The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 62

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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 62
#62.
The Gwangju Elephants were determined to seize this game.
“Drop it no matter what. Remember that and nothing else.”
These Elephants batters had already experienced the sting of falling pitches once before.
They’d revealed that weakness in Games 1 and 2, and beyond that, they’d proven it throughout this season’s performance.
Seventh place last year, and they remained in seventh this year as well—their status as the 2024 championship team had crumbled to something almost mythical.
With rumors already circulating internally about replacing Manager Lee Ho-beom and overhauling the entire coaching staff, the Manager himself was stirring with one last desperate gambit.
“Narrow the zone, and lift it up. Your balance will shake for a while, but the coaching staff needs to push through.”
“Yes, Manager!”
The coaching staff, already clinging to life alongside the Manager, had no choice but to make an extreme decision.
With immediate results becoming urgent, what they chose was to abandon the fastball and lift the falling pitches.
They believed that even scoring just one or two runs would give them a real chance at victory.
But the result was not a clean crack of the bat—only an awkward sound.
Tick—!
The ball caught on the lifted bat rolled across the ground and nestled snugly into the infielder’s glove.
The throw that followed flew accurately toward First Base, and since no one runs faster than the ball, the Umpire’s fist came down in nearly every case.
“Out!”
Despite running with all his might, the Batter retreated with a regretful expression, his speed falling painfully short. Watching this, Manager Lee Ho-beom sighed, both sympathetic and feeling as though his head might burst.
“Ah….”
It seemed today’s game wouldn’t be easy either, and my head was already throbbing.
* * *
It became clear by the end of the second inning that the Elephants batters were deliberately targeting falling pitches.
“Do-bin, let’s switch it up.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Thanks.”
“Same here.”
In the top of the third, facing the lower part of their batting order, we switched our pitching style without hesitation.
Where the original strategy was to jam them inside and outside, forcing them to extend at falling pitches, now I pulled out the splitter I’d learned from Kevin as my out pitch.
“Swing! Batter out!”
Though it was certainly the same falling pitch type, the batters’ bats had no choice but to produce endless whiffs.
The velocity alone was starkly different from a curveball.
My high-velocity splitter easily exceeds 140 kilometers per hour.
It’s fast, and the falling trajectory drops sharply from the Home Plate. Combined with a delivery that’s indistinguishable from a fastball, the opposing batters must be going crazy.
‘And then there’s the changeup too.’
Three different pitches thrown from the same motion.
Since the velocity differs noticeably with each pitch type, the batters’ bats only cut through empty air.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the ball can always evade every bat.
Ultimately, pitching and hitting is a game of rock-paper-scissors, and sometimes you get hit.
Crack—!
Whether it was luck or intentional, the batted ball pierced through the infield with force.
In an instant, the baserunner sprinted to Second Base, and as the right fielder’s throw came into the infield, he reached scoring position in one breath.
A scoring situation had materialized in the blink of an eye, but I paid it no mind.
Hits happen whenever they happen, and home runs are no different.
Now, though, I needed to switch from the windup to the set position.
Four-seam fastball, low and inside.
I nodded at the sign coming through my earpiece, glanced at the runner on Second Base, and threw the pitch.
Thwack!
“Strike!”
“What?!”
The Umpire’s resounding call was followed by the batter’s shock.
His gaze was fixed on the scoreboard, and I didn’t need to check it myself to know what it said.
150 kilometers per hour, displayed plainly for all to see.
Sure, nowadays the velocity difference between windup and set position was said to be minimal, but from a batter’s perspective, it made timing incredibly difficult.
‘Why not use this actively?’
The velocity variance across three pitch types.
Combined with the timing battle using two different positions.
Expecting batters to handle properly against exponentially increased possibilities? That was wishful thinking.
I raised my hand and signaled to Kang Do-bin to bring out the curveball again.
He looked slightly surprised but adjusted his stance and extended his glove.
Until now, they’d analyzed nothing but curveballs thrown from the windup position day in and day out. But now I’m throwing from the set position? And not holding back on splitters and changeups either?
“Swing! Batter’s out!”
That meant I’d taken control of today’s game.
Roaaaar!
“Kang Ho-jin! Kang Ho-jin!”
My name echoed through Sajik Baseball Stadium, and I headed toward the Dugout.
Top of the third inning. 34 pitches thrown. 1 hit allowed. 0 runs.
Today, I’d make the batters swing with enthusiasm.
* * *
As both teams’ pitchers performed brilliantly, the score remained 0-0.
And the Caster continued shouting enthusiastically.
“K! K! K! Kang Ho-jin closes out the inning with three strikeouts!”
“Impressive indeed. The batters were clearly targeting the curveball, so I thought Kang Ho-jin might increase the proportion of other pitches… but he’s turned it into a timing battle using two different positions instead.”
“You mean windup and set position, correct? In that case, wouldn’t the pitcher’s rhythm become disrupted?”
“Caster Jung Jae-hyuk’s eye for baseball has improved. Exactly right. Yet Kang Ho-jin executes it flawlessly.”
The Caster and Sports Commentator’s praise continued.
In reality, Kang Ho-jin had begun throwing freely with two different forms, and as a result, batters were dropping like flies.
“Ugh! This is driving me crazy! I can’t get the timing at all!”
“It feels like he’s reading our minds.”
“If I’m looking for a curveball, he throws a splitter. If I think it’s a splitter, he throws a changeup.”
“Still, the Senior Pitcher let me throw five pitches. I got hit from the first pitch.”
“Those Heroes bastards are making things even more difficult!”
The Elephants batters spewed rough curses from their mouths.
