A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 315

As Jisub reached for the doorknob of lecture room 302B, he was careful not to make too much noise.

He remembered university lecture halls as having the quiet atmosphere of a mountain temple.

‘Isn’t that how universities usually are?’

It might have been a little different during the semester, but it was especially true at the beginning when everyone was still finding their footing.

An atmosphere where even the sound of a pencil dropping could be heard clearly.

An atmosphere where everyone kept their mouths shut and stared intently at their phone screens.

In such a setting, barging in with a loud crash would be a bit embarrassing.

So, Jisub tried to enter the lecture hall as quietly as a ghost, but-

“Ah! That’s right, that’s right! I remember now, I remember! You were that person back then, weren’t you?”

“It’s so nice to meet you like this! Wow, it’s a small world! Don’t you think?!”

The atmosphere inside lecture room 302B was very different from what Jisub had expected.

The facilities themselves were similar to Jisub’s old alma mater, but about 20 people were gathered around the podium.

Everyone had bright expressions, some were even being a bit exaggerated, and they were chatting in a truly friendly atmosphere.

‘…How strange.’

Jisub couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, whether it was a cultural difference between Korea and the United States, or a difference between undergraduate classes and the MBA program.

He just found it amazing that people could chat so cheerfully with each other when meeting for the first time.

What was even more amazing was that among these sociable people, there was someone who recognized Jisub.

“Kim? Are you perhaps Kim?”

It was a woman who was leading the conversation most actively among the people.

She looked almost six feet tall (180cm), with striking thick eyebrows and sharp eyes.

She quickly checked something on her phone, then rushed towards Jisub.

“That’s right, Kim! Tampa Bay Rays, Future Strategy Planning Department!”

She laughed heartily, her uvula visible.

“Nice to meet you, Kim! I’m Christine. I work for the Boston Red Sox.”

“Ah, you’re the one from the Baseball R&D team that I heard about….”

Ronnie Cordell from Baltimore had given him a little hint, so Jisub knew her name.

However, one question remained: how did she know him?

This Caucasian woman, who resembled a lion, seemed to immediately grasp Jisub’s question.

“Ryu! You know him, right? Our Boston Red Sox’s pride, the hot guy!”

“Ah, Jangho?”

“Yes, Ryu Jangho has told me a lot about you, Kim. He said that Ryu’s Major League debut wouldn’t have been possible without you… Is that really true?”

‘What is this guy saying again?’

Jisub was secretly pleased but also a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, he didn’t have to answer.

As soon as Christine mentioned Ryu Jangho, people rushed over to her.

“Christine, what’s going on? You weren’t leaking information about Ryu, were you?”

“Wait, wait! This is awkward! You said you didn’t know anything when I asked you earlier!”

Two people were particularly sensitive to the name ‘Ryu Jangho.’

Without even asking, Jisub could guess who they were.

‘American League East… The people assigned to the same team as me.’

One must be a special advisor to the Yankees’ general manager, and the other must be a media relations officer for Toronto.

As Jisub was guessing who was who, Christine from Boston seemed to have finished explaining the situation to the two.

“Hmm, that’s an interesting story. Ryu’s like a brother to you, and you’re affiliated with the Tampa Bay Rays.”

“Christine, didn’t Boston make a big mistake? It’s like they’ve had all the information about Ryu stolen, isn’t it?”

After saying a word each, the two turned their gaze to Jisub as if they had made a promise.

“Nice to meet you, Kim. My name is Nicholas Vyner II, and I work for the New York Yankees.”

It was the greeting of a Caucasian man with slightly receding hair.

“Hey, Kim! It’s an honor to know you! I’m George. I’m the only Canadian here!”

It was the greeting of a Hispanic man with an impressive ponytail.

“Yes, nice to meet you too.”

Jisub’s lips curled into a slight smile at the unexpectedly friendly reaction.

‘Good people.’

However, he wasn’t completely letting his guard down.

They were smiling brightly, greeting him politely, but they were all promising prospects recognized by their respective teams.

Surely, behind those friendly faces, there would be sharp edges.

‘To extract information from these people… It might not be easy.’

As he was thinking that and starting to chat lightly, the opportunity to confirm their ‘sharp edges’ came surprisingly quickly.

“Oh my! Everyone’s here?”

A plump shadow appeared as the lecture room door burst open.

It was Kevin Prior, a professor of business administration at Fort Myers University.

“Haha, it seems like there are a lot of people because it’s the last orientation! Everyone, sit down! Sit down!”

‘Oh, I’m tired.’

Just as Professor Prior put his hands on his knees and struggled to get onto the podium, Jisub could see the American League East people’s eyes change, even if it was just for a fleeting moment.

[It’s the professor.]

[It’s Professor Prior.]

[I have to impress him this semester, right?]

The inner thoughts were different, but everyone had sharp eyes.

* * *

To be honest,

Jisub didn’t really know how great Professor Kevin Prior was.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he didn’t feel it in his bones [didn’t truly understand or appreciate it].

