A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 100

28. Priceless (1)

Mid-season,

The KH Cannons were cruising.

K! H! Cannons!
K! H! Cannons!

It was true that a slight crisis had arrived right after the All-Star break.

Ace Jimmy Morris was temporarily sidelined with elbow pain, and veteran catcher Chun Jin-woo, acquired through a trade, had to spend time in the minor leagues due to a knee injury.

At one point, the KH Cannons suffered their first five-game losing streak of the season, seemingly falling into a serious slump.

-I think it’s an inevitable phenomenon for KH, who has been languishing at the bottom for a long time.

-They have secured players who can be called the core of the offense and defense. However, the depth itself is not yet thick.

-The current KH Cannons are in a situation where the injury of each player is bound to be fatal.

Everyone was talking about a ‘crisis,’ and the prevailing expectation was that KH Cannons’ ‘rebuilding’ would take more time.

What dramatically reversed this situation was the game against the ST Rhinos.

The weekend three-game series, which began with ST coach Lee Seok-ho stirring up a lot of ‘aggro’ [short for aggravation, meaning intentionally provoking or irritating], saw the KH Cannons achieve a series sweep.

[‘Clever tactics’ beat ‘tricks’… KH stages a come-from-behind victory against ST with a surprise starter]

[A high-quality pitching duel on a midsummer night… KH wins a close game 2-1 against ST]

[Is this the team that lost five in a row? … KH sweeps the series with balanced offense and defense]

After the rain, the ground hardens, and after overcoming a crisis, the team becomes stronger.

After sweeping the three-game series against the ST Rhinos, the KH Cannons began to show more stable performance.

Although they didn’t significantly reduce the gap with the top three teams that had been clearly leading since the beginning of the season,

However, they were almost certain to finish 5th in the league, and depending on future developments, they could even aim for 4th place.

In fact, even this level of performance was almost the first in about ten years, so Jisub and Arthur Freeman were given new tasks.

“Okay, Coach! Let’s go one more time! Please make your facial expression a little brighter! 3, 2, 1… Start!”

That was,

Filming a video to be displayed on the KH Cannons Field electronic display board.

“Welcome, KH Cannons Field fans! Thanks to you, our KH Cannons have reached 600,000 spectators this season……”

Arthur Freeman reading the prepared script with an awkward expression.

Jisub, who was standing in front of him holding a sketchbook with the script, had a wry smile on his face.

The marketing team staff who were filming the video were also scratching the back of their heads with embarrassed smiles.

Only Freeman, sensing the strange atmosphere, stopped speaking and tilted his head.

“Jisub, what’s wrong?”

Freeman asked.

“Is my Korean pronunciation that strange? I thought it was pretty good this time?”

“No, Coach.”

Jisub replied with a smile.

“Your pronunciation was really good, to the point where I don’t need to nitpick. However……”

Jisub pointed to the sketchbook he was holding.

“It’s not 500,000 spectators, it’s 600,000 spectators.”

“Oh, my!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Freeman said, gesturing an apology to the filming staff.

The KH Cannons’ veteran coach smacked his lips.

“Oh, this is difficult.”

He said, turning to Jisub.

“As I get older, my sense of numbers is getting worse. I keep getting confused whether it’s 500,000 or 600,000?”

“Oh, it’s not your fault, Coach!”

A marketing team employee, who seemed to have understood Freeman’s words, quickly said this.

“We’re confused these days too. We don’t even know if the video we’re filming now is for breaking 500,000 or 600,000 spectators……”

“Because so many fans are coming,” the marketing team employee continued.

“Weekdays are almost sold out… We’re so busy. We broke 600,000 spectators before we even started the 500,000 spectator event.”

Spectators pouring in like a flood.

The marketing team employee said that this was the first time he had seen this since he joined the company.

“That must be a lot of trouble.”

Freeman clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry for them.

It was at this moment that he took out a card from his wallet.

“Here, take this.”

“T, this is…….”

It was a corporate card.

A black corporate card that only the general manager and coach of KH Cannons had.

Jisub knew it well because he had borrowed it a few times.

“I’ll lend it to you for today, so go and have a nice dinner with the staff after filming.”

“Oh, no, something like this…….”

The marketing team employee looked at Jisub.

When Jisub nodded to mean ‘it’s okay,’ he hesitated and continued.

“T, then how about the coach joining us? It’s a bit much for us to go alone…….”

“Hehe, you don’t mean that.”

Freeman chuckled.

“Go and have a comfortable meal among yourselves. I have someone else to meet today.”

“B, but still…….”

As the marketing team employee hesitated, Freeman turned to Jisub.

“Or, Jisub! How about you go with them? You have to eat dinner too.”

“Oh, that’s right! Let’s go together!”

The marketing team employee’s eyes lit up at Freeman’s suggestion.

“Actually… we’ve been having a lot of arguments with the players over the YouTube video shoot. Jisub gets along well with the players, so…….”

The players are always running away when they see the camera.

How to catch those players and put them in front of the camera.

The marketing team employee seemed to want to ask Jisub’s opinion on this matter, but-

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Jisub slowly shook his head.

