The All-Star Game
The All-Star Game.
Some guys get so overwhelmed just by making it here that they can barely keep it together. Others show up so often they barely feel a thing.
Of the two All-Star squads, the Nanum team had been almost completely locked down by our Savers for the second year running. We sat alone at the top of the standings, and among every club in the league we ranked near the top in sheer fan base. Looking at it that way, the result was practically inevitable.
From our own roster, the first type—the guy who still got misty-eyed just being here—was roughly Park Jeonghun.
This season he had started almost every game as the third baseman and three-hole hitter, and his numbers had been strong enough that there was no chance he would be left off the ballot. He racked up a seriously high vote total and earned his spot beside us… and the moment his All-Star selection was locked in, the man nearly cried.
"That good, huh?"
Me? I was more… annoyed.
Be honest. At best I would start and throw two innings—maybe stretch it if they felt generous. It was not as if I was going to pitch two frames and walk away with MVP. They called it a game for the fans, but I still could not figure out what kind of fun I was supposed to deliver.
Anyway, that covered the first type.
The second type—the one who cared less about this whole circus than anyone else alive—was not me.
It was our closer, Kang Chanjung.
"Haaah… ahh, man, why does my body feel so stiff? Yeah, no way I can throw today."
He had been spouting that nonsense loud enough for everyone around him to hear, like he wanted a particular someone to catch every word. From where I stood, that someone was clearly Manager Park Donghoon, who was managing the Nanum side this year… yet the manager himself never so much as twitched.
"By the way, you gonna be all right?"
Disappointed by the lack of reaction, Kang Chanjung had been staring blankly for a second before he swung his gaze over to me.
"About what?"
"You threw a ton the other day. You really okay going again today?"
"It's only a few pitches. I'm fine. Besides, I've got something planned."
"Still, be careful. You get hurt and you're the only one who loses. Manager's being ridiculous—should've just given you the day off."
"He asked me, and I told him I'd pitch. Figured if I skipped it I'd just catch more heat."
"…Yeah, you do take a lot of heat."
"…"
Did I? Lately it had not felt that way.
"But you said you've got something planned? What is it?"
"Nothing big. Just, you know…"
Telling him now would ruin the fun. And honestly, it really was nothing special.
Before the game itself, a whole string of pre-game events rolled out. One spectacle after another, and the biggest draw of all—the Home Run Derby—featured our own Ko Young-su. He was happy just to take part. Nerves got to him and he could not hit a thing, and drawing the Falcons' Calio Jackson in the very first round did not help his luck either.
At last the endless ceremonies finished and the actual game began.
This year's All-Star Game was being played at the Daejeon Unicorns' home park, and our Nanum team was the home side. That meant I had to take the mound in the top of the first.
I climbed the hill, turned a full circle, and for a second I could not tell whether I was looking at the Savers or an All-Star team.
Pitcher: me.
Catcher: Ko Mandeok.
First base: the captain.
Second base: Jo Chang-jun.
Third base: Park Jeonghun.
Left field: Ko Young-su.
Right field: Shane.
Even the bullpen and the closer were ours. The only spots our Savers had not claimed were shortstop, center field, and designated hitter—just three. Hogging that many positions should have drawn plenty of complaints, yet our season had been so dominant that everyone simply shrugged and accepted it.
"On the mound is Kang Hajin. Twelve wins in the first half, tied for the league lead. ERA of 0.94, first in the league. Strikeouts, also first."
"What a first half. Without the rainouts and the suspension he might have been chasing the first-half win record outright."
"But didn't he throw eight innings just two days ago? A hundred and two pitches."
"Right. That's why Nanum manager Park Donghoon suggested he come in late instead of starting, but Kang Hajin himself insisted on taking the ball today."
"Will he be all right? Even in something like the Korean Series guys sometimes go on short rest, but…"
"I was worried enough to ask him myself. He just said he was fine—said he had a plan."
"Now I'm curious what that plan is."
Maybe I shouldn't have said I had a plan. It's really nothing special.
Before the game a lot of people fretted over me after the heavy workload two days earlier. Everyone told me not to push it… but honestly, I was fine. Sure, I had thrown more than a hundred pitches only two days ago, but my recovery was… a little different. Not perfect, but two innings at my usual level were no problem at all.
The real issue was how weird it would look. Imagine a guy who just threw a hundred-plus pitches, took one day off, then climbed back on the mound and started firing 100-mph heaters. The chatter that would start… just thinking about it made me tired.
So after talking it over with Ko Mandeok we settled on one solution—something no one could complain about.
