Chapter 5
5. A New Pitch
The live pitching session ended.
But the atmosphere at Cheongryong High School’s baseball field was completely different from before.
Confusion.
Seo Ji-tae had already seemed strange from his very first day.
Whether in a good way or a bad way.
A monster.
And that live pitching session had made everyone even more certain that Seo Ji-tae really was a monster.
The third-year seniors could no longer openly glare at him.
The freshmen lowered their voices whenever they talked about him.
Head Coach Choi Dong-il was the same.
Gather the third-years. This is ridiculous.”
He still looked displeased.
But the way he looked at Seo Ji-tae had clearly changed.
He was no longer looking at someone he wanted to throw out.
He’s definitely useful.”
Lee Jin-woo quietly watched those gazes.
He looked down at the mitt on his hand.
The inside still felt hot.
He had only caught Seo Ji-tae’s pitches a few times.
Yet the center of his palm was already bright red.
It hurt.
Strangely, he did not hate the feeling.
Hey, Lee Jin-woo.”
One of the other freshmen nudged him with an elbow.
You caught his pitches, right? What were they like?”
Lee Jin-woo could not answer immediately.
Fast.
That single word was not enough.
Whenever he thought the ball was high, it stayed even higher.
Whenever he thought it was a fastball, it disappeared in front of him.
Even after the ball entered the mitt, his hand was pushed backward.
They’re hard to catch. Every time he throws, it makes me nervous.”
Why?”
The pitches are just strange.”
His classmate laughed in disbelief.
What kind of explanation is that?”
Lee Jin-woo knew his answer sounded strange.
But he could not describe it any better.
That was what Seo Ji-tae’s pitches were like.
His hands reacted before his mind could understand.
Only after his hands reacted did his brain catch up.
At that moment, Seo Ji-tae walked over.
For someone who had just erased Cheongryong High School’s starting lineup through live pitching, his expression was far too calm.
Lee Jin-woo looked at him in amazement.
They were both freshmen.
They had been called to the team on the same day.
Yet Seo Ji-tae had already taken everyone’s attention for himself.
Lee Jin-woo was jealous.
Someone ordinary like him was simply on a different level.
Seo Ji-tae spoke.
Jealous?”
Lee Jin-woo looked away.
No.”
Lee Jin-woo hesitated.
Then he lifted his head.
I don’t know.”
Really? So you’re just going to stay like this?”
Seo Ji-tae was not the type to comfort someone after hearing something like that.
Just as expected.
Seo Ji-tae looked at Lee Jin-woo and the other freshmen.
He stared at them for a moment before speaking.
Then you need to work harder than everyone else.”
I do work hard, but… talent is different.”
Of course it is. That’s exactly why you can’t just do the same things everyone else does.”
He spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Everyone else works hard too. So you need to train more efficiently and make your effort better. I recommend night training. Come with me.”
How did it suddenly become that?”
Then are you going to stay ordinary and spend your life on the bench?”
Seo Ji-tae’s provoking gaze met him.
The timid catcher clenched his teeth.
Seo Ji-tae did not even wait for an answer.
After dinner. Bullpen.”
Today?”
Lee Jin-woo looked startled.
You said starting tomorrow.”
So?”
If we’re going to train properly tomorrow, we need to check things today.”
Lee Jin-woo swallowed a sigh.
He really did whatever he wanted.
From beginning to end.
Yet strangely, Lee Jin-woo did not feel like backing out.
His palm hurt.
Even so, he wanted to catch that pitch again.
That night.
The lights came on in one corner of the bullpen.
Lee Jin-woo came out carrying his catcher’s equipment.
Even at a glance, he looked exhausted.
I’m tired.”
Of course you are. I’m tired too. But this is our chance to get ahead of everyone else.”
Seo Ji-tae grinned.
Lee Jin-woo sat behind the plate and raised his mitt.
But Seo Ji-tae shook his head.
Stretch first. You always need to warm up your body properly.”
He was surprisingly strict about details.
O-Okay.”
Lee Jin-woo hurriedly stretched.
Then he took his position again.
Seo Ji-tae’s night training began.
Are we practicing fastballs?”
No.”
Then the splitter?”
I can practice that during normal training. What we’re doing now is a new pitch.”
A new pitch?”
Seo Ji-tae rolled the baseball around in his hand.
Do you know Randy Johnson?”
The name came out of nowhere.
Still, Lee Jin-woo nodded.
Of course. Is there a baseball player who doesn’t know Randy Johnson?”
Exactly. A monster who stayed in the Major Leagues until around forty, and a monster who dominated with basically two pitches.”
Two pitches?”
Fastball and slider.”
Seo Ji-tae slowly moved the fingers holding the ball.
He dominated Major League Baseball with those two. A starting pitcher using only two main pitches sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But Randy Johnson made it work.”
Lee Jin-woo lowered his mitt slightly.
Then don’t you only need two pitches too?”
Seo Ji-tae had shown two pitches until now.
