Phew.
I exhaled repeatedly.
Ah, seriously. I should’ve finished training yesterday.
Yesterday, I’d dragged Ryu Jaeyul to the training field by force, but he’d soon tossed aside his mitt and run away.
Naturally, with no one there to catch for me, I couldn’t throw the ball.
At best, all I could do was shadow pitching. And even that, I couldn’t do for long.
If I got a blister on my arm, my speed would drop even further, let alone hit 130.
And so, today was the day I would throw in front of Coach An Chunghee.
“Gangwoo, you ready?”
At Coach An Chunghee’s words, I nodded and rose from my seat.
Ryu Jaeyul, getting up alongside me, spoke in a low voice.
“Chae Gangwoo.”
“Huh?”
“You’re gonna hit it. One-thirty.”
Stating the obvious.
“Just catch it properly. I’m gonna throw for real.”
My tension vanished instantly. With a somewhat lighter heart, I headed toward the mound.
Manager Yun Seonggeun wasn’t there, but the coaching staff including Coach An Chunghee and a few second-team players were watching me.
I lightly tapped the plate beneath my toes with a tap, tap, and set my stance.
“Let’s just throw ten balls.”
At Coach An Chunghee’s words, I nodded and raised my arm.
My body moved naturally on its own. I stepped forward with my leg lifted to my hip and reached out my hand.
Watching the ball pushed out from my fingertips, I felt it intuitively.
*Thud—*
Did it pick up speed?
“One twenty-nine.”
One twenty-nine? The first ball I threw was one twenty-nine?
It was the moment my feeling turned to certainty.
I’d felt it from the moment I opened my shoulder to throw.
That there was more power in my shoulder than before.
Not to mention the smoothly rotating arm and the force loading at my fingertips.
Could it be because I punched that machine yesterday?
Whatever it was, what mattered was that right now, I felt like I could hit 130.
*Fwip, smack.* After catching the ball Ryu Jaeyul threw back, I fixed my gaze forward.
I took a short breath, stopped, and raised my hand. My shoulder opened smoothly, and my arm whipped forward naturally.
And the moment the ball left my fingertips,
*Thud—.*
Watching the ball get sucked into the mitt, my heart swelled.
I felt like I knew without anyone saying it.
“…One thirty-one!”
That I’d surpassed the 130 I’d so desperately wanted.
But wait.
One thirty-one?!
With wide eyes, I whipped my head around and looked at Coach An Chunghee.
Coach An Chunghee also seemed unable to believe it, checking the speed gun himself.
“Again, throw it again.”
“Ah, yes!”
I got into my stance at once. My heart was already racing like mad, and adrenaline was flooding my brain.
A sense of accomplishment at having done it and the pride that I could do it mingled together.
Before that feeling faded, I quickly threw the ball.
*Swish—.*
The rotationless ball moved as if it were teleporting.
*Smack—!*
With a clean sound, the ball was sucked into the mitt. And the gazes of everyone holding their breath as they watched that ball turned toward the speed gun.
“One thirty!”
It had dropped, but it was still one thirty.
I threw seven more balls after that. The results were perfect.
“Hah….”
Except for the first and last balls, which were 129, all of them clocked velocities of 130 and 131.
“I really….”
My hands shook. They shook from the overwhelming emotion.
“Am I crazy?”
It felt a bit weird saying this myself, but.
“I… feel like a baseball genius?”
It’s the truth, so what.
Then the coaches and players all burst out at once.
“I’ve lived a long life, but I’ve never seen a kid throw a knuckleball at 131.”
“Wow, if he really goes to the first team, he’ll chew through everyone.”
“Is this even possible?”
“I’ve never seen it either. Chae Gangwoo, you’re going to be quite the weapon, huh?”
While everyone was re-checking the velocity as if they couldn’t believe it, Ryu Jaeyul approached.
“It was hard checking the turbulent transition point mid-air. I predicted a 68% probability of a seven-degree descending angle, but the rest was a bluff….”
Ryu Jaeyul, muttering incomprehensible mathematical terms, raised his head.
“Hey, to catch your pitches, I have to study math like crazy on top of training. Isn’t this unfair?”
“But you said solving math relieves your stress.”
“It becomes work once it’s a job. Ha, it’s going to be quite a headache if you get faster from now on.”
