The Bases-Loaded Specialist (2)
The Seoul Urbans gallery exploded the moment a rookie pitcher took the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out.
These were fans who had already witnessed what he could do, but with so few games under his belt, no one could quite bring themselves to call him proven.
Posts questioning Jang Han-sae's ability dominated the feed.
A post rejecting the very concept of a switch pitcher.
A post voicing distrust of an all-rookie battery.
Opinions flew back and forth from every direction, but most of them were forecasting a bleak ending.
And then Jang Han-sae began to pitch.
The moment ball one was called against Edison, a stream of chaotic reactions flooded in.
But as strike after strike piled up, the gallery's mood began to slowly warm with anticipation.
And then, the moment he unleashed the knuckleball as his putaway pitch.
Posts multiplied at a blistering pace. It was the moment their doubt flipped into anticipation.
But when the next powerhouse slugger, Jung Hae, stepped into the batter's box, the gallery's mood sank all over again.
The Vanguards lineup genuinely makes me nauseous
Throwing a knuckleball at all is absurd enough, but using one where you can't predict where it'll dance as your finishing pitch? The man is unhinged.
And he pitches with both hands
Seriously hope he pulls this off, f***.
The atmosphere was nearly as grim as when Jang Han-sae had first taken the mound — with one difference: the share of posts expressing hope in him had grown noticeably.
And while the gallery churned with noise, Jang Han-sae was already preparing for his duel with the next batter.
The spearhead of Incheon.
The Sun of the Vanguards.
A one-club man — the very end of romance.
The greatest slugger in Korea, challenging the KBO's all-time home run record.
That fearsome Jung Hae stood in the batter's box right now, ready to swing at my pitch.
“Hoo...”
I was letting out more sighs than usual today.
Right — he's a right-handed batter, so I need to switch gloves first.
I slid the glove onto my left hand, turned my body, and finished my preparation to pitch right-handed.
Like Kim Su-han before him, Jung Hae was a veteran who had anchored this league for years.
There was one key difference, though: raw power.
Kim Su-han batted .300 as routinely as he ate breakfast and racked up hits in bunches, but his slugging percentage sat in the low-to-mid .400s — you couldn't exactly call him a premier power threat.
Jung Hae, on the other hand, traded away a few points of batting average for a career slugging percentage north of .500. A monster.
But at the end of the day, he was — like Kim Su-han — the number-one analysis target of every club in the league, a player with more known data on him than anyone could sift through.
He's an opponent I can beat. Don't be scared, Jang Han-sae.
As with most right-handed hitters, Jung Hae was weak against underhand pitching.
And given the caliber of the man, changing my delivery was unavoidable.
I'd wanted to keep it hidden as long as possible... but so be it.
Besides, the underhand delivery is the best form in baseball for inducing a double play.
Ending the inning on a twin killing is the best possible outcome — there was no reason not to throw it.
I spread my fingers and flashed Ho-ji the sign: underhand.
The pitch, naturally, was the sinker.
Low. Absolutely, unconditionally low.
“Top of the eighth, and the Incheon Vanguards are keeping their bases-loaded, nobody-out chance alive. Stepping to the plate is cleanup hitter Jung Hae.”
“Jang Han-sae did put Edison away with that knuckleball, but now the very next batter is Jung Hae. This is no easy spot at all — sluggers of Jung Hae's type hit a career .310 with the bases loaded, you know?”
“That's right. Jang Han-sae is facing one difficult opponent after another. This is his third appearance since his debut, and two of them have come in bases-loaded, no-out situations — the previous one being his debut game, no less. Back then he surrendered just a single run, recording a hold on the strength of a double play and a strikeout. What will today bring? In that last at-bat against Edison, Jang Han-sae astonished us yet again with an unbelievable knuckleball strikeout.”
“This should be a fascinating matchup.”
“And the pitcher deliv—ers? ...Ah, the batter watches the low pitch all the way in — strike one!”
“Whoa... hahaha, can you believe this?”
“Jang Han-sae just threw that pitch underhand?”
“Take a look at Jung Hae's face. Even a man as stoic as Jung Hae can't help but be rattled in a moment like this. Hahaha.”
“After the switch pitching, now a change in delivery as well — Jang Han-sae keeps surprising us in so many different ways.”
“The Urbans' coaching staff seem to have hidden it carefully to keep from tipping their full arsenal. Throughout the exhibition games he threw right-handed, and from a single delivery the entire time. Now that the regular season has begun, he's starting to bring the weapons out.”
“The moment I said it — pitch two! On the outside corner! Recorded as a ball. 135 kilometers per hour.”
“The first pitch was a sinker, and this one is a four-seamer. He's locating low and lower, executing beautifully. This time Jung Hae took the pitch with patience.”
“Indeed. Jung Hae sits just eight home runs shy of the KBO's all-time individual record. Will he close that gap in this bases-loaded at-bat? The pitcher delivers!”
“Ooh!”
“Jung Hae's bat found the ball! And this one is flying far — far — toward the wall!”
“Ah—!”
“It sails just inside the foul pole — an enormous foul home run!”
“Ah-ha... hahaha, my palms are sweating. For a second there I was certain it was gone.”
Jang Han-sae let out a long breath, chest heaving. With that foul ball, the count now stood at one and two.
“This young lady was really startled just now, wasn't she?”
“It was a heart-stopping moment for the Urbans fans in the ballpark as well.”
“I'd grown so used to it I'd forgotten, but Jang Han-sae has been pitching underhand this entire time, hasn't he? And Jung Hae's career average against underhand pitching is just .190.”
“He seems mindful of that, and he's sticking with the underhand delivery.”
“It makes you wonder whether he can throw from the other deliveries too.”
“Hahaha. I'm curious myself. The bases are still loaded, and on the mound — submarine pitcher Jang Han-sae! A pitch up high! Foul, back over the catcher and into the backstop.”
“Jung Hae isn't going away quietly either.”
“The count holds at one and two. The Vanguards' traveling fans in the third-base stands are in full voice right now.”
“Well, this is exactly the kind of moment worth getting excited about.”
“Pitch four! The ball falls off the table — and Jung Hae got the barrel to it!”
“Ohhhhh!”
“Hard contact! Straight back through the box — a line drive screaming at the pitcher's head! Jang Han-sae flung his arm up, but the ball clipped the glove and ricocheted away!”