The Genius Pitcher Dad Throws for His Daughter - Chapter 76

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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 76
#76.
We arrived in Incheon and lost two consecutive games.
Two Foreign Pitchers took the mound as starters, and the opposing lineup was simply overwhelming.
Combining both days, they put up 15 runs—a display of batting prowess so formidable that they surged from 4th place to 2nd in what felt like an instant, riding a wave of momentum that was nothing short of spectacular.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Dragons maintained their grip on 1st place, while the Seoul Buffaloes plummeted through a losing streak, causing significant shifts in the standings.
1. Seoul Dragons
2. Incheon Serpents
3. Suwon Wolves
4. Daegu Salamanders
5. Changwon Griffins
6. Seoul Buffaloes
7. Daejeon Phoenix
8. Gwangju Elephants
9. Busan Dolphins
10. Gocheok Unicorns
The postseason race was already virtually decided—positions 1 through 5 were nearly locked in.
The mid-tier teams fought to avoid dropping further, while the upper-echelon squads, eager to climb, were spicing things up against them, providing thrilling entertainment as the season wound toward its climax.
And then there was our battle in the lower depths.
The Gocheok Unicorns had no hope of recovery.
Their star players were falling to injury one after another, their performance declining, and they were now focused on developing young talent.
Thanks to this, we were virtually assured of escaping last place.
What remained was climbing even one rung higher—but after losing back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, I returned to Busan with heavy steps.
The silver lining was that there were no games Thursday or Friday.
We had considerable rest until the weekend, and I was conditioning myself for a scheduled start on Saturday after six days of recovery.
“Want to go to Seoul?”
The Manager had offered me time to visit my Daughter, but I politely declined.
I could go after we finished our home games next week and headed out on the road. For now, I wanted to focus on the team.
The Manager respected my decision, and back in Busan, I called out on the Ground.
“Myung-su!”
“Yes, Senior Pitcher!”
It was Hyun Myung-su, who had begun earning the affection of the senior players at the team dinner after the last game.
Some cast disapproving glances, but their resistance crumbled like autumn leaves before a typhoon when faced with the unshakeable camaraderie of fathers raising children.
Having synchronized his rhythm with mine, he’d gained confidence—his face noticeably brighter than before.
After proper rest following my routine, I began playing catch before my bullpen session.
Usually pitchers do this together, but I specifically brought Myung-su because the Manager had asked him to gain experience as my dedicated Catcher after that game.
Myung-su was already the one I called during practice throws, but now as my dedicated Catcher, he moves in sync with my routine.
Though he’s juggling both team training and Catcher drills—it must be exhausting—he still comes running whenever I call, staying by my side like this.
As we gradually increased the distance, exchanging throws, Kevin, who’d taken the loss a few days prior, casually approached.
“Hey, bro….”
“Kevin, did you rest well?”
“Yeah. Seems like I got good rest.”
Kevin’s expression wasn’t particularly bright.
He’d come to Korea with dreams of posting solid numbers and returning to the Major League Baseball. But the Dolphins were the kind of team that excelled at crushing the dreams of foreign pitchers like him.
His first-half performance ranked second-to-last among the foreign pitchers.
It’s true that things improved noticeably once Do-bin joined near the end of the first half, but being second-to-last was unavoidable.
For the record, the last-place pitcher was also on our team.
Al, the one over there getting a massage while radiating a gloomy aura, was that last-place pitcher.
“Sigh… If both of us had joined from the start of the season, things would’ve been different.”
He spoke with regret.
Well, I suspect if we’d both joined from the beginning of the season, we’d probably be sitting in a better position in the standings right now.
At the very least, compared to the previous catchers who were called “fake catchers” in the community and mocked as birds just imitating catchers, Do-bin and Myung-su are genuinely elite catchers. That includes Ho-gun, who as a backup helps pitchers warm up in the bullpen every single day.
“I’m not sure what’ll happen next year.”
He seemed worried about next season.
Soon the regular season will end and we’ll enter the postseason. The weather itself had already shifted from sweltering heat to crisp coolness.
Calculating the remaining games, Kevin and Al have about 2 games left, while Senior Pitcher Jin-ha and I have about 3 games.
With the final standings battle intensifying and the schedule being irregular, we might pitch one or two more times or not at all—the future schedule is uncertain.
Though we’ve escaped last place, I’m greedy enough to want to climb one more rung up the ladder.
In fact, the Manager seemed so troubled by the issue that the smell of cigarettes was stronger than usual.
“It’ll work out. We just need to believe that and prepare steadily.”
“That’s right, bro.”
Kevin smiled faintly at my words.
Honestly, with Kevin’s performance and affability, it seemed like we could keep him for another year.
Before I returned to the past, Kevin was cut after the first half, and two years later he made his comeback to the Major League Baseball.
After being cut from Busan, he built up his body and played in Japan, where despite the Dolphins’ reputation dragging down his evaluation, he actually posted solid numbers and quickly established himself as a core pitcher for his team.
Of course, there’s one crucial thing here.
‘I need to teach him one more pitch.’
A pitch type that Kevin would surprisingly master—not even a Japanese pitcher’s specialty.
A pitch with such dramatic drop that even Major League Baseball batters would shake their heads in amazement as they were struck out.
The moment Kevin masters the forkball, his value will skyrocket tremendously.
If I had my way, I’d teach him the grip right now and have him throw it.
It’s partly repayment for the splitter he gave me, and partly because of the bond that’s formed from spending these past months together.
