TBITWAM 05

Episode 5

It felt like I had been hit on the back of the head.

I hadn’t thought of it. I was confident in my control, so I thought since I could even control the notoriously difficult knuckle ball, it would be fine as long as the catcher could catch it.

But if you asked if 100% control was possible in every game, the answer was ‘no’.

It meant my control was far superior to others. 100% control wasn’t even feasible in the first place.

When I was right-handed, I boasted such sharp control, but occasionally, the ball would go higher than intended or drift to the side.

Probably even the pitchers considered the greatest in history were the same.

“A pitcher throws only strikes every time and makes it impossible for batters to hit? That’s the realm of gods. The ball can be a strike or a ball, and it’s the catcher’s job to catch it. But what if the catcher can’t catch your ball?”

Was I just excited by the thought that I could throw a high-speed knuckle ball?

“If there’s a runner on base for the opposing team, you’re just giving up runs.”

I hadn’t considered it. For me to exist as a pitcher, there had to be a catcher who could receive my ball.

“That’s why knuckle ball have dedicated catchers. Catchers who can catch a ball that could bounce anywhere. Sometimes, such catchers exist.”

It was then that my head, which had been gradually drooping towards the ground, shot up.

“Looks like the Director probably had the same thought.”

Director Yoon Sung-geun?

Turning my head, I saw Director Yoon Sung-geun. And off to the side, a bit further away, stood Ryu Jae-yul, ready to receive the ball.

“Throw it. Your ball. Jae-yul said it was easy to catch, didn’t he?”

Then Coach Ahn Chung-hee walked off the mound. Soon, Coach Ahn Chung-hee stood next to Director Yoon Sung-geun with his arms crossed.

Watching them silently, I quietly drew in a breath.

Ryu Jae-yul.

I lifted my head and stared at Ryu Jae-yul, sitting in front of me.

If Ryu Jae-yul really was a catcher who could catch my ball.

Strength went into the fingertips of my left hand gripping the ball.

No, he had to be. Because the only catcher left in the Hawks now was Ryu Jae-yul.

My elbow lifted diagonally. Soon, with my chest expanding, I swung my arm.

Please, catch it!

Whoosh-.

I put too much strength into it. Damn.

Because of that, the speed increased, and the ball wobbled up and down. Probably everyone would think it would drop straight down like this, but the ball would curve and fall sideways.

I thought I had messed up.

That very moment.

Ryu Jae-yul came into my view. And Ryu Jae-yul was muttering something.

‘To the side.’

Wait, did he just say ‘to the side’?

And then it happened.

Thwack-!

At the cheerful, thudding sound, everyone’s gaze turned towards the catcher’s mitt.

The ball was inside Ryu Jae-yul’s mitt.

It was a ball that even I thought would be difficult to catch, but Ryu Jae-yul calmly caught it and slowly stood up.

Whoosh-.

Thump.

Catching the ball Ryu Jae-yul threw back, I asked.

“How did you catch it?”

Ryu Jae-yul tilted his head slightly.

“What do you mean, how?”
“That trajectory was crazy just now.”
“It comes out if you calculate it.”

Calculate it?

When I didn’t seem to understand, Ryu Jae-yul tilted his head.

“Throw it again. I’ll tell you.”

At that, I quickly prepared to throw the ball. At the same time, a sudden thought crossed my mind.

It seemed like Ryu Jae-yul could probably catch even more difficult balls.

Then I wanted to throw a bit more daringly. A ball worthy of a knuckle ball, a ball of unpredictable change.

I put strength into my nails pressing down on the ball. I swung my arm, using my shoulder a bit more, as if chopping down.

The ball pushed from my fingertips moved. It was like a snake moving alive. The irregularly moving ball was just about to curve and bounce.

Thump-!

This time too. As if he had predicted where the ball would drop, his mitt was already waiting.

At the spot where the ball would fall.

