Ch 125
5.
The most important month of the Korean professional baseball season is August.
After all, the team that advances to the postseason is decided by August’s performance, so if a miracle happens, it will inevitably happen in August.
It is natural for a team that has been winning consecutive victories in April and May to repeat their winning streak in August, but it is a miracle if a team that was in the middle or lower ranks during April or May continues to win streak and rises in the rankings.
[Angels, Devils sweep all series!]
[Angels, make August the month of victory!]
[Angels ranking soaring! Up to first place like this?]
And in August of the 2017 season, the protagonist of the miracle was none other than the Angels.
From the second half of the year, the word miracle was appropriate.
A whopping 15 wins and 4 losses in 19 matches played from the start of the second half until August 13!
It was a win that was not easy to come by in baseball.
Moreover, the victory obtained in this way was not achieved by vague luck, but there was a reason that anyone could not help but acknowledge.
– How did the Angels become a strong team?
b The selection is strong.
b The wire is solid.
First of all, all the starting pitchers did their job perfectly.
As Ho-Chan Lee actively took the catcher lead, it was thanks to the ability to bring out 100% of the skills of the pitchers who already had enough ability.
And the other lines also began to take shape.
Hong Woo-hyung, a man worth 10 billion won, boasted a burning sensation in August, and super rookie Jun-hyung Park began to compete for RBIs and home runs with other batters.
Of course, that was the most compelling reason.
– Lee Hou It rained again.
– Giregi bastards, you say it spreads in the second half of the Lee Hou period? Reporter Lee Hyung-se, you are you. Jinyong Lee It is spreading in the latter half of the year, when will it spread?
ㄴ Hyung-se Lee is a typical reporter.
Jinyong Lee.
In the second half, the story of some baseball experts and reporters who said it would collapse is overshadowed.
[Jinyong Lee, still Mr. Zero!]
[Lee Jin-yong, heavy rain advisory issued today!]
3 games, 27 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, no runs, and 54 strikeouts.
Even the expression “overwhelming” seems to be insufficient now.
Of course, Lee Jin-yong was not satisfied with the overwhelming record.
That was the reason.
“Strike, ow!”
On Tuesday, August 15th, the reason Jinyong Lee pitched a perfect pitch that did not show any gaps until the 7th inning against the Rayburns he met at his home home, Jamsil Stadium.
“downpour!”
And for the last out in the 7th inning, which he caught, the reason why he exclaimed with cheers as if his throat would burst.
At the ruthless roar of Lee Jin-yong, the Angels fans who filled the Jamsil Stadium to see Lee Jin-yong shouted as if their throats would burst.
downpour!
Jinyong Lee came down the mound with a deep smile at the cheers from all directions.
Then, he slowly turned his head towards the signboard.
matrices of zero.
He saw the achievements he had made.
And below that, the results of the batters who swung their bats for themselves today were also shown.
‘4 points in 6 innings. If we look at the hitting feeling of our batters today, we’ll get two more points in the future.’
4 points.
It was the score the Angels hitters recorded for Jin-yong Lee in seven innings, and for Jin-yong Lee, it was a score that could not be enough and overflowed.
“downpour······.”
However, looking at the score, a sigh different from the cheers came out of Jinyong Lee’s mouth.
With that sigh, Jinho Kim approached and said.
– why? Were you disappointed that the extension was not going to go?
At those words, Jinyong Lee quickly covered his mouth with a glove and said.
“Yeah, it could be.”
Jin-yong Lee’s eyes trembled slightly as he spoke, and Jin-ho Kim’s smile grew stronger, confirming the trembling.
– I want to go up to the 12th inning, throw 3 more innings and earn more points, but I guess I was disappointed that I couldn’t do that?
“Am I crazy?”
– really?
In response to Kim Jin-ho’s repeated words, Jin-yong Lee spoke his truth without me knowing.
“No, well, going up to 10 innings…”
Jinyong Lee, who was speaking, immediately shut his mouth tightly.