“I have a prior engagement today.”

“A prior engagement? You?”

Freeman tilted his head as if he was surprised, and Jisub gave him a wry smile.

“Yes, my family is visiting from home.”

Jisub continued.

“If I go home late today… it will be difficult to avoid my mother’s nagging.”

* * *

The visit of the family from Seoul to Yeongsan.

This was a decision made entirely by Jisub’s mother, Jin Young-hwa.

“There’s no other way, is there? At this rate, I’m going to forget what my son looks like.”

When Jisub returned home from work, Jin Young-hwa opened her mouth with a very cold tone.

“You don’t answer my calls, and even if you do, it’s always ‘I’m busy, Mom,’ ‘I don’t have time, Mom’… Anyway, there’s no use in having a son.”

While saying that, she kept putting the side dishes she had brought from her home on the table one by one.

Jisub, who was sitting at the table, could only scratch the back of his head and give an embarrassed smile.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

Jisub continued, placing the spoon on the table.

“But I was really busy, it’s not a joke. Professional baseball has six games a week, so……”

“Oh my, always that excuse.”

Jin Young-hwa snorted.

“Mom also watches baseball. I know there’s an All-Star break, and I know there’s a game in Seoul on Tuesday… If you had the mind, could you have come home even once since you came down to Yeongsan?”

She seemed very upset that her son rarely came home.

Of course, Jisub had an ally who could help him in times like this.

“Oh my, why is our Jin Young-hwa like this again?”

It was Jisub’s older brother, Kim Ji-chang.

“Mom, just say what you usually say. You usually don’t know how time flies when you’re bragging about your second son… Why are you grabbing him like a mouse when you meet him in person?”

“Kim Ji-chang! When did Mom ever brag about Jisub…….”

Jin Young-hwa glared at her eldest son, but Kim Ji-chang was not one to be affected by that level of attack.

“Hey, Jisub! Don’t even talk about it! You know what Mom does these days? She sends me captured broadcasts every day, saying you were on TV.”

“As if it’s a big deal that the manager’s translator is on TV,” Kim Ji-chang shook his head.

“Do you know that’s not all? Was it Sports Hanseong… You had an article about you last time, right? How much did she nag me to get a newspaper back then…….”

“…….”

“How many places are there these days that have newspapers to put out and sell? I ended up going all the way to the subway station below to buy a newspaper that day? Mom clipped it and hung it on the wall.”

Kim Ji-chang’s testimony continued for a while after that.

That Jin Young-hwa searches for ‘Kim Jisub’ on portal sites every morning.

That these days, even when she has meetings with neighborhood women, she always has them at the time of baseball broadcasts.

“……Why do you have meetings at that time?”

“So she can brag. That our second son is next to the Cannons coach.”

“……Kim Ji-chang!!!”

Kim’s eldest son’s exposé was stopped only after Jin Young-hwa’s ‘back smack’ came out.

Kim Ji-chang, who was groaning ‘Ayayaya,’ suddenly thought of something and turned his gaze to the opposite side.

“Ah, that’s right. Dad!”

“Hmm?”

Jisub’s father, Kim Bong-seop, who had been quietly scooping soup even in this commotion.

He raised his head.

“Why.”

“Didn’t you say you had something to ask Jisub when you met him?”

“Father?”

Jisub blinked.

It was a bit unexpected.

“…….”

Former violent crimes detective Kim Bong-seop.

Since retiring a few years ago, he has been doing volunteer work in various places or helping with his mother’s store.

That kind of father had rarely asked Jisub for anything in his life.

“Something you want to ask me… What is it, Father?”

“No, you must be hungry, eat first.”

While saying that, the father slides the plate full of meat dishes towards Jisub.

Jisub looked at his father and continued.

“I can eat while listening to the story. What is it, Father?”

“Ah, that, that’s…….”

It seemed very awkward for the father to ask his son for something.

He scratched his cheek with his finger, and coughed ‘ahem, ahem.’

Then, he barely utters a word.

“Your team. KH Cannons… I was wondering if I could get a ticket.”

“A ticket?”

“Yeah, it’s not for me to go…….”

The father hesitated and continued.

“I have a senior named Kang Myung-gil among my seniors. We worked together when I was at Songpa Station.”

“Ah, I know Uncle Myung-gil.”

Jisub nodded.

“The one who goes to volunteer at the orphanage with Father these days… that person, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Actually, that senior’s hometown is Gyeonggi-do Yeongsan.”

“Ah.”

“These days, his hometown baseball team is doing well, so he seems to want to watch a game with his wife…….”

“You know,” the father smiled wryly.

“These days, getting a baseball stadium ticket requires a computer… it’s not easy for people like us.”

“Ah, I see.”

A world where most ticket reservations are only possible through the Internet.

In addition, popular games like the Cannons’ home games require ‘clicking like crazy’ at the ticket opening time.

It was true that it had become difficult for older people to get tickets.

“So I was wondering if I could get a ticket through you…….”

“Can I ask you a favor?” the father asked Jisub.