Munchkin
The bottom of the first ended with just a single run on the board.
Even after the medical staff rushed out and sprayed pain relief all over his hand in a full-blown panic, the next ball still found Shoda Hiroki. He handled it with a clean defensive play, and just like that the inning was over.
Top of the second.
Eric came back from talking with Gordon Perry looking dead serious, tension written all over his face.
What the hell did he say to wind the kid up that tight…
With one out, the fifth batter flailed at a pitch and managed to dribble a slow roller right along the third-base foul line. The third baseman charged hard, but even a barehanded throw was going to be razor-thin. Eric yelled for him not to field it, and the third baseman seemed to agree—he stopped dead and just waited for the ball to roll foul.
Instead it kept tumbling right along the line until it finally died… fair. Base hit.
"Tch. Nothing you can do about that one."
Who was I supposed to blame for a ball like that? Just pure, filthy luck.
I got the next batter on a pop-up to second.
And then, finally, the one I'd been waiting for—Shoda Hiroki stepped into the box.
He swaggered up with the bat resting on his shoulder, that ridiculous walk of his. You know the type—the ones who try to look all hip-hop cool and end up bouncing around with some weird, off-beat rhythm. Exactly like that.
"…What the hell is this clown show."
I was speechless. Before the game he'd been walking perfectly normal…
Was he that desperate for attention? His numbers this year were already dead in the water, so maybe this was the best he could do?
I just stood there staring blankly while he went through whatever little routine he had at the plate. Nothing was getting thrown until that nonsense stopped.
Then the bastard just stood there without even settling into a stance, glaring straight at me.
What, you want a staring contest?
"Ah! Giving us time to exchange signs? Don't need 'em."
Eric and I already had everything locked in—exactly how we were going to attack him the second he stepped in. No signs required.
Eric said something to the home-plate ump. The ump relayed it to Shoda, and only then did the guy finally get into his stance.
Wide open. I'd heard that from that position he adjusted his front foot to handle both inside and outside pitches.
But could he really react that fast?
He clearly thought so, still holding that stance… though looking at his numbers, yeah, not so much.
Eric's mitt was open on the outer half. With zero steal threat from the runner at first, I took my time, wound up, and squeezed every last bit of juice into the pitch aimed right at that open mitt.
PAANG!
"…Strike."
"Whoa… okay, that was actually—"
Even I was stunned after throwing it.
What the hell kind of pitch was that?
The board lit up 103 mph.
Problem was, it wasn't a four-seamer. It was a two-seamer.
"Is that the fastest two-seamer I've ever thrown?"
And it wasn't just velocity. The ball looked like it was going to sail outside, then snapped back into the zone with insane reverse spin.
No wonder Shoda was just standing there staring blankly at Eric's mitt. When in his life had he ever seen a pitch like that? Had to be just as absurd for him.
"They're gonna start bitching about me struggling in the next start, aren't they…"
I wouldn't be throwing like this next time out… One slightly off game and the noise machine went nuclear, so of course I was already worrying about it.
Anyway.
"You done?"
How long was this Shoda Hiroki guy planning to stand there zoning out? I pointed at him and looked at the ump, and only then did the ump snap out of it and get the batter ready again.
One pitch had short-circuited half the people on the field.
Finally I got to throw the second pitch.
PAANG!
"…S-Strike."
This one low and inside. Two-seamer again. Board said 101 mph.
Shoda just kept staring blankly at Eric's mitt.
I adjusted my grip inside the glove. Different from the last one. But it was the grip I'd used more than any other, so it settled into my hand like it belonged there.
I fired it right at Eric's mitt on the outer edge.
PAANG!
The ball slammed into Eric's mitt—and only after that did a limp, late swing appear.
Eric had caught it just off the plate outside. Even with perfect timing the bat never would have reached it.
"Batter~~ out!!"
"Oh man… what just happened?"
The ump's strikeout call was louder and flashier than usual.
"Ah! Velocity. What's the velocity?"
I stepped off the mound and looked at the board.
107 mph.
That last four-seamer had lit up 107.
"If I actually wind up properly I could get more, right?"
Wasn't 107 supposed to be the absolute top? Meaning if things went well today I might just rewrite the Major League—no, the world—velocity record…
"I like the sound of that."
"…Hey, you actually gonna be able to catch that?"
"I'll catch it. Even at 107… Senior Hajin's command is ridiculous. Just open the mitt and it'll be there."
"Not that. The two-seamer before it. Looked like a lefty slider the way it broke."
"Ah~ that one… just open the mitt for that too, right?"
"…And this guy's a catcher."
Ko Mandeok clicked his tongue, but Jeong Jong-seong barely reacted.
"I'm just saying. After seeing it a few times in warm-ups, of course I'll catch it. I catch the knuckleball, don't I?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Heh heh heh. Watching Senior Hajin throw, I don't think we need to worry about the Asian Games at all."
"…Honestly this Asian Games is already overkill. That guy plus Kwon Jong-jin? Bringing adults into a kids' fight—what's the point?"
Watching Ko Mandeok grumble, the smile on Jeong Jong-seong's face only grew deeper.
My turn at the plate came around again in the bottom of the third.
Only the third inning, but the early going just wasn't clicking. Runners everywhere, yet the runs refused to show up.
First inning: two outs, first and third, and we scraped across just one. Second: one out, first and second, then a double play killed the rally.
And now the bottom of the third.
Eun-hyung singled and reached first, but Greg's well-struck ball was snared by Shoda Hiroki diving full extension.
His defense is better than I thought.
Was that why he still held the starting job? I'd figured they were just using him for marketing.
Even that first-inning run never would have scored if his glove hadn't gone flying off on that earlier play. I should probably be grateful for that.
Two outs, runner on first.
I waved the bat loosely and thought it through.
Even a clean hit here probably wouldn't produce a run. Might as well hunt for the big one, right?
Early game, no big deal. We were already up by one, and with the juice I had flowing today, giving up runs didn't seem likely either.
I made the call fast and got ready.
For the first time in a while I went back to my old stance and waited on the pitcher.
Right as he started his delivery—
Slider diving away on the outer half?
What the hell was this?
That pitch-reading sense of mine had just leveled up again. Another side effect of the Booster?
I started the bat toward the outer half. Anticipating the drop, I scooped from underneath.
KWAANG!!
The sound was nothing like usual. It was pure explosion.
I finished the swing the way muscle memory demanded and watched the ball.
It vanished into the distance in a blink.
Thunk.
It landed somewhere. How far did it go?
Not a single defender moved from his spot. The only things in motion were Eun-hyung sprinting toward second and the umpire spinning his hand in the air.
Munchkin, right?
That was the word Ho-min used for the protagonist in some novel he showed me once. The kind of main character who was stronger than everyone else and just ran wild doing whatever he wanted. They called that a munchkin.
Wasn't that exactly what I was today?
Throw 107, hit a ball so hard nobody even saw where it went, and know the pitch type and location before the pitcher even released it.
This was pure cheating.
But you know what…
I'd actually enjoyed that novel Ho-min recommended. Watching the protagonist ignore everyone, beat the crap out of whoever annoyed him, and just kill people when he felt like it? Weirdly fun.
"Alright. Let's go break every record in the book today."
Munchkin protagonist mode… might as well try it on for size.