Chapter 62
Chapter 62
“No way.”
Friends’ catcher Kang Hyun-woo let out a deep sigh as he watched Oh Garam, who looked completely at a loss.
‘He’s been spoiled too much.’
No wonder he had the nickname “Young Master.”
Oh Garam was a pitcher that Friends had nurtured and managed with care far beyond necessity.
He had great talent and matched it with relentless effort.
From his debut until now, he had never stumbled once, walking a royal road in his career.
Maybe that’s why he had recently developed a strange stubborn streak.
“Where did you even learn that weird curve?”
It was a slow curve, nearly 50 km/h slower than his fastball, that was undeniable.
But the moment a batter timed it, it was no different from a batting ball.
And its execution was still far from perfect.
‘It only worked the first time because they didn’t have the data. Sigh.’
Kang Hyun-woo, feeling like he was raising a child even just by being at the stadium, sat beside Oh Garam.
“The curve was good. But it’s not ready to be used in a game yet. Practice a bit more and throw it next time. Seal it for today.”
“…Senpai, what’s the difference between me and him?”
For a moment, Kang Hyun-woo was at a loss for words.
The “him” Oh Garam referred to was Park Si-woo.
Even among domestic pitchers, Park Si-woo’s level was leagues apart, so much that comparison felt almost embarrassing.
‘Sometimes I read those comparisons between Garam and Si-woo online and wonder if the writer’s crazy.’
No matter how much Kang Hyun-woo cared for Oh Garam, comparing him to Park Si-woo was a stretch.
So he never imagined Oh Garam would feel this way about Park Si-woo.
‘…The curve isn’t because of Si-woo, right?’
Just like Park Si-woo threw both a 160 km/h fastball and a 110 km/h knuckleball, Kang Hyun-woo wondered if Oh Garam was imitating him.
Of course, a slow 110 km/h curve and Si-woo’s knuckleball were worlds apart.
Kang Hyun-woo pressed his temples with his thumb and forefinger.
“Why are you suddenly talking about him? You should focus on your own path. You did well. You’ll do well.”
“…Yes. I won’t throw the curve.”
“Good choice. Stick to pitches that suit you. Don’t worry about anyone else. Let’s do this. The game isn’t over yet.”
“…Yes.”
Oh Garam watched Park Si-woo pitch, using Kang Hyun-woo’s voice as background noise.
‘It’s different.’
Even throwing the same 160 km/h, everything else about the pitches was completely different.
Garam had hoped the difference might be small, but watching Si-woo pitch left no room for denial.
Previously, when they met, Si-woo only threw knuckleballs.
So Garam hadn’t really cared.
After all, a knuckleballer and he were on different paths.
But now that Si-woo had started throwing fastballs again, reaching 160 km/h, Garam couldn’t help but notice him.
And when he met him directly, he had to admit it.
‘He’s on a whole other level. Comparing myself is embarrassing.’
Acknowledging this, Garam didn’t feel inferior.
‘I want to be like that.’
It didn’t matter that Si-woo was a year younger or anything like that.
What mattered was that such a pitcher existed in the same league, someone who could motivate him.
Sure, there were pitchers like Choi Myung-jun before, but…
‘Watching him just made me feel irritated.’
He pitched as if shouting, “Look how much better I am.”
Compared to Garam, his skill wasn’t that much higher.
In any case, Park Si-woo had awakened a feeling Garam had forgotten.
Which direction it would take, nobody knew.
“Coach, I want to pitch as much as possible today.”
At least in Korean baseball, that wasn’t a bad sign.
And Oh Garam wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
“How’s it looking?”
“Good.”
Huh Min, who had taught Park Si-woo the splitter, frowned slightly as he watched the screen.
‘This isn’t right.’
Huh Min’s baseball life could be divided into before and after seeing Si-woo’s splitter.
Seeing the answer he had chased his whole life, how could he just stand by?
He took a deep breath and prepared to pitch again.
“Good work.”
My role today was up to the seventh inning.
Seven innings, one run.
Eighty pitches, comfortably within limit, though I couldn’t ignore the effects of my last game.
It had been my first time pitching ten innings, and I had been a bit tense then.
Today, I focused mainly on knuckleballs, so the next game should be fine.
Our offense scored enough runs to ease the pressure.
We scored four against Oh Garam, the opposing starter.
I thought he wouldn’t come back in the seventh, but…
“Oh.”
Oddly enough, Oh Garam returned in the seventh.
Ninety-three pitches.
Normally, he would have been replaced long ago, but something had driven him to stay.
Even with a risky count, he contained our batting line effectively.
Watching that made my hands itch.
“Would it be too late if I asked to go up?”
“Resting today helps the team more.”
I Dong-hoon’s words made me hold back.
“Why, are you jealous?”
“Not jealous, just… motivated. I wonder if I should’ve gone all I could.”
Oh Garam at his best, the romance of a starting pitcher.
Friends’ fans cheered wildly.
“Stop letting yourself be motivated too much. Do you know how many pitchers have shredded themselves trying to keep up with you?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You just don’t know, but it happens a lot on our team too.”
Hmm, who could he mean?
