Talented FA Catcher - Chapter 363
Only Krnovel
Swan song – 4
#
Thinking back, it was an absurd first meeting.
I didn’t know about Long’s existence, and it had only been a few days since Long learned of my existence.
Long came to us on the graduation day and surprised everyone by saying, “You’re that kid.”
Although he didn’t say anything at the time, I thought he was a bit of a strange person.
But later I found out that he was a very strange person.
At the age of 45, he wants to return to the major leagues, and not as a coach, but as a pitcher.
It was so absurd.
But as a fellow player, it was also an exciting thing to hear.
To challenge the impossible means, in other words, to burn everything.
That long look seemed reckless and dangerous, but it was cool.
Of course, that wasn’t the reason I chose to go on a long trip together.
Long trained for five years and waited for the day he would join them in the majors, and thanks to him, the Marines were able to achieve good results for five years without worrying about mercenaries.
And the end of that long companionship came as suddenly as a first meeting.
“are you okay?”
“You really don’t listen to me.”
“I wonder who you learned it from.”
When the game was over, there was a message telling Long not to come looking for him.
But how could I not find it?
“It’s okay. It’s much better than I expected.”
“It was pretty much what I expected.”
“Maybe I’ll never be able to lift a ball again.”
Long’s voice sounded calm, but what Long said was definitely not something that could be responded to calmly.
“Then it’s okay, to some extent.”
“Retirement. They say that if you don’t catch the ball now, it won’t get any worse. You’ll have to eat with your left hand though.”
“It’s no different than usual.”
Long originally ate with his left hand.
I heard he’s not left-handed, but it just became a habit after his shoulder injury.
Anyway, seeing you joking around, I’m glad you seem to be doing better than I thought.
“We won the game. Did you see it?”
“I heard the results. You won easily.”
“Yes, that’s right. So take this.”
He took the ball out of his pocket and put it in Long’s hand.
“It was the last pitch that struck out Pedro Sanchez. I thought it would be memorable.”
“….”
The ball looked around for a moment, then snickered.
“Good.”
“Congratulations on your first win in the World Series.”
“thanks.”
Even though his 200th win was a long ball that he gave me, I looked at that ball over and over again.
However, I didn’t bother to ask if it was because it was his first World Series win or because it might be the last pitch he would ever throw on the mound.
“So what about Snickers? I heard they’re in the same hospital.”
Long nodded behind him.
There, I saw the back of a familiar head sleeping on the extra bed.
“…Are you sleeping?”
“I haven’t been asleep for long. I’ve just calmed down.”
Long’s expression suggested how difficult the process had been.
“Anyway, I’m going to go now. If Snickers breaks, please let me know. If it doesn’t get better, there’s a way I can pitch at Chase Field.”
“Huhsrihji Murr.”
A muttering sound was heard from somewhere, and Snickers sat up straight.
“Don’t talk nonsense. No matter what happens, I’m going out tomorrow. No one else can stand on the mound except me.”
Yeah, I understand your intentions, but.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?”
“eye?”
I must have cried so much that my eyes were so swollen that my pupils were barely visible.
Honestly, it was more funny than serious.
Snickers also quickly checked his own face and turned his head slightly.
I think I just laughed?
“Anyway, I can’t give up the mound tomorrow.”
“You should talk about that with the coach, not me. Long, you’ll be at the stadium tomorrow, right? We should lift the trophy together.”
“We haven’t won yet.”
“Just look at her expression and tell me. Anyway, since they both seem okay, I’ll be going now.”
Snickers was staring at Long with a funny look in his eyes.
As if he thought he would lose.
“Guardian.”
“take care.”
Ignoring Long’s call, he closed the door and left.
I thought a lot before coming here, but I’m glad that they both seem to be doing well.
Now that we’ve confirmed that they’re both okay, we’re going to head back to the hotel.
“Guardian.”
The hospital room door opened and Long came out.
“Have you forgotten anything?”
“Yeah. I forgot something very important.”
Long hesitated for a moment and then looked at me.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to come this far. If it weren’t for you….”
“Wait a minute. Do you realize that you’re talking like you’re totally going to leave?”
“I’m leaving, that’s right. I won’t be on the mound anymore.”
