Chapter 36 – That’s Why He Got Fired
“Is it going? Is it going? It’s gone!”
The commentator and announcer shouted excitedly.
Yoon Jae-jun calmly set down his bat and clenched his fist.
“A three-run shot! It’s a three-run home run! The Oceans’ batting lineup, which had gone cold over the weekend, has come back to life like this!”
“Yoon Jae-jun has broken through the blockage. The players from Saeum High are shaking up Korean baseball. They’re scary. Really scary.”
“If you look closely, he set his batting stance at exactly the right moment to match the pitcher’s windup. That was a perfect uppercut swing.”
“He’s high-fiving Choi Seong at home plate right now... Yoon Jae-jun always says he learned a lot from Choi Seong, doesn’t he? At this point, I really think there’s something special about this so-called Choi Seong School.”
“Before training earlier, I saw Kwon Geon-woo and Go Gyeong-tae training together with Choi Seong. That makes Kwon Geon-woo’s next at-bat something worth looking forward to.”
The score was 3–0.
And it wasn’t only Jamsil Stadium that was exploding.
The comment section was going crazy as well.
If Yoon Jae-jun hit the homer because Choi Seong taught him, who are we supposed to vote for as player of the game today??
Choi Seong definitely has something special. Even Go Gyeong-tae’s baseball sense looks insane now.
Hey, why don’t they just make Choi Seong a player-coach at this point?? He can clearly do both.
ARE WE GOING ALL THE WAY TO A KOREAN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP LIKE THIS?!?!?!?
Yep. Next up: Fifth-place Oceans.
Kwon Geon-woo gave each player returning from the field a high-five.
Yoon Jae-jun now had five home runs, ranking second overall.
Compared to him, Kwon Geon-woo was still just an ordinary player...
“Don’t rush. Watch the ball properly. And don’t treat the scouting report like it’s just some report. Use it. You’re still new, so you need to rely on those things for now.”
After returning to the bench, Choi Seong gave Kwon Geon-woo a long lecture.
...Wasn’t baseball supposed to be played on instinct?
Wasn’t it supposed to come from the heart?
Kwon Geon-woo could only nod firmly.
He had to believe.
After all, it was Choi Seong who had changed him after he himself had thought his chances of making it as a pro were low.
“…I’ll trust you.”
First, he carefully started watching the opposing starter’s habits that Choi Seong had pointed out earlier.
With Wright struggling a little, the score became 3–1.
Then, in the third inning, Kwon Geon-woo got another opportunity.
He calmly watched the opposing pitcher.
One out.
No runners on base.
Seong told me to watch the pitching motion carefully...
144 km/h.
A four-seam fastball went straight down the middle of the strike zone.
First-pitch strike.
He quietly watched the ball.
The pitcher once again took a wide stride, just like before.
If Choi Seong was right, this one would also be a four-seam fastball.
However, judging from the trajectory, it would come in a little high.
CRACK!
Because he trusted him.
Because he had decided to trust him.
Kwon Geon-woo swung at exactly the right timing.
It was a line-drive single that sailed over the third baseman’s head.
“Huh?”
Kwon Geon-woo couldn’t help but be amazed.
It worked because he had done exactly what Choi Seong told him to do.
To Kwon Geon-woo, this was almost a miracle.
He looked at Choi Seong with burning eyes.
If this training method worked this well, the entire Oceans roster needed to learn it.
That was the only way they could win the championship.
After all, they were in win-now mode.
8–5.
The Busan Oceans dominated the first game against the Seoul Triples.
Even though the Triples were normally a top-ranked team, they had been unable to properly fight back.
And three particular players drew attention in this game.
“Shouldn’t we talk to Choi Seong too?”
Four out of the nine batters had suddenly shown unbelievable improvement.
The media began calling it the Choi Seong School Effect.
[What Changed for the Three Players Who Joined the Choi Seong School?]