‘I’m crazy.’
At this moment, Jinyong Lee sincerely reflected.
‘It’s an extension, thinking of such nonsense….’
Overtime is the most absurd thing for a starting pitcher or for a team.
Even if you win, it is best to win within 9 regular innings, and if you lose, it is best to lose within 9 innings, and Jinyong Lee and the Angels knew this better than anyone else.
That’s why today’s Angels hitters clenched their fists and somehow scored points for Lee Jin-yong, didn’t they?
In order not to go with the extension.
‘I’ve become a real geek.’
In other words, Jinyong Lee wanted to throw at least one more inning, even if he did that.
That was it.
‘driving me crazy.’
Jinyong Lee felt that much thirst for the game.
And I couldn’t help but feel thirsty.
‘Only 4 games in 4 weeks…’
In the four weeks since the start of the second half, Jinyong Lee only appeared in 4 games including today’s game.
There wasn’t anything wrong with it.
On the contrary, there were not too many problems.
In a situation where the 5th starting rotation didn’t work well and was running perfectly, there was no reason for the Angels to do the unreasonable thing to have Lee Jin-yong play after a three-day break.
Moreover, if Lee Jin-yong is given a three-day break, the starting rotation will inevitably be twisted.
Here, the cancellation of the game due to rain made the best scenario for the Angels.
It created a situation where only 5 starting pitchers could play in a week.
‘The points accumulated in the last 3 games are less than 50,000 points…’
Thanks to that, Jinyong Lee’s point accumulation speed was greatly reduced.
‘The roulette ticket doesn’t come out either.’
In addition, it was virtually impossible to obtain the right to use roulette by breaking the new record because he had already broken some new records.
– Oh, I’m envious. To play baseball so comfortably, if I had played baseball this comfortably, the 1-point ERA wouldn’t have been a problem.
On the other hand, Kim Jin-ho has been brighter than ever for the last four weeks.
– Jinyong-ah, I’m so envious. I’m going to die of envy, I’m going to die!
Seeing Jin-ho Kim like that, Jin-yong Lee said in a low voice with a fat expression on his face.
“The one who is already dead…”
– What man? Are you kidding me that I’m dead now?
That was then.
Tuk Tuk!
– uh?
“uh?”
Uninvited guests began to appear on the ground.
At that fact, Jin-yong Lee looked up at the sky with a firm expression, and Jin-ho Kim shouted with all his might.
– Whoa!
“······driving me crazy.”
Jinyong Lee, it was the moment when he took a shutout victory in 7 innings with a rain cold.
6.
[Heavy rain advisory issued!]
Jinyong Lee, who was watching the news, turned his head and looked at the water stream that filled the hotel room window.
Next to him, Jinho Kim shouted.
– Whoa!
“It’s noisy.”
– It’s raining a lot. downpour!
“Ah, really.”
– why? Is it okay to say it’s raining? huh?
“If you keep doing this, you won’t be able to play Major League Baseball games!”
– It’s raining, but if you don’t watch it, you’ll get a little sore. huh? Well, you’re going to go to the Major Leagues without any preparations and get rid of them? Oh, then there’s nothing you can do about it.
“shit.”
While speaking, Jinyong Lee clenched his fists with those words and trembled.
At that moment, Jinyong Lee could clearly feel it.
‘I feel like I’m about to explode because I’m too strong.’
The fact that his body is overflowing with power right now.
‘I’m going crazy because I only threw 7 innings in the middle.’
Moreover, in yesterday’s game, Jinyong Lee only pitched 7 innings.
Of course, 7 innings is not enough for a normal pitcher, so it’s an overflowing inning.
However, for Jinyong Lee, pitching in 7 innings was like a car warming up.
Ace skill and quality start, both skills give a huge physical advantage at the start of the match.
It was like using the auxiliary battery first.
So, pitching 7 innings to Jinyong Lee was similar to pitching 4 innings by other pitchers.
‘I felt good yesterday.’