We’d already suffered a powerless defeat last time, so we desperately wanted to win this game no matter what, but now it looked like we might even get swept, which naturally made everyone anxious.
“Damn it… Is this even baseball….”
The problem was that there was no way to immediately analyze Kang Ho-jin’s pitching form and solve things one by one in real time.
Still, scattered hits were coming through.
It was as if proving that throwing from two positions for the first time was causing inconsistency, and as a result, it only kept the Elephants fans’ hearts going up and down.
The game continued to flow like that, and before long, the sixth inning arrived.
* * *
The game flow was evenly matched.
When you think about it, this was a matchup between third-string starters.
Excluding the Foreign Pitcher, this was the rotation where domestic ace pitchers took the mound, and the Elephants team also sent out their third starter, having rested well the previous week.
The problem was that this pitcher was throwing the game of his life today.
‘I have no memory of this Senior Pitcher.’
According to the scouting report, he’s thirty years old this year.
Considering that he wasn’t around during my active period, it’s quite remarkable.
Even our team’s senior pitchers say so.
“Why is he like that?”
“Suddenly throwing the game of his life?”
“Three hits and two walks so far?”
“His defensive focus is incredible too. He’s saved several balls that should have dropped.”
“This is a headache.”
The problem was that our team was getting hits too, but they weren’t making it home.
As a result, everyone looked discouraged, and among them, there was one senior pitcher who looked particularly exhausted.
“Are you alright?”
“Huh? Oh, Ho-jin. I’m fine.”
The senior pitcher says he’s fine.
But looking at his face, he’s practically dead on his feet—the face of someone who hasn’t slept a wink all night.
“Han Seok-do, is something wrong?”
“Huh? No. It’s not something a starting pitcher should worry about. And I didn’t want to make you worry either.”
The senior pitcher insists he’s fine, waving his hand dismissively.
But since I’m sitting right next to him and not going anywhere, eventually his mouth opens.
“Actually, my daughter suddenly ran a fever early yesterday morning.”
“Ah… you said she’s two years old now?”
“Yeah. Every time something like this happens, I get scared.”
Now I understood.
His daughter’s body had spiked a fever late at night. Because of that, Han Seok-do couldn’t sleep properly and spent the night dealing with her whimpering.
The silver lining was that there were no accompanying symptoms like difficulty breathing, convulsions, lethargy, or vomiting—just a fever, so he couldn’t sleep properly while watching over her all night.
“You must have had a rough time.”
“Ahem… you understand, but… this is quite a shocking situation.”
“Right. When Ye-jin was little, she suddenly ran a fever and I was up all night with her too.”
I remember it well.
When Ye-jin was two years old, she’d had a similar incident that caught me off guard.
That day happened to be when 2nd Team training was off, so I’d come up to Seoul.
After so long, I got to see my Daughter, and I stayed by her side all day long. Since there were more days I wasn’t there than days I was, whenever we were together, I tried my best to remain close.
It was early dawn when we’d been playing happily and she was sleeping soundly.
She woke up at an unusual hour and started whimpering. I thought it was just grogginess and patted her to soothe her, but when it turned into crying, I realized the situation was serious.
When I placed my hand on her forehead, she was burning with fever.
I panicked, not knowing what to do, and even when I held her in my arms trying to comfort her, nothing helped. I was wondering if I should rush to the emergency room.
“Oh my, our little granddaughter. You must have been exhausted from playing so hard this evening.”
Just then, Mother came out from the master bedroom and skillfully soothed Ye-jin.
Once I gave her fever medicine, she stopped crying, and as I held her and gently stroked her, Ye-jin drifted off to sleep.
Truly, at that moment, my vision went dark and my heart felt like it was plummeting off a cliff.
Since there were no other symptoms besides the fever, Mother said it was fine—that her body was just startled from playing too intensely with me, which is why the fever came. Only then did I feel relieved.
Of course, as a first-time father, I took her to the hospital the next day, but the doctor gave the same diagnosis, and I felt reassured once more.
“You should have played a bit more moderately.”
“You’re right. I didn’t realize my daughter had such good stamina—I pushed her too hard.”
The Senior Pitcher, who’d been in a similar situation, offered a bitter smile.
It was the picture of a first-time father doing something foolish simply because he loved his daughter, so I understood.
At the same time, the Senior Pitcher seemed apologetic about bringing up his daughter, which is why he looked that way.
“It’s fine. After all, I’m still one year ahead of you as a father with a daughter. You don’t need to apologize. In fact…”
“Han Ji-ha.”
“Hearing about Ji-ha makes me remember the old days with Ye-jin too. It feels good.”
Though I was shocked at the time, now I think of it as a precious memory with Ye-jin, and my heart feels warm.
“If you’re really sorry, hit one big one and run the Ground at full speed to burn off some energy, then go home and play with Ji-ha.”
“Should I?”
At the same time, the Senior Pitcher stood up from the Bench.
The first two batters had struck out and grounded out, and the third batter had walked, so it was time for the Senior Pitcher to head to the On-deck Circle.
“Ball!”
And with consecutive balls, it was two outs with runners on First and Second Base.
The Senior Pitcher did exactly what I’d hoped.
Crack—!
With a massive arc, he sent the ball flying over the Sajik Baseball Stadium Fence for a home run, instantly scoring three runs.
“Hahaha! What’s he doing over there?”
“Senior, what are you doing!”
“Run carefully, Senior!”
And true to his word, Han Seok-do the Senior Pitcher ran the Ground at full speed, urging on the teammates ahead of him.
And today, I once again earned the win as the Pitcher with nine innings of shutout baseball.
The points came naturally.

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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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