Single Log Bridge (6)
'A bad feeling.'
Ryu Hyun-jong, the manager of the Wolves, sighed as he buttoned his jacket.
A secretary, having received his signal, knocked cautiously.
"Sir, Manager Ryu Hyun-jong has arrived."
"Tell him to come in."
A young voice came from beyond the door.
Following the secretary's guidance inside, an enormous room revealed itself.
—Swing and a miss, strike three! Player Han Min-woo sends Min Hyun-jun back with a 150-kilometer fastball!
—Wow, I had no idea Han Min-woo could throw a pitch like that... Truly amazing.
A young man was lying on a luxurious sofa, watching a curved TV over 100 inches with ultra-high definition. In his right hand, he held a tablet.
Ryu Hyun-jong bowed respectfully to the much younger man.
"You called for me, Sir."
"Why so stiff? I called you here to praise you. Come sit here."
The young man was someone accustomed to commanding people with just a gesture of his chin.
With his permission, Ryu Hyun-jong sat on the opposite sofa. He felt as if invisible hands were controlling his entire body.
"Take a look at this."
The young man held out the tablet he had been holding.
└Leverageㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋCrazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Did you see the commentators speechlessㅋㅋ
└Where's the south? Everyone head to Jamsil Baseball Stadium immediately. Sincerely thanking Manager Ryu Hyun-jong. Thank you so much for giving us Yoo Sung-jong and bringing in Han Min-woo and Yoon Jae-hyun.
└To think the day would come when players we brought in through trade slap the opposing team in the back of the headㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
'Damn it...'
Manager Ryu Hyun-jong set the tablet down with trembling hands.
This was not good.
The Wolves were on the rise. The players he had brought in were performing at the very top of the league.
Nevertheless, Ryu Hyun-jong couldn't hide his trembling heart.
'He couldn't have figured it out, could he?'
The Wolves' manager position was equivalent to exile for the group's executives.
Pushed out of corporate politics and made manager of the Wolves, Ryu Hyun-jong had been waiting for retirement while making some pocket money.
Not a single executive from the parent company cared about the last-place team. No—rather, they were agonizing over how to dispose of this baseball team.
It was hemorrhaging money every year, and the poor records were having a negative impact on the group's image.
If the chairman hadn't been a baseball fanatic, the team would have been disbanded long ago.
'It's been quite profitable until now.'
Thanks to that, Ryu Hyun-jong had been lining his own pockets using this baseball team that no one cared about.
He couldn't help but be on guard against the ruling family's sudden interest in the baseball team.
But Ryu Hyun-jong decided to think positively.
'There's no way he could find out.'
The profits he had taken wouldn't leave a paper trail anyway. Running a baseball team was never a business that produced anything tangible in the first place.
Even if he bought players a bit expensively or sold them off cheaply, there would only be suspicions—no hard evidence.
If he just faced them confidently, it would all be swept under the rug.
The young man who had been lying on the sofa sat up and rested his interlocked fingers on the table. The distance between them rapidly closed.
The young man whispered.
"Keep nurturing them well. I need to return to headquarters eventually."
"...!"
Ryu Hyun-jong swallowed involuntarily.
He instantly understood what the young man was saying.
Return.
A lifeline thrown to him, who had been pushed out and exiled from the parent company's corporate politics.
Having quickly calculated the gains and losses, Ryu Hyun-jong bowed his head deeply.
"I will do my utmost."
The risk was low and the return was high. It was a team that had been in last place anyway. If he failed, he could just continue as before; if he succeeded, he could become a general marching through a triumphal arch.
Could there be a better proposal than this?
The color returned to Ryu Hyun-jong's previously pale face.
'I didn't expect the kid to become my lifeline.'
Ryu Hyun-jong stared blankly at a pitcher's face on the giant TV.
Min Hyun-jun struck out, and the 3rd batter Hwang Jun-woo stepped into the batter's box.
'He's wary of me.'
His tension was visible to the naked eye.
Han Min-woo, covering his mouth with his glove, smiled deeply.
'So this means my pitches have become enough of a threat even to professionals.'
He had counted the days waiting for this moment. To that end, he had endured hellish rehabilitation and never put down the ball despite all the contempt and mockery.
He couldn't help but feel good.
'How should I cook him up?'
Unlike before, the batter was clearly on guard against him.
The situation was one out, bases loaded.
Hwang Jun-woo probably judged that hitting his pitches wouldn't be easy and would try for some kind of advancement hit or sacrifice fly.
The moment even one run scored, the score would be tied 8-8.
In such a situation, Han Min-woo had three options.
Induce an infield fly, draw a groundout to the pitcher, or get a strikeout.
'The best option is to induce a groundout.'
Han Min-woo, who pondered for a moment, shook his head.
Inducing a groundout wasn't easy with his current arsenal. He didn't have a two-seamer or cutter, and he didn't know how to throw a sinker either. If he made a mistake, an advancement hit could come out, and the momentum could shift to the opponent.
An infield fly was the same. No matter how good his four-seam fastball's stuff was, Hwang Jun-woo was a power hitter batting 3rd in the Dolphins' dynamite lineup.
He couldn't gamble on low odds.
Having eliminated those two options, only one conclusion remained.
'I have no choice but to slowly tighten the noose.'
Having made his decision, Han Min-woo threw the first pitch.
The pitch was a slider. The course grazed the outer edge of the zone.
Pop—!
"Strike!"
Hwang Jun-woo, who hadn't moved a muscle, let out a sigh.
Unlike most breaking pitches that drop vertically, a slider has horizontal movement. It curves from left to right in an arc.