“Is this really enough?”
“Enough is enough. There is no baseball player who has done everything he wanted to do as much as I have.”
“…Then I understand. Long, you’ve really had a hard time.”
He approached Long and hugged him tightly.
“See you at the stadium tomorrow.”
“okay.”
The eyes of a person who has no regrets are always impressive to see.
#
miracle.
It’s a word that doesn’t really fit with the Yankees.
Rather than hoping for a miracle, the Yankees were proving that miracles don’t happen.
But Yankee fans who visited Yankee Stadium today all muttered the same thing.
“God damn…..”
I never thought that I would be pushed back so desperately in the World Series after 30 years.
No matter how strong the D-Backs were, I thought the Yankees could do it.
Perhaps what made it harder for fans more than anything else was the fact that, for the first time in 30 years, they might have to watch another team lift the championship trophy at Yankee Stadium.
That’s not enough.
It was always going to be the Yankees who would win the championship at Yankee Stadium.
It was the last bit of pride I had left over from the past 30 years, and it was something I had to protect.
That’s why the Yankees fans gathered at Yankee Stadium chanted.
“Jun! Now there’s no one else but you! You have to do it!”
“Please don’t let those rattlesnakes win here! Give us the win!”
The cheers of Yankees fans filled the field with their wishes.
The destination of that shout was Jun Nakamura, who was quietly meditating with his eyes closed in the center of the field.
When Jun Nakamura finally opened his eyes and stood up, Yankee Stadium erupted in cheers.
‘I’m desperate.’
That meant two things.
One was the Yankees fans who still cheer and chant Jun Nakamura’s name.
The other meant that he was ready to give it his all to win against Kim Soo-ho.
‘I admit the defeat in the first game.’
Although I had been pledging to myself until the day before, I couldn’t make the choice to intentionally reject Kim Soo-ho.
‘It’s a regret that comes from the fact that I lost in the end.’
If I had won, I wouldn’t have had such regrets.
And when the second game was over, I made up my mind.
‘I’m burning everything today.’
I will have no more regrets.
When Jun Nakamura was burning with determination and determination.
There was a small commotion in the Diamondbacks dugout.
“Why are you wearing sunglasses that don’t match?”
“Sunglasses are a must for daytime games.”
“What’s the big deal, since he’s a pitcher anyway and can’t be used in games?”
The players’ attention was focused on Tom Snickers, who usually wears sunglasses, as it was the first time they had seen him in years since they played for the same team.
“You weren’t crying because of what happened yesterday, were you? That’s why you wore sunglasses to hide your puffy eyes?”
It was Tom Snickers who showed the most sensitive reaction after Long’s injury yesterday.
Maybe that’s why the players had a hard time dealing with Tom Snickers today, and Todd Lynch made a joke about the dislike of the atmosphere.
But Todd Lynch was rather taken aback by the silence that followed his words.
“Really…?”
“Kim Soo-ho, this son of a bitch···.”
When Tom Snickers, unaware that what he said was a joke, tries to find Kim Soo-ho, the only person who knew the secret, someone saves him.
“It’s noisy.”
Kirk Long appears with a cast extending from his shoulder to his arm.
As he entered, all eyes turned to him.
“Mr. Long, are you okay?”
I had heard the news about the players in bits and pieces, but I never thought they would come to the stadium in that kind of physical condition.
“I found a uniform that fits my age. But you guys are forgetting something more important.”
Then he nodded somewhere, and the players turned their heads to follow Kirk Long’s gaze.
There, as always, was Kim Su-ho, preparing for the game while looking at his tablet.
“Remember, you haven’t won yet. You can worry or party after the game tonight.”
Kirk Long was far from a leader.
He was not easily approached due to his sharp personality and way of speaking, and only hung out with a few players, including Kim Su-ho.
But that doesn’t mean the players disliked Kirk Long.
As a fellow player, I know how great and difficult it is for Kirk Long to have accomplished what he has now achieved.
In fact, it was absurd that a player I had seen on TV as a child would return to the mound and play for the same team.
Just witnessing a miracle happening right next to me was a huge help to my career as an athlete.
But the resonance of yesterday’s events was on a different level.
The last thing that every player fears.
