What We Know and What We Don't
Rhinos weren't exactly thrilled to see Jin Yuha.
"…Why does it have to be Jin Yuha, of all places."
One more win against Titans, and they'd reclaim the top spot in the Eastern League. Running into Jin Yuha as the starting pitcher in that scenario? No way they were happy about it.
"Just thinking about that day still makes me dizzy."
The lingering trauma from nearly getting perfect-gamed was still fresh.
"How long has it been since we last saw him, and now he's a no-hitter, no-run guy."
And in the meantime, Jin Yuha had racked up every record imaginable, finally capping it off with a no-hitter.
"Eh… but lately he's failed to complete two games in a row, right?"
"You mean the ones where he went 7 and 8 innings?"
"He gave up a homer in the last one!"
"And that was his only run allowed."
Even their attempts to downplay Jin Yuha fell flat. The Rhinos players just couldn't make it stick.
Still, they weren't giving up before the game even started. A lot was riding on this one.
"How are we gonna handle him?"
"Beats me…"
It had been two full months since Jin Yuha started bombing the league. Every team was starting to develop their own countermeasures.
For example.
"Like Guardians, try to run up his pitch count somehow?"
Like Guardians, who grinded out at-bats relentlessly to limit him to 7 innings.
"Or swing aggressively like Pistols?"
Like Pistols, who capitalized on his high strike zone percentage by swinging early and often to finally scrape some runs.
"…We're more the Pistols type, right?"
For Rhinos, it was definitely the latter. After all.
"We're not exactly a contact-hitting team."
"Hyung Song Jeongwoo does it well."
"What's the point if only hyung can?"
Rhinos were packed with hitters suited to their home park, nicknamed the ping-pong table.
"Just like Fighters."
"Shh. Don't say that."
Yeah. Their lineup was similar to Fighters—the ones who'd been no-hit by Jin Yuha and immortalized in infamy worldwide.
"They got caught trying to slap singles, which isn't our style. We'll stick to what we do best, so the results will be different."
The Rhinos had their strategy locked in for the revenge match against Jin Yuha.
"But is this really a counterstrategy?"
Honestly, it was more basic principles than any real tactic.
"…That monster kid. Cut it out and stop being so good already."
There was no pinpoint way to take down a freak like that to begin with.
While Rhinos were getting fed up with Jin Yuha at the same time.
"This uniform looks cooler the more I see it."
I kept admiring the new uniform we'd started wearing from June.
Pro baseball teams have all sorts of uniform variants. There's that one New York major league team that stubbornly refuses to make a City Connect uniform like everyone else, clinging to tradition, but usually it's not like that.
"Having more uniforms is good for the players too."
"Is it?"
"You've benefited a ton from it, haven't you?"
Me?
"That Record Breaker uniform last time, and now they're dropping a No-Hitter commemorative one. Rising Star uniform goes without saying. That's all cash."
I'd heard uniform incentives were pretty sweet, but I hadn't thought too deeply about it.
"Hmm, I guess so."
Truth is, my sense of money is kinda off.
"Lucky bastard."
Then.
"Yuha, Yuha. How do I look in the military uniform?"
Titans rookie Jeon Galhun hyung came over, making a fuss.
"Yes. It suits you well."
Honestly, the uniform itself is just ridiculously good-looking. This military uniform we're wearing today is one of the prettiest in Titans history, I think.
"Heh heh, with this, next year I'll finally make All-Star…"
"All-Star?"
"I'm not even a candidate this year, but starting next year, my odds are good, right? So I figured I should start looking good in the Titans uniform now."
Come to think of it, All-Star voting had started recently.
'KBO All-Star is basically a popularity contest.'
Well, it's not unique to KBO. MLB All-Stars have been called the same for ages. Some players who got snubbed have straight-up called it out in public.
'But the situations are a bit different.'
In MLB, people still use "All-Star level" to gauge talent. That's how strong the perception is that you need elite skills to make it.
KBO All-Stars? Everyone knows it's just the fan favorites. And that's why some love it even more. Popularity ain't a bad thing.
"If our team performs well, we can line 'em up, right?"
"Pretty much. We're the most popular team in KBO."
Among the 12 KBO teams, Titans have the edge for All-Star selections.
"Everyone's hyped this year. Jihoon hyung was even filming a YouTube video urging votes."
"He was?"
"Kang Yeol's been extra chatty on camera too. He's never made it, so he's probably hyped inside."
News to me.
"Ha… hyung. That guy's clueless about this stuff."
Jeong Hanseong sighed and threw some shade my way.
"Huh?"
"Making All-Star is a given for him."
"Oh. Right."
I won't deny it. Performance-based or popularity, I'm making All-Star no question.
"That's why he's so chill about it."
"Guys who have it all don't know what's precious."
"…I've already got my white fan and white clothes ready for next year."
Oh.
"I know. Zhuge Liang, right?"
I know my Three Kingdoms too.