The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18
#18.
Jamsil Baseball Stadium.
The oldest baseball field among those hosting KBO League 1st Team games, the only shared home stadium among world professional baseball league home fields, and boasting the largest scale among domestic league baseball stadiums.
Sitting in the Dugout of such a stadium, I felt a peculiar sensation.
‘It’s been a while… yet strangely, it doesn’t feel awkward….’
All things considered, it had been quite some time since I played in the domestic league.
After six years in the domestic league—including two years of rehabilitation and repeated appearances—I advanced to Major League Baseball through posting, was thirty years old at the time, and then spent seven years playing in the big leagues.
Returning to age twenty-four at thirty-seven, this was my first time on the domestic stage in a full thirteen years.
Yet Jamsil here didn’t feel awkward or unfamiliar.
Rather, if I had to describe it, it felt warm and fuzzy.
‘Perhaps it’s because my last game was here?’
My final game before departing through posting.
It was the Korean Series against the Seoul Dragons, and I had taken the mound to play the final championship-deciding game here, a series that extended to seven games.
I was our starting pitcher, and the Seoul Dragons’ starter was a player named Bae Ki-sung, who by now would be a high school senior, drafted this year and set to join the Seoul Dragons.
‘The miracle of the 11th round, as they called him.’
Called last in the final round, he would go on to dominate the 2nd Team in just half a year, ascend to the 1st Team, and from the following year reign as the third starter and homegrown ace, eventually rising to the position of the nation’s next ace.
Thinking that such a young talent was probably rolling around on the high school baseball grounds right now made me smile involuntarily.
‘Right, I can’t be like that.’
I quickly composed my expression into blankness.
Today marked the first day of a three-game weekday series.
Since it was a game between the two teams known as Decolassico, despite being Tuesday evening, Jamsil Baseball Stadium was filled with countless fans.
The Seoul Dragons’ guaranteed draw was due to being last year’s champions and currently maintaining an upper-tier position this year. With the opposing team being the Dolphins, currently posting the league’s worst record, fans had naturally come expecting a victory.
True to the fans’ expectations, from the first weekday game, the Seoul Dragons’ batters were hitting hard off our starting pitcher Kim Se-jin’s pitches.
‘His condition isn’t great today.’
The fork ball that should have dropped wasn’t dropping enough, and the two-seam fastball was coming in as flat as a four-seam, suggesting today was one of those off days.
Fortunately, the slider was working properly, so Kim Se-jin managed to get through five innings somehow, and despite allowing five hits and three walks, he’d given up only three runs.
With the team losing, there was no room to smile.
“Thank you for your hard work, senior.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
As my senior entered the Dugout, I offered him a towel in one hand and a drink in the other.
He wiped the sweat away and gestured for the drink, so I opened the cap myself and handed it to him. He gulped it down and handed it back to me.
“Thanks.”
“No, senior. Let’s go!”
“Yeah.”
Despite throwing only five innings, his pitch count was already approaching ninety, so he’d last at most one more inning.
Starting from the seventh inning, the Bullpen would need to take over, so the Bullpen was already filled with other seniors.
Crack!
The balls the seniors threw entered the Catcher’s mitt with a crisp sound.
Of course, that sound was brief.
By now, the Seoul Dragons’ cheers had grown so intense that Jamsil Baseball Stadium itself seemed to tremble. The cheerleaders moved dazzlingly in sync with the amplified beat, their alluring gazes captivating the crowd.
I watched the spectacle quietly when I heard Kim Se-jin muttering beside me.
“Sajik Baseball Stadium used to be just as lively back then….”
His face bore the wistful expression of someone lost in memories.
Well, it made sense. I didn’t need to go far back—just until the first half of last season when the Dolphins maintained a second-place record, Sajik Baseball Stadium had been packed with roaring crowds.
The problem came after that.
The playoff qualification probability had reached 95%, but we collapsed in an instant, creating a 5% miracle that betrayed the fans beyond mere anger.
The shock left the fans languishing, and eventually this year we plummeted to last place, naturally creating empty stands. Seeing my senior remember those days, my heart ached for him.
“What am I saying to a rookie who just came up yesterday? I need to get my head straight.”
Kim Se-jin’s words stirred memories of my previous life.
My senior was thirty years old this year.
He took the Mound with the 1st Team the moment he was signed, and had been throwing steadily ever since.
He’d made the national team roster several times and achieved a lucrative free agency deal once. Next year would be his second free agency, yet despite higher offers from other teams, he remained with the Busan Dolphins, pursuing championship glory until his retirement.
After my senior retired, we won the championship the following year, and I recalled the image of my senior weeping with joy in the stands.
‘A senior who pitched solely for the fans, aiming only for victory.’
