Chapter 11: Popularity

After his retirement.

Jung-woo experienced pitching in a real game for the first time.

'This is on a completely different level compared to facing those guys in amateur baseball.'

Of course, those guys weren't exactly average either.

They were all former players who had once made a name for themselves.

However, they had long since stepped away from the sport.

Their athletic abilities had also significantly declined.

But these guys were different.

'The number one college baseball team in the United States, Stewart University.'

CWS Champions.

It was like winning the Koshien in Japan.

Though, the level was even higher.

What scared him the most was that he knew nothing about them.

"Sorry, but we don't have any information on their players."

Team Yashin was not an official pro team.

Naturally, they were at a disadvantage.

At least with domestic pro teams or high school teams, they could request information from the opposing side.

In real matches, it would be impossible.

But because this was a variety show, it was possible.

The opposing side was willing to provide information since it gave them an opportunity to promote themselves.

However, this was America.

There was no such courtesy here.

"It's fine. It's just baseball, after all. I'll just do my best to throw my pitches."

Jung-woo answered confidently, and Coach Choi stepped off the mound.

Coach Seong, who had been watching, asked him a question.

"What did he say?"

"He said he'll do his best by focusing on throwing his own pitches."

"Hmm."

As the two of them exchanged words, Jung-woo's practice pitches began.

Crack!!

Crack!!

With each pitch, the heavy sound reverberated across the ground.

"Wow, that's impressive."

"Didn't they say he was a retired player?"

"Judging by the speed, it seems like he's throwing in the low to mid-90s."

The players from Stewart University took an interest in Jung-woo's pitching.

They only knew the basic information about Team Yashin.

A famous show in Korea.

A team composed of former professional players.

Eric, the coach of Stewart University, accepted the game because of this.

"The opponents are former pros who played in Korea. They're not to be taken lightly, so stay focused during the game."

"Come on, there's no way we'll lose to some middle-aged guys with beer bellies, right?"

"They've been retired for quite a while, haven't they?"

"Hey, isn't that Mr. Baek over there? He used to play for Texas, didn't he?"

"Oh? You're right. My grandpa lives in Texas, and he used to rant about him being a waste of money."

The dark history of the "Super Korean" Baek Seungjin was not easily forgotten.

"But weren't they supposed to be all retired players? The starting pitcher today looks like he's around our age."

"Yeah, he does. He looks like a teenager."

To Americans, East Asians tend to look younger than their actual age.

In fact, all of Stewart University's players appeared older than Jung-woo.

It was like they had a passive ability for premature aging.

"Shall we get started?"

"Understood."

With the staff's words, the first batter walked up to the plate.

"Patrick, hit one out of the park!!"

"Show them what champions are made of!!"

The players cheered loudly.

Jung-woo patted the rosin bag in his hand, shaking his head at their shouts.

"Is it because they're young? Their enthusiasm is through the roof."

On the other hand, our side…

"Wow~ American kids really do play on natural grass everywhere."

"The infrastructure is just on another level."

"This stadium seems better than the one we used."

"The facilities were so outdated back in our day. But they've mostly been remodeled, so they're fine now."

The infield was abuzz with lively "back in the day" talks..

'I wish the seniors would focus…'

Jung-woo wanted to say something, but he held back.

He'd already had a run-in with the coach.

Getting into trouble with the seniors would only make things worse.

'I'll just focus on my pitches.'

He shook off the distracting thoughts.

"Play ball!"

The umpire's shout rang out, signaling the start of the game.

Producer Yang and the crew were bustling with activity.

"Everyone, stay focused. There's no room for retakes, so capture everything perfectly."

"Understood."

Producer Yang's nerves were on edge.

In a typical program, if there's an NG (No Good), a retake is possible. But this was a game. Even if it was for entertainment, they couldn't reverse the outcome and redo the shoot. From a PD's perspective, it was a high-stakes challenge.

At that moment, as Jung-woo exchanged signals, he began his wind-up.

"Camera 4, close-up. Camera 1, go a bit wider."

