Group Stage Preliminaries
"I cleared everything up carefully so there wouldn't be any misunderstandings."
Hearing Jack's voice through the phone, I couldn't help but smile.
That trashy article the Japanese media had so cleverly posted. The odds of Andre Mays ever seeing some garbage piece out of Japan were vanishingly low, but you never know. Still, Jack had taken the initiative and handled it all. He'd released interview footage from who-knows-when and apparently reached out to Andre Mays's side on his own.
That's why Jack is the best.
"Why are those Japanese bastards so desperate to tear me apart? I don't get it."
"Well, that's because of what you've done, Senior..."
"What did I do? I've got Japanese friends among the players. There's Yua, and that Miura guy is somewhat..."
"Those are the ones getting bashed in Japan."
"...Not that bad, right? It was just a little bit back then."
"I doubt it."
"Ah, whatever. From now on I just won't take questions from Japanese reporters."
"Is that even possible?"
"With Jack, everything is possible."
"..."
It really is.
A total of eight countries took part in the Asian Games baseball group stage. Korea landed in Group B with Taiwan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
Group A had Japan, China, Thailand, and host nation Qatar.
Our first preliminary game was against Hong Kong.
"Senior's not here?"
"Right? He said to rest up."
Manager Oh Jeong-geun had no intention of putting me in against Hong Kong. It was consideration for the guy who'd just pitched the World Series finale and come straight over. He even locked it in that I wouldn't appear at all during the group stage. I'd only pitch from the Super Round—basically the semifinals equivalent—onward.
"Works for me. Haaaawn~"
Even here I claimed a corner seat in the dugout. The weather felt like summer despite it being winter, and sleep kept tugging at me.
Today's starter was Hwang Chan-young of the Savers. He'd switched to the rotation this season and notched ten wins with a solid showing.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Our hitters went off right from the jump. Those honest 87-mph fastballs were right in our batters' wheelhouse.
Four runs in the top of the first.
Hwang Chan-young was a different story. Despite his hefty frame, his velocity wasn't much different from Hong Kong's starter, but the late life on his pitches was nasty. Combined with the more polished off-speed stuff he'd developed since my time around, the Hong Kong hitters had no answer.
Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero.
Just three hits allowed through the bottom of the fifth, no runs scored.
Meanwhile our side started with four and piled on five, three, four, and eight more for a whopping twenty-four runs.
"What the hell..."
I'd expected a gap, but this was far more lopsided.
The second game against Indonesia went the same way. We poured on fifteen runs for a five-inning mercy rule.
No playing time for me again.
And the next day.
Finally my name appeared in the lineup.
Republic of Korea versus Taiwan.
Starting pitcher: Kwon Jong-jin
Third batter: Kang Hajin (DH)
The Taiwan game with both Kwon Jong-jin and me listed. Since we were the home team, Kwon Jong-jin took the mound first.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
"Nice stuff."
Kwon Jong-jin's pitching after a long while. The ball from the man who'd just led his team to a championship was as heavy as in his prime. The mitt of Jeong Jong-seong, wearing the mask as starting catcher, popped with a satisfying crack.
Against Taiwanese hitters who came in with relatively short swings, Kwon Jong-jin craftily worked around the barrels of their bats and retired the side on three groundouts in the top of the first.
Then the bottom of the first.
I put on my helmet for my first at-bat of these Asian Games.
Taiwan's pitcher was said to have a fastball that touched 93 mph and a good forkball. A guy playing in the Japanese pro leagues, apparently?
True to being a starter in NPB, he easily racked up outs against the first two hitters.
"Good morning~"
A man has to stick to his habits. Stepping into the box, I greeted the umpire, then warmly greeted the catcher as well.
"Oh~ Hi."
This guy... a good one. Greeting me back, and with a smile no less. Since that almost never happens, I was pretty happy about it.
I was about to chat a little more when the umpire raised his hand toward the pitcher.
Meaning shut up and play ball.
Gotta do as told.