“Just think of all of them. Have you heard them saying they went drinking recently? They were studying baseball at that time. Baseball. I couldn’t believe it.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Yeah, good. But I never thought what seemed impossible to fix would actually be fixed like this. Watching your daily routine, if you still played around, would you call that pro?”
“Then you must have been motivated too?”
He said it as a joke.
But I Dong-hoon answered seriously.
“Of course. Now it’s really starting to show, so you have to work hard.”
Winning.
The season’s early talk was almost reality.
We kept a two-game lead over the Wolves steadily.
After the perfect game, the jinx talk disappeared.
Nobody paid attention; it simply didn’t exist.
If we finished August like this, a regular-season championship wasn’t a dream.
The game ended with a 5–3 win.
Park Hyun-woo faltered slightly, but Park Jung-won closed 1.1 innings in the eighth without trouble.
This win secured the series.
The next day, with Gale pitching seven innings allowing two runs, we swept the final game of the series.
When the game ended, national team coach Choi Kang-il visited the locker room.
He didn’t say much, but spoke to each player individually.
I spoke with him too.
“You have high expectations on you.”
Just that, and he left.
WBC, huh.
The national team was ambitious.
I had good memories from youth national teams, and as a rookie, I had to give up the Asian Games due to injury.
I wanted to meet players from other leagues as well.
But it wasn’t yet a time for serious thought.
“-Bro. See you at WBC.”
I didn’t explain much to Eden, who contacted me after a while.
“-Sure, sounds good.”
We promised to meet again.
“…Thanks, really.”
“Sorry. That was all I could get right now.”
“No, this is perfect. Hehe, how is it? Looks good?”
It’s a tradition for a pitcher who throws a perfect game to gift an expensive watch to the catcher.
Song Min-seok tried on the watch Park Si-woo gave him, examining it from every angle.
“Isn’t this a bit excessive?”
“It’s fine.”
Park Si-woo had won the lottery; he had 2 billion won in his bank account.
During the season, there wasn’t much to spend on, so it had just been sitting there.
Uniform sales were enormous too.
The percentage players received wasn’t high, but for Si-woo, the absolute amount was huge.
On top of that, special commemorative uniforms—perfect games, consecutive shutouts, strikeouts, no-hitters, 20 wins, perfect game—already five.
Thanks to the club, other income exceeded his salary.
“Now that you have the watch, you’ll do even better tomorrow, right?”
“Yes! I’ll do my best!”
Song Min-seok formed a battery with Lee Dong-hoon for the first time this season.
Superficially, it was a break for Kim Min-ki, but Song Min-seok’s stats had improved recently.
That day, Lee Dong-hoon notched his first ten-win season in three years.
Six innings, four hits, two walks, no runs.
“Lee Dong-hoon! Lee Dong-hoon! Lee Dong-hoon!”
After the interview, he returned to the locker room to cheers.
“Say a few words for your 10 wins.”
Park Hyun-woo started it, and Lee Dong-hoon gladly continued.
“If we keep working day by day like now, we’ll reach our goals. So let’s push a bit more.”
The mood in August had completely changed.
But finishing the rest of August wasn’t easy.
KBO’s fourth and fifth places were hotly contested.
From 4th-place Suwon Knights to 8th-place Seoul Challengers, only four games separated them.
“Wasn’t that exactly where we were last year? Ugh, thinking about it is horrifying.”
With such fierce competition, even top teams were desperate.
Fifth and sixth were worlds apart.
Sixth meant missing the postseason entirely.
Fifth meant at least a chance.
The battle was intense.
But for Park Si-woo, there were exceptions.
His chances of losing were extremely low.
Even a third- to fifth-starter would suffice, but a first or second starter pitching and losing would be catastrophic.
Teams opted to avoid him if it came to one game.
Fans felt the same.
Please, just avoid Si-woo
SSSSS Marins tomorrow’s starter: Si-woo
They hoped their team wouldn’t face him while cheering if rival teams did.
Around this time:
Center fielder Ha Seo-jin handles the ball, and the Marins finish August in first place!
August ended.
Marins went 15-2-10, exactly a .600 winning percentage.
In this period, Park Si-woo went 5–0.
He had 24 wins on the season.
There were bumps.
Park Si-woo 6 innings, 2 runs: worst of the season
6 innings → lowest in season, 2 runs → most allowed. Accurate, but doesn’t feel right.
Since then, he pitched a shutout the next game, proving he was still dominant.
With the Wolves losing that day, the gap between Marins and Wolves was now three games.
With only 20 games left, a three-game gap was huge.
Marins fans dreamed of a championship and, simultaneously, of something more.
[Could he reach 30 wins this season?]
Only six more wins needed in 20 games, how? lol
But it wasn’t impossible; some games were spaced out, so it seemed doable.
Thirty wins was almost unthinkable historically.
Only repeated overuse could achieve it.
Some even needed luck along with skill.
This year, Park Si-woo had both skill and luck.
‘No need to overdo it.’
But Coach Kwak Gu-beom left the door open for the unlikely.
If divine luck stacked, even he couldn’t intervene.
Still.
‘That won’t happen.’
Kwak Gu-beom dismissed the weird thoughts and prepared for the game.