A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 37

## A Rookie in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 37

Chapter 11: Can I Trust Him? (4)

According to baseball rules, a pitcher throws the ball from the mound.

The height of the mound is about 10 inches, or 25.4cm.

You can’t really feel it on the broadcast screen, but when you actually go and stand there, that 10-inch height is quite something.

I can look down at our team’s catcher, look down at the opposing team’s batter, and, of course, look down at the umpire who judges strikes and balls.

Maybe it’s because they work in such a ‘work environment,’ but pitchers are basically arrogant.

They have high opinions of themselves, strong pride, and hate being swayed by other people’s words.

Most of the pitchers I met in the independent league were like that, so a pitcher with 80 career wins in the major leagues would be even worse, right?

That was Ji-seop’s conclusion.

“A clumsy threat won’t work.”

It was about Jimmy Morris, the new foreign pitcher for the KH Cannons.

“If we threaten to report to the higher-ups, we can stop the broadcast itself. But there’s a high possibility that he’ll be even more eccentric and slack off because we interfered with him.”

“……He’s the type to do that.”

I understand.

Go Chang-deok nodded.

“As you said, I’ll look into Jimmy Morris’s activities between January 28th and February 8th.”

It was the spring training camp period, so news articles were pouring out, and training logs were uploaded to the KH Cannons intranet every day.

Go Chang-deok’s opinion was that if they looked into that, they could find a clue somehow.

“However…….”

Go Chang-deok clicked his tongue.

“If that happens, you’ll have to handle Jimmy Morris’s interpretation work all by yourself… Are you okay with that?”

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

Ji-seop shrugged his shoulders.

“He’s the type who falls asleep after broadcasting until 3 or 4 in the morning. He’ll be so drowsy during the day that he won’t even hear what people are saying to him.”

Ji-seop raised one corner of his mouth.

“Even if I interpret that he’s making *meju* [fermented soybean blocks] out of red beans, that guy will just nod his head and say, ‘Oh, really?'”

“……I guess.”

Go Chang-deok gave a bitter smile.

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

* * *

Ji-seop’s prediction was once again far off the mark.

The next day at 8 a.m., Ji-seop faced Jimmy Morris again in the hotel’s second-floor restaurant.

“What, are you alone today?”

Appearing with dark circles that reached his knees, he looked at Ji-seop with a displeased expression.

But that was only for a moment. Once a warm breakfast entered his stomach, Jimmy Morris quickly turned into a nodding ‘sick chicken’ [a Korean idiom for someone who is constantly nodding off].

“Mr. Morris, the reason I tried to enter Mr. Morris’s room last night was…….”

“…….”

“…It wasn’t my intention, but I unintentionally invaded Mr. Morris’s privacy…….”

“…….”

“……Mr. Morris?”

“…….”

“Hey, are you asleep?”

Of course, it wasn’t like he didn’t participate in training at all.

He seemed to be moving his body diligently when warming up before training started, and he was opening his eyes drowsily when the coach presided over meetings on the ground.

However, after a simple conditioning training session and as preparations began for a practice game against a Korean professional baseball team visiting the KH home stadium-

“……Snore.”

Jimmy Morris was almost in sleep mode.

If he were an ordinary player, anyone would have stepped up and given him a scolding, but one way or another, Jimmy Morris was a veteran pitcher with 86 major league wins.

Rather than scolding him, the coaches were clicking their tongues with worried looks.

“Oh my, that guy… He must not have slept well last night either.”

“If he doesn’t get enough sleep, he could get injured… This is a big problem, really.”

The coaches didn’t bother to wake him up, so the players were in an atmosphere of ‘I guess he’s always like that’ and left him alone.

Thanks to this, Ji-seop was spending a leisurely afternoon without saying a word, despite his role as a ‘dedicated interpreter,’ but-

Thwack!

Was it the top of the 3rd inning, or the top of the 4th inning?

It was when the opposing team’s cleanup hitter hit a double that completely split the left-center field off the Cannons’ starting pitcher.

“Damn it, what’s he trying to do by going into a breaking ball battle at this timing? The opposing batter wasn’t catching any feel for the fastball timing.”

The voice came from right next to me.

“Anyway, this team’s catchers’ ball distribution is really unbearable. How are they getting paid with such skills…….”

It was Jimmy Morris.

The guy who had been sleeping with drool on his face until just now was suddenly watching the game with his eyes narrowed.

“What?”

Feeling someone’s gaze, Jimmy Morris turned to Ji-seop and glared sharply.

“Why? Do you have something to say to me?”

“No.”

Ji-seop waved his hand, and Jimmy Morris lightly snorted and turned his head.

He was still making an arrogant and rude expression, but as a result of ‘staring’ intently at his eyes, the inner thoughts that were heard were a bit strange.

[I was expecting this guy to be a bit more understanding since he’s a pitcher, but… I guess he’s just another thoughtless guy.]

*I guess he’s just another thoughtless guy.*

He had quite a brazen inner thought for a pitcher who had been up all night doing internet broadcasts.

‘What is this guy?’

Wondering what he was thinking, Ji-seop ‘stared’ intently at Jimmy Morris’s eyes.

The next moment, Ji-seop was able to get his hands on a clue for Go Chang-deok’s full-time job conversion.