With his eyes fixed on the monitor, Producer Yang issued orders through his walkie-talkie.

Thud!

Simultaneously, the ball slammed into the mitt. It was a well-placed pitch on the outside corner, low.

"Wow… He's really throwing hard right from the start."

"And it's fast too."

The staff, watching from behind, expressed their amazement.

Since filming Season 1, the crew had developed an interest in and knowledge of baseball. They could tell how good Jung-woo's pitch was.

Thud!.

"Ball."

"What? That was a ball?"

"Didn't that one go in?"

When the umpire called a ball on an inside pitch, the staff were puzzled.

"U.S. strike zones tend to be tighter on inside pitches."

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's why Korean players sometimes struggle when they play overseas.".

Nodding at Producer Yang's explanation, Writer Lim understood. Meanwhile, Jung-woo had thrown both the 3rd and 4th pitches, making the count 2-2.

The 3rd pitch was again outside, which the batter fouled off. The 4th pitch was inside, but the umpire didn't raise his hand.

'The impact from the amateur game isn't quite there. I guess the level is different after all.'

The reason they recruited Jung-woo was mainly because of his impact in amateur baseball. They remembered him striking out six batters in a row over two innings. Knowing that, his current performance seemed a bit disappointing.

'But with pitches like that, it should still be enough to capture the audience's attention…'

It was at that moment.

Jung-woo, who had wound up, threw a pitch that tailed inside. Having seen two inside pitches already, the batter, thinking it was going to be another tight inside pitch, didn't react.

Then, the ball tailed into the strike zone.

Thud!

And the result was different this time.

"Striiiiike! Out!"

The umpire's emphatic call followed as Jung-woo finally nailed his inside command.

The batter, after tracking the ball's trajectory, sighed and turned back.

"Oh, he finally got that inside corner."

"Wow, that was a great pitch by Jung-woo."

"Yeah, that was impressive."

Writer Lim and the staff showered Jung-woo with praise. However, one person in particular didn't grasp the significance of the last pitch.

'Could he have already adapted to the American strike zone?'

Producer Yang, being a former catcher, expected another outside pitch for the fifth ball. Throwing inside again could lead to a full count, putting pressure on the pitcher.

'He shook off the sign, didn't he? That means Min-wook, the catcher, called for an outside pitch, but Jung-woo chose to go inside. That was his decision.'

A decision made on his own, showing his confidence. And he proved it with the result.

'What kind of insane adaptability is this?'

He didn't expect to be surprised, but here he was, surprised once more.

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So-yeon woke up in the morning, her eyes still heavy with sleep as she turned on her smartphone.

"How did Oppa's game go…?"

Though she hadn't fully woken up, her first thoughts were of Jung-woo. When she logged into her messenger, there were messages from him.

-Jung-woo Oppa: I'm on the mound.

-Jung-woo Oppa: 1st inning, 3 strikeouts, no runs!

-Jung-woo Oppa: 2nd inning, 2 more strikeouts! No runs!!

-Jung-woo Oppa: I've been subbed out. emoticon

-Jung-woo Oppa: Babe! We won the game! 11-7!

The messages kept coming, one after another. Seeing how he reported everything, she couldn't help but smile.

"He's so cute…

Despite being her older brother, she couldn't help but think of him as cute when he acted like this..

-Jung-woo Oppa: link There's even an article about it!

When she clicked the link, a website popped up.

[Team Yashin defeats the strongest U.S. college baseball team!]

Below the first article, there were more headlines.

[Team Yashin's new face, Han Jung-woo, records 5 strikeouts in 2 innings without giving up a run!] [Who is Han Jung-woo, the new face who recorded 5 strikeouts against the strongest U.S. college baseball team?] [Top speed 151 km/h! Why did the Fires release him?!] [Super Korean Baek Seung-jin, in a phone interview, says, "Han Jung-woo is an excellent pitcher. He could easily play as an active player right now."]

As expected of a popular program, there were quite a few articles about Team Yashin.

And among them, Jung-woo was the main focus.

