Chapter 69
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Sajik's Orange Tide
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Everyone in the stands at Sajik Stadium was wearing orange plastic bags on their heads and holding newspapers in their hands.
Those quirky cheering tools had disappeared due to recommendations against single-use plastics, but the Phoenix owner tirelessly worked to make the bags biodegradable and set up newspaper recycling bins, bringing them back this year.
At first, I wondered why bother going that far just to wear those bags on their heads...
"Alright! Everyone stand up! Let's call out the players who'll lead us to victory today!"
"Woooh! Woooh! Starting pitcher! Center fielder! Jin! Gyu! Hyun!"
"Starting pitcher! Left fielder! Lee! Jun!"
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"Starting pitcher! Pitcher! Cha! Tae! Hyun!"
Seeing the entire stadium filled with people shaking newspapers while wearing bags on their heads, it all made sense now.
There was romance in it.
Come to think of it, each of these cheering traditions could become cherished memories and symbols of the team.
Pretty cool in its own way. Grand and majestic, maybe?
—Alright! The game has begun. Phoenix's starter for their first home game of the season is pitcher Cha Tae-hyun. He's also their cleanup hitter. A true two-way player.
—Yes. Two-way players are seen as tough in the KBO, but after Cha showed such promise last time, expectations are sky-high again.
The path to the mound. Nothing special, just walking there, but the cheers erupted across the stadium.
From first to third base, an ocean of orange bags. Changwon and Busan are close, so plenty of away fans show up, but I couldn't spot any from here.
The corner of my mouth twitched upward on its own.
I do love this stage. The feeling of all those eyes on me from the crowd. Maybe I'm just an exhibitionist at heart.
Yeah. With this many fans showing up, I should start things off with a bang, right?
I rubbed some rosin, shook it off, rolled the ball in my glove, gripped a four-seam, and went into a big windup.
I stepped forward and whipped my arm hard.
The ball left my fingertips in a straight-line trajectory, flying honestly right into the heart of the strike zone.
If you only saw that middle-of-the-plate location, you'd call it a meatball,
but the moment the batter's bat twitched, the ball was already swallowed in the mitt. Hard to call that a mistake.
"Striiike!"
The batter flinched, staring wide-eyed at the mitt.
He shouldn't be surprised by this.
I still think my pitching is far from my prime.
My body's not fully conditioned compared to back then, and as a starter, I'm just getting restarted.
Once I regain that starter feel and boost my physicals, I can throw even better.
Then... someday,
—Cha Tae-hyun sets up for his second pitch. Windup.
—Strike! Another 161km/h fastball! Same spot, but the batter couldn't even react!
maybe I'll surpass that prime version of me?
—Pitcher winds up again.
This is basically my second life. Of course I have to do better.
—Swinging miss, strike three! Another fastball for the whiff K! Haha! Is this even real? 161km/h again! He's hitting top velocity every pitch!
—Waaaaaah!!!
The roar exploded the moment I got the strikeout, washing over my whole body like a wave.
Ears ringing with that sensation. Voices chanting my name. Fans jumping out of their seats like maniacs.
Every bit of it floods me with dopamine.
Feels damn good.
This is home-field advantage.
Just like character matchups in games, baseball teams have clear rivalries too.
But Phoenix vs. Dinosaurs goes beyond rivalry.
Last year's record: 1 win, 15 losses. Can't even call that a matchup.
So Phoenix fans, whenever they drew the Dinosaurs,
"Perfect matchup against the Dinosaurs! Just one win, please... (even one would do...)"
had to shout one thing while thinking another.
The Dinosaurs fans on the flip side?
[3-game series vs the bottom-feeders? Hella excited lololol]
For real lololol. Thought we were screwed after that early sweep, but Phoenix is straight-up medicine for our away board lololol
Our hitters should perk up against the bottom-feeders, right?
Can't wait lololol. Those Phoenix rookies have been cocky lately.
Of course Dinosaurs fans love facing Phoenix. Their dying lineup revives, pitchers who couldn't throw suddenly fix themselves. Phoenix is pure tonic.
Dinosaurs came in on a three-game skid, so the manager had high hopes for today...
"Strike three!"
"Ha... It's ridiculous seeing it live. What do you think, coach?"
"Well... you saw it. Even our ace couldn't touch it. Honestly, with just that fastball, I'm doubting if our guys can hit him at all."
Starting pitcher Cha Tae-hyun was off.
Right from the start, he dropped 161km/h four-seams and fanned the Dinosaurs' leadoff with three straight.
'And he throws breaking stuff well too...'
The Dinosaurs manager sighed and stared blankly at the plate.
"Won-woo should've at least made contact..."
Dinosaurs' No. 2 hitter Kim Won-woo was known for best contact and eye for the zone on the team.
But even he couldn't touch the ball,
—Strikeout! No. 2 hitter goes down swinging too! Cha Tae-hyun's fastball has them helpless. What a pitcher!
and struck out looking.
Two straight Ks.
"Won't be easy until they see a full rotation."
