A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 376

야구단 신입이 너무 잘함 376화

85. Dog Fight (4)

An uneasy feeling,

Always comes true.

This time was no exception.

Ding-

Around 4 a.m. the next day.

A message from John Rahma arrived on Ji-seop’s phone.

‘……What is this?’

It was about tickets.

World Series tickets.

He said that exactly an hour ago, a large number of World Series tickets were posted on major secondary ticket sites in the United States.

Everyone was talking about the 3rd, 4th, and 5th game tickets; the home game tickets that Tampa Bay fans were so desperately looking for, were suddenly registered.

‘Wait a minute… really?’

Ji-seop, who barely regained his mind, hurriedly accessed the link sent by John Rahma, but the situation had already ended.

It seemed that nearly thousands of tickets had been posted, but all Ji-seop, who accessed late, could see was a gray [Sold Out] sign.

Who were the people who snatched the tickets posted at 3 a.m. like ghosts?

Ji-seop was able to identify them through the comments left on several pages.

-Wow, thank you for the cool deal 😉

-I was worried because all the auction sites were sold out, but now I just need to find a flight to Florida!!

-Hurry up, the price of flights to Tampa is rising in real time.

-Oh, thank you! Let’s go Phillies!!

-My Red Stripers!! [A nickname for the Phillies, referencing their uniform stripes]

It seemed that most of the people who grabbed the tickets were fans of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ji-seop, who had been completely awake from his sleep, hurriedly accessed the internet channels of Tampa Bay fans.

And before long, he was able to feel the tremendous anger of Tampa Bay Rays fans.

-FUXX!! Who the hell is it? What crazy bastard put up the tickets at 3 a.m.?

-If it’s just one or two tickets, I can understand, but it’s strange that thousands of tickets are posted at dawn, isn’t it?

-Hey, what’s even weirder is the Philly fans! Looking at the comments, most of the people who bought the tickets were from Philadelphia?

-Really? What the hell? How did these guys know and buy the tickets?!

It was from this point that Tampa Bay’s enthusiastic fans became busy in the early hours of the morning when the darkness was still thick.

They searched the Philadelphia fans’ bulletin boards like crazy, and posted the account of the secondary seller who posted the tickets on the internet.

Some, unable to contain their anger, went to the Philadelphia fan page and bickered, and some quick-witted ones sent tip-off emails to the media.

“Oh my, this is something…”

Several hours later.

The news that Phillies fans had snatched most of the home game tickets was also being reported to Tampa Bay front office staff.

An all-team meeting was held to prepare for the World Series.

The faces of the employees who entered the conference room early were all shadowed.

“What on earth is going on? Phillies fans have taken all of our home game tickets.”

“From what I’ve heard, it seems that our ticket brokers have failed to collect tickets. It seems that all the partner companies and related organizations… handed over the tickets to brokers hired by the Phillies.”

“Is that true? Those people are really too much! How long have we been working together…”

“That’s what I’m saying. I thought the management of partner companies was going well, but maybe that’s not the case.”

People in the corporate partnership management department sighed deeply as they shared this story.

“Hey, what did I say? I told you there’s no good in getting involved with ticket brokers. Ticket sales should just be done according to the rules…”

“Have you forgotten that the stands were empty even during the postseason because we followed those rules? How much did the Tropicana Field advertising rate drop at that time?”

“That’s true, but… if this matter gets out, the advertising rate will drop anyway, won’t it?”

“Th, that’s… Damn it, we should move the home stadium. At this rate, there’s really no answer.”

These were the marketing department people, scratching their heads nervously as they talked about this.

In addition, people from the public cooperation department, the finance department, and the stadium operation department were seriously talking about this matter.

“Haa, this is going to be difficult.”

Among them, the most serious atmosphere was being created in the baseball operations department.

“Well, in fact, our team’s players haven’t really enjoyed much of a home advantage from the beginning… but if the opponent is the Phillies, it’s a different story.”

It was what a team leader-level person from the baseball operations department said to Ji-seop as if complaining.

“The Phillies fans’ support is… on another level, isn’t it? If they take over Tropicana Field, it will have a significant negative impact on our players’ performance.”

In fact, the Washington Nationals, which belong to the same division as Philadelphia, have suffered from the ‘Philligans’ [A derogatory term combining ‘Phillies’ and ‘hooligans’] for many years.

Unable to withstand their vicious cheering culture, the club even tried to stop them from entering.

He added that because all sorts of methods were in vain, they eventually allowed only people with addresses in Washington to reserve tickets.

“Maybe we should have tried that method as well. We would have been criticized a bit, but we could have made the atmosphere at the stadium even…”

Ji-seop was also feeling a bit frustrated as he looked at his colleague, who was giving a bitter smile.

‘Damn it, it’s difficult.’

Ji-seop, who will soon be filling three years as a front office member, felt that the baseball team’s work was becoming more and more difficult.

I couldn’t even imagine it when I was a player. I never knew there was such a complex mechanism in ticket sales. And that you could use that mechanism to put pressure on the opposing team.

