Chapter 6 — Then I’ll Just Show You
Japanese baseball was extremely methodical.
Every strategy was built around databases and statistics.
They decided where to pitch the ball based on data.
The same went for defensive shifts.
A citizen-owned club like Hiroshima didn’t have enough resources to plan detailed defensive shifts, but the other teams all did.
For example, if a batter was right-handed and tended to pull the ball, they would position more fielders toward the left-field line.
If a batter had an extreme tendency to hit to the opposite field, they would deliberately place fielders where his batted balls had landed most frequently over the previous year and the current season.
Things like that.
That was why I had felt it was harder to survive for a long time in Japan compared to MLB.
Especially when facing wealthy, traditional powerhouse clubs like Yomiuri or Hanshin.
Back then, Yomiuri manager Nobu Hidetaka, who had shown a lot of interest in me, once spoke to me in awkward English.
“If possible, we want to control how we score. Scoring ten runs in one inning isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
“Why?”
At the time, I hadn’t been particularly interested in strategy.
Still, since he was the opposing team’s manager, I politely asked.
Most managers were simply happy whenever their team scored runs.
But the manager of this prestigious Japanese club thought differently.
Instead of scoring ten runs in the first inning, he emphasized steadily widening the gap by scoring one or two runs every few innings.
“That way, you can keep planting fear and helplessness into the opposing team. Instead of scoring ten runs in the first inning, one run in the first, two in the third, another in the fourth… A four-run lead built like that can be much more effective.”
He was a man who had led Yomiuri to three Central League regular-season titles and won the Japan Series twice.
Back then, I had simply smiled innocently while thinking,
Wouldn’t a ten-run lead still be better?
But now…
I finally understood what he meant.
Even with only a two-run difference, it worked.
Crack!
Every manager and player watched the trajectory of the ball.
Jeil High’s outfielder sprinted toward the fence, trying to make the catch.
But he couldn’t.
Why?
Because the ball flew even farther.
I calmly lowered my bat and rounded the bases.
Kim Beomjin’s expression twisted even more.
Even if the lead was only two runs, continuously adding pressure would slowly eat away at their confidence.
2–0.
After spending years in the NPB and MLB, I had seen countless fastballs that barely surpassed 150 km/h but had no other special qualities.
And pitches like those…
Were nothing more than food for me.
Coach Park Seonghyeon tried to think calmly.
No.
He wanted to think calmly.
But his heart simply wouldn’t stop pounding.
2–0 against Jeil High.
And both runs had come against Kim Beomjin, a pitcher who hadn’t allowed a single home run in any official game last year.
Choi Seong touched every base before calmly returning to the dugout.
“Seong-ah…”
“Yes, Coach?”
Choi Seong was grinning.
Only then did Park Seonghyeon realize that he was witnessing a true outlier with his own eyes.
What had Choi Seong been like only two months ago?
He had been batting in the .100s.
His pitches had been flat.
But now…
At this rate, he would tear through the KBO.
No matter how Park Seonghyeon thought about it, this level of improvement was almost impossible.
“What’s your dream?”
“My dream?”
Choi Seong had never really thought about having some grand dream.
But there was one thing he could say.
“For now, it’s to make this team champions.”
“Our high school?”
Park Seonghyeon’s heart began pounding violently again.
This school had never finished first.
Not only were the individual results poor, but even the team’s luck had never been on their side.
“Yep. I have my reasons.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but…”
Park Seonghyeon sighed inwardly.
Part of that sigh was directed at himself for turning the team into a perennial last-place club.
But there was little he could do.
No matter how he looked at it, this team had no answer.
It was an endless vicious cycle.
Naturally, they had never qualified for the championship tournament where the top teams from each weekend-league region gathered.
Scouts had no expectations for them either.
Because of that, producing a professional player was nothing more than a distant dream.
With no results and no players going pro, the school gradually reduced its support.
Now they had reached the point where they had to worry about the baseball club being shut down altogether.
In any case…
The game proceeded smoothly afterward.
