Is This the Major Leagues?
The KBO had switched to a 12-team, two-league system quite a while ago. Contrary to initial worries, the league had sailed smoothly without major issues.
Especially the balance between the two leagues had received rave reviews. Both the Eastern and Western Leagues boasted a perfect golden balance of four strong teams and two weak ones.
The Eastern League had the Ulsan Carvers and Busan Titans, while the Western had the Jeonju Dragons and Daejeon Pistols. It was the result of distributing the new teams and traditional weak clubs evenly across the leagues.
However.
2040 season. The once-solid golden balance seemed to be crumbling. The Busan Titans, who had declared the end of their rebuild, were on an unprecedented tear.
In truth, the Titans often started strong in spring, so some dismissed the hype.
But Jin Yuha's presence put a damper on that. Sure, he was just one pitcher, but that pitcher was a monster who had finished every start with a complete game.
No one knew if Jin Yuha could maintain this level. It was logically impossible anyway. Still.
Just from what he'd shown so far, fans could vaguely sense it. They might be witnessing the dawn of a legendary pitcher. But.
Fans of one Eastern League team were confident their squad would beat Jin Yuha.
Fans of a few teams saw that and thought, Everyone's got big plans until they get smacked. "We can do it! If it's us!" rarely ends well. They'd already tasted Jin Yuha's wrath, so they knew better than anyone.
As I'd mentioned once, I was pretty clueless about KBO players. I only vaguely remembered Baek Sangyeon, the Warriors' national team outfielder. But.
"Lots of familiar names here."
At the Changwon Rhinos' home stadium for the weekend series, I kept hearing names that rang a bell.
Meaning the Rhinos were loaded with past or future major leaguers. I only remembered players with some MLB experience, after all.
That guy's a vet from the Royals... This one's a Tigers guy. Must've had a good KBO run. Even the pitchers look familiar.
The Rhinos' starting shortstop was Song Jeongwoo, the cost-effective gem the budget-conscious St. Louis Cardinals had scooped up cheap and used as a super utility for years.
Their three foreign players were ones I knew too. Jacob Dominguez, who platooned for the Detroit Tigers around my debut. Carl Rauer, a mainstay in the Arizona Diamondbacks' rotation. Pedro Lopez, who gave a shocking one-season flash for the Atlanta Braves.
Not huge names except maybe Rauer.
Still, they'd all had solid MLB runs.
And the Titans have me and Kang Gihoo.
Plus a former MLB superstar like me and Kang Gihoo.
"Is this the major leagues?"
The words slipped out naturally.
"Huh? Because of Song Jeongwoo? Don't worry, he's not what he used to be. And I've got MLB-level defense too!"
Fine, add another half-baked major leaguer.
The KBO is a league MLB scouts pay close attention to. It always was, but now even more so.
Thanks to Jin Yusung, my dad.
Jin Yusung never played in the KBO—not in this life, anyway—but he was Korean. His prime was Korea's national team prime, and that era brought a historic WBC win. No wonder MLB scouts flocked.
This attention naturally upped the quality of KBO foreign players. It's no longer just washed-up minor leaguers chasing paydays.
Some are, but most are guys building overseas resumes for an MLB comeback shot. The Titans' three foreigners fit that mold.
Of course, few succeed. Choosing overseas leagues means they weren't top prospects to begin with.
James Gilbert's original future was like that. He dominated KBO, got his dream Mets uniform, but flopped, bounced in minors, and got released. Post-regression butterfly effects might change that.
Still, some foreigners did make it to MLB, and weirdly, all three this season wore Changwon Rhinos uniforms. With those three MLB expeditionaries plus ex-major leaguers, the Rhinos' lineup objectively outclassed the Titans.
The gap showed in Game 1 of the weekend series.
It started well. Ivan Rodriguez, who hadn't reached five innings all year, finally did.
He even left the mound after the fifth with the win probability in hand. Kang Gihoo and Frank crushed back-to-back homers off the Rhinos' starter Jung Younghoon to take the lead.
But.
Unlucky for Ivan Rodriguez—the Titans' vaunted bullpen fell to a future major leaguer. Park Oseon fought with a scoreless inning, but at his age, multi-inning stints were tough.
Even closer Jo Yongjin gave up runs, and the Titans dropped Game 1 limply.
Jin Yuha starting tomorrow was a silver lining for Titans fans.
Titans leadoff Jeong Suyeong blankly watched the future major leaguer's pitch. No choice—it was unhittable.
- 153 km/h
Early 150s velocity speared the tricky corner.
"Time."
Jeong Suyeong called time quick, stepped out, took deep breaths.
Grip.
Shortened his bat to cope, but.
Lefty's nightmare circle changeup whiffed him away.
Carl Rauer. The only Rhinos MLB guy you could call a true "success." Others made it but were short-timers or flashes. Only Rauer lasted four-plus seasons as a D-Backs starter.
My take on him?
Just a plain vanilla pitcher.
94 mph—early 150s velocity. Circle change to lefties, slider to righties, occasional curve. Textbook starter repertoire.
Carl Rauer was your everyday rotation arm. Dozens like him in the minors. But.
Guarding a big-league rotation for four years meant he had something special.
"Fuck... How's his command that good?"
As Jeong Suyeong raved back in the dugout, Rauer's control was above-average even by MLB standards.
Pre-regression, we'd crossed paths. Post-game, he recognized me as Korean, chatted me up about his KBO days.
I was a black-haired foreigner then, so whatever.
Anyway, he bragged like most successful MLB pitchers do.
Something about nailing all nine zones on good days.
I didn't buy it then. Even I can't. Still don't. But.
Not total BS.
Balls kept peppering perfect corners.
"That's it!"
Cheers erupted from the Titans dugout.
But.
Thud.
Ex-MLB shortstop Song Jeongwoo materialized, snagged the screamer with soft hands.
Whoosh!
Clean throw to first.
"Out!"
Two out.
Sharp-fielding infield plus finesse pitcher with pinpoint control? Tough combo.
No. 3 hitter Frank's ball popped high, stayed in the infield.
Doesn't look like easy runs today.
James Gilbert. You were right.
Thump thump! Clap! Thump thump! Clap!
I took the mound amid stomping feet and clapping hands. Prep to flip yesterday's loss and the scoreless top of the first was done.
"Hoo..."
D-Backs solid starter? Royals super utility? Tigers platoon guy?
Pat pat.
Impressive players. MLB vets, after all. But.
What does it matter?
I was a major leaguer too.
Whoosh!
Even greater than them.
In front of me, they were all just mortals anyway.