Fastball and splitter.
With just those two pitches, Cheongryong High School’s starting hitters had been unable to properly respond.
During live pitching, he had not allowed a single hit.
Many people might not understand how impressive that was.
But Seo Ji-tae was not satisfied.
It isn’t enough.”
Then why do you need more?”
Because modern baseball keeps developing.”
The future velocity revolution.
The improvement of hitters’ batting techniques.
As a result, pitchers who relied on only two pitches would become difficult to find among starters.
If your arsenal was too simple, hitters would eventually hit you.
If you were even slightly late in adapting, they would send your pitches over the fence.
Seo Ji-tae needed to change with the times.
Besides, I’m dying to try all kinds of pitches with this healthy left shoulder.”
Seo Ji-tae spoke without looking at Lee Jin-woo.
His expression looked strangely sentimental, almost like someone meeting a long-lost lover.
Lee Jin-woo had no idea what it meant.
Seo Ji-tae took his stance again.
He formed a new grip using his index and middle fingers.
Here it comes.”
Lee Jin-woo’s eyes widened.
Seo Ji-tae’s left foot pressed against the mound.
His right leg rose.
A high-kick position.
Lee Jin-woo instinctively raised his mitt.
The same height as a fastball.
But this was not a fastball.
Ugh!”
The ball leaving Seo Ji-tae’s left hand broke sharply.
Lee Jin-woo hurriedly dropped his mitt.
The ball passed underneath it.
Ball.”
Lee Jin-woo spoke.
A curveball… And it’s fast.”
Power curve.”
Seo Ji-tae’s third secret weapon was a power curve.
Seo Ji-tae received the ball again without changing his expression.
Again.”
The second pitch came in higher.
Lee Jin-woo raised his mitt.
The ball lost its power midway and dropped weakly.
He caught it.
But it was not threatening.
Lee Jin-woo spoke without thinking.
This one’s just slow.”
Seo Ji-tae stopped.
Really?”
It looks too different from your fastball. Even from the moment it leaves your hand.”
Seo Ji-tae’s eyes moved toward the mitt.
You could tell?”
Yeah.”
Good. This is exactly why I need someone watching carefully.”
Third pitch.
This one came faster.
The ball broke in front of the plate.
But it was too early.
It dropped low before reaching the strike zone.
Seo Ji-tae picked up his camera.
Damn it. I should’ve recorded that to check my form. I’ll throw it again.”
It broke too early.”
Lee Jin-woo said.
Seo Ji-tae looked at him in surprise.
You could tell from that one pitch?”
I wouldn’t say I saw it exactly… I felt it when I caught it.”
How?”
The ball was already dead before it reached the mitt. A batter would probably recognize it and hold back.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Seo Ji-tae’s eyes sharpened.
Lee Jin-woo awkwardly adjusted his mitt.
He wondered if he had said something unnecessary.
But Seo Ji-tae gripped the ball again.
Say that again.”
What?”
Where did the pitch die?”
Lee Jin-woo let out a short breath.
Before it even reached the front of home plate. It broke earlier than the last one, so it also looked like a ball sooner.”
The corner of Seo Ji-tae’s mouth rose slightly.
That’s a catcher’s talent. Just as expected, Lee Jin-woo. This time will be different.”
This time?”
Nothing. I just mean it’ll be different from sitting on the bench all year as a freshman.”
Seo Ji-tae casually covered up his mistake.
Even so, Lee Jin-woo understood something.
He had just done something meaningful.
He had not simply caught the pitch.
He had helped Seo Ji-tae.
This eccentric monster needed him.
That alone made him feel good.
A good pitcher needs a good catcher. Remember that. I’ll tell you things from time to time.”
Seo Ji-tae took his stance.
Lee Jin-woo raised his mitt.
His palm still hurt.
But he did not want to avoid the pitch.
Seo Ji-tae was creating his third weapon.
And Lee Jin-woo would be the first person to catch it.
After that day, the bullpen lights often stayed on late.
At first, Lee Jin-woo felt like he was dying.
Regular training during the day.
Errands for the seniors.
Seo Ji-tae’s pitches at night.
The palm beneath his mitt changed day by day.
At first, it became swollen and red.
Then blisters formed.
The blisters burst.
Eventually, hard calluses grew in their place.
Whenever Lee Jin-woo looked at his palm, he wanted to curse.
Why am I doing this?”
He muttered those words.
Yet he still packed his equipment.
Seo Ji-tae was always there before him.
Seo Ji-tae also handled errands for the seniors.
There was only one difference between him and Lee Jin-woo.
[Don’t call me while I’m training.]
He drew a firm line and refused anything beyond that.
He still handled reasonable duties like organizing equipment because he was the youngest.
He simply rejected anything unnecessary.
That was why people might call him rude, but it was difficult to directly punish him.
He stayed within the line.
I’m jealous.
Lee Jin-woo envied that side of Seo Ji-tae.
And he needed to become good enough to catch Seo Ji-tae’s pitches.