With mouths agape, everyone was looking back and forth between me and Ryu Jae-yul in surprise.

“Release point 42-degree incline, wrist bend angle 17 degrees. Spin rate one and a half rotations. 121 km. Knuckle drop is spiral vibration counterclockwise from the 12 o’clock direction. Direction changed 3 times in 0.6 seconds.”

What is he saying?

42 degrees what? Bend angle? Spiral vibration?

“My arm angle 63 degrees. Wrist rotation 27 degrees. Inside borderline, low.”

Ryu Jae-yul stood up slowly and uttered his final words with a dry face.

“The formula for the ball I just caught.”

Wait, formula? Don’t tell me.

“You… really calculated it?”
“Yeah.”
“You calculate the ball?!”
“Yeah.”

Is he crazy? Calculate the ball? What kind of nonsense is that?

“Then, say it again! What was the formula?! No, how do you calculate it?!”
“It’s simple. It’s easy if you formulate it. First, I do motion analysis, trajectory calculation, airflow modeling, and—”
“….”

When was it that I gave up on math? Was it in third grade of elementary school?

“Just calculate it using the Reynolds number, Magnus effect, Monte Carlo simulation, Euler-Lagrange method, and Navier-Stokes equations.”

No, first of all, a baseball player being good at math!? If he can calculate all that in that split second, he should be a mathematician, why baseball…!

“Ha ha.”

Director Yoon Sung-geun laughed.

“These are truly interesting guys.”

Next to him, Coach Ahn Chung-hee nodded.

“From today, Jae-yul, you’ll catch for Gang-woo when he throws.”

Ryu Jae-yul nodded silently.

“No! Wait a minute. Coach, Director. Didn’t you hear what Ryu Jae-yul said? That formula stuff…!”

As I asked in disbelief, Coach Ahn Chung-hee laughed heartily.

“Haha, that’s understandable. Ryu Jae-yul is a genius.”
“…Sir? A genius?”
“A math genius.”

A math genius?

And the story I heard next was astonishing.

Ryu Jae-yul was a math genius. They said he solved calculus when he was 5 years old. Not that I even know what calculus is.

In elementary school, he won prizes at the International Mathematical Olympiad, and because of that, they even tried to recruit him from the US.

Then, the day before he was to enter middle school, he happened to watch a baseball game on TV, and that’s how he changed his path to become a baseball player.

Does that even make sense?!

A math genius, captivated by a baseball game he happened to see, decided to become a baseball player?! Even a novel wouldn’t be this dramatic.

But that wasn’t the end. Unlike his天生的 math brain, he had no athletic talent, so he chose to become a catcher, which he was relatively okay at.

Whether it was because he constantly calculated in his head, his ability to read the game was excellent, and just by looking at the batters’ movements, he could pinpoint their weaknesses. That was also the reason why a catcher with a weak shoulder got into the ER Hawks.

“…So…”

Seeing my bewildered face, Director Yoon Sung-geun laughed again, “Ha ha.”

“This is going to be a very interesting battery.”

Coach Ahn Chung-hee quietly stood next to Director Yoon Sung-geun.

“Did you already calculate everything and call them in?”

At Coach Ahn Chung-hee’s words, Director Yoon Sung-geun smiled as if he knew nothing.

“What are you talking about.”
“What do you mean. Ryu Jae-yul and Chae Kang-woo. Didn’t you personally pick and bring them here?”
“Ha ha, I did.”

Chae Kang-woo. Ryu Jae-yul. Both were players with no future in professional baseball. One was practically finished due to a shoulder injury, and the other’s baseball skills, which relied solely on analysis and calculation, were about to hit a wall and end his career.

“Director. This time, if we don’t escape last place, the front office has contacted us saying they’ll dismiss you.”

Coach Ahn Chung-hee’s expression was serious.

“In this urgent situation, we need players we can use immediately, not raise kids with potential, no matter how promising…!”
“That’s your job.”

