“I’ll give it a try.”
At my answer, the expressions of everyone except Manager Yun Seong-geun were colored with shock.
And it was understandable. Raising a velocity that had already reached its peak was as good as impossible.
Generally, knuckleballs were around 90 to 105 kilometers per hour. You could tell by looking at the velocity of Dickey, who threw the fastest knuckleball as a knuckleballer in the Major Leagues.
Dickey’s top velocity was about 134 km/h. And the velocity of the knuckleball I had to throw was 130 km/h.
If you actually threw 134 km/h, you had a chance not just in the KBO but in the Major Leagues too. It was a velocity that was just that difficult.
It wasn’t simply that the speed was difficult. When I was a right-hander, I had thrown a 155 km/h ball. Moreover, I even had command, not wild pitches.
But that was only when I threw a fastball.
With a knuckleball, not only did you have to minimize the spin rate, but because of the ball’s irregularity, you had to pay attention to control as well.
But if he tells me to do it, I have to do it.
I had thought the same when I first met Manager Yun Seong-geun. When he told me to switch from right-handed to left-handed and throw a high-speed knuckleball.
Despite the lack of realism, I had answered that I would do it.
And I had really done it.
So I could do it this time too.
“130. I’ll clock it.”
As if satisfied with my answer, Manager Yun Seong-geun smiled wordlessly and rose from his seat.
“Coach An.”
At Manager Yun Seong-geun’s call, Coach An Chung-hui stepped right up.
“Yes, Manager.”
“If that kid clocks 130, move him up to the first team. And,”
Manager Yun Seong-geun’s gaze turned toward Ryu Jae-yul.
“This kid too.”
Ryu Jae-yul’s eyes widened.
Well, it was a natural result. Knuckleballers usually had a dedicated catcher assigned to them. Besides, there was no catcher other than Ryu Jae-yul who could catch my ball.
“Understood.”
Coach An Chung-hui answered and then turned toward me, flashing a grin.
“Chae Gang-u.”
Why that smile felt ominous. I found out with the words that followed.
“You and Ryu Jae-yul are on special training starting today.”
***
Special training.
I knew it meant training done specially, but shouldn’t you normally rest after a game?
Left in the training ground after everyone had left were Ryu Jae-yul, me, and Coach An Chung-hui.
“…Excuse me, Coach. We just finished a game.”
Whether he didn’t catch my meaning or not, Coach An Chung-hui burst into laughter.
“Manager Yun likes doing special training after games. Pro players come hit fungos when they lose during games. You’d better get used to it early if you’re going to the first team.”
Going to the first team. At those words, my eyes blazed.
“Yes, sir!!”
It was then that Ryu Jae-yul looked at me with a flabbergasted expression at my thunderous answer.
“Oh, you’re here.”
Where Coach An Chung-hui’s gaze was directed. I turned my head that way, and someone wearing catcher’s gear was walking over.
“Huh…?!”
Ryu Jae-yul recognized him. Who was it that made the usually stoic Ryu Jae-yul so agitated?
But before long, I too had to let out the same exclamation as Ryu Jae-yul.
“H-Huh? Senior Yoon Dong-hyeok?!”
Yoon Dong-hyeok. The starting catcher for the ER Hawks and one of the best catchers representing the KBO right now. Stable defense stemming from experience, not to mention outstanding pitch-calling ability and decent batting.
I had been wondering why he hadn’t participated in today’s game.
“You both know who he is, right? He sat out today’s game to manage his condition, but from now on during special training, Dong-hyeok will help you two.”
Catcher Yoon Dong-hyeok was going to help us?
“R-Really?!”
It wasn’t me who said that. Ryu Jae-yul, whose eyes only sparkled when solving math problems, was now looking at Catcher Yoon Dong-hyeok with a gaze full of admiration.
“Yes. Manager Yun Seong-geun gave special orders. Jae-yul, you know your skills aren’t enough for the first team, right? Your control of the running game is weak, your distance is short, and your batting isn’t good either.”
