Chapter 81, Downward Trend
The grass at Sajik Stadium once again gave off its familiar smell of rosin.
I pulled my cap low and sat inside the dugout.
Small Korean flags filled the stands.
Under them were the names, numbers, and national team uniforms of me, Yoon Jae-jun, Kwon Geon-woo, and Go Gyeong-tae.
The supporters had prepared them to honor us.
Our first opponent was the tenth-place Seoul Magicians.
Looking only at the standings, they were not a bad team to use for warming back up.
But baseball always had variables.
147 km/h.
From Norman’s very first pitch, something felt strange.
His fastball was too straight.
In the first inning, a breaking ball drifted over the middle and became a two-run homer.
In the second, his changeup stayed high and he gave up back-to-back doubles.
A defensive error and a bad pickoff throw made things worse.
In the third, a walk, hit, and double quickly produced three more runs.
Norman left after allowing six runs in three innings.
“Sorry.”
It was only one word, but it contained a lot.
Norman had already been carrying an ERA in the high 3.00s.
After this game, it rose into the 4.00s.
“It’s okay.”
I patted his shoulder and told him not to worry.
Manager Rodriguez stared coldly toward the field.
The Busan Oceans still had one foreign-player replacement available.
If Norman showed this kind of performance a few more times, he would be released.
He had already shown signs of instability during the first half.
The professional world was cold.
Crack!
Our hitters fought desperately.
In the fourth, Kwon Geon-woo reached on an infield hit, stole second, and scored on Yoon Jae-jun’s RBI single up the middle.
In the sixth, I added a run with a sacrifice fly.
In the eighth, Yugam suddenly hit one of his random solo home runs.
The Busan Oceans scored three runs in total.
But the Seoul Magicians bullpen was not easy either.
9-4.
That was where the scoreboard stopped.
The locker room atmosphere was still good after losing Game 1.
“It’s only the first game. Who cares?”
“That’s right! We’ll win the next one, sir! Wright will pitch well!”
Wright would start Game 2.
Kim Byeong-hee would start Game 3.
The next day, against the same opponent, Wright quietly did his job.
Six innings, two runs.
A clean quality start.
But this time, the lineup was the problem.
Every well-hit ball seemed to fly directly into a glove.
3-1 loss.
The last-place Seoul Magicians had already secured the series win.
Still, we could not give up on the final game.
Kim Byeong-hee took the mound carrying enormous responsibility.
Six innings, three runs.
Another quality start.
But once again, there was no run support.
After the game, the locker room became quiet.
[Busan Oceans Shockingly Swept by Last-Place Seoul Magicians]
[Busan Oceans in Trouble, Olympic Hangover?]
[Kwon Geon-woo, Yoon Jae-jun, Go Gyeong-tae, Olympic Trio All Struggling]
[Seoul Triples Jump from Fourth Back to Second, Only Two Games Behind Busan]
Still, the fans remained on our side.
It seemed no one had forgotten the excitement of the Olympic gold medal yet.
, Honestly, they still have immunity from criticism.
, Choi Seong looked like he suffered the most at the Olympics, so why are the others the ones collapsing?
, We’re still first, lol. The problem is the usual summer collapse is starting, lol.
, Didn’t we once stay in second for ages a few years ago, then finish the season seventh?
, If the Oceans miss the postseason again this year, I’m done watching baseball.
, Looks like the Oceans’ summer curse is starting again, lol.
The locker room atmosphere was a little shocking.
“Swept by tenth place...”
Someone muttered.
No one argued.
Our first series sweep loss of the season.
And against the last-place team.
From my perspective, the reason was obvious.
After the Olympics, Yoon Jae-jun, Kwon Geon-woo, and Go Gyeong-tae were clearly suffering from stamina problems.
In the first game, maybe the lingering excitement from winning the Olympics had carried them.
Their bats still looked sharp.
After that, the problems appeared.
Their bats suddenly lost strength.
Their timing slowed.
Their lower bodies stopped following properly.
They were sleeping, but the deep fatigue inside their bodies had not disappeared.
I sat at the end of the bench with my arms crossed.
When the body weakens, the mind breaks too.
That sentence stayed inside my head.
How could we refill their energy?
Weights?
Running?
More sleep?
All of them were correct.
And all of them were wrong.
The answer was simple.
They needed proper food.
That evening, I texted the three of them.
, Everyone come out. Let’s eat something.
Red charcoal glowed beneath the table.
The restaurant owner brushed sauce across the eel.
A sizzling sound filled the air.
Kwon Geon-woo raised his chopsticks, then stopped.
“You’re paying with your card, right?”
“Yeah. Eat as much as you want.”
“Aren’t you the Oceans players? We can give you everything for free!”
The eel restaurant owner looked delighted.
I shook my head.
People in Busan wanted to give you everything for free when you played baseball well.
I was incredibly grateful for that kind of fan support.
Still, I could not accept it every time.
Go Gyeong-tae awkwardly placed two lettuce leaves together.
“Thanks for the eel...”
Yoon Jae-jun silently drank water.
He had spoken much less after suddenly falling into a slump.
But as he ate, some color slowly returned to his face.
Kwon Geon-woo spoke first.
“At the Olympics... I still see that final swing when I close my eyes. Honestly, I was jealous.”
“If you’re jealous, follow me. You can do it too.”
