The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 74

Choi Kyung-shik reviewed the documents he had received.

He was a rational man. Therefore, his first thought upon seeing the documents was whether this was even possible. He was assessing its feasibility.

But that moment of doubt was fleeting. Soon, rationality gave way to the ‘greed’ to make it happen.

Recently, his son seemed busy preparing to return to the United States. He said he would go as soon as the final exams were over, even before the vacation ceremony, and stay there until early March after the new semester started. He must really like that pitching lab in New York.

The expenses were considerable, but that wasn’t a major problem. What father wouldn’t spend money for his only child’s success?

However, another problem bothered him.

He wondered when his son had studied English so diligently. While his grades in other subjects were declining, he consistently scored 80 or 90 on English tests, clearly showing where his interests lay.

MBL.

The place where the world’s best monsters [talented baseball players] gather.

Considering Suwon’s recent performance, it was hard to imagine him failing in the major leagues due to a lack of skill. It wasn’t just a case of every hedgehog thinking its own offspring is beautiful. Who knew that his son, who had only been a pitcher, would have such talent as a hitter?

If he had been born in the United States, he would have been a candidate for the first overall pick in the draft. Of course, debuting in the major leagues is difficult, but the probability of a first-round draft pick making it is over 40%.

But was it okay to send that young child to the United States alone?

And it wasn’t like he was just going for a few months. Would it really be alright?

Instead of studying at school, he grew up with a baseball in his hand. That study, of course, is for going to college, but it is also a process of learning basic common sense to live in society.

Even children who have focused on academics for 12 years and experienced a quasi-society called college for 4 years struggle in society. How could that young boy live alone in the United States, a completely different culture from Korea?

Above all, the stories of hardship in the minor leagues were too familiar. Of course, according to Choi Kyung-shik’s own research, the treatment has improved considerably in the last 10 years, but they still have to travel five, or even ten hours in severe cases, on a rickety bus to play a single game.

And what if an injury suddenly comes along?

Returning to the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] would be very difficult since he went directly to the United States. The KBO doesn’t favor players who go directly to the MLB [Major League Baseball]. It’s understandable. They are also a coalition of interest groups, and from their point of view, there was a reason to prevent good resources from choosing other leagues instead of the KBO as much as possible.

Military service and a two-year grace period. It’s a difficult problem.

Of course, he wasn’t worried about him making a living. Later, when Choi Kyung-shik himself liquidated the company, he could still pass on a small building or two, and if he brought in a smart daughter-in-law, it wouldn’t be difficult to manage the property.

But how painful would it be for a guy who has only lived for baseball all his life to not be able to play baseball to his heart’s content? No matter how much he thought about it, going to the United States after playing in the KBO for 7 years had less risk, but the potential reward was too great to ignore.

The only advantage of going to the MLB without any plan is the possibility of debuting 3 or 4 years earlier and accumulating that much more experience.

What father could watch his son choose such a path?

“Oh, yeah. Suwon, it’s Dad. Let’s talk tonight.”

***

I clearly remembered my promise with Jinwoo.

Win the National Tournament.

I was unlucky.

I was too unlucky.

To be honest, I thought this National Sports Festival, where all the seniors were gone, was a good opportunity. But what kind of evil spirit possessed us? We met Kyung-ho High School in the first game, and then Shinwon High School, the Gyeonggi Province representative, in the second game.

Okay, let’s say that meeting Kyung-ho in the semi-finals and Cheonnam High School in the finals in the Blue Dragon Flag [a prestigious high school baseball tournament] was because they were seeded schools.

Meeting the championship favorites in a row in this tournament without seeded schools could only be described as terribly unlucky. Of course, that was the same for Kyung-ho High School, which lost to us in the first game, and Shinwon High School, which beat us in the second game and had a Slam Dunk ending in the third game.

“I wish a Seo Tae-woong-like player would just fall from the sky.”

“Huh? Seo Tae-woong? Who’s that?”

“He’s a super strong freshman in an old comic called Slam Dunk who ignored scholarship offers from prestigious schools and just went to a school near his house.”

“Like you, Suwon?”

“Ah… That’s right. Then I have to find Kang Baek-ho…”

“Kang Baek-ho? Who’s that again? Is he another character from that comic?”

Jo Yoo-jin looked at me with a face full of curiosity.

Sigh…

No.

No matter how I think about it, it’s impossible to make the protagonist of this three-stage separation hitting method [a flawed batting technique] Kang Baek-ho.

“Anyway, what did the coach say?”

“He said it might be worth a try… Hey, but is that really okay? When I searched the internet, people were making fun of it like crazy…”

“Oh, are you the kind of person who cares about that with a three-stage separation hitting form?”

“No, that’s true. But is there another way…?”

“Hey, there’s already someone who’s walked a similar path. Do you think that person didn’t look for other ways? Besides, we don’t have time. Time. Of course, it’s true that we’re still young, but we’re different from ordinary people. Institutional kids graduate from high school, go to college, go to the army, and then go back to school and live their lives. It’s okay for them to wander around for another seven or eight years, but not us. If we miss this year? We’re saying goodbye to baseball forever.”

