Peak Condition!
Even during the pre-game condition check, and again when I climbed the mound and tossed a few easy warm-up pitches, I felt it.
Today the ball seemed to stick to my hand unusually well.
People call it “biting” or “scratching”… and today the feeling was so good I started wondering if this might just be one of those days.
The Deathball I threw for the first pitch and the four-seamer for the second—feeling the sensation at my fingertips, I knew.
Today’s really going to work.
Of course I’d heard a thousand times that you have to be extra careful on days when your condition is this good… but somehow I still felt a little thrill of excitement.
Jo Junggeun was choking up on the bat, ready for the next pitch. He was the kind of hitter who excelled at that short, poke-and-run contact style.
That was why, when I faced him, I almost never threw soft stuff off the plate. If I tried to nibble just a little outside, he’d just tick it and take off for first.
Ko Mandeok knew that too, so the sign this time was an aggressive four-seam fastball. Location: inside.
Thwack!
“Stri~ke! Out!”
Next up was the right-handed hitter Cheon Gangwoo.
A veteran with more than ten years in the pros, a solid second baseman who’d signed a pretty nice free-agent deal once upon a time.
Thirty-two years old this year. For some reason, though, he’d been struggling since last season. Even his bat speed already seemed to be showing signs of slowing.
Truth was, right-handers were simply more comfortable for me than lefties.
“Stri~ke!”
A slider that just barely missed outside spun his bat around for a swing and a miss.
Then a two-seamer for the second strike.
I tried to get a swing-and-miss with a curve, but he laid off. The next two-seamer just nicked the bat, popped into Ko Mandeok’s mitt, and bounced out.
A little disappointing, but still 1-and-2 with the fifth pitch coming.
Even I had to admit that last pitch had been really good.
Ko Mandeok caught it, immediately fired it over to first, then pointed a finger at me and wiggled it.
Guess that meant he liked it.
Then came the new foreign hitter who’d joined the Jaguars this year—Asif Peterson.
Not so much a pure power guy as a gap-to-gap type, they said. Foreign hitters who showed more talent for contact than raw power usually got labeled “gap-to-gap”…
Whatever. Ko Mandeok was already flashing signs at high speed.
The way his fingers were flying between his thighs told me the guy was getting fired up again.
First pitch: four-seamer.
“Foul.”
A 157 km/h four-seamer caught the end of the bat and sailed just outside the foul line.
Then another four-seamer.
Ko Mandeok wanted it a little harder this time.
“Foul.”
160 km/h. Caught the top of the bat and flew back for strike two.
I knew that was coming.
Changeup away.
Tick.
A weak grounder off the end of the bat rolled harmlessly toward third, and he was easily out at first.
Honestly I’d thrown it for a strikeout, but somehow he’d managed to put wood on it.
“What the hell’s with you today? That changeup is filthy.”
“Right? The feel’s pretty good.”
“Nice. Let’s use it aggressively today.”
“Yes, sir!”
“His velocity isn’t that crazy for a foreign pitcher, is it?”
“Nah. Just okay. I heard the sinker’s good, though?”
“That’s what they say… but you never know until you see it. The Hawks guys still haven’t gotten their heads on straight.”
“True enough.”
They said his top velocity was around 150 km/h. That meant the average was lower than that… so in terms of pure speed he wasn’t much different from a domestic pitcher.
And he was a righty, not a lefty, so velocity-wise there wasn’t much to worry about.
He’d apparently had a lot of fun with that sinker in his first start against the Hawks… but the Hawks’ lineup had been a mess from the jump this season.
For whatever reason the whole batting order was dead in the water. Their record was garbage because of it.
Which was probably why our hitters weren’t paying the slightest attention to that guy’s last outing.
Strike. Ball. Ball. Foul. Foul. Ball. Foul.
Jo Changjun kept fouling pitches off, already forcing the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
Our leadoff man, making the pitcher’s life miserable right from the start.
Crack.
The eighth pitch found the bat again. This time it stayed fair, a slow roller toward third.
The third baseman charged hard, barehanded it, and fired straight to first.
“Out!”
It looked almost simultaneous, but the first-base ump called him out. Our Manager Park immediately bolted from the dugout and asked for a video review.
Normally you check with the runner first… this time he requested it without even looking.
“Safe.”
The review was over fast. Jo Changjun was ruled safe at first and the call was overturned.
“That guy’s pissed.”
The pitcher flung the rosin bag he’d been holding.
Over something this small…
“He’s only faced one hitter and thrown eight pitches and he’s already losing it?”
“What a temper.”
“Works for us, though.”
“True.”
Our dugout was all smiles watching the opposing pitcher grumble to himself.
If the other guy wanted to get himself worked up for free, who were we to complain?
Go Yeongsu stepped in. A pretty big cheer went up.
He’d only been with us a short while and the fans had already stamped his name on their hearts.
Go Yeongsu took a long series of signs from the third-base coach…
Tick.
Surprise bunt down the third-base line.
Chae Jin-hak—the third baseman they were carefully grooming as the next Lee Gijun after the real one left for America—scrambled in and tried another barehand grab.
This time it didn’t stick…
“Fuck!”
Helzenberg’s voice echoed around the stadium the moment it became runners on first and second with nobody out.
“Whoa~ he’s cussing~”
“So. Scary.”
“Right? Terrifying~”
Our dugout was too busy snickering at the opposing pitcher’s language to care about much else.
Then Park Jeonghun stepped in.
“Think he’ll swing away?”
“Wouldn’t it be fun if he bunted again?”
“It would. Heh.”
“And Jeonghun hyung can actually bunt pretty well.”
“Yeah. He practiced a ton. Never know when you’ll get sent up as a pinch-hitter just to drop one down.”
“Then this is gonna be hilarious.”
Tick.
He actually did it.
Chae Jin-hak, who’d been playing a little deeper maybe thinking about Park Jeonghun’s power, charged in again.
Third barehand attempt in a row.
“Out.”
Another nearly simultaneous play at first.
Our manager stormed out of the dugout again.
Second video review of the day already.
“This game’s fun.”
“No kidding. What even is this? Heh.”
“Look at that guy. Completely lost it.”
“Who? There’s two of them melting down.”
“Third base. Third base.”
“Ah~ heh.”
While we sat around chatting and laughing, the review finished just as fast as the last one.
“Out.”
“Aww…”
This time it stayed an out.
Park Jeonghun came back to the dugout with an awkward little smile, like he’d known it would go that way.
Then our captain stepped in.
CRACK!
“Wooooooooah!!!!”
The crowd’s roar exploded the instant the ball left the bat. Every one of us poured out to the front of the dugout to watch the flight.
The ball never lost steam. It kept climbing until it nestled neatly into the glove of a fan sitting way out in the home-run seats.
“Unbelievable… last game he put up a huge number of runs for us and today he’s already got three more…”
“Happy?”
“Obviously.”
Last year every time I pitched the offense would go completely silent and make me suffer…
“This year go win the wins title too.”
“Yes, sir. Heh.”
I’m taking the wins crown! I’m raising that salary!