It was something of a milestone that showed how the ending would end.
“All I can say is this: Please don’t regret the opportunity given to you.”
I could say that because I regretted it more than anyone else and in the end, I had no regrets.
#
“Do you have any plans to direct in the future?”
“It’s noisy.”
Sometimes when I see that kind of thing, I wonder if Long is wasting his talent.
What should I say, natural charisma?
It’s not something that can be done simply through effort to take control of a team like that.
It was something that could only be accomplished with the support of one’s accumulated career, proven skills, and even appearance.
Anyway, thanks to Long, the slightly chaotic atmosphere calmed down in an instant.
It’s good to have the will to win, but anything in excess is not good.
“Then I’ll be back.”
There have been changes to the lineup for what could be the last game.
Bryant goes at 5, McCoy at 1, I at 2, and Jackson at 3.
This was a change that occurred because Bryant was unable to touch Jun Nakamura’s ball at all in Game 1, even during the regular season.
Jackson’s entry in number 3 was for a similar reason.
If you think about the first game, there was a good chance that the game would have been decided by one or two points.
They had to squeeze out points somehow, and Jackson’s contact ability was very good for a rookie.
The same goes for Willis behind him.
If they fail to score in the first half, they aim for Bryant’s last shot.
The lineup had this kind of meaning.
The big picture hasn’t changed.
Each person just had to carry out their original role.
Take McCoy, for example.
-Wow!
“Foul!”
Whether it was the pouring sunlight or his fifth foul, Jun Nakamura showed unusually unpleasant emotions.
That was McCoy’s role.
And that integer is this.
-Taaaaak!
He finishes by pulling the ball out and getting on base with a hit or a walk.
The shortstop jumped high, but it just barely missed his glove.
The leadoff hitter reached base with a well-placed single.
McCoy’s run didn’t stop there.
The first pitch that Jun Nakamura threw while glaring at me.
“Run!”
As soon as Jun Nakamura’s leg went up, McCoy started running toward second base.
Run and hit.
It was a planned operation, and the bat was stopped as soon as the ball left the zone.
“cheek!”
So far so good.
White caught the ball straight away and tried to throw it to second base, but his throw went slightly off target, perhaps because he didn’t catch the ball properly in his mitt.
And that little bit is a very long time for McCoy.
“Safe!”
A bold steal from the first pitch put a runner in scoring position.
McCoy did everything he could.
Now it’s up to me.
Even if first base is empty, the game has only just begun.
In particular, I can’t even imagine Nakamura Jun sending me away.
Eventually they’ll try to catch me, and it’s important to know when that moment will be.
If it were normal, I would have focused on this ball.
But today was a match with so much at stake, and since the opponent was Jun Nakamura, past records didn’t mean much.
The most important thing right now is whether I can hit the ball that comes into John.
“cheek!”
“strike!”
It was a bit disappointing that the third pitch was a strike, but it wasn’t too bad.
If the timing is like this.
-Ta-aak!
It wasn’t difficult to aim for an outside pitch and send the ball to first base where there was a gap.
If it were his usual position, he would have caught it without a problem, but because the second baseman was on second base, the first baseman was also on the first and second bases.
A ball that went through the first baseman’s right side and out into the outfield.
“Kim! To second base!”
I checked it too.
The ball deflected off the first baseman’s glove at the end, slowing down and curving toward the foul line.
There, the Yankees’ outfield was positioned so close to the fence that they were defending from behind.
“Safe!”
It was a leisurely time, enough to stand up to second base and go in.
Of course, McCoy had already set foot on the home plate.
It was a good start.
So much so that it seemed like the game might have been decided from the beginning.
But Jun Nakamura was not easy.
“Strike out!”
After striking out Jackson, who hit a home run yesterday, Willis grounded out.
And Bryant, who entered the new batting lineup.
“Strike out!”
Still not used to Jun Nakamura’s pitches and struck out.
Although it is regrettable that we did not score in the second inning, we are satisfied with scoring the first point.
1 point, it may seem like a small number, but its value can vary depending on who the pitcher is.
Our pitcher today is Tom Snitker.
“That’s good enough.”
Ace’s eyes were swollen with revenge.
“The Yankees won’t score a single run today.”