Ryu Jaeyul’s eyes sparkled as he said that. He seemed to be feeling a competitive spirit at the prospect of tackling even harder calculations.
He really is a peculiar guy.
That aside.
I chewed over what Ryu Jaeyul had said.
That I’d get faster from now on?
“Ryu Jaeyul.”
“Yeah.”
“Is there a probability that my ball could get even faster from here?”
At those words, Ryu Jaeyul’s expression turned serious.
“I told you. A ball without spin being fast? It’s aerodynamically impossible to explain. Well, if we calculate it.”
He suddenly squatted down and took out his phone.
“Look. Let’s assume the average knuckleball velocity is 120. The standard deviation is between 5 and 10. Knuckleballs don’t have a large velocity variance, after all.”
Ryu Jaeyul’s hand moved quickly as he wrote down formulas.
“If we extremely set the maximum value at 140… with the probability density function and cumulative distribution function….”
Why was English coming out while solving a math problem?
It was right when the increasingly incomprehensible formulas kept growing.
“The Z-score is 2.857. Referencing the standard normal distribution table, it’s approximately 0.214%. If we think about realistic constraints too, the actual probability is….”
A number was written on Ryu Jaeyul’s phone. And Ryu Jaeyul, drawing a circle over it, spat out the number.
“Zero point zero one percent.”
What was the probability of winning the lottery again?
As if reading my mind, Ryu Jaeyul continued.
“The first-place lottery winning probability is 0.0123%, so it’s similar.”
Huh?
“So that means there’s a possibility?”
“Huh, what?”
Ryu Jaeyul’s face colored with shock.
“Where are you looking to say there’s a possibility? Zero point zero one is basically impossible.”
“What are you talking about? There are first-place lottery winners every week.”
“…Hah.”
Ryu Jaeyul seemed at a loss for words, staring at me with his mouth hanging open.
Regardless, I was incredibly excited.
If first-place lottery winners come out every week, then doesn’t that mean I could hit 140 in velocity?
Crazy!
I sprang up from my seat.
“I’ve decided.”
“Hey… Chae Gangwoo. You, don’t tell me you’re going to say you’ll hit 140 next….”
“That’s right. Since I’m going to the first team now, I’ll hit 140 there. First, let’s hit 135.”
At my words, Ryu Jaeyul placed a hand on his forehead.
“Ha. I think I need to reconsider.”
“What?”
“Being your dedicated catcher.”
“Yeah. Too late already.”
I gestured with my eyes toward the front. Coach An Chunghee and the other coaches were coming toward us.
“First, we’ll report to Manager Yun Seonggeun. He’ll be surprised. He probably didn’t think 130 would really come out.”
“He would have known.”
Manager Yun Seonggeun would have known. That I would somehow hit 130.
After all, he was the manager who told me to switch from right-handed to left-handed and throw a knuckleball.
Not only that,
“that’s why he gave me a gift beforehand and left.”
The punching machine that suddenly appeared.
I could tell without even trying to find out.
That the one who brought the punching machine to our family arcade was probably Manager Yun Seonggeun.
Before saying thank you to Manager Yun Seonggeun, I had to check one thing.
“Coach! Then I’m… going to the first team?!”
Coach An Chunghee crossed his arms.
“He said to call you up, so I have to.”
Nodding, Coach An Chunghee continued.
“Congratulations. Go work hard.”
“Waaah!!!!!”
At the strange scream I let out, Coach An Chunghee flinched and stepped back.
“Is it really true?! I’m really going to the first team, right?! Right?! Starting today?!”
“Calm down, Chae Gangwoo.”
Ryu Jaeyul grabbed me by the neck and pulled.
“Yes, you two. Pack your bags and go to the first team at Hawks Park Dome tomorrow.”
Hawks Park Dome.
It was the home stadium of the ER Hawks and the largest dome stadium in the country, with a capacity of 28,000.
“However, developmental players can only be registered to the first team starting in May, so register then, but join them first and train.”
My heart fluttered. No, the word fluttered wasn’t enough.
“Thank you!!”
Tears fell.
From the moment I injured my shoulder, I’d been treated like an object that was no longer needed. I remembered what a coach had said when I told him I’d rehabilitate and play baseball again.
[“Really? Then, thank goodness. But, you know? Out of all the guys I’ve seen, literally a hundred out of a hundred, I’ve never seen a single guy with a torn shoulder like yours play pro. Well, you might be the first, I guess.”]