Even after going through the batting order again, Jeil High couldn’t properly touch Choi Seong’s pitches.
Unfortunately, the same was true for Saeum High’s batters against Kim Beomjin.
The score remained 2–0.
When the sixth inning arrived, Park Seonghyeon noticed Choi Seong doing something unusual.
Is his arm hurting? If he can’t keep pitching…
His pitch count was around fifty.
For safety, Park Seonghyeon had already decided that he would pull him before he reached ninety pitches no matter what.
But Choi Seong kept rotating his arm like a windmill.
If he couldn’t continue, the next pitcher would be Park Seoha.
He was also a second-year student like Choi Seong, but his control still wasn’t stable.
That was why Park Seonghyeon couldn’t help but worry.
The other third-year pitchers had already given up baseball and were preparing for physical education university entrance exams.
145 km/h.
Choi Seong threw another pitch.
Park Seonghyeon had thought his arm might be hurting, but the velocity hadn’t dropped at all.
Still, there was always the possibility that he was pitching through pain.
Park Seonghyeon calmly walked out to the mound.
So far, Choi Seong had allowed only two hits and was pitching a nearly flawless game.
Choi Seong looked at him expressionlessly.
“Does your arm hurt badly?”
“Of course not.”
“What? Then why are you doing that?”
“I’m just trying to increase my chances a little. If the opposing batters think something’s wrong with my arm, they’ll underestimate me.”
“What?”
It wasn’t exactly the kind of idea an ordinary person would come up with.
Park Seonghyeon’s eyes widened.
Choi Seong gave a small smirk.
“I’m not that easy to deal with. They’ll start swinging more aggressively, so I’ll finish this game within eighty pitches.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve thrown around fifty pitches so far.”
“You were keeping track?”
High school pitchers usually got excited easily during games.
Because of that, most didn’t even remember their own pitch counts.
Park Seonghyeon couldn’t help becoming even more interested in Choi Seong.
If the batters believed something was wrong with the pitcher’s arm, they would become much more aggressive at the plate.
There was nothing easier to attack than a wounded predator.
And Choi Seong was going one step further by deliberately pretending to be injured…
“Looks like I came out here for nothing. Sorry…”
Choi Seong shook his head.
Then he covered his mouth with his glove and spoke quietly to Park Seonghyeon.
“It’s not bad. Actually, because you came to the mound, the other team will think something really is wrong.”
Park Seonghyeon’s expression immediately brightened.
But Choi Seong’s next words quickly forced him to restore his poker face.
“But if you keep smiling like that, you’ll ruin the whole strategy.”
“Right, right. I got it. Anyway, if you ever feel like you can’t keep pitching, tell me. I’ll put Seoha in.”
“He can’t protect this lead.”
Choi Seong turned around immediately after saying that.
Park Seonghyeon found the boy’s back strangely dependable.
144 km/h.
Throwing four-seam fastballs in the 140s and sliders in the 130s, Choi Seong continued to pitch perfectly.
Still, even if the 140s felt fast, everyone here was aiming to become a professional player.
Once their eyes adjusted, they should have been able to hit for extra bases fairly easily.
And yet—
Crack.
Even after making contact, the batters shook their heads.
They were being overpowered by the pitches, causing most of their hits to turn into ground balls.
Fortunately, Saeum High had trained intensely on defense over the past several days, so there were almost no errors.
First baseman Park Byeonggyu cleanly fielded another ground ball and completed the out.
“Coach, is it just me, or does his ball look like it’s rising?”
Several first-year students on the bench watched Choi Seong pitch with fascination.
Park Seonghyeon explained kindly.
“That’s because of his RPM—his revolutions per minute. His ball has a very high spin rate.”
“That’s amazing. I should learn from him too.”
Seeing the freshman looking determined, Park Seonghyeon smiled.
Of course, calling Choi Seong’s current average of 2,600 RPM normal would be ridiculous.
Last year, the KBO average had been around 2,200 RPM.
At 2,600…
That was the level of a top starter in Major League Baseball.
“Out!”