When it came to love and service for the fans, my senior was unmatched across the entire league. It was only natural that such a senior would yearn for the fans’ cheers and roars.
That energy was his driving force.
“I’ll pitch so that the stands fill with fans soon.”
“What?”
My senior looked at me with eyes wider than usual.
Perhaps my words were unexpected, or perhaps they pleased him—either way, a warm smile crossed his face as he placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“I like that. Let’s do well going forward.”
“Yes, senior. Leave it to me.”
“Hehe. Then I’m off.”
“Fighting!”
While we talked, the inning ended.
Though we hadn’t scored a single run or managed a hit, Kim Se-jin quietly headed to the Mound to hold the line once more.
“Swing! Batter’s out!”
“Out!”
“Strike! Batter’s out!”
My senior came down from the Mound with two strikeouts in tow.
Having weathered another day unscathed, my senior left the Dugout without hesitation. Now the team began deploying the Bullpen in earnest.
And the result was 0 to 9.
The Bullpen collapsed again, and today’s game ended bitterly.
“Sigh… this is awkward.”
“Yeah….”
“Let’s just stay quiet for now.”
Together with the three other seniors who’d been called up with me, I observed the tense silence.
The problem was that the next day, our team suffered a shutout loss with a devastating 0-14 score. With six errors compounding the disaster, the atmosphere felt even more suffocating.
‘Still the same….’
I’m referring to the hellish defense I experienced in my past life.
For reference, four errors came from the Catcher position alone.
If that were the end of it, I’d be grateful, but the problem is that someone twisted their ankle while running the bases and ended up on the injured list.
“Ugh….”
This is hell upon hell.
* * *
After finishing two games of the three-game midweek series, Manager Bong Jun-sik’s head was pounding as if it might split.
The team was already struggling in last place, so stress was severe, and losing back-to-back games by large margins in this two-game series only intensified it.
“Of all people, Gu Dong-seok too….”
The problem was that Gu Dong-seok, who had been holding down the starting Catcher position, had suffered an injury.
There was a backup Catcher, but he was literally just a backup.
Once he sat behind home plate with his protective gear and glove, even the Manager, coaches, and pitchers couldn’t help but tremble with anxiety. Naturally, the pitchers grew uneasy as well, throwing pitches weaker than their usual velocity.
A Catcher with decent offensive power but defensive issues—that was Han Kang-nam.
“Who did we call up?”
The Battery Coach answered immediately to that question.
“We brought up Kang Do-bin. According to Manager Jang Si-hwan, he’s someone we can trust and rely on.”
It wasn’t just talk—the Battery Coach showed data on a tablet displaying Kang Do-bin’s recent performance.
In five games, he hadn’t missed a single foul ball, catching everything perfectly, including balls that seemed destined to drop in. On top of that, he’d thrown out runners four times out of five attempted steals.
His hitting was slightly lacking, but with five hits in eighteen at-bats and four walks, his batting eye was solid.
“Most importantly, he has good chemistry with the four players we called up this time. If they take the field together, they should be able to create significant synergy.”
Manager Bong Jun-sik nodded his head.
Two days had passed since their call-up to the 1st Team.
To help them develop a feel for the field, they’d only been warming the Bench, not even allowed to stretch in the Bullpen, instead watching the energy and roar of the Ground and observing the players.
“How are those guys doing?”
“They’re all a bit cautious, but they don’t seem discouraged. Rather, they’re training late into the night every day and are the first to start training in the morning.”
What was fortunate was that they were all diligently preparing for their appearances without complaint. He was satisfied that they weren’t showing excitement about being in the 1st Team.
“Let’s start bringing them in earnest from the weekend three-game series.”
Manager Bong Jun-sik hoped they would get a feel for the 1st Team atmosphere in the Dugout through tomorrow’s game.
Of course, this wasn’t their first time being called up to the 1st Team.
Kang Ho-jin had briefly played in the 1st Team immediately after signing as a professional, while the other Three Hitters had repeatedly gone up and down throughout the season.
But this time was different.
Hoping they would stay in the 1st Team for a long time and contribute to the team’s victories, he was trying to bring them into the field as gradually as possible.
But that was merely Manager Bong Jun-sik’s hope; reality was merciless.
Crack—!
A Dragons batter swung at the incoming pitch like he was chopping wood, and the ball soared over the wall in an instant.
Starting from the first inning with a grand slam, the starting pitcher began to falter.
Fortunately, the batters whose hitting sense had been dead in the last two games seemed to have regained their touch, and from the first inning they unleashed both singles and home runs, quickly tying the game.
And on this day, a historic barrage of hits that would be remembered in KBO history had begun.
At the end of the ninth inning.
Score: 18 to 18.
It was an all-time record-breaking war of attrition, with every pitcher from both sides being scraped together and thrown into the fray.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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