He had heard a lot of things, like that he was a well-known figure in the industry, that Major League general managers respected him, and so on, but he had rarely seen him in person.

‘To be blunt, wasn’t the person he introduced to me in the past just John Laramie…?’

Could it be that he was famous for being famous?

Could it be that everyone was mistaken because he was so good with words?

Jisub couldn’t say it out loud, but he couldn’t help but think that way—but that day, Jisub found out.

How the people in the industry thought of Professor Kevin Prior.

“Looking at the list, there are friends who came all the way from LA, and friends who came from San Francisco… Haha, are you all okay? You have to come to school at least once every two weeks, right?”

The fact that students came from all over the United States to listen to his lectures was certainly surprising.

However, what left a stronger impression on Jisub was the inner thoughts of the American League East people looking at such a professor.

[Coming all the way here from New York is definitely tough… But if I get to know Professor Prior, it’s definitely worth it.]

That was Nicholas’s inner thought.

[I need a reliable mentor to move one step further up from here. And if I want to get a mentor… Going through Professor Prior is the best.]

That was Christine’s inner thought.

[If I get recognized by the professor even once, he’ll push me so hard it’s ridiculous, right? Okay, I’ll do whatever it takes to impress the professor…]

Lastly, George’s inner thought.

‘Wow, this is no joke?’

People were listening intently to the professor’s words, not wanting to miss a single one.

Looking at those eyes full of respect, Jisub was starting to regret his past squabbles with the professor.

‘At least I should have apologized when I beat the Yankees, right?’

If he had known he was such a great person, he would have treated him more respectfully.

While Jisub was having these trivial thoughts, the atmosphere in the lecture hall was becoming more serious.

The story of the long-standing tradition of the Fort Myers University MBA program, the ‘Level Test,’ was beginning to emerge.

“Well, I think I’ll have the people who attended today’s orientation do a ‘mock draft.’”

As Professor Kevin Prior touched the laptop keyboard, the lecture slide content changed.

“I’ve uploaded a file to the lecture portal site. If you download it, you’ll see a list of promising players. There are 100 in total.”

It was said to be a list of actual players who aimed to go pro about 10 years ago.

Some of them entered the pros, some failed, and some went pro and then decided to retire.

“What you have to do is pick the best 10 players out of these 100 players. You’re making a draft.”

The professor continued.

“You can use any method you want. You can search the internet, you can call someone in the field… Originally, player drafts are done by mobilizing all sorts of methods. But submit the draft results as a team.”

If an assignment was given, there had to be evaluation criteria for it.

“If you submit your draft results today, I will announce the total WAR [Wins Above Replacement, a baseball statistic] of the actual players around the day after tomorrow. Then we’ll know which team made the best draft, right?”

Alright, let’s get started!

Ask if you have any questions!

As Kevin Prior clapped his hands, a tense atmosphere descended into the lecture hall.

The professor kept saying ‘Don’t feel pressured,’ but it was impossible for the students to do so.

[Internet search is allowed, right? Then first, if I put in the data…]

[You can ask someone in the field? Let’s see, who would be good to call?]

The report was to be submitted as a team, but it was impossible to start discussing from the beginning.

First, the students downloaded the data uploaded to the lecture portal site and looked at the list of promising players.

And before long, deep sighs began to come from all over the lecture hall.

“This… doesn’t seem like a Major League prospect list, does it?”

“Right? It doesn’t seem like there’s any matching data even if you search the pipeline [player database].”

“Wait a minute, if it’s not Major League, then where is it? Damn it, it’s going to be really hard to search if this is the case….”

A much more difficult task than initially expected.

Jisub also opened the downloaded list and was lost in thought when-

“Excuse me… Professor?”

Ronnie Cordell, who was sitting next to Jisub, raised his hand.

“Yes, what is it?”

“The player on the very last page of the list, you put an asterisk next to only that player’s name… Is there any special meaning to it?”

At Ronnie Cordell’s words, the students all rolled their mouse wheels at once.

Since there were 100 players, it seemed that almost no one had checked the last page yet.

“Ah, are you talking about this player?”

The professor, who checked the player on the laptop of the student next to him, gave a mysterious smile.

“There’s no big meaning. I just marked it because I was bored while preparing the assignment, so don’t worry about it.”

“B, bored?”

At the professor’s incomprehensible words, Ronnie Cordell and the other students tilted their heads.

However, there was one student whose eyebrows twitched the moment he saw the player’s data.

‘Wait a minute, what is this?’

It was Jisub.

‘Player number 100, position is pitcher, age is 22, height is 187cm and weight is 96kg….’

Even just reading this far, the data felt very familiar.

And the decisive blow came after that.

‘The highest velocity is… 128km/h [approximately 80 mph]?’

The moment he identified who the protagonist of the data was, Jisub was reminded of the story he had heard from the Toronto employee a little while ago.

[I have to get the professor’s recognition no matter what.]

To be exact, it was his inner thought.

[Once you get recognized, he’ll push you so hard it’s ridiculous, right?]

That word,

It seemed to be true.