Choi Seong easily secured the third out before dropping onto the bench.
Six scoreless innings.
Several players immediately ran over and brought him water.
It was a strange sight.
Yoon Jaejun sat beside Choi Seong and began nagging him.
“Earlier, I seriously thought your shoulder was about to fall off. Even if you’re planning something, at least tell me first. We’re a battery. Our communication is more important than anyone else’s on the team, and…”
Choi Seong waved his hand dismissively.
He spoke while drinking water.
“I showed you already, didn’t I? I told you my shoulder is expensive today.”
Yoon Jaejun immediately shut his mouth.
Aside from Park Byeonggyu, who was waiting in the on-deck circle, the rest of the players slowly gathered around Choi Seong.
Choi Seong ignored them and simply watched the field.
Park Seonghyeon felt like he needed to do something.
Maybe he should lift the mood a little more.
He swallowed and stood in front of Choi Seong.
“You know, those six scoreless innings you’ve pitched are a new team record.”
Everyone looked toward him.
“Including practice games and weekend-league matches against Jeil High, the longest we’ve ever kept them scoreless was one and two-thirds innings. They’ve never gone this long without scoring against us.”
He continued.
“And you’re also the first player on this team to hit home runs in consecutive at-bats. Right now, you’re making history.”
Choi Seong smiled.
“I’ll break all those records again from now on.”
For some reason, Park Seonghyeon completely believed him.
Could they really accomplish something?
Strangely…
It felt like they could.
He clenched his fist.
“All right, guys! We need more runs! You can hit Kim Beomjin’s pitches, right? Let’s do this!”
After spending so long leading a perennial last-place team, Park Seonghyeon’s hunched shoulders finally straightened a little.
As he clapped and encouraged the players, Saeum High began feeling more united than before.
Unfortunately, the runs they desperately wanted didn’t come.
Kim Beomjin completely shut down Saeum High’s lineup in both the seventh and eighth innings.
Naturally, the mood began to sink.
Choi Seong had scored both of their runs.
And Choi Seong was also the one preventing the opponent from scoring.
He glanced around at his teammates for a moment before saying only one thing.
“Don’t look so defeated.”
Everyone turned toward him.
“If we win this game, we can start playing baseball again.”
Then he added,
“And when that happens, I’ll make sure things are different from how they are now.”
At those words, everyone began cheering loudly for Choi Seong.
They were so loud that the Jeil High players glared toward Saeum High’s dugout with irritated expressions.
Normally, Park Seonghyeon would have told them to quiet down.
But this time, he said nothing.
Choi Seong’s pitch count was sixty-nine.
Not only had he achieved the efficient pitching performance he wanted, but Saeum High’s first unofficial victory was now within reach.
More importantly, they finally had at least some justification for keeping the baseball club alive.
Just thinking about it sent a rush of endorphins through Park Seonghyeon’s body.
“We can do this!”
Park Seonghyeon shouted even louder.
Choi Seong seemed to enjoy the cheering from the bench for a moment before throwing his next pitch.
He had already thrown quite a few pitches, so his stamina should have started dropping.
Yet there was no sign of that whatsoever.
Choi Seong toyed with the batters using nothing but pitches consistently sitting in the mid-to-high 140 km/h range.
And when the ninth inning finally ended—
Every player from the bench and the field rushed toward the mound.
“Seong-ah, thank you!”
“Hey, seriously, what the hell are you? What did you do to suddenly become this good?!”
“Thanks to you, the baseball club isn’t getting shut down! Seriously, thank you! I love you!”
The players crowded around Choi Seong, thanking him as they hugged him fiercely.
Park Seonghyeon watched from the dugout with a satisfied smile.
Eventually, the players even grabbed Choi Seong and tossed him into the air.
Park Seonghyeon simply stood there and watched.
It wasn’t a championship.
But he was still that happy.
They had earned a win.
The baseball club wouldn’t be shut down.
And most importantly, the entire team was beginning to unite around Choi Seong.
However—
There were people from Jeil High staring at Choi Seong with deeply twisted expressions.
