A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 322

A Rookie in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 322

A Rookie in the Baseball Team is Too Good 322

Chapter 76: Do You Even Eat? (6)

A few days later.

Jiseop’s colleague, David Wilson, was visiting Durham, North Carolina.

It was to gather information about Julio Arcos from the home of the Durham Bulls, a Triple-A team under the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Hmm, Julio, huh….”

Julio Arcos had been the cleanup hitter for this team for the past two years, but it wasn’t easy to find someone who was personally close to him.

After a long search, David found a shabby steakhouse near the Durham Bulls’ home stadium.

The restaurant owner, who had often shared drinks with Julio Arcos, greeted David Wilson with a peculiar smile.

“Well, it doesn’t seem easy to imagine Julio doing his best… Honestly, it’s hard to picture.”

The owner continued, wiping a glass with a dry towel.

“Julio was the least ambitious guy I’ve ever met among the players.”

“Unambitious?”

“Yeah. He didn’t seem to have much desire to go to the major leagues. Nor did he seem to want to perform exceptionally well in Triple-A.”

The owner put down the neatly wiped glass.

“Training moderately, playing in games moderately, and then, after work, coming to our restaurant for a moderately priced steak… He said that was the only joy in his life.”

“Yeah, right there.”

The owner pointed to a narrow table attached to the counter with his chin, and David Wilson stared at it for a moment before turning his head.

“Is he perhaps… a trust fund kid or something?”

“Huh?”

“Julio, I mean.”

David narrowed his eyes.

“Doesn’t he have a lot of wealth to inherit from his parents, or did he hit the jackpot with stocks or crypto… Didn’t you hear anything like that? That’s the only possibility I see.”

“Well, I don’t remember hearing anything like that.”

What David Wilson heard next was quite unfamiliar to him.

“But even if I don’t know much… Isn’t Julio Arcos a pretty successful baseball player?”

A successful baseball player.

David Wilson tilted his head, but it didn’t seem like the owner was joking.

“Since he comes to our restaurant so often, I got curious and looked him up a few times. That Julio guy, he seemed to have played as a starter in the major leagues at one point.”

“That’s… true.”

David Wilson was the most accurate when it came to player records.

“He played for the Milwaukee Brewers for about three years. Before he got injured, he was a decent defensive outfielder.”

“Right? I saw it correctly.”

“But you can’t call him a successful baseball player just because of that, can you? His total salary for three years was only about $2 million.”

Three full years in the major leagues didn’t even qualify him for free agency, let alone salary arbitration [a process where a player and team argue their respective valuations to determine salary].

Not being eligible for salary arbitration meant he had to accept the minimum salary level offered by the team.

In this light, it was a bit far from the word ‘success’.

But right then, a subtle smile appeared on the owner’s face.

“Haha, as expected of someone from a major league team… Your standards for success are incredibly high, aren’t they?”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. $2 million? That’s not a small amount of money, is it?”

The owner seemed excited just thinking about it.

“There are players in the major leagues who earn hundreds of millions of dollars, but for ordinary people like us, $2 million is a lot of money, isn’t it? Honestly, I’m not sure if I can make that much money even if I grill steaks here my whole life.”

“…….”

“Me too. From a fan’s perspective, I don’t always like Julio’s attitude. But looking at it as one person’s life… it doesn’t seem too bad.”

Saving the money he’s already earned little by little and doing what he enjoys.

The steakhouse owner seemed to be looking at Julio Arcos from that perspective.

“Julio may seem a bit sloppy on the outside, but he’s actually a very frugal guy.”

“You mean he saves money?”

“Of course, that guy doesn’t even have a car. He doesn’t have any other hobbies besides baseball, and as you heard earlier, he eats at this shabby steakhouse.”

“…….”

“Life is only once, and it’s good to be a top star and receive glamorous spotlights, but living a simple life enjoying modest pleasures without overdoing it like Julio…”

Isn’t it pretty good?

That was the last thing the steakhouse owner said to David Wilson that day.

* * *

The next day, in the afternoon.

David Wilson, having finished his business trip to Durham Bulls, was returning to Tropicana Field with a heavy expression.

‘Seriously, what is going on…’

He was on his way back after meeting a few more of Julio Arcos’ acquaintances thanks to the steakhouse owner.

There was a long-time fan of the Durham Bulls, an enthusiastic supporter of the Tampa Bay Rays (a rare breed), and someone who wasn’t interested in baseball but was captivated by the glass of wine Julio occasionally bought him.