[Choi Seong School’s Kwon Geon-woo, Go Gyeong-tae, and Yoon Jae-jun All Record Multi-Hit Games... The Team Has Changed]
[The Fifth-Place Oceans Defeat the Triples and Jump to Third]
[Today’s MVP Yoon Jae-jun: “It’s Really All Thanks to Choi Seong... Without Him, I Wouldn’t Have Come This Far”]
While articles like those poured out, the pitching staff was the group most shocked by them.
The pitchers had allowed five runs in today’s game.
Wright, the starter, had pitched well with two runs allowed over six innings.
But the bullpen gave up three more runs in the remaining three innings.
The difference was especially obvious whenever pitchers outside the main relief unit entered the game.
“Cheol-min, are we going to get beaten to death by the fans at this rate?”
Until now, both the hitters and pitchers had been problems.
But after today’s game, it looked like only the pitching staff would be branded as the problem.
Gu Cheol-min swallowed hard.
He knew exactly what happened when angry fans turned their attention toward someone.
Especially when playing for the club with the largest fanbase in the country.
“Should we increase our training a little for now?”
“You think that’ll be enough?”
At his senior’s words, Gu Cheol-min’s eyes widened.
“Let’s ask him. Choi Seong. Directly.”
“The older players probably won’t like that. Most of them are pretty old-fashioned. They already give people looks whenever someone learns from Choi Seong because he’s still a rookie...”
“Then we’ll be the ones to break that culture. Aren’t we basically the middle layer of the Oceans right now? If this were the military, we’d be around corporal rank. So let’s change things ourselves. If the fans turn against you, getting released happens in an instant. Especially for mediocre guys like us with ERAs in the four or five range. You planning to open some baseball academy once you hit your mid-thirties?”
Gu Cheol-min firmly shook his head.
That absolutely could not happen.
“Then I’ll trust you, senior.”
And so, during the middle of the season, the Choi Seong School finally began operating seriously for both pitchers and hitters.
I let out a long yawn.
During the three-game series against the Seoul Triples, the players had finally started showing their true value.
Of course, the problems with the fourth and fifth starters still remained.
Even so, we won the series two games to one.
Our overall record became six wins and four losses.
It wasn’t a record I could be satisfied with yet.
Still, moving up to third place was a good thing.
Above us were the Daejeon Hawks at 9–1 and last year’s champions, the Gwangju Jaguars, at 8–2.
The Jaguars had lost two straight games against us, but immediately afterward they went on an eight-game winning streak, proving exactly why they were last year’s champions.
“So... you’re not asking me to teach you a specific pitch. You’re asking me to help with your entire training session, right?”
I wasn’t sure whether to call this a good development or a bad one.
Either way, two more people had announced that they wanted to join the Choi Seong School.
They were Gu Cheol-min and Lee Seong-jae, both of whom had been struggling badly in middle relief.
That duo had basically become the opening act for every comeback loss our team suffered.
“Yeah. Seong-ah, I know this is shameless, but please help us. I’m sorry... I’m your senior, but I’m still asking you for something like this...”
He really was shameless.
Still, if someone wanted to improve, what could be better than that?
Salvation was something a person had to create with their own hands.
Success only came when there was an opportunity.
“Then I suppose you do need to learn.”
I was already stressed enough hearing an imaginary ticking clock inside my body every time we lost a game.
Baseball wasn’t a sport you could win alone.
Teamwork mattered.
“First, let’s prioritize correcting your pitching forms and strengthening your shoulders.”
As I spoke, I calmly picked up a broken bat.
“Why are you holding that...?”
“You’re not seriously going to hit us, are you?”
Apparently, my earlier threat about beating Kim Hak-seong with a bat was still traumatic for them.
“First, can you show me your current pitching motions?”
Gu Cheol-min was a right-handed overhand pitcher.
Lee Seong-jae was a left-handed overhand pitcher.
From what I could see, they both needed slightly more dynamic forms if they wanted to increase their velocity.
