80s.
Thankfully, it didn't go that far.
"Think he's getting fired over this?"
"Probably not. That team's owner hung onto the last manager for years."
"Yeah... fair point."
"Seriously, why didn't he put him in?"
"Breaking him in, what else."
"Breaking him in?"
"Jeong Jonghyeon's older and he's got real power inside the team, right?"
"Yeah."
"You think a guy like that ever listens? You know that temper. So he keeps him out of games to break him, and runs the rookies who do what they're told instead."
"Ah..."
Once Kang Chanjung laid it out, it made perfect sense.
Then again... Jeong Jonghyeon had done whatever he wanted even under the previous manager.
He'd play the good soldier in front of the skipper, but that was only ever for show.
"Dragons looking at double digits again this year?"
It was only five games into the season... yet somehow I already felt like I could see how the year would end.