If the General Manager asks me whether to replace one of the foreign pitchers, I’d probably say to keep Kevin and send Al.
Al’s introverted nature and poor fit with the team don’t suit a team aiming for a rebuild.
On top of that, with next year’s draft and my return from the past, there are many things I want to meddle with.
But I’m just a player, and those matters belong to the Front Office, so I can only regret it.
Anyway, it’s time to stop playing catch and head into the bullpen.
“Hey, Kevin. See that kid over there?”
“Oh, the young one?”
“He speaks some English. Try talking to him while I’m in the locker room. You might be surprised—it could actually work out.”
“Oh! A new friend?”
Kevin’s melancholy vanished in an instant as he approached Myung-su with renewed energy.
In the meantime, I stopped by the locker room to change into a fresh undershirt and visited the restroom, and when I returned, I could see the two of them conversing in the locker room.
“Wow, it’s so cute!”
“Your son is very handsome, too!”
The two of them were pulling up photos of their babies and exchanging compliments.
“You met my son’s fiancée.”
“I think so, too. He’s the best man for my daughter.”
I could only stare in disbelief.
In a mere ten minutes.
I had apparently arranged an international marriage.
And with children not even a year old, no less.
It was dizzying.
* * *
The team that came to Busan was none other than the Daegu Salamanders.
They currently sat in fourth place, and with just a few more wins, they could realistically eye third place.
The only regret was that by the time several of their key players returned from injury, the regular season would be nearly over, making it difficult to even maintain their current standing.
Naturally, the Manager’s expression darkened, while the players, excited about their imminent playoff berth for the first time in ages, created a contradictory atmosphere that hung over the team.
Among them, the Salamanders Manager, wearing the most serious expression, held not a tablet but a stack of papers as he fell into deep thought.
“Kang Ho-jin… He’s completely different from what I heard?”
To the Salamanders organization, Ho-jin was remembered as someone who had provided considerable help during his time in the 2nd Team.
Though they were 2nd Team games, the players who took the field during Ho-jin’s appearances found their rhythm or experienced breakthroughs, leading them to be promoted to the 1st Team in droves. Thanks to him, they maintained a middle-tier record that year, and what was supposed to be a playoff push next year suddenly became this year instead.
For the Front Office and coaching staff, the name Kang Ho-jin was unforgettable.
And then Ho-jin suddenly awakened.
After consecutive saves in the latter half of the first half, he transitioned to starting and displayed exceptional performance, and when combined with his personal circumstances, he naturally rose to become a Rookie of the Year candidate.
Looking at his statistics alone, he might fall short of being named Rookie of the Year, but there was no standout player among this year’s rookies. With the selection uncertain, Ho-jin, possessing a compelling narrative, had essentially already secured the award.
Facing such a Ho-jin, the Salamanders Manager sought a way to secure a definitive victory, and soon he lit a cigarette.
Crackle—!
A cigarette he couldn’t put down despite knowing it was bad for his health.
The cigarettes he’d been smoking for decades were far closer to him than his own wife. In the rich aroma of tobacco, his mind found a measure of calm.
“Sigh… They drop, they drop, they all drop…”
Most of Ho-jin’s pitches were falling balls.
His fastball dropped, his changeup dropped, his curve dropped, his splitter dropped.
Since the introduction of ABS, falling balls became highly effective for pitchers, and naturally everyone began throwing them. It was only natural that batters adjusted their swings to lift the ball in response to these dropping pitches.
But as if to prove that even falling balls had levels, both Park Myung-hwan, who made his living off the movement alone, and Ho-jin, who threw with him as his mentor, were exceptional.
If he overcommitted and lost, their current standing was already precarious.
Moreover, with two games to play rather than just one, the Manager continued to mentally calculate various scenarios, complex as they were.
‘Perhaps I should sacrifice one game and go all-out for the remaining one… The playoff berth would be secured, but I’d face backlash from management and the fanbase. But if I go 1-1 and commit everything to the final game? I’d actually have a decent chance of climbing to third place!’
With that conclusion settled in his mind, he began writing names one by one into tomorrow’s starting lineup.
As he looked over the completed lineup, the Manager’s breath caught in his throat.
“Damn it.”
A lineup that drew curses from my lips despite my usual restraint against profanity.
The starting pitcher would work as a long reliever while developing future starters, and the lineup from batter one through nine was filled entirely with backups and reserves, excluding the regular starters.
Just looking at it made my breath catch in my throat, and the lineup unmistakably reeked of throwing away this game—cold sweat trickled down my spine.
“No, thinking about next year, we need to develop these young players too.”
While rankings existed from first to tenth place, when I considered this as a long-term operation that looked not just at this year but next year and the year after, a lineup I could confidently present to the Front Office—my labored breathing stabilized and my blurred vision cleared once more.
Tomorrow’s game would go like this, but I resolved to secure the next one for certain, then picked up my phone.
“Ah, Senior Coach. Come to the Manager’s Office for a moment.”
The Senior Coach who entered stared at the lineup with wide eyes, his face screaming disbelief. I quickly made him understand, sent him to announce the lineup, then picked up my own phone.
“Ah. General Manager, it’s me.”
After convincing the General Manager as well, I was satisfied with my plan and finally began preparing to leave.
But I didn’t know then.
That the greatest wisdom in the world was about to find me.
Everyone has a brilliant plan.
Until they get punched in the face.

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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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