Because they were middle relievers, it looked like they had chosen compact pitching motions to reduce the chances of stolen bases.
But if they stayed like this, both of them would be released within three years.
The two of them looked nervous as they quickly demonstrated their pitching forms in front of me.
“Cheol-min sunbae, once you throw more than twenty pitches, your elbow starts dropping during your delivery. Building strength is probably your most urgent problem.”
“Hmm...”
“Try doing at least two hundred push-ups a day, along with similar exercises. You’ll notice a difference. Right now, you’re fine for about ten pitches, but problems start after that. Your stuff loses power. And when you’re throwing warm-up pitches, don’t hold back. I told you before that it takes you more than a hundred pitches to fully loosen your shoulder... That’s why the finish on your pitches keeps becoming unstable.”
“But... that’s part of my routine...”
“If your routine is getting you hit, then change the entire thing starting now. Having superstitions is fine, but I’m saying this because they’re affecting your performance.”
Of course, I didn’t have any superstitions myself.
Changing Gu Cheol-min’s pitching form into something more dynamic would come later.
“Seong-jae sunbae... let’s make yours more dynamic immediately.”
I carefully analyzed every movement from the moment he started his windup.
“You need to raise your leg a little higher. That will lengthen your stride and let you generate more power through your waist.”
“I’ve used this form ever since my debut... The coach who taught me this is just away for a while...”
“That’s why he got fired last year after the team performed badly.”
“……”
Lee Seong-jae fell silent after my brutally accurate remark.
His pitching habits would be difficult to fix.
Still, it was possible if he truly wanted to change them.
These guys probably only had until next year, or the year after that, to prove themselves anyway.
If they couldn’t do it, then they could open baseball academies at a relatively young age and dedicate themselves to teaching the next generation.
“Again. For now, this much should let you maintain the balance of your current pitching motion.”
The biggest question going forward would be his shoulder angle and where he placed his upper body during the windup.
Lee Seong-jae kept testing his altered pitching form.
Maybe because it felt unfamiliar, he kept stepping awkwardly with his lead foot.
“You need to get your stride exactly right. If you mess it up, you could injure your ankle.”
I continued demonstrating it for him.
If just these two improved, we could gain long relievers capable of covering the holes left by our hopeless fourth and fifth starters.
Before leaving the training field, I corrected their pitching forms several more times.
As the number of people in the Choi Seong School increased, it looked like I would be getting home later and later.
But that was fine.
I shall save all of you.
“Choi Seong. You’re insane.”
The coaches watching me from the side clicked their tongues in disbelief.
They were all applauding the way I coached the players.
“When are you going to do your own personal training?”
“I’ll probably have to stay here all the way until evening.”
“You’re truly an example to everyone.”
Pitching coach Michael immediately gave me a standing ovation.
Well, he had already been standing from the beginning.
But it was still technically a standing ovation.
“Is there anything you’re uncomfortable with? Anything you need?”
“Nothing in particular.”
Of course, when it came to the finer details, the pitching coach was better than me.
But when the entire field needed to be plowed over and rebuilt, that was when I was necessary.
Coach Michael could have thought I was stealing his job.
Yet he didn’t seem to feel that way at all.
“Tell me if you need anything.”
I nodded at those words and headed outside.
It was time to run home.
There was one team that had finished near the bottom last year but was now creating a storm.
The Daejeon Hawks.
The Hawks’ coaching staff calmly analyzed their opponents.
“So we still don’t have enough data on Kwon Geon-woo, but we’ve got useful data on Yoon Jae-jun and Choi Seong now, right?”
“That’s correct!”
“Good. Let’s work with that first. We’re done analyzing Norman.”
Daejeon Hawks manager Park Pil-seong nodded.
At this point, every single game mattered.
Their pitching staff wasn’t completely reliable.
That meant they had to seize the momentum toward a championship early in the season while their batting lineup was overwhelming opponents.
The first team to reach ten wins this season would be Daejeon.
Park Pil-seong was certain of it.