The community's reaction was also very enthusiastic.

An ex-pitcher throwing 150km/h? Crazy…

Do the Fires have so many good pitchers that they're releasing guys who throw 150km/h

ㄴNo way, man.

ㄴWhat was the front office thinking?

The community fan forum for God of Baseball was flooded with posts about Jung-woo. The impact of his first game was enormous.

"Wow, my oppa is amazing!"

So-yeon, pleased by all the posts praising Jung-woo, sent him a message.

Me: Oppa, you worked hard~♡ [emoticon]She included an emoticon of two characters hugging, and just as she sent it, her phone rang. The caller, of course, was Jung-woo.

"You're already awake?"It was Jung-woo.

"Come on, it's 7 AM. I should be awake by now. What time is it in the US?"

"It's just 6 PM here! We just finished dinner and are relaxing. Do you want me to send you some pictures from today's game?""Yeah! Send them over."

Before she even finished speaking, messages began pouring in, filled with photos—more than just a few.

"Wow~ How did you manage to hold back from sending all these sooner?"

"I didn't want to wake you by sending too many messages. I waited until you were up.""You're the best, oppa! You're so considerate. By the way, the community's response is great. People are even saying you should be playing professionally right now."

"Haha! I'll make sure that happens."The two continued their conversation for a long time, trying to ease the loneliness of being so far apart.

_____________________________________

There was one place in particular that was in an uproar over Jung-woo's performance.

"Why was this Jung-woo Han player released?"

It was none other than the Trion Fires team.

The cold tone of the team president, Kim Dae-myung, made the general manager, Lee Ji-gon, wipe away his cold sweat.

"Well… um… He was a player who only played in the minors, so I didn't pay that much attention…".

"As the general manager, you oversee the entire team, do you not? Even if he was in the minors, a pitcher who throws 150 km/h was released, and you didn't know? No, how was such a player even in the minors in the first place?"

Kim Dae-myung's scolding continued.

At that moment, someone came to Lee Ji-gon's rescue.

Knock, knock!

"It's Kim Tae-sung."

"Come… come in!

The door opened, and Manager Kim Tae-sung entered. As he was about to bow, Lee Ji-gon urgently questioned him.

"Do you know a player named Jungwoo Han?"

"…Yes, I do."

In truth, he hadn't remembered him at first. Even when he saw the initial news articles, he couldn't connect the dots. The change in Jung-woo had been that drastic.

It was only when he saw the photos in the articles that he realized it was the same person.

"Why was a player like that released?"

In response to Lee Ji-gon's question, Kim Tae-sung told him the truth.

"So, we drafted him, he spent years in the minors as a pitcher who barely threw over 140 km/h, and then we released him?"

"Yes. I've uploaded all the relevant data."

Anticipating that such an issue might arise with Jung-woo in the spotlight, Kim Tae-sung had prepared all the documents in advance.

After checking the data uploaded by Tae-sung through the intranet, Kim Dae-myung sighed.

"So, what you're saying is that our development system is a mess. Despite all the money we've invested, how did we end up neglecting a player who increased his velocity by 10 km/h in just a year on his own after six years with us?"

There was no defense against this accusation. Kim Tae-sung was equally curious.

'How on earth did he manage that?'

But before he could ponder further, Kim Dae-myung's harsh command cut through the air.

"What are you standing around for?! Go and bring him back right now!!"

"Yes! As soon as he returns to Korea, we'll…."

"What nonsense are you spouting?! Send someone to the U.S. immediately!!"

The urgency in Kim Dae-myung's voice was simple to understand.

"So, Jung-woo Han is currently a free agent?"

"Yes, that's correct. I checked with the association, and they said he can sign a contract at any time."

"Make contact with him immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

Other teams were also targeting Jung-woo.

Although Jung-woo had become the hottest topic in Korean baseball after just one game,

"Babe, how about we come back to Florida together someday? Now that I've seen the beach here, I really want to come back with you."

He was calmly spending his evening, planning a trip with his girlfriend.

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MASS RELEASE:- 3/???