The first few days were terrible.
The curve broke too early.
It would look like an obvious ball to a hitter.
Next, it became too flat.
It was slow, but if a batter made contact, the ball would probably fly a long way.
Seo Ji-tae repeatedly rolled the ball inside his hand with a dissatisfied expression.
He tested himself on camera and changed his form again and again.
He adjusted the strength of his grip.
He adjusted how tightly he held the ball.
He never threw for too long.
You really shouldn’t overuse your shoulder just because you’re training. Keeping it under forty pitches and focusing on correcting your form is better.”
Really?”
I’m telling you. People in this era still think training means sweating like crazy and abusing your body, so they don’t understand yet.”
At first, Lee Jin-woo did not fully understand what Seo Ji-tae meant.
But as he kept catching for him, he slowly began to understand.
The seniors’ pitches are staying the same, but Ji-tae’s pitches keep changing!
The destructive power and force of his pitches increased day after day.
Lee Jin-woo threw his body around desperately to keep up.
Seo Ji-tae’s fastball felt completely packed with power.
The splitter looked like a fastball before disappearing in front of the plate.
The splitter really is good for fooling hitters because it looks like a fastball.
But it still was not enough.
Now that you have three pitches, it feels like a hitter has more than twice as many things to think about.”
Right? ‘Throw different pitches wherever you want, whenever you need them.’ That’s one of the basic qualities of a pitcher.”
When properly thrown, the new pitch destroyed the hitter’s timing.
If the hitter waited for the fastball, his body would move too early.
If he waited for the splitter, his eyes would hesitate.
That was the feeling.
The problem was that Seo Ji-tae could not create that effect every time.
That one was good.”
Lee Jin-woo said.
What was?”
It broke later than the last one. It dropped sharply right in front of the mitt.”
Seo Ji-tae immediately threw another pitch.
At Lee Jin-woo’s advice, Seo Ji-tae nodded.
The ball followed a similar trajectory.
But this time, it drifted toward the middle.
Lee Jin-woo looked down at his mitt.
If someone hits this one, it’s going all the way to the fence.”
You’re getting pretty comfortable talking now.”
Thanks.”
Through this training, Lee Jin-woo could clearly feel himself changing.
It’s hard, but I can actually feel myself improving.”
So what? I’m benefiting from you too. Just make sure you catch properly. And don’t forget that rest is important too. Resting properly helps your body.”
I know.”
The two smiled.
Compared to their first day, their relationship had grown much closer during the live pitching sessions.
They were starting to become real friends.
Still, his talent is incredible. He can change the movement of a pitch that quickly?
Whenever Lee Jin-woo pointed something out, Seo Ji-tae changed his wrist angle on the very next pitch.
If the ball stayed too high, he moved his release point slightly forward.
If it broke too early, he changed how long the ball remained on his fingertips.
The adjustments happened immediately before Lee Jin-woo’s eyes.
Without a coach helping him.
He’s doing all of this himself!
That frightened Lee Jin-woo even more.
Normally, even if someone explained a problem, a player could not fix it immediately.
Seo Ji-tae changed it the moment he understood it.
Not every attempt succeeded.
But even after failure, the next pitch would be different.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
Seo Ji-tae’s curveball became sharper and sharper.
Lee Jin-woo changed too.
Good! That one was a strike too!”
You’re starting to look more comfortable now.”
Seo Ji-tae smiled.
Lee Jin-woo was also improving because of the stimulation Seo Ji-tae gave him.
Two months passed after the January team gathering.
School had started.
The Weekend League, which would open on March 17, was also approaching.
Seo Ji-tae stood in front of the mirror and rolled up the sleeves of his training uniform.
The Seo Ji-tae before the regression and the Seo Ji-tae of today were already walking completely different paths.
The old Seo Ji-tae had pitched exactly as others told him.
The current Seo Ji-tae chose what pitches he wanted to throw.
Everything is different from back then. My body and my pitching mechanics.”
His left arm had become stronger.
The force rising from his lower body traveled more smoothly.
His fastball stayed higher as it left his fingertips.
His high-speed splitter disappeared later.
His power curve was quickly approaching completion.
With three pitches, he had already met the minimum requirements of a starting pitcher.
And then there was his right hand.
Seo Ji-tae looked at his right hand and smiled.
Before his regression, that had eventually become his main pitching hand.
His right hand had replaced his ruined left shoulder.
The condensed experience of decades. When should I hold my showcase?
If his left hand represented wild talent, his right hand represented experience.
It was an extremely rare technique and talent that belonged only to Seo Ji-tae.
He would freely use both arms and toy with hitters.
After two months of strengthening his body, Seo Ji-tae was now preparing for his first appearance in the Weekend League.
And on that day, Choi Dong-il announced the starting lineup.
[Seo Ji-tae! You’re Cheongryong High School’s starting pitcher!]
Seo Ji-tae had beaten out the third-year pitchers and earned the starting role.