Anyway, people of different ages, genders, and interests, but their answers were all the same.

Julio Arcos,

Is satisfied with his current life.

He didn’t have any family to support, and he didn’t spend extravagantly, so he said he had no financial difficulties.

The Durham Bulls were a relatively popular team for Triple-A, so he felt a considerable sense of satisfaction as a baseball player.

Above all, he was grateful that he could make a decent amount of money while doing what he loved most: baseball.

“…….”

Listening to people’s stories, David Wilson had all sorts of thoughts in his head.

He wondered how there could be such a person in the major leagues, which is famous for its fierce competition.

He was envious of his natural talent for producing top-level Triple-A results with only one hour of training a day.

At some point, the thought that began to fill his head was this.

‘Living like Julio might not be so bad… No, no.’

David Wilson shook his head vigorously.

‘It doesn’t matter how Julio thinks about his life. Anyway, we have to bring that guy up to the number 3 hitter.’

According to what he had confirmed on the way back from his business trip, the Tampa Bay Rays’ position player trade was already becoming a foregone conclusion in the baseball world.

Since no suitable replacement for Paul Torres had appeared yet, the analysis was that a trade announcement would be made soon.

At this rate, it seemed like they would be making a significantly losing deal, so David Wilson had no choice but to be on high alert.

‘I need to find a solution, but how…’

Far from coming up with a solution, he didn’t even have anything to report to the future strategy planning department right now.

Even the usually sharp David Wilson’s pace was slowing down as he headed to the office, when suddenly.

Thwack!

Thwaaaack!

A strong hitting sound coming from the indoor training facility.

Even at this point, David Wilson couldn’t have imagined.

‘This hitting sound… is it Alex?’

Alex Montero. The Tampa Bay Rays’ starting catcher and, with Paul Torres gone, almost the only reliable hitter on the team.

‘It sounds a bit rough for Alex… Who is it?’

Without much thought, David Wilson peeked inside the indoor training facility through the half-open door.

And the next moment, his eyes widened.

“?!!”

It was Julio Arcos.

The designated hitter who was enjoying a leisurely life alone in the fierce major leagues.

The fact that he was hitting in the indoor training facility itself wasn’t a big deal, but what surprised David Wilson was Julio Arcos’ appearance after finishing a session.

“Look, Julio! Your ball speed has definitely improved, right? The numbers are right there!”

“Hmm, I see. The feeling of hitting the bat was similar… but there’s a difference in the numbers?”

Julio Arcos stared at the tablet PC shown by the baseball operations department, then walked back into the batting cage.

What surprised David Wilson even more was John Llama’s comment standing next to the training facility.

“Julio, wait a minute! Let’s finish the batting practice here! Doing it for too long isn’t good for your body.”

Too… long?

David Wilson had a blank expression.

“And isn’t it almost time for the meeting? Kim and the hitting coach have been waiting since earlier, so why don’t you go now?”

“Oh, is that so? Well, it wouldn’t be polite to be late for the first meeting, would it?”

Okay, okay.

Following John Llama’s instructions, Julio Arcos put down the training bat and walked to the shower room.

With the situation like this, David Wilson had no choice but to run to John Llama, regardless of his pride.

“Hey, Llama! Llama!”

He couldn’t even think of saying something to provoke John Llama as usual.

“What the heck… is going on? Why is Julio suddenly training?”

* * *

To David Wilson, who had run over with surprised rabbit eyes, John Llama shrugged and replied.

“Hey, David! Shouldn’t you be getting a sense of it by now?”

“Huh?”

“The people in the baseball operations department noticed it without me explaining, didn’t they? Something unbelievable happened in our Tampa Bay? Then nine times out of ten…”

It’s Kim.

Kim did it.

At John Llama’s words, David Wilson narrowed his brow slightly.

“No, I had a similar thought, but how on earth did he change that hopeless guy’s mind…”

Ah.

David Wilson snapped his fingers.

“Food? A taste of home? Did the food made with the recipe he received from that ‘mentor’ have some effect?”

“It’s similar… but no. Kim tried to serve Julio that ‘taste of home’ or whatever yesterday, but it was a complete failure.”

John Llama chuckled.

“David didn’t know? Kim is terrible at cooking? Yesterday was the first time I realized that there are people who actually confuse salt and sugar.”

“Salt and sugar?”

David Wilson tilted his head.