Director Yoon Sung-geun patted Coach Ahn Chung-hee’s shoulder, tap, tap.

“With you, those two could be brought up to the first team in just 3 months.”
“To the first team in just 3 months?! Maybe if it were a year, but what kind of nonsense are you…!”
“Right. Is one year enough?”

Coach Ahn Chung-hee let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, how can I ever win against you, Director. 3 months? I’ll try first.”
“Good. That’s a good idea, ha ha.”

Only then seeming satisfied, Coach Ahn Chung-hee watched Director Yoon Sung-geun leave with his hands clasped behind his back, then turned his head.

Towards the two people exchanging throws in the distance, Chae Kang-woo and Ryu Jae-yul.

Having a catcher who can catch my ball is a very good thing.

Especially for a knuckle ball like me.

I should be grateful that he catches a ball that is difficult to catch in the first place.

But why is it so irritating?

Probably because Ryu Jae-yul was even more crazy about math than I had thought.

“For a knuckle ball, you have to design the ‘randomness’ at least according to the air density. Today, the humidity is 68%, so the drag coefficient decreases. If you throw like you are now, the ball will twist before gravity affects it. So calculate and throw.”

Telling me to calculate even the humidity and throw, this math-crazy guy,

“The predicted batting trajectory was off by about 2 degrees. You put less strength in your fingers than before, right? Pull your release point back by 2 cm. Keep your wrist rotation axis at a 12-degree angle to the ground.”

My head couldn’t keep up to understand him.

“At that angle, the speed increases by 2 km. Then the trajectory will appear straight and then break at the 1 m point…”
“Wait!!”

I had to shut Ryu Jae-yul’s mouth quickly.

Towards Ryu Jae-yul, who was staring at me as if asking what the problem was, I held up my palm.

“I get it, I get it. Stop…!”
“You really understood?”
“…Everything except the numbers. Actually, no, I can’t understand anything you say.”

Then Ryu Jae-yul said with a dumbfounded face.

“You can’t understand even this? It’s not like I’m asking you to solve the zeta function or Navier-Stokes equations.”

What? Butterfly? Toast?

I was speechless. It wasn’t that my head couldn’t follow; it was that ordinary people wouldn’t understand it in the first place.

“Hey, even if I gave up on math early! Normally, people don’t understand stuff like that.”
“They understand.”
“What?”
My friends understand.”

A chill went down my spine for no reason.

“…Your friends aren’t geniuses too, are they?”
“I don’t know about that, but in high school, they went to Seoul National University and KAIST. Oh, one went to NASA.”
“Wait. They went to university in high school? Not after graduating?”
“Early graduation.”

Crazy.

The kind of people who hang out with a guy like him are obvious, so why did I even ask?

Knowing further conversation was futile, I turned my head away.

“Chae Kang-woo.”
“Ah, what now! I told you I can’t calculate angles, humidity, stuff like that.”
“Exactly.”

Ryu Jae-yul following words hit me right on the back of my head.

“Right now, I’m the only one who can catch your ball. Should I stop catching it?”

My body turned around on its own. Towards Ryu Jae-yul.

“What?”
“First of all, throwing a ball at high speed without spin is breaking the laws of physics. And you’re throwing that kind of ball.”

…Was that a compliment? I was just about to think that.

“It’s not a compliment. That kind of unknown variable ball, I’m the only one who can catch it. I’m solving each ball like a partial differential equation.”
“…Hey, sorry, but since I won’t understand anyway, can you stop talking about that damn math?”
“So do as I say.”
“Do as you say? How can I do that when I don’t understand? I told you I’m bad at math?”

Ryu Jae-yul, who had been silently staring at me, strode over. Seeing Ryu Jae-yul walking over with a grave expression, I instinctively stepped back.

“What, why?!”

Soon standing before me, Ryu Jae-yul asked.

“Chae Kang-woo, how do you throw a knuckle ball?”