A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 398

Baseball Team Newbie Is Too Good – Episode 398

88 Harvest Season (6)

A few days later.

A little after 10 AM.

Several buses, each bearing the Tampa Bay Rays’ team logo, slowly rolled into the parking lot.

“Alright, this way! This way!”

“Please turn on your hazard lights!”

Guided by the staff, the large buses pulled into their designated parking spaces.

With a ‘whirring’ sound, the passengers began to disembark one by one.

“Wowwww!”

“So this is it! This is where…”

The faces of those stepping off the bus were alight with excitement.

Toddlers of three or four years old, parents holding their children’s hands tightly.

Couples in their early twenties and elderly people.

It was a scene that truly embodied the phrase ‘regardless of age or gender.’ Everyone looked around with joyful expressions.

And there was a good reason for that.

These were the Tampa Bay Rays players and their families, arriving at the White House at the invitation of the President of the United States.

“Oh my, I can’t believe this is happening.”

Giseop’s mother couldn’t contain her excitement as she received a visitor’s pass from a White House staff member and hung it around her neck.

“The White House, the White House! I’ve only ever heard about it… Who would have thought I’d ever come here in my life? Isn’t that right, Gichang’s father?”

“Hmm, indeed.”

His answer was gruff, but Giseop’s father’s nostrils flared slightly, betraying his own excitement.

He couldn’t help but be thrilled. He was visiting the White House, a place he had only ever seen on TV, and as an officially invited guest.

“First, we’ll take a quick tour of the White House, then we’ll have lunch… Oh, the official welcoming ceremony is at 1 PM, right?”

Giseop’s older brother, Kim Jichang, also flipped through the invitation with an excited expression.

“So, what about you, Giseop? Are you free to move around with us today?”

“Well, nothing’s set in stone yet…”

He sighed, knowing how it was.

Giseop shook his phone with a short sigh.

“If I get a call, I have to run right away.”

“Ugh, your company is relentless. They never give you a break… Hmm?!”

Kim Jichang’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

“Hey, little brother. Hold up a second.”

“Why? What is it now?”

“What’s that on your wrist… what is that?”

His brother rushed over and rolled up his younger brother’s suit sleeve.

He then exclaimed, “Heoeok!” – a sound of disbelief.

“What, what?! That’s a really expensive watch! Where did you get that?”

“Hmm? Oh, this?”

Giseop’s expression was nonchalant, but his brother was making a big fuss and started telling their parents.

“Mom, Mom! Giseop’s been acting strange since he came to America! He never cared about watches before.”

“Why? Is it very expensive?”

“Hey, Mom! You can tell just by looking at it, right? It’s no joke. Even if you bought it cheap, it’d cost as much as a mid-sized car…”

Upon hearing his brother’s words, a worried expression quickly appeared on his parents’ faces.

Having lived frugally their whole lives, the words ‘as much as a mid-sized car’ must have made their hearts sink. They were likely worried that their second son had changed.

Giseop, seeing right through their concerns, said with a faint smile.

“Hey, Mom! Don’t make that face. Even if I’ve been Americanized, would your son spend tens of thousands of dollars on a watch?”

Giseop shrugged his shoulders.

“You know Vincent Hyama, right? The best player on our team.”

“Yeah? I know, I know. The one who pitches and hits?”

“Yes, I received it as a gift from him. He won the World Series MVP [Most Valuable Player award] this time. He said it was all thanks to me…”

Giseop looked at the watch and continued.

“I’m a little burdened too… But I have to consider the sincerity of the person who gave it to me. Vincent will be a complete free agent after today.”

“Ah, so that’s why?”

After hearing Giseop’s explanation, his parents nodded, ‘That makes more sense.’

They seemed relieved that their son hadn’t changed and that he understood their worries.

And in the place where those worries had disappeared, a sense of pride seemed to fill them.

“Major League players get paid a lot, but it’s not easy to be so considerate… You must have taken good care of him, Giseop.”

It was his father, Kim Bongseok, who said that while patting Giseop’s shoulder.

“Oh my, if he’s such a great player, he must have had a difficult personality. I wonder how much our son had to put up with.”

It was his mother, Jin Yeonghwa, who looked at Giseop with a pitiful expression.

“Hey, Kim Giseop! Can I wear that for just 10 seconds? I’ll take one picture and give it back right away…”

It was his brother, Kim Jichang, who was pestering Giseop with envious eyes.

“No, not you, hyung [older brother].”

Despite Kim Jichang’s earnest request, Giseop firmly shook his head.

“This watch has a fool detection system installed. If you wear it, the watch will explode. Boom.”

“What? Hey, I’m not going to stand for this…”

Just as the Kim brothers were about to start a playful squabble in the middle of the White House, a familiar voice was heard from behind Giseop.

“Ah, Kim! You’re here!”

It was David Wilson.

Dressed in a well-tailored suit for the White House visit, he was approaching Giseop, sweating slightly.

“I’m sorry to bother you while you’re with your family. The CEO asked me to bring Kim for a moment…”

“Yes? Me?”

Giseop slapped the forearm of his brother, who was playfully holding him in a headlock, with his palm.

As Kim Jichang gently released the headlock, Giseop straightened his clothes and asked.

“What’s going on?”

“Yes, it’s nothing much… He wants you to meet a White House staff member. You know, the one who worked for the Pelicans when he was younger.”

“Ah, that guy?”

As David said, it wasn’t a big deal. He could handle this kind of task with his eyes closed.

It just meant he couldn’t spend time with his family today either, leaving again on the pretext of being busy.

Giseop hesitated, feeling a little uneasy about that, but then a hand came to rest on his shoulder.

“Go quickly. Leave Mom and Dad to me.”

It was his brother.

Giseop’s brother, Kim Jichang.

“I’ve been searching the internet all night. I’ll be a much better White House guide than you.”

“…”

Giseop stared at his brother for a moment, then smiled.

He bowed to his parents, who were waving their hands as if to tell him to go quickly, and was about to follow David when…

“Giseop-ah!”

Giseop quickly turned his head at the sound of his mother’s voice.

“Yes?”

“You look great today!”

“…Yes? Ah.”

A sudden remark.

You look great today.

At first, Giseop slightly misunderstood the meaning.

“Ah, this watch? Right? It suits me quite well, doesn’t it?”

He had been talking about the watch until just now, so Giseop naturally assumed that’s what she meant.

But his mother was gently shaking her head with a soft smile.

“No, not the watch…”

My son.

His mother said.

“I just think our Giseop looks really great today. Oh my, I don’t know who gave birth to him, but he’s really something.”

“M-Me?”

Giseop hesitated a little at the sudden compliment, but soon