“No, it’s not necessarily like that. There’s also college…”

“Like Byeong-yeong senior?”

Jo Yoo-jin nodded.

“Do you know how many college players were drafted this time?”

“Weren’t quite a few picked? I thought about twenty were picked.”

“Yeah. Nineteen. But only one of them was within the 3rd round, and that was 28th in the 3rd round. But that guy was also drafted in the 9th round two years ago and went to college aiming for an early draft. Do you know what this means? Korea is different from the United States. There, it’s okay to get a lower round and roll around in the minors, go to college for 2 years and come out early to skip the minors and go to the big leagues quickly, but not in Korea. If you can’t go pro after graduating from high school, you can almost say it’s over.”

“…”

“Your defense isn’t bad, and to be honest, you’re quite fast and when I think about how you hit it hard during practice, the pros might pick you in the lower rounds looking at your tools [raw potential]. But do you know what? That player suffered for more than 10 years before finding that method. And the answer he barely found was that.”

To be honest, Jo Yoo-jin’s tools were very wasted.

Just looking at the balls that guy hits hard in practice, you can see that he has the qualities to be developed into a power-hitting catcher. When you look at him blocking, his reflexes are good, and he’s quite fast. So maybe that’s why he was drafted in the 3rd round in his previous life.

But he eventually fails.

Well, some people might say that he had a successful pro life because he played as a backup catcher in the pro first team for 10 years, but well… Thinking about the guy’s face crying in the gopchang [Korean grilled intestines] restaurant, I couldn’t say that his pro life was successful.

Anyway, the fact that it hasn’t been fixed for 10 years in the pros means that his three-stage separation hitting method that comes out in real games is an incurable disease that is almost impossible to fix. Fortunately, there was one pro player who played in the KBO who cured a similar incurable disease in his 12th year and burned the last 3 years of his career quite well.

“Whether it’s because it’s not productive in terms of sabermetrics [statistical analysis of baseball] or because it looks ridiculous. You can only hear those stories if you survive in the pros first. And honestly… We have to win a championship before we graduate.”

“Win? National Tournament?”

“Yeah.”

“Suddenly, winning the national tournament doesn’t suit you? Suwon, you’re not that kind of fighting, passionate character.”

“No, I just made a promise with Jinwoo by accident. I kind of want to listen to that senior.”

“Yeah, Jinwoo was a really good person…”

“Anyway, to win, we need two or three more hitters who are at least human, and at least one or two pitchers who are better than Byeong-yeong senior. Well, they say that two pretty good rookies are coming in, so I’m looking forward to that, but you know about the hitters. There’s no answer when the guys who were using aluminum bats until yesterday suddenly use wood bats. In the end, you have to do something.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m going to do a complete special training this winter.”

“Yeah, Jjyo. Let’s really make something happen next year. Even if the draft is like that, let’s at least make sure that none of our classmates can’t go to college.”

***

“You’re here early.”

“Yes, the traffic wasn’t bad.”

A slightly awkward atmosphere.

But it wasn’t strange. This kind of atmosphere always flowed when my father and I were in the same space.

“Okay, let’s eat first.”

“Yes.”

My father’s gaze as he watched me put some food in my mouth was complicated. I could guess what he wanted to say.

Was it my 7th year? When I saw the news on TV that I was going to advance to the United States through posting [a system where a KBO team allows a player to negotiate with MLB teams], he called me and had a similar look in his eyes. At the time, my father told me not to go to the United States and used the example of players who had advanced to the United States through posting from the KBO to stop me.

Of course, at the time, I was very angry at my father’s dissuasion and stormed out of my seat. At the time, I felt that my father was unfairly criticizing my lack of ability. Without knowing that it was just a father’s worry about his only son’s adventure.

So, is he going to stop me from going to the MLB again?

But if it’s a proposal to play in the KBO instead of the MLB, I have no choice but to reject my father’s words this time as well. Of course, I won’t get very angry and storm out of my seat this time.

“There’s a proposal that came from James’ side.”

James?

Contrary to my expectations, the story that came out of my father’s mouth was not about staying in the KBO. James Corporation is the agent that helps me advance to the United States. If I stay in Korea, they won’t get anything.

“A proposal?”

“Yes, it’s a proposal about your method of advancing to the United States, and your father thinks that the proposal itself doesn’t seem too bad, regardless of the possibility.”

“What kind of proposal is it?”

Is it NPB [Nippon Professional Baseball, the Japanese professional league] ?

I clearly refused, but if they bothered to make another proposal to my father, who is my legal guardian, I am willing to terminate my contract with James Corporation.

But fortunately for James Corporation, the proposal they made to my father was not NPB.

A bait I threw out just in case.

‘I wouldn’t mind playing in Korea for a year or two under similar conditions before going.’

James Corporation grabbed that bait.

“He said he would try to exert some influence so that there could be some revisions to the Korea-U.S. player contract agreement next year. Instead, he wants you to maintain your contract with them until you advance to the United States.”