I guess that’s why people highly valued General Manager Oznovich, and that’s why Professor Kevin Prior told me to be prepared for a dog fight.

Of course, that wasn’t all.

‘Hmm, does this mean we have to go all-in on Games 1 and 2?’

Since Ji-seop had only held a baseball in his life, the solution came from the baseball side.

‘Phillies fans are famous for their enthusiastic support, but I heard that their reaction when the Phillies don’t do well is no joke.’

That’s what I was thinking.

If we can secure Games 1 and 2 for sure, the atmosphere of the Phillies fans who come to Games 3, 4, and 5 will be quite different.

If those infamous Philligans start glaring, the Phillies players will feel a lot of pressure.

‘Yeah, that’s the right way to do it, but…’

The problem was that the Philadelphia Phillies would be thinking the same thing.

It’s a short-term game. Taking the initiative is important. That’s why both teams are putting up their ace cards in Game 1.

In this situation, is there a way to secure victory for sure? Ji-seop was not able to easily come to a conclusion at this time.

A lifeline came down to Ji-seop,

No, to the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Good morning, everyone.”

It was CEO Brian Spon.

The head of the Tampa Bay Rays front office appeared with R. J. Higgins, vice president of marketing.

“Oh my, the weather is nice and sunny today… Why is the atmosphere in the conference room so stuffy? Did something happen to everyone?”

The CEO sat in the middle seat with a relaxed expression.

Up until this point, the Tampa Bay front office people were sighing lowly.

“Mr. President, have you… not heard?”

As expected, the baseball operations department was the first to speak up.

“The 3rd, 4th, and 5th game tickets, I mean our home game tickets. There’s a rumor going around that they’ve been passed on to Phillies fans…”

“Ah, is that why?”

CEO Brian Spon simply nodded with a faint smile and said nothing more.

Instead of him, Higgins, the vice president of marketing, stood up straight and faced the front office staff.

“You don’t have to worry too much about the World Series tickets.”

He continued.

“It is true that Phillies fans have occupied a significant portion of the tickets. But it will be a similar proportion to usual. There won’t be much difference.”

“If it’s a similar proportion to usual… are you saying that our Tampa Bay has secured 35%?”

Unfortunately, that was the reality.

The Tampa Bay Rays, one of the least popular teams in Major League Baseball.

Their usual home attendance rate is about 35% of the total attendance.

To the employees’ question, Vice President Higgins answered with a calm expression.

“No, it’s more than that.”

He said.

“Our Tampa Bay Rays have secured at least 10,000 seats per game… about 40% of the tickets.”

“40 percent?”

At Vice President Higgins’ answer, everyone in the conference room widened their eyes.

“What… happened?”

* * *

What on earth happened?

How did you secure 40%?

This question was also being asked in a place about 1,700 km away from Tropicana Field.

Philadelphia Phillies home stadium, Citizens Bank Park. More precisely, the general manager’s office in the team’s headquarters.

The team’s deputy general manager, Aaron Vinson, was loudly questioning the man sitting across from him.

“Hey, Timothy! This is different from what we discussed! Until yesterday, you said that Tampa Bay would only be able to secure about 3,000 seats?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The man called ‘Timothy’ wiped the sweat flowing down his hand with a troubled expression.

“It was definitely like that until yesterday… but nearly ten of the companies that were supposed to provide us with tickets suddenly notified us that they would stop trading.”

“They’re going to stop trading? Why?”

“I don’t know exactly. But from what I’ve heard, a vice president from Tampa Bay came and persuaded them…”

“Vice President? Could it be… Higgins?”

The Phillies’ deputy general manager’s eyebrows shot up.

“No, Timothy! Didn’t you write a contract properly when making this deal? You should have put a huge penalty in advance!”

The deputy general manager screamed, but the man named Timothy seemed to have something to say.

“Everyone had brokers they had been trading with for a long time. If we had put a big penalty on it, they wouldn’t have responded to our deal.”

“Well, that might be the case…”

The deputy general manager, who was momentarily speechless, rummaged through the documents with a displeased expression.

After checking the list of partner companies written on the document and the tickets they held, he raised his head again.

“Even if we exclude the companies you mentioned… there are still about 2,000 tickets left per game? How did you secure this?”

“Well, I don’t even know about that…”

Timothy scratched his head.

“I’ve tried everything, but I haven’t been able to figure out the source of the remaining 2,000 tickets. Unless they increase the number of seats in Tropicana Field, there would have been no way to secure the seats…”

Timothy had been working as a ticket broker for quite some time, but there seemed to be things he couldn’t figure out.

Just when the veteran ticket broker and the Phillies’ deputy general manager were smacking their lips.

A man who was standing by the window, staring blankly at the ground, opened his mouth.

“Well, there’s a way.”

“Yes?”

Deputy General Manager Vinson raised his head.

“Boss, what do you mean by a way? Do you have a way to create tickets out of thin air here?”

“Oh, why are you thinking so complicatedly?”

The man, who was looking out the window, approached with a bitter smile.

“There’s one thing that’s the most sure and simple way in the world, right?”

Money.

The man said.