Ryu Jae-yul’s expression, which had seemed excited until just now, sank at once.
Then this time, Coach An Chung-hui looked at me and spoke.
“Gang-u is the same.”
Even if he went to the first team simply because his ball was fast and unique, his ability to read the flow of the game and his baseball sense were severely lacking.
“Dong-hyeok is absolutely necessary for Jae-yul right now, and you too, Gang-u, will have a lot to learn. Dong-hyeok is good at leading pitchers too.”
Coach An Chung-hui flashed a grin.
“You two are both going to the first team, aren’t you?”
First team. At those words, Ryu Jae-yul’s and my eyes changed simultaneously.
“We will.”
“We will.”
Satisfied with the answers that simultaneously shot out of Ryu Jae-yul’s and my mouths, Coach An Chung-hui nodded.
And when only about two hours had passed, I thought.
If anyone trained like this, of course they would make it to the first team.
My breath was ragged.
“Huff… huff.”
Thirty minutes of running, then thirty minutes of stretching. Then forty minutes of lower body strength training. Finally, pitcher mechanism drills.
When all the training was finished, I couldn’t help but collapse on the spot.
Ryu Jae-yul was in the exact same situation. Lying face down next to me, his shoulders were heaving as if he were crying.
“Hey… you crying?”
Only then did Ryu Jae-yul lift his head and look at me as if I were pathetic.
“…Are you crazy?”
“The training’s hard, so it makes sense to cry.”
“Shut up. It’s hard to even talk.”
Having turned pale, Ryu Jae-yul really looked exhausted.
I stopped teasing Ryu Jae-yul and turned my head to stare straight ahead.
“By the way, Senior Yoon Dong-hyeok. He’s really… amazing, right? I was impressed.”
“…Yeah. He taught us everything one by one.”
It was true. At first, I thought he would teach us a bit and be done, but Yoon Dong-hyeok stuck by the two of us the whole time and spared no advice.
He sometimes spat out cold, sharp words, but even those were advice that became flesh and blood.
“He’s really admirable.”
I agreed with Ryu Jae-yul.
“I think we came to the ER Hawks at the right time.”
“Of course. Do you think you could meet such great seniors anywhere else?”
At Ryu Jae-yul’s defensive retort, I burst out laughing.
“Hey, but you said talking is hard, yet you’re talking just fine?”
“Ha. You crazy bastard.”
“You know how to curse too? I thought you only studied and couldn’t do stuff like that.”
“You’re really annoying.”
Then Ryu Jae-yul and I burst into laughter at the same time.
“Ha, this is really tough.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve trained like this.”
“I was thinking, if we train like this for just a month? I think we’d make it to the first team with room to spare.”
That was when.
“Really?”
Then Ryu Jae-yul and I jerked our heads up simultaneously.
Yoon Dong-hyeok was looking down at Ryu Jae-yul and me with his arms crossed.
“Ah, Senior.”
I forced myself up. Then Yoon Dong-hyeok waved his hand as if telling us to lie back down.
“It’s hard, right? But you know. That feeling you’re feeling right now—‘Ah, I went all the way to the end. If I just keep training like this, I’ll make it to the first team.’ You need to meet that feeling often. That’s how you really move up.”
Yoon Dong-hyeok flashed a grin.
“Honestly, there are plenty of kids better than you. Even more in the pros. But in the end, the ones who remain are those who climb up by enduring to the end. The ones who steadily improve their skills and rise up last longer in the pros.”
Wiping away the beads of sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, Yoon Dong-hyeok continued.
“So you’re doing well, you two. Even if you’re exhausted, don’t give up.”
It suddenly came to mind. Something I’d heard somewhere in elementary school.
“I learned that ‘giving up’ is a word you use when counting cabbages.”
At my words, Ryu Jae-yul made an expression of utter dismay, and Yoon Dong-hyeok burst into laughter.
“I’ll work hard!!”