When I first stepped in I'd briefly wondered which batting stance to use. Whether to go with the old form that packed more power, or the current one with surer contact.
After thinking it over I decided to stick with the current form for now. After all, this was a starter in the Japanese pros.
Pop.
"Ball."
A sharply dropping forkball right from the first pitch. The fork was pretty sharp. Not on the level of the Japanese pitchers I'd faced in the majors, of course.
Pop.
"Ball."
Another ball in succession. The second pitch, a slider running away, missed outside for another ball.
The slider was a bit... not a usable pitch. If he hadn't been pulling it outside...
Both pitches ran away.
"About time for one to come in..."
Crack!
I expected a four-seamer that could touch 93. And it came just as I thought.
So I swung with confidence, but unfortunately the launch angle was low.
Still, the ball shot quickly into the left-center gap.
"Safe."
Enough to reach second.
Next up was Jo In-beom, who'd shown good hitting in the previous two games. Together with Kwon Jong-jin he'd helped make the Raiders champions, and he'd gone deep against both the weaker Hong Kong and Indonesia sides.
"Strike."
"Strike."
But maybe the earlier games had pumped him full of confidence... he swung through two consecutive forkballs. Swings loaded with greed.
Suddenly 0-2.
Fortunately the man was a veteran who'd been through every kind of war. The cleanup hitter for Korea's top team for years running.
Jo In-beom didn't disappoint. After taking a ball he lightly punched the next forkball, just flicking it over the second baseman.
It was a short hit, but with two outs I got a clean jump and scored without any trouble.
"Nice!!"
We took the lead relatively easily.
"Bottom of the fifth, one out and a runner on first as Kang Hajin steps in. He's 2-for-2 today with a pair of doubles."
"He really hits. He's showing a level of contact a cut above everyone else. The only regret is wishing that big one would drop."
"Isn't that what everyone watching this game is hoping for? That clean home run he showed us in the World Series."
"Exactly. We're up 3-0, but one more big swing here and Kwon Jong-jin on the mound can breathe even easier the rest of the way."
"Kang Hajin seems to be saying something to the catcher."
"He is. Asking for a good pitch, maybe? Haha."
"That's probably it. Hajin—Kang Hajin often says that sort of thing to catchers."
"Is that so? Well then... did the request get through?"
"Look at that—Kang Hajin's stance is different from his first two at-bats. He's going back to that big old swing."
"Hunting a home run, then?"
"That's right. He's sitting on it hard."
CRAAACK!!!
"It's gone! That ball is gone!"
"Kang Hajin! He really sent it out! A massive home run that cleared left-center with room to spare!"
"That was a well-located four-seamer on the inner half, and he just crushed it. Incredible power."
By this point the Taiwanese pitchers were almost starting to feel grateful.
Jeong Jong-seong's home run in the top of the sixth made it 6-0.
The top of the seventh started with the nine-hole. The ninth batter made an out, but a walk and a double afterward put runners on second and third with one out.
And right in front of me the pitcher was changed.
Honestly I figured they'd walk me here. Not because I'm some superstar—first base was open. First base was empty. So of course I thought they'd fill it and look for the double play.
But what do you know?
No one told me to take first.
Half-expecting it, I stepped in and took the first pitch. It was a ball, but anyone could see they were trying to get me to chase.
If they wanted to pitch to me, I'd gratefully accept.
"Ball."
After the first ball another pitch drifted wide.
I flinched but held off for ball two.
A little disappointment at the continued soft stuff. I'd thought they were going to challenge me, but it was the old "tempt him once and if he doesn't bite, put him on" approach.
Still, just in case...
"I'll give this one more pitch a chance."
And it lived up to the hope.
The ball left the pitcher's hand and started flying dead center.
This one was obvious.
The pitch every sidearmer learns. From a right-hander it breaks in on a right-handed hitter and sinks a little.
CRAAACK!!!
It was a sinker.
"I've faced how many sinkers in my life..."
And this half-baked one...