By the time my body warmed up just right, at that time, the game was over due to rain and cold, so I had no choice but to ache.
Moreover, the rain that is falling hard now clearly told Lee Jin-yong.
– Yeah, you have 6 days off this week!
Instead of answering those words, Jinyong Lee looked at Jinho Kim with a blunt expression.
– No matter how you look at it, it’s not raining today, is it? That’s why we need a dome stadium. is not it? If there were only four domed stadiums across the country, this would not have happened. That’s why infrastructure is so important. If the game is canceled because it rains like this, after all, everyone plays baseball in October, right? No, does it make sense that the pennant race ends later than in the major leagues in Korean professional baseball, which has 20 fewer matches than the major leagues? Because the infrastructure is the problem.
On the other hand, Kim Jin-ho, who was already intoxicated, started giving a Japanese speech about the expansion of baseball infrastructure.
– Oh, speaking of the dome, it reminds me of Chase Field.
Of course, the end of the speech was self-bragging.
– It is a domed stadium built in 1998, and this is the home stadium of the Divax. The first time I threw it here was in 1999. He played away against the Divax. opponent? Hey, I’m coming out, who would the Divax guys put up with? Of course, a big unit came out. hey! Randy Johnson was awesome back then. Did I get a thumbs up when I saw that yangban ball in the dugout? Thumbs up!
To that, Jinyong Lee replied.
“Hey, this is the third time that story is told, isn’t it? And obviously, in the previous two times, you said it was the middle finger, not the thumb, right?”
– Oh yeah? It’s because I have a long memory. ah! More than that, Jinyoung.
“What else?”
– Tomorrow’s match is canceled due to rain, congratulations on your 6-day break. Whoa!
“Ah, really! Don’t you know? I woke up tomorrow morning and it might be sunny!”
Gwagwagwang!
At that moment, an eerie streak of lightning passed between Lee Jin-yong and Kim Jin-ho.
A feeling of redness that spreads.
Behind the silence, the sound of raindrops pounded on Lee Jin-yong and Kim Jin-ho’s ears.
– Whoa, this is tomorrow morning, who wants to see a very clear sky?
In front of that rain, Jinyong Lee made a decision.
‘I can’t do this. Somehow I get to the mound.’
7.
On Wednesday, August 16th, the sky seemed to have opened a hole in the rain, and it rained non-stop.
Naturally, all matches were canceled due to rain, except for the match held at Gocheok Dome Stadium on August 16th.
And when it came to Thursday, the 17th, the sky showed its heavenly purity and blue.
“Ugh, why is the weather like this?”
“The weather is crazy.”
However, the faces of the people did not match the pure sky at all.
“How many degrees is it today? what? 37 degrees?”
“It’s weather to hammock fried eggs on asphalt.”
“No, why is this summer like this?”
It was due to the summer heat, which was finally starting to reach its peak.
37 degrees Celsius, a temperature that is already enough to suffocate people by itself, and the humidity created by the continuous rain for two days was added to that temperature, creating a truly hellish day.
“There is no sauna.”
“I am crazy. What kind of wealth and glory you have to come to Jamsil Stadium in this weather to enjoy the hardships…”
Just going out is an ascetic or a difficult situation.
It was impossible in the first place for the players who had to play in such a situation to show their skills.
This was the reason why the 3rd game between the Angels and the Rayburns, which was held at Jamsil Stadium on August 17th, was a mess.
First of all, the starting pitchers of both teams were not in normal condition.
– Ah, Benjamin, in the end, he went down without being able to hold out the 4th inning.
Angels starting pitcher Benjamin went down the mound first with 6 runs in 3.1 innings, followed by Ravens starting pitcher Carlos, who finished the inning with 8 runs in 4 innings, but did not make it to the 5th inning.
– The starting pitchers of both teams are not using their strength today.
– Because the weather is really bad. But the bigger problem is that the defense of both teams is very unstable today.