“Good. Then go wash up and get ready to gather.”
The moment I blurted out that I would work hard.
“Don’t tell me… we’re training again?”
We had played a game on top of everything, and done special training for well over two hours. But he wants us to wash up and gather for more special training…?
Seeing my fed-up face, Yoon Dong-hyeok laughed out loud.
“Hahaha, you’re really something. No. There’s a meat party today.”
A meat party?
“Huh?”
To me asking with a puzzled look, Yoon Dong-hyeok gestured for us to go in.
“First, wash up and rest. Well then, I’ll go first.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you!”
“Thank you! Senior!”
Ryu Jae-yul, having gotten up at some point, bowed at the waist.
As I watched Yoon Dong-hyeok disappear after waving his hand, I turned my gaze toward Ryu Jae-yul.
“But… are we, what, having a meat party?”
Then Ryu Jae-yul picked up his catcher’s gear and spoke as he started walking.
“Yeah. It’s something they do all the time. Wash up first. You reek of sweat right now.”
At a loss for words over being told I reeked of sweat, Ryu Jae-yul added a remark as if teasing me.
“Besides, it’s the kind of smell women hate.”
“Hey, what! My sweat doesn’t smell that bad?”
“Sure. I’ll say that for you.”
“Hey!”
Watching Ryu Jae-yul take the lead without even pretending to listen, I hurriedly followed.
To defend my absurd sweat smell.
***
The outdoor training ground was boisterous.
“Kuh, this is great!”
First team, second team, and even the coaching staff. Everyone was excitedly eating and drinking at the samgyeopsal party laid on by the club’s front office.
“Oooooh! One shot! A slugger’s belly really is different. It’s packed with alcohol, isn’t it?”
“Hey you brat, talking to a senior like that!”
I watched the players drinking and joking around with fascination and asked Ryu Jae-yul, who was sitting next to me.
“Do they do this often?”
Ryu Jae-yul, who had been silently cutting the samgyeopsal into square shapes, nodded his head.
“The chairwoman likes this kind of thing.”
The chairwoman. She was referring to Chairwoman I Ae-ran, the owner of the ER Hawks and chairwoman of the ER Group.
Chairwoman I’s love for baseball was famous even among the players and fans. Being a true baseball fanatic, she spared no support to a degree that couldn’t be compared to other clubs.
“She even says this. The chairwoman says it’s a game. Collecting good players and investing in the club to raise them. The only problem is the results aren’t good.”
Ryu Jae-yul was right. Why couldn’t the ER Hawks escape from being perennial last place despite investing so generously?
“What do you think the reason is?”
“Well, if we analyze it coldly, it’s because there are no pitchers.”
What nonsense.
There were sixteen pitchers in the second team. Moreover, there were twelve in the first team.
“We have Senior Baek Seong-chan and Pitcher Min Hyo-seop is decent too, right?”
Then Ryu Jae-yul shook his head coldly.
“Senior Baek Seong-chan is nearing retirement. It’s true his form has dropped from his prime. And even though we have Senior Min Hyo-seop, he can’t start every game, can he?”
“There are quite a few other pitchers.”
“Well, that’s true, but aside from those two, there are no pitchers showing significant results.”
Just as Ryu Jae-yul said, the ER Hawks strangely couldn’t get their pitchers to shine. While their fielders were quite solid, the pitchers were struggling in every game.
No matter how well the batters hit, the pitchers couldn’t perform, so they got pounded in return. Naturally, the batters inevitably lost motivation unlike at the start.
That was why the ER Hawks always took a ton of pitchers in the draft.
Since they were last in the league anyway, they had priority picks too.
However, the pitchers they took also strangely couldn’t show their skills, so people called the ER Hawks a “graveyard for pitchers.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Maybe they lost their desperation because they eat and live too well.”
No way. That can’t be it.
It was while I was seriously thinking about the reason.
“Hey, Chae Gang-u? Right?”
The one laughing heartily was none other than Min Hyo-seop.