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.
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!"