– Yes. Up to the 5th inning, both teams have made 4 errors.
Due to the muggy weather, the pitchers as well as the fielders were not in good condition in a completely different situation than usual.
Even the condition of the ground was not good.
To make matters worse.
In such a situation, it is impossible to throw well as the bullpen pitchers of both teams who came up in a hurry to warm up.
“Ah, I got a score again.”
“Hey, can’t you catch it!”
“Are you pros? Are you a pro?”
The bullpen pitchers swayed without being able to withstand the first inning that came up, and in the end, both teams had to greet the beginning of the 7th inning with a disastrous score of 13-11.
The content of the game was so horrendous that both teams could not even see the more tragic label of six errors.
In any case, the Angels, who reached the beginning of the 7th inning in a winning situation, of course now have the winning team waiting.
“what?”
It was around that time that the bad news flew to the Angels.
“Sungkyun’s shoulder hurts.”
Woo Seong-gyun.
The Angels close pitcher complained of shoulder pain while pitching the bullpen.
“Is it serious?”
Director Bong Joon-sik opened his mouth with his expression hidden, and head coach Song Jae-man spoke cautiously.
“I said I could throw, but I stopped right away. One save is not important right now.”
“right.”
“For now, we stop pitching the bullpen, but we just wait in the bullpen. When I’m ready to go to the hospital soon, I’ll send you straight to the hospital.”
“Good job.”
Naturally, for the Angels, it was more important to keep the closing pitcher than to get one save now.
It would be absurd to have a postseason without a close pitcher.
‘After all, victory has become poison.’
In addition, this rain was expected to some extent.
The Angels recently recorded an 80% win rate of 16-4 in 20 games.
In other words, it also meant that there were more matches with the winning team.
Not all pitchers shut down like Jinyong Lee.
‘If we had a double stopper system in such a case…’
What was needed in this case was to alternately use a double stopper and two closing pitchers.
‘Then there would be no reason for me to be here.’
Of course, it was a no-brainer.
Do you want a new finisher in a game where you should be grateful even for just one decent close?
It would be better to open your mouth under the persimmon tree and expect the persimmons to drop.
‘Stop it somehow.’
Because of this, director Bong Joon-sik erased the regret he had a little while ago from his mind.
‘For now, I’ll have to upload Seong-hyeon.’
A method was devised to make up for the long absence of the unknown dominant bacteria.
‘But Seonghyeon is also very tired. In the end, we have to put in a new pitcher or two to reduce the fatigue of the winning team.’
I started thinking about picking a new bullpen resource that would alleviate the burden on Pil Seung-jo.
Then the pitching coach came.
“Director.”
“What’s going on?”
“there······.”
The pitching coach, who had been hesitant, turned his head slightly. Bong Joon-sik’s gaze naturally followed the pitching coach.
At the end of their gaze, there was Lee Jin-yong.
Jinyong Lee, whose eyes are not shining, is young and mad like a snake in front of his prey.
At that moment, director Bong Joon-sik had an intuition.
“Did Jin-yong Lee ask to be promoted to the closing pitcher?”
“Yes, you know.”
“Because he’s the guy who will stay that way.”
That Jinyong Lee prepared to do it again.
“So what do you think?”
“Looking at your eyes… if you don’t upload it, I think you’ll do something that you can’t even imagine.”
With those words, director Bong Joon-sik started calculating in his head.
In fact, it was a calculation and nothing.
For Lee Jin-yong, who claimed to be up and running even after a three-day break, the recent days of going up once a week must have been boring rather than comfortable.
Therefore, director Bong Joon-sik gave an answer quickly.
Coach Bong Joon-sik gave Lee Jin-yong a chin in the direction of the bullpen.
At those words, Jin-yong Lee smiled brightly with his eyes twinkling, and Jin-ho Kim, who was next to him, looked at Jin-yong Lee with an absurd look and said:
– No joke, no joke.
It was the moment when Jinyong Lee, his closing pitcher debut, was decided.
End