"Ji-ho might handle it, though."
The manager nodded at the coach's words.
Cha was a freak rookie, but Lee Ji-ho was no slouch either.
Best bat feel on the recent slumping Dinosaurs lineup, same high school as Cha, so he knew him well.
Reason enough to hope on Ji-ho.
'Long time no see, Cha Tae-hyun.'
Lee Ji-ho smiled faintly at the plate.
Forget the manager's hopes; this moment was pure joy.
He'd envied and hated Cha at first, buying dumb rumors, but once cleared up, Cha was just a cool player.
How long he'd waited for this matchup.
He'd swung countless times imagining Cha on the mound.
To not embarrass himself on this pro stage.
—Here comes No. 3 hitter Lee Ji-ho. Fun matchup, huh?
—Yeah. Same Hyoksan High alumni, top two rookies this year. I'm excited too.
Lee Ji-ho glanced at Cha and raised a hand in greeting.
'...He returns it?'
Cha smirked unexpectedly, waved back, then gave a thumbs-up... and flipped it down.
Ji-ho chuckled and lifted his bat.
'Yeah, you were always good at mind games.'
Cha was just messing with an old friend, but Ji-ho saw it as strategy.
Pitcher and hitter who'd synced at Hyoksan High.
As they stared each other down in tense silence,
Cha slowly wound up and fired.
Ji-ho's bat whipped around almost simultaneously.
The ball met bat, but not sweetly. It thudded off the backstop fence.
"Damn... sharp as ever."
He'd tracked it with his eyes. Inside four-seam.
Thought he reacted, but late timing felt weird.
Resetting, Ji-ho gritted his teeth. As expected from Cha, even better than remembered.
Cha wound up again, arm snapping hard.
Ji-ho's eyes chased the ball diving into the zone again.
Committed the bat; trajectory said sweet spot.
But
this time a two-seam. It sank sharply inside, hitting way below sweet spot. Shock shot straight to Ji-ho's wrists.
"Ugh..."
Ji-ho groaned but glanced at Cha, who smirked amusedly.
In high school, he'd wondered why everyone hated that smile. Now he got it.
'Gives me chills...'
Ji-ho shook his wrists and regripped.
Count: 0-2, one four-seam, one two-seam.
Time for an off-speed chase pitch. Textbook.
But Ji-ho's gut, honed watching Cha in high school, screamed otherwise. Against Cha...
'He's going for the kill now.'
Cha went into motion; Ji-ho's mind raced faster.
Four-seam, inside.
Why? Instinct.
The Cha he knew from two years together would.
And right on cue,
'Knew it, Tae-hyun.'
Tight inside four-seam incoming.
Leg kick, bat ready,
"Wha...?"
"Striiike! Out!"
Ball already in the mitt.
Ji-ho froze, mouth agape, then checked the board desperately.
"Haha..."
Laughter burst out at the velocity. Explained why he knew and still missed.
'Body wasn't fully there in his debut...'
Or maybe this wasn't even his best? The thought drew another dry laugh.
"What're you doing? Get off the field?"
Senior's words snapped Ji-ho out of his daze; he finally left the box.
"Looking strike three! Cha Tae-hyun fans fellow Hyoksan alum Lee Ji-ho on three pitches again, extending his scoreless innings streak to two games straight! Haha! Saying 'amazing' is getting old!"
wtf lololol updating velo every game lol
Hit 159 closing in HS, knew he'd crank it higher lololol
9 pitches, just fastballs and sinkers to finish inning... Romance dead af
Look at that heavy movement. Dude's just chucking rocks lol
"Check out the Phoenix chairman watching today's game. Never seen him that happy."
Secretary next to him looks pissed af wtf
That guy's a spy or what?
Wearing Tae-hyun God special uni tho??
Suddenly smiles when chairman talks to him? / Smiling wildly what joker lololol
"Grrreat...! Kim Secretary! See that? Our Cha Tae-hyun demolishing Dinosaurs prospects!"
Kim Secretary, secretly rooting for Ji-ho, gave a wry smile and nodded.
"Haha... Yes. Cha's doing well."
"Right? Cha's way better than Ji-ho, no question. But some idiots say Ji-ho's superior? Ridiculous."
"......"
"And it's not just Cha. Phoenix is stacked this year. No way we lose to Dinosaurs. Right?"
Kim was a 10-year Dinosaurs diehard, even in Cha special uni now.
No way could she stomach hearing Dinosaurs couldn't beat Phoenix, not even from the chairman—
"Hm...? No answer? You a Dino...?"
Of course, life's full of times you swallow the unspeakable.
"Ooh~ Cha Tae-hyun strikeout king~ Blazing fireball fastball~ Untouchable heat!"
"Ooh! Yeah! You memorized Cha's pitcher chant! True Phoenix fan, Kim Secretary! Let's sing! Ooh~ Cha Tae-hyun strikeout king~"
Kim belted Cha's cheer with a bright smile,
'Forgive me, Dinosaurs...'
but looked utterly heartbroken for some reason.