Chapter 20 Chapter 20 – Spring camp in winter 02

    Gun Choi became stiff hearing the words of the ex-Major leaguer .

    ‘I didn’t expect to get this qualified an instructor . Did Gordon assess me as good?’

    Eric looked around, and asked Gun Choi, “Where''s Bank?”

    He knew Bank, a custodian, because he played 7 seasons .

    “He’s in the office . ”

    Eric furrowed his brows .

    “At office? He''s lucky . ”

    He headed to the office with a big stride .

    It looked like he had something to tell Bank .

    After a while, shouting was heard . Bank quickly came out .

    He moved around and grabbed gear for practice .

    A fence with webbing in it, a helmet, a bat, and box for the balls .

    Gun Choi was astounded at Bank''s attitude .

    ‘Huh, I’ve never seen that before . He''s always been calm . ’

    Eric grumbled at Bank, and returned his attention back to Gun Choi .

    “Are you aiming for the Major leagues?”

    Gun Choi replied confidently, with his chin up . “My goal is not a simple debut . I want to be a star in the Major leagues . ”

    Eric tilted his head .

    “Really?”

    “I’m sure it''s possible . ”

    Gun Choi was a still novice who hadn''t even entered into the 40 rosters to Eric .

    A novice wanted to be a star . Eric smiled .

    But Eric talked to him, instead of laughing .

    “If you survive training with me, you can be an Allstar in the Major leagues . Can you do that?”

    Gun Choi thought that Eric’s training would be easier than that of the system .

    “Any way I can improve my skills, I’ll do . ”

    Eric listened to him silently .

    “Every player has said that but, gave up within a week . ”

    Bank set up the gear while Gun Choi and Eric talked .

    Bank installed a fence, brought balls to the mound, and flattened the ground with tools .

    Gun Choi became tense as he saw the scene .

    ‘Too many balls . Surely I don’t need to pitch thousands of balls, do I? If so, there''ll be a problem with my elbow . I got injured before . ’

    As the setting up was done, Eric ask Gun Choi to pitch a ball .

    Gun Choi asked cautiously, as he saw lots of balls, “How many do I need to pitch today?”

    Eric answered curtly, “5 fastballs . ”

    There were hundreds of balls in the box . But Gun Choi only had 5 balls to pitch .

    “What? Only 5?”

    Eric furrowed his brow and answered, “It''s useless to pitch a lot, because your pitching form isn''t set up . ”

    He answered, and pointed at the mound .

    “Go and pitch . ”

    Gun Choi nodded his head, and took the mound .

    5 fastballs . No need to overwork .

    He just needed to pitch as calm as usual .

    Gun Choi pitched as he did during live pitching, without full power .

    The ball flew into the air and hit the net .

    It was a fresh pitch .

    ‘Not bad . It’s better than live pitching with movement and velocity . ’

    The ball speed was 93 mph, but Eric’s opinion wasn’t good .

    “Not good, not bad . ”

    Gun Choi pitched the 2nd ball with more power because of to Eric’s comment .

    ‘Not good, not bad? He isn''t satisfied with my pitching, is he?’

    This time, the ball made a big wave on the webbing, and fell down .

    It was the best ball during Gun Choi’s recent pitches .

    But Eric shook his head like he didn’t need to see any more .

    “Stop it . ”

    Gun Choi clicked his tongue inwardly .

    ‘What do you want me to do? I’m not a pitcher who can throw a ball at 98 mph like you . ’

    Eric was a closer who pitched fast balls at the speed of light .

    He often shocked people with a 99 mph ball .

    Gun Choi thought Eric wanted a faster fastball .

    Eric spoke, as he walked to the mound .

    “I heard your position is at bullpen . ”

    Gun Choi nodded and said, “Yes, for this year . ”

    Eric raised the end of the word like he heard an unpleasant story .

    “This year?”

    “I’ll be selected as a starting member next year . ”

    Eric snorted at Gun Choi''s words .

    “You can’t enter the Major leagues with that mindset . In the Major leagues, you can’t survive if you don’t do your best at any position . ”

    Gun Choi thought that he already knew that .

    But Eric asked him for more than that .

    He thought that Gun Choi needed to be a real bullpen pitcher .

    “Listen . Your pitch is not for a bullpen pitcher . ”

    Eric pointed out that Gun Choi threw a ball with same form as when he was a starting pitcher .

    Gun Choi was in difficult situation .

    He''d thrown the ball with the same form for his whole life but his form needed to be changed . S~?a??h the N???lFire.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality.

    Eric talked as like he was on a high horse .

    “Bullpen pitchers throw a ball for only one inning . In other words, you need to pitch with full power as you attack a hitter . ”

    Gun Choi’s previous pitch was soft and smooth . The pitching itself was good . But Eric shook his head .

    “Your pitching is for playing several innings . So you that''s how you arranged your physical ability . In other words, you showed me a pitch of a starting pitcher .

    Eric told Gun Choi that he needed to fix the problem with how he unconsciously arranged his physical ability .

    Bullpen pitchers didn’t need to pitch for long innings .

    ‘Am I saving my physical ability unconsciously? It became my habit due to being a starting pitcher over 10 years . If so, it should be fixed . ’

    Gun Choi asked to Eric .

    “Do you mean I need to pitch little more explosively?”

    “Not a little more . You should be an exploding ball . This is the ball of a bullpen ace . ”

    Eric pointed out that Gun Choi should change his pitch propensity prior to changing his form .

    Gun Choi agreed with that .

    He decided that he would be a perfect bullpen pitcher .

    Eric shouted to Gun Choi as he saw his expression .

    “You will be born again as a bullpen pitcher in a month . Can you do that?”

    Gun Choi shouted in response to the Major leagues All Star .

    “No problem!”