I placed a piece of eel with garlic on top of his rice.
“Eat today. Starting tomorrow, we win.”
Go Gyeong-tae nodded.
“You... When I look at you, I always feel strange. Somehow, I feel secure. I used to think I’d spend my whole life on the bench. But when I play with you, I feel like maybe I can do it too.”
“Senior, that’s your own ability. Just keep doing what you’re already doing. It’s enough.”
Yoon Jae-jun smiled, which was rare.
“Sometimes you scare me. But strangely, I like it. When I stand next to you, I feel shameless too. When you challenge hitters directly on the mound, I always think it’s fifty-fifty. But somehow, you always win.”
I raised my water glass instead of alcohol.
“Thanks. But don’t put me on a pedestal. We need to move together. You know what I mean, right? That’s how we last.”
Kwon Geon-woo playfully bumped my shoulder.
“Still, I think it’s okay to put you on a pedestal a little.”
“Only do that when it’s time to pay. Or are you acting like this because the bill is coming?”
The moment I picked up the receipt, all three laughed.
Each of them had eaten around five servings.
On the way home, the sea breeze cooled the heat on my face.
It felt like we could breathe again.
The next morning, Manager Rodriguez calmly spoke during the meeting.
“Every Olympic player is out of the lineup for the first game of the upcoming Incheon Dolphins road series.”
The locker room stirred.
Manager Rodriguez clapped his hands to change the atmosphere.
“This isn’t consideration. It’s strategy. If you force yourselves to play now, we could lose the entire season. You might get injured. We’ll leave this game to the bench players.”
I nodded too.
“I’ll rest from batting as well. I’ll prepare to start the next game.”
The manager smiled.
“Good. Choi Seong is an important asset not only to Busan, but to Korea.”
After being removed from the lineup, we spent some time simply doing nothing in Incheon.
We were not sure what to do when we were not playing.
“Seong, what are you going to do?”
“Rest.”
That was my simple answer.
Instead of going to the training facility, we calmly rested at the hotel.
Then we did ten minutes of meditation before the evening game.
Sometimes you had to stop in order to go farther.
Restoring our body rhythm came first.
The game we missed ended in a crushing loss.
Our lineup froze against the Incheon Dolphins’ left-handed one-two punch.
“It really isn’t easy.”
The Busan Oceans had a huge gap between starters and bench players.
This game showed it clearly.
The second baseman replacing Go Gyeong-tae committed two errors.
The bench practically had to call the catcher’s game for him.
He also failed repeatedly at blocking pitches.
There was nothing we could do.
This team had been built around players who had only recently broken out.
Defense was not the only problem.
Tied for 1st: Busan Oceans, Seoul Triples.
Our offense did not work either.
In short, everything was falling apart.
After an unusual four-game losing streak, Manager Rodriguez finally raised his voice.
“Our original goal was simply to reach the postseason. There is no need to feel too much pressure.”
Because we were now tied with the Seoul Triples for first, fan anger quickly grew.
People were already demanding certain players be removed and even calling for the manager to be fired.
At least no one was threatening to burn the team bus like the old days.
In baseball, the atmosphere could change in an instant.
And that change often began with the fans.
“We definitely need to change the mood.”
After the losing streak, I spoke inside the locker room for the first time.
The atmosphere was not especially depressed.
That was the problem.
“Let’s win this one.”
The moment I spoke, everyone looked toward me.
The reason was simple.
My speeches in the national team locker room had already become famous.
Ironically, the starting pitcher I was about to face was Yoo Jong-hyeon, the man who had cried during one of them.
“No matter how well the Incheon Dolphins are playing right now, they can’t beat us. They’ll finish around the middle of the standings this season anyway. So let’s use this chance to push them back down.”
That was longer than necessary.
Still, the players applauded.
I was not trying to move them emotionally.
I just wanted everyone to show more fighting spirit.
The reason we had reached first place was because losing made us angry.
If we wanted to stay first, we needed to make that frustration even stronger.
“Let’s win. If we fail to win the championship this year, we’re all dead. You think angry Oceans fans will leave us alone?”
No matter how much baseball fan culture had changed, Oceans fans were still Oceans fans.
And for me personally...
To survive.
To avoid dying.
I needed to win the championship.
“Good!”
“Let’s do it, sir!”
“Okay!”
The players united again.
Only then did I feel slightly satisfied.
It finally felt like we might win the second championship in Oceans history, the first since 1992.
I threw the ball again.
Caught it.
Threw it again.
After not doing this for a while, my body actually felt full of power.
While I was warming up on the mound, Yoo Jong-hyeon came out too.
He spoke as if we were close.
“Have you... been well?”
He was still strangely timid.
Without saying anything, I offered him my hand.
Yoo Jong-hyeon shook it.
“I’m confident... I can win.”
“Same here, senior.”
Yoo Jong-hyeon quickly let go of my hand, looking embarrassed.
The reporters were taking countless pictures of us.
They would probably use them in articles comparing the ace of the previous generation to the current ace.
“Anyway, I’m not scared. This time... I won’t collapse like I did with the national team. We’re in Korea.”
“And just like always, I won’t allow a single run.”
A fierce spark passed between the eyes of the two Korean aces.
Only faintly.
The game would begin soon.
But the place I was heading first was the press room inside the stadium.
I had an interview scheduled.