I’d said it back then.
That I’d show them. That I’d definitely go pro.
I’d desperately wanted to go pro. I wanted to prove myself.
That I hadn’t become useless.
I wanted to show that I could do it.
But to really be in the first team.
My emotions surged, and I choked up. I wiped the hot tears streaming down with the back of my hand and raised my head.
“I think I need to call my parents!”
At my words, Coach An Chunghee smiled warmly.
“Yes. Let them know quickly. They’ll be happy.”
“Yes!”
I ran without hesitation. To the locker room where I’d left my phone.
And the moment I arrived in the locker room, I opened my locker and took out my phone.
I called the arcade. Both Mom and Dad would be there.
— Yes, Chaegang Arcade.
At Dad’s voice coming through the line, I immediately screamed.
“Dad!!”
— Huh? Gangwoo?!
Beyond the receiver, I could even hear Mom asking, “Gangwoo? Why is Gangwoo calling?!”
Tears poured out for no reason.
“Dad, Mom! Listen.”
Suppressing my once again swelling heart, I shouted.
“I’m going to the first team starting tomorrow!”
***
“You’re ruthless, too.”
At Ryu Jaeyul’s words, I let out a hollow laugh.
“That’s not something I’d expect to hear from you?”
We had to go to the first team tomorrow, but Ryu Jaeyul and I were running on treadmills.
“Phew, you’ve been hitting training really hard lately?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? Even if you can’t hit, you’re good at other things.”
“No, my throws to the bases are weak too. Obviously I can’t control the running game… so I have to.”
I tapped Ryu Jaeyul’s shoulder as he spoke with a serious face.
“Yeah, you have to. That’s how we’ll survive in the first team.”
“Huh?”
“You as a catcher, me as a pitcher.”
Ryu Jaeyul, who had hesitated, let out a hollow laugh.
“Why are you laughing? You have to be a starter. What’s the point if you only catch my pitches? You have to catch other people’s pitches well too… well, you’d probably catch all of them anyway. Yeah, you should practice hitting. Want me to do it with you? Then I’d be doing both pitching and hitting, so wouldn’t I become a two-way player?!”
It was half a joke, half serious.
I’d said it with the intention of helping if Ryu Jaeyul trained in hitting.
But the answer I got was different from what I’d imagined.
“Yeah, let’s do it all.”
I’d definitely thought he’d call me crazy and curse at me.
“Huh?”
Seeing my flustered expression, Ryu Jaeyul laughed loudly.
“I’ll do it properly in the first team. I’ll train even more.”
“Of course. I’m going to throw the ball like crazy, so get ready to catch it.”
“Want to do pitchout training in that case?”
“Sure.”
I could have taken the day off, excited about going to the first team, but I had no intention of doing so. On the contrary, I wanted to do more.
Ryu Jaeyul felt the same.
We could both feel it. That no matter how much we’d made it to the first team, we couldn’t slack off on training.
This was only the beginning.
The moment we got off the treadmills, I headed to the indoor training ground with Ryu Jaeyul.
Throwing and catching was the most important thing between a pitcher and catcher, but there were many other important things as well.
For example, pitchout training to stop stolen base attempts, catcher’s throwing drills, and bunt defense.
They were essential conditions for a perfect battery.
Of course, I had no intention of letting runners get on base in the first place.
If I just threw the ball and got them out so they couldn’t even attempt to steal or bunt, that was enough.
I picked up the ball and turned toward Ryu Jaeyul.
“I’m not letting any runners get on base.”
“Want me to calculate the probability?”
“Ugh!! Don’t kill the vibe!”
“Save the vibe for after you escape being single.”
Single since birth?
“I’m not single since birth!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Seeing Ryu Jaeyul raise his mitt with a face that clearly didn’t believe me made my stomach turn.
“Really…!”
My left hand moved quickly, stretching straight forward. At the same time, I pushed out the ball I was holding between my fingertips.
*Swish—.*
“I’m not single since birth!!”
*Smack—!*
It was right when I was huffing as I watched the ball get sucked into the mitt at the end of my shout.
“Are we practicing wild pitches?”
Looking at Ryu Jaeyul, who spoke with an expressionless face, I picked up the ball again.
“Ah, Ryu Jaeyul!!!”