"Kang Hajin faces Dream Team leadoff hitter Jo Sang-won and delivers the first pitch… swing and a miss! Jo Sang-won is pointing at Kang Hajin and yelling something."
"He never expected a knuckleball right out of the gate. Still smiling, though. Haha."
The reason I kept saying it was nothing special?
I planned to throw nothing but knuckleballs from this All-Star mound. That was it. The only pitch people would accept without question was the knuckleball.
All season I had barely used it. Five pitches a game at most; some starts I never threw one at all. Why? Because I did not need to. Better to throw something I could control than an unpredictable knuckler. That judgment had been dead right so far.
Today I unsealed it again.
"Second pitch, another knuckleball. Another swing and a miss—Jo Sang-won shaking his head."
The third one sailed too far outside for a ball.
Crack.
"Fourth pitch… he gets wood on it, but it's a high pop-up. Third baseman Park Jeonghun waits under it. First out of the inning."
"I think everyone just figured out Kang Hajin's plan. Today he's going full-time knuckleballer."
"Makes sense. With Ko Mandeok—the guy who always catches him—behind the plate, the plan is possible."
Seventeen knuckleballs in the first inning. Seventeen pitches total, every single one a knuckler. Four batters faced: one hit, and Ko Mandeok dropped one. Honestly it was not even a tough pitch, but it clipped the bottom of the mitt and slipped straight through his legs. The runner who had singled moved up to second, yet I still finished the top of the first by striking out the next hitter on a swinging miss.
Bottom of the first. Dream Team starter was Grant Visner of the Radars, the other half of the first-half win lead. Fully rested, he pumped consecutive heaters over 93 mph and erased the inning clean.
"Second inning and Kang Hajin is still throwing nothing but knuckleballs. In the box is Falcons' Lee Dae-kyung batting seventh."
"If you only watched today you'd swear he was a pure knuckleball specialist. Over twenty knucklers in a row and only one real miss."
"That was the one that got hit, right?"
"Exactly. Everything else has been perfect."
"Kang Hajin delivers the first pitch to Lee Dae-kyung… what? 100 mph!"
"Haha… he was only scheduled for two innings. Looks like he decided the last batter of the day deserved full power."
"A guy who just threw 75-mph knuckleballs all day suddenly hits 100? Isn't that cheating?"
Getting outs with the knuckler was fun enough, but after a while my fingers started itching. I still preferred just planting a fastball down the throat. And it was only one last batter. If I kept looking completely normal the whole time it would seem strange, but one hitter? Fine.
So when the final batter stepped in I flipped the script and gave the sign first: fastball. Ko Mandeok nodded without a word, and the result was right there on the board.
"Another 100-mph heater, painted on the outer edge. Lee Dae-kyung's bat swings through empty air."
"Late. Completely late."
"Does that mean the third pitch will be another heater?"
"Kang Hajin likes to finish hitters quick. I expect him to go right after it."
"Windup… third pitch! Strikeout! But more than the strikeout—look at the board: 102 mph! He just reset his personal velocity record."
"Personal best and KBO record at the same time. And look at that outer-half command while throwing that kind of heat."
Yeah… I got lucky. I just wanted to throw it as hard as I could. The only thought in my head was that if it caught a hitter flush I would be finished, so I aimed for the outer half—and the location was perfect. Anyone watching would think I meant to do it.
I finished my two innings, took the cheers from the half-Savers dugout and the rest of the All-Stars, and headed in. A few guys were still buzzing about the 102-mph reading; I gave them half-answers and walked over to Manager Park Donghoon, who was waiting for me.
"What do you want to do?"
Before the game he had told me: once the two innings were done, if I still felt like swinging he would give me at least one at-bat as a pinch-hitter. I had thought, Even for an All-Star Game, is that allowed? Apparently it was. Everyone had signed off. So now he wanted the answer I had promised to think about.
"I'll stop here."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I might've pushed a little too hard on that last one—shoulder's a bit tight."
Complete lie. I might have gotten greedy at the end, but my body felt fine.
"Got it. Rest up."
"Yes, sir!"
With me fully out of the game, our Nanum team rolled to a 9–4 win.
And the MVP…
"Woohoo! You see that? You see it?"
Somehow it went to Ko Mandeok, who had smashed two home runs. The guy who could not hit a lick all season suddenly turned into a monster for one All-Star night…
He started chanting "Car! Car!" at the top of his lungs and actually walked off with the All-Star MVP prize vehicle.
So what did that mean? Did that mean he no longer needed the car we had already looked at?
"Hajin. You want this one?"
"…"
Apparently not.