An arc-shaped trajectory is inevitably very tricky to track.
Moreover, the slider he threw was B-grade. Thanks to Bench Warmer and Full-Base Freak, it had risen by two whole grades. The horizontal movement had sharpened even more, making it difficult to distinguish balls.
Pitches with horizontal movement, in locations where good hits were impossible, were driven down one after another.
"Strike!"
"Ball!"
"Ball!"
"Strike! Batter out!"
Eventually, at a 2-2 count, Hwang Jun-woo had no choice but to strike out on a pitch that sliced low and away.
—Looking strikeout! Player Han Min-woo strikes out even Hwang Jun-woo, navigating the bases-loaded no-out crisis to a bases-loaded two-out situation!
—That's really cruel. Not a single pitch came inside. If you keep tightening from the outside like that, the batter has no choice but to go crazy, right? From Hwang Jun-woo's perspective, it must have been really hard to pick out the balls.
—On the other hand, I think Player Han Min-woo is truly remarkable. His velocity has now reached 150 kilometers. Commissioner, how do you view this Han Min-woo?
—He was originally a pitcher who threw 158 kilometers. He had plenty of talent. Also, according to the records, he continued rehabilitation training while fulfilling his military service as a public service worker. It's fair to say that what was tangled up is now slowly falling into place. And look here, it says he also passed a recent doping test.
—I see. If Player Han Min-woo can throw 158 kilometers again, it would be quite painful for the Dolphins.
—Because he was the ace they once had in their grasp.
The bases-loaded no-out situation changed to bases loaded with two outs.
Now it was a situation where sacrifice runs like advancement hits or sacrifice flies couldn't be expected.
'The final hurdle has arrived.'
A batter with a massive frame stepped into the batter's box, glaring at Han Min-woo.
Park Tae-ho.
The Dolphins' 4th batter.
A batter who could be called the core of the Dolphins' dynamite lineup.
'A true monster.'
Nicknamed "The 4th Batter of Joseon," he joined the Dolphins through the 2011 draft.
After making his debut in the first division in 2014, he showed good performance every season, and in 2020, he literally devoured Korean professional baseball.
His stats that year were a .365 batting average, 45 home runs, 134 RBIs, 175 hits, 100 runs scored, .454 on-base percentage, .672 slugging percentage, and 1.126 OPS.
Terrifying numbers.
To show how absurd they were, those were stats where he ranked 1st in 7 offensive categories excluding stolen bases—batting average, home runs, RBIs, runs scored, hits, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
The MVP was naturally his as well.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was a historic performance for a single season.
But what was truly frightening about Park Tae-ho was that he had continued performing at a similar level ever since.
He was still the first batter that came to mind when you thought of the Dolphins, and when you mentioned the league's best 4th batter, everyone brought up Park Tae-ho.
'A contest of power is out of the question.'
Han Min-woo adjusted his cap and prepared to pitch.
The opponent was a batter who couldn't be overwhelmed with stuff alone. A head-on confrontation had no chance of winning.
A batter like this had to be caught by catching him off guard.
—An anticipated matchup. Han Min-woo versus Park Tae-ho. Park Tae-ho versus Han Min-woo. These two players have been hot lately. What kind of battle will unfold!
—Player Han Min-woo, pitching.
Pop—!
"Ball."
The first pitch was a four-seam fastball that grazed the low outside of the zone.
Park Tae-ho didn't even twitch at that pitch, just glared at Han Min-woo.
Han Min-woo threw the second pitch.
Pop—!
"Ball."
This time, a high inside course.
It was a threatening pitch where just a bit more and it could have hit his head. But Park Tae-ho didn't react to that pitch either, staring at Han Min-woo with murderous eyes.
"Strike!"
"Ball!"
Han Min-woo alternated between the outside and inside with the 3rd and 4th pitches, continuing to go back and forth across the strike zone.
The count was 3-1.
Driven to the edge of the cliff. If he didn't want to walk in a run, he had to somehow throw a pitch in the strike zone.
Han Min-woo threw the 5th pitch toward the low outside.
At that moment, Park Tae-ho's eyes flashed.
'I knew it would come this way.'
The pitcher had been alternating between inside and outside.
He naturally thought it would be formed on the outside this time. Plus, with a 3-ball, 1-strike count.
The pitch had no choice but to come into the zone.
It was a pitch that caught the outer edge, but it wasn't a course he couldn't hit if he knew it was coming.
But contrary to expectations, Park Tae-ho's bat only sliced through empty air.
Whoosh—!
"Swing, strike!"
Unlike the four-seam fastballs thrown for the first four pitches, the 5th pitch was a changeup.
'He throws a changeup here?'
Park Tae-ho exhaled roughly.
The count was now 3-2.
It was a situation where neither Han Min-woo nor Park Tae-ho had anywhere to retreat.
It was like standing on a single log bridge at the edge of a cliff.
But Han Min-woo threw the ball without a moment's hesitation.
'He probably never imagined a pitch like this would come.'
The high pitch flew in drawing a massive parabola.
The pitch type of the last thrown ball was a curve.
Since he had occasionally thrown curves in such situations, Park Tae-ho was also expecting a curve.
But there was something he didn't know.
'The trajectory will be a little different.'
It wasn't the usual E-grade curve—today it was a B-grade curve activated with Bench Warmer, Full-Base Freak, and DoctorK.
The trajectory was different, and the drop was different.
In the end, the ball was sucked into Pi Gi-jeong's mitt.
"Damn it!"
"Strike! Batter out!"
The league's best batter couldn't react to that pitch.