Ace (2)
Generously speaking, it all made sense. No one knew I'd regressed—not even Mia, my lover, or my parents.
...Dad's a bit iffy, though.
Anyway, it was true that my career paled in comparison to Shim Chando's. I was a rookie who'd just debuted this year, after all.
The title of league's top ace wasn't one to be taken lightly. No matter how dominant I'd been this season, I couldn't ignore the career he'd built up over the years.
...But there's a limit to that crap.
In the 2040 season, I'd pitched nearly 7 innings per start. Not a single loss, 300 strikeouts, and a 0.40 ERA.
No pitcher in any league had ever posted numbers like that in a single season.
So doesn't that make me the league's top ace, obviously?
It didn't even seem worth debating. It was probably because we'd never faced off head-to-head.
"Haa... guess I gotta prove it again."
It was something so familiar once that it used to make me sick.
Bottom of the 1st.
Let me run it back one more time.
I always start the game with a four-seam fastball for my first pitch.
Thwack!!
Sometimes, I even plant it right down the middle.
Thud!!
Everyone knew it. Naturally, the opponents tried everything to counter it.
Crack!!
"Strike!"
But very few hitters ever got good contact off my opening four-seamer. In the KBO this season, there'd been practically none.
Why was that?
- 164 km/h
The ball was just too damn fast.
And in this life, it's even faster.
Could Shim Chando really fire a four-seam down the heart like that?
No way in hell.
Unfortunately for him, he hadn't been born with a shoulder that could touch 160 km/h.
Crack!!
"Strike!"
Overwhelming velocity was overwhelming violence.
- 163 km/h
That's what my fastball felt like from the batter's box.
Crack!!
"Strike three!"
That's why I could just stuff fastballs in the zone and rack up strikeouts.
- 165 km/h
Just like now.
Tap, tap.
- Sweeper
And I wasn't some one-trick pony with just the four-seam, either.
Thud!!
"Swinging strike!"
Some analysts even called my highest virtue not raw speed, but my arsenal of polished breaking balls.
Crack!!
"Strike!"
Personally, I agreed. Hell, in the majors—obviously—pitchers touching 100 mph were a dime a dozen.
Thud!!
"Swinging strike three!"
Of course, calling me a "finesse pitcher" because of that was a stretch.
If we're splitting hairs...
Thwack!!
Like I'd said a million times, I was a complete pitcher.
"Out!"
Comparing me to Shim Chando? Laughable.
Well, if someone said I was being petty after regressing and all...
I still wanted to say I was an ace starter, bottom line.
As Jin Yuha walked off the mound toward the dugout, his eyes met Shim Chando's as the latter headed out from the dugout to the mound.
Shim Chando's brow furrowed slightly as he stared at Jin Yuha's smirk. For a guy famous for his poker face, it was surprisingly emotional.
Unlike the hyped-up caster, the two color commentators wore pained expressions. The ex-hitters among them suddenly felt their batter instincts flare up.
"Argh, damn it, not even one fastball."
The Titans dugout echoed with aggrieved groans.
"...Haa. How the hell do you hit that?"
The Guardians dugout let out sighs thick with self-loathing.
In the 2nd, both aces wasted no time, mowing down the side in order again.
"Alright! I'll show 'em!"
One player in a Titans uniform, though, pounded his chest with brimming confidence.
"We're counting on you, Jihun hyung."
Baek Jihun, who'd climbed from 9th to 7th in the order solely because he was supposedly strong against Shim Chando.
Baek Jihun, the Titans' starting shortstop derisively called the "league's worst hitter." Strangely, he owned Shim Chando.
Thwack!!
"Foul!"
Crack!!
"Ball."
Park Woo-hyuk commentator opened his mouth with a slightly incredulous look.
[Chando's the best—or at least top historical—at the count game with hitters, right?]
[Can't argue that.]
[Don't need Kang Dongho's nod anyway. Point is, Chando says the count game means nothing against Baek Jihun.]
[Whoa... Does that mean Jihun's a psych-out wizard?]
[Nah, the opposite.]
The reason Shim Chando couldn't easily dominate Baek Jihun.
[Chando says Jihun doesn't think at the plate. Swings at unhittable pitches, lays off hittable ones.]
Chando's edge vanished against Jihun.
Sure, if that was it, it'd be fine. Jihun's bat was trash, and Chando was dominant without mind games. But.
[And Jihun gets lucky only against him. Fouls off bad pitches, pokes hits into perfect spots.]
Thwack!!
In baseball—especially hitting—luck was never to be ignored.
Thud!!
Unless you overwhelmed it with sheer dominance.
Thwack!!
Shim Chando, sadly, couldn't.
His brainless hack sent a ball just over the infielder's head.
"That's how it's done!"
Baek Jihun danced into first, but Shim Chando's face didn't twitch.
Kang Dongho couldn't continue. He rooted for the Titans' starter, sure, but denying it was impossible.
Early game, leadoff man on. Normally, no sac bunt.
But this wasn't a normal game. Jeong Hanseong squared to bunt.
"Ace vs. ace today."
It'd be a pitchers' duel, no doubt. Yuha went without saying, but Chando had a sub-2.00 ERA this year too.
"First to give up a run loses."
Sac bunt efficacy was debated, but Manager Jeong Hyeonho saw it as the best play for a run now.
Low lineup too... Better sacrifice an out than a double play.
Luckily.
Thwack!!
Hanseong laid down a textbook bunt for a rookie.
1 out, runner to second. Scoring position.
Up: Kim Taeyong, who'd been quiet in the postseason.
Still got pop... Time to show it.
Jeong Hyeonho clasped his hands, praying for revival. But.
Thwack!!
"Out!"
Like Yuha, Chando didn't hand out miracles.
Crack!!
"Strike three!"
Jeong Suyeong whiffed in his second look, and the Titans squandered their 3rd-inning chance.
"As expected..."
I'd said he wasn't ace-level compared to me, but he was undeniably elite.
That good... better than Carl Lauver?
A cut above a solid MLB starter.
How'd I never hear of this guy before regressing?
Pre-regression, no Shim Chando on my radar. Probably never went to MLB, stuck in Korea.
If he'd made the show, I'd have remembered.
Plus, I skipped all international tourneys...
Yeah, reporters hounded me on which uniform, so I just refused national team call-ups. Skipped the games too.
This life, gotta rep Korea.
Military exemption and all.
National team ace... fresh experience.
Obviously, I'd be the ace there too.
The prideful aces' battle intensified.
Thwack!!
"Out!"
Shim Chando induced a groundout with bait.
Crack!!
"Strike three!"
Jin Yuha answered with a fastball K.
Crack!!
"Strike three!"
Shim Chando froze bats dancing in and out of the zone.
Thud!!
"Swinging strike three!"
Jin Yuha made them flail at breakers.
"...Why not just let 'em grab each other by the collar on the mound?"
The hitters suffered most, naturally.
Grip.
That suffering was enough to awaken yet another genius.