[……Boring.]

And then one more word followed.

[If I had known it would be like this, I shouldn’t have sent Edwin away.]

Edwin.

*Edwin, huh.*

* * *

The name ‘Edwin’ came to Jimmy Morris’s mind.

Ji-seop was even thinking of asking Morris himself, ‘Who is that?’, but as a result, there was no need to do so.

“Edwin, Edwin Gonzales.”

That evening, Go Chang-deok, who had been investigating Morris’s activities all day, mentioned his name.

“He joined the Cannons as Jimmy Morris’s personal instructor… But he went back to the United States around the time you mentioned, Ji-seop.”

“A personal instructor?”

“Yeah.”

Go Chang-deok nodded.

“According to the international affairs team seniors, he would catch Morris’s balls, give him various advice… He was doing something like that.”

“Was doing?”

“When I investigated, it seems like it was a deeper relationship than just an ‘instructor’.”

They were high school classmates.

Go Chang-deok gave a bitter smile.

“When Morris was a minor leaguer, he would help him train during the off-season… But since he became a major leaguer, he seems to have taken care of all sorts of miscellaneous things by his side.”

Helping with training was basic.

He also negotiated with agents on behalf of Morris.

In addition to tax issues, accommodation issues, troubles with teammates, and even relationships with women.

The superficial title was ‘personal instructor,’ but in reality, he was like a ‘mother’ to major leaguer Jimmy Morris, the explanation added.

“A friend like a mother…….”

Ji-seop felt like all the pieces were falling into place.

A friend who had been working together since high school.

A friend who helped a baseball-knowing idiot to act like a human being.

That friend happened to leave his side when he joined an unfamiliar Korean professional team.

‘Did Jimmy Morris suddenly resume broadcasting because… he didn’t have a friend to talk to?’

Perhaps the ‘viewers’ beyond the internet screen were considered more friendly to Morris than his Korean teammates, who didn’t communicate well.

The anxiety from an unfamiliar environment and the loneliness of not having a friend by his side would have been forgotten a little while broadcasting.

As his thoughts reached this point, Ji-seop couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated.

“Why did Jimmy Morris send that friend back to the United States? Isn’t that friend’s help most desperately needed now?”

“No, Morris couldn’t help it from his point of view…….”

Go Chang-deok licked his dry lips once with his tongue.

“It seems that the friend named Edwin received a good offer in the United States.”

“A good offer?”

“Don’t you know, Ji-seop? There are training centers run by agent companies in the United States.”

“There are quite a few.”

Ji-seop, who had been wandering around the independent league, couldn’t even dream of such a place, but famous major leaguers often trained at such training centers.

“A fairly large training center in the United States… offered Edwin a mental coaching position.”

“…….”

“Wouldn’t it have been a bit ambiguous for Morris to stop him if this happened?”

Go Chang-deok shrugged his shoulders.

“If he is recognized for his abilities at such a training center, it’s not a dream to enter a major league team in the future.”

“Morris is really… an unlucky guy.”

That was Ji-seop’s impression.

“What’s with that timing that his friend gets such an offer just when he joins a Korean professional team.”

“Well, that’s true, but…….”

Go Chang-deok sat up straight and continued.

“The problem is… how to improve Jimmy Morris’s condition, right?”

Go Chang-deok asked with a serious expression, but Ji-seop’s face was very relaxed.

“Isn’t the method already out there?”

“It’s out there?”

“Yes.”

Ji-seop nodded.

“Isn’t the key that Morris is not adapting to the new environment?”

Because the new team is unfamiliar.

Because the new colleagues are awkward.

As he searched for a space that was even a little familiar and comfortable, the place he ended up crawling into was the internet broadcast.

“Then… all you have to do is attach a suitable friend to Morris.”

“A suitable friend.”

Go Chang-deok stroked his chin.

“The conditions seem quite demanding.”

“Is that so?”

“You know it when you see it. Morris.”

Go Chang-deok counted his fingers.

“First of all, he’s incredibly rude.”

“That’s right.”

“He doesn’t really like hanging out with other people.”

“That’s right.”

“Besides, I don’t know if Ji-seop caught it, but…….”

Go Chang-deok clicked his tongue.

“Morris doesn’t even see players who can’t play baseball as human beings.”

“Yes, after experiencing it today, I can’t deny that there is such an aspect.”

But that’s right.

It was at this moment that a strange smile appeared on Ji-seop’s lips.

“Isn’t there someone we know… who is similar to Morris?”

“Someone similar to Morris?”

“They say friends resemble each other, so I thought that if you put similar guys together, they might become good friends.”

“Wait a minute, who are you talking about…….”

Basically rude.

He doesn’t like hanging out with people.

Also, a terrible human being who doesn’t even see players who can’t play baseball as human beings.

“……Ah.”

Go Chang-deok’s appearance as he smiled at Ji-seop.

It was immediately after that that he took his cell phone out of his pocket and made a call somewhere.

-Hello.

The voice heard over the cell phone speaker.

Go Chang-deok cleared his throat and greeted the other person.

“Yeah, it’s Chang-deok *hyung* [older brother or male friend]…….”

Go Chang-deok looked at Ji-seop and continued.

“Jang-ho, are you free tomorrow?”