Chapter 61, Unrivaled Number One
[Choi Seong, Unrivaled Number One in All-Star Voting]
I smiled at the headline.
What could I do?
This was simply who I was.
The moment voting began, I immediately received forty thousand votes.
It was not even like people were voting for a fan meeting.
Everyone competitively voted for me anyway.
And they did it in only one hour.
[Fastest Player Ever to Reach Number One in All-Star Votes]
Another new record had been added.
Would the club give me another ten million won for this record?
I had no idea.
Either way, I had already received around one hundred million won from various bonuses.
Money was not especially important to me right now.
Individual training.
Winning the championship with the team.
Those two things mattered most.
What would happen after I completed the main mission of winning the Oceans a championship?
Would another mission be waiting?
Or would I finally become completely free?
Whatever happened, my decision to return to Major League Baseball would not change.
Crack!
I continued batting practice.
The balls kept flying far.
I currently ranked second in home runs.
Yoon Jae-jun was first after using his ridiculous power to hit twenty-two.
I had seventeen.
Both of us were basically hitting a home run every two games.
Yoon Jae-jun had a batting average in the low .300s.
Mine was in the mid .300s.
Fortunately, I had managed to maintain my batting average.
I think I currently ranked around fourth in batting.
Of course, some hitters would naturally start falling back soon.
There were players hitting above .400 who were barely meeting the minimum number of plate appearances.
Their numbers would probably drop.
It was not bad.
It felt pretty good...
But honestly, I did not feel as overwhelmingly dominant as I did when pitching.
“Why do you look so miserable?”
Kim Hak-seong asked while watching me hit.
He really was a proper captain.
He had noticed the tiny change in my expression.
“My hitting doesn’t feel like it has completely taken off yet.”
Kim Hak-seong stared at me as if he were disgusted.
“Are you joking? Do you even know what your numbers are right now?”
“I know.”
“Except for stolen bases, you’re top ten in everything. I think you’re even number one in OPS.”
I knew that.
But I could not be satisfied with it.
OPS was on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, but it simply did not have the same direct appeal as batting average or home runs.
And I was awkwardly near the top in several categories without actually being number one.
“If I’m going to be a hitter too, I should at least try to win seven batting titles.”
Kim Hak-seong looked at me like he had heard something insane.
“Seong. Only one player in Korean baseball history has ever won seven batting titles.”
“That’s exactly why I should do it. And that happened in Busan in 2010 too.”
Kim Hak-seong shook his head repeatedly.
“Then what exactly are you bad at?”
I seriously thought about it before answering.
“Hmm... stolen bases?”
I had deliberately avoided stealing too much because I did not want unnecessary injuries.
Kim Hak-seong let out a long sigh.
“...You lucky bastard. You know you’re facing Kim Beom-jin this game, right?”
“Kim Beom-jin?”
I had almost forgotten for a moment.
The guy who had suddenly started rising during his rookie season.
“People are talking about him like crazy lately. You faced him in high school, didn’t you?”
I remembered him.
He had thrown pretty good pitches.
He had also been an excellent player during my previous life.
“Well, we have to beat him. What else can we do?”
Kim Hak-seong burst out laughing when I did not say anything else.
“Yeah. That’s the Choi Seong I know.”
“Why?”
Kim Hak-seong immediately ran away.
Seeing Kim Beom-jin grow like this was actually nice.
It felt like this would become an interesting game.
Throw the ball.
Get an out.
Kim Beom-jin had always thought baseball was that simple.
But the wall of professional baseball was much higher than expected.
He calmly went through his windup and threw his fastball.
155 km/h.
When the mid-150s fastball landed exactly where he wanted, the people watching at the training area applauded.
Several minor injuries.
At first, the coaching staff had wanted to use Kim Beom-jin as a bullpen pitcher.
But he proved his value himself.
To become a perfect starting pitcher, he trained and polished his body constantly.
At the same time, he protected his body as carefully as possible to avoid injury.
“Bravo.”
The pitching coach applauded.
Kim Beom-jin did not dislike that treatment.
The manager always looked dissatisfied with him.
Everyone else was different.
“Don’t get nervous just because we’re playing at Sajik Stadium. Let’s do well.”
“Yes!”
Kim Beom-jin answered loudly.
Then he entered the dugout.
Sajik Stadium was already filled with cheers that almost sounded like screams.
No matter the opponent, Sajik Stadium was setting new records with one sellout after another.
The Daejeon Hawks were also fighting hard and holding third place, but the atmosphere here was on another level.
“This is insane.”
Fans were already waving postseason flags everywhere.
It was rare to see something like that this early...
“They usually call that getting carried away too early.”
The Daejeon Hawks players mocked them quietly.
Kim Beom-jin thought to himself.
We never even had a chance to get carried away...
If you looked at their history, the Daejeon Hawks really had been a permanent bottom-ranked team.
Their fans were nicknamed saints because of how much suffering they had endured.
Seeing another team that had spent years near the bottom suddenly acting like this was amazing in its own way.
“Anyway, forget Choi Seong. Let’s beat them. Those guys always collapse once summer starts. It isn’t their first time getting excited too early.”
The players patted Kim Beom-jin’s shoulder and encouraged him.
Kim Beom-jin calmly nodded.
“I’ll win.”
But that thought quickly disappeared.
Manager Park Pil-seong, who was looking toward Choi Seong, suddenly burst into laughter.
Kim Beom-jin had never seen it before.
This was the first time he had ever seen Park Pil-seong smile.
“That bastard really is something. Damn, I hate it.”
The head coach asked after hearing him.
“What exactly do you hate?”
“If we had that guy, we’d win the championship. I can tell just by looking. He has it. You can see it immediately.”
Park Pil-seong violently pointed toward Choi Seong with his finger.
Then he looked at Kim Beom-jin and immediately became expressionless again.
“Such a shame. Really a shame. We should’ve just finished last last year.”
