Chapter 49, I Saw Myself in Him
The ball flew far.
Everyone followed its path.
Everyone stood from their seats.
Even the commentators shouted excitedly.
[This is a historic moment. Another truly historic moment is unfolding right before my eyes.]
[A beautiful arc gives the Busan Oceans their first run. Choi Seong has set another incredible record. This is a miracle...]
[No, look carefully at that swing path. It makes no sense. That pitch was completely outside, and he still drove it with power to the opposite field.]
[This is the era of Choi Seong. Everyone watching right now is witnessing the era of Choi Seong. Just being able to commentate this game is an honor for me.]
Kim Byeong-hee quietly watched Choi Seong return to the bench after hitting the solo home run.
His heart pounded violently.
During Kim Byeong-hee’s first professional start, Choi Seong had given him the lead in the very first inning.
And he had done it by hitting an absurd pitch far outside the zone.
Without realizing it, Kim Byeong-hee stood and applauded.
Hard.
He suddenly felt like they could win.
He needed to show something too.
Otherwise, it felt like he would never be able to follow Choi Seong.
“Nice!”
Manager Rodriguez personally stepped out of the dugout and high-fived Choi Seong.
The usually heavy-bottomed manager was celebrating passionately.
“Hey! Another new record. You’re the first pitcher in Korean baseball history to hit ten home runs.”
“What the hell? At this rate, isn’t he going to go to the Majors and destroy everyone there too?”
Choi Seong silently smiled at the players’ cheers.
Then he sat beside Kim Byeong-hee.
The other hitters still seemed to be adjusting to the opposing pitcher and could not make proper contact.
Kim Byeong-hee felt like he had to say something.
Otherwise, something important might slip away.
But no words came out.
The junior who had quietly taught him over the past several days...
The player named Choi Seong, who was now leaving an undeniably great mark on baseball history...
Had personally given him a lead during his first start.
“Now just pitch however you want. I’ve taken some of the pressure off you.”
“Ah... understood, sir.”
“You can do this. Never give up. Just keep throwing, senior.”
Kim Byeong-hee suddenly felt emotional.
Choi Seong, who normally kept everyone at a distance, had actually approached him first and encouraged him.
“I’ll do my best, sir!”
“Good. Let’s get you your first win today.”
Across my previous life and this life combined, this was the first time I had ever reached ten home runs in one season.
It felt strange.
In my previous life, I knew I had talent as a hitter, but I had never been able to use it properly.
Chronic injuries had covered my entire body.
This time, I was moving toward completely new records.
My teammates congratulated me.
I would receive another ten million won.
What should I buy my parents this time?
It naturally became something I thought about.
“You can do it.”
That was the single piece of confidence I planted inside Kim Byeong-hee.
Baseball was always unpredictable.
Some players discovered one trigger that unlocked their full potential.
Others experienced one event that completely destroyed their mentality and ended their prime.
I believed Kim Byeong-hee belonged to the first group.
I wanted the person who trusted me to discover some kind of possibility.
No matter how much I thought about it, he reminded me too much of my past self.
Even if Kim Byeong-hee was not overflowing with talent, his desire to improve and win was stronger than almost anyone else’s.
“Why do you care about him that much?”
Wright asked me curiously.
Until now, even though I had interacted with various players under the ridiculous name of Choi Seong School, I never really spoke to them during games or outside training.
The reason was simple.
I did not want to influence their lives too much.
Even on the same team, professional players were basically independent contractors.
Each player had to think for himself about how to grow.
Otherwise, it would mean I possessed some magical ability to mass-produce pitchers.
“He reminds me of my old self.”
“Didn’t you basically never fail?”
I laughed lightly.
I had failed countless times during my previous life.
Only after climbing back up from those failures had I become a perfect pitcher.
“Failure isn’t exactly the right word. It’s more like... his raw instinct feels similar to mine.”
Wright tilted his head.
Either way, there was something about him I could not explain.
I did not want that fighting spirit to be broken.
1-0.
The opposing fifth starter was pitching decently.
Our fifth starter, Kim Byeong-hee, was also pitching decently.
Because both were doing well, the game remained tight through the third inning.
Still, both pitchers looked equally unstable.
“A double?”
The moment the fourth inning began, Kim Byeong-hee gave up an extra-base hit to the leadoff batter.
I calmly watched.
From this point on, we would learn whether he truly had something inside him.
Strike.
He put the first pitch inside the zone.
That alone proved he had not become scared just because there was a runner on base.
For the second pitch, he threw a pickoff attempt to first.
Then he threw a breaking ball outside.
The batter chased.
Swing and miss.
Two strikes.
With an expressionless face, Kim Byeong-hee immediately received the return throw from Yoon Jae-jun.
Then he fired his fastball straight down the middle.
The shocked batter glanced at Kim Byeong-hee before walking back toward the bench.
It was Kim Byeong-hee’s first strikeout of the day.
At the most important moment, instead of trying to lure the hitter with another breaking ball, he struck him out with a fastball right down the middle.
Yoon Jae-jun’s pitch calling really was excellent.
He had perfectly attacked the hitter’s expectations.
The next batter hit a ground ball that advanced the runner.
Two outs, runner on third.
For the first time, a runner was standing on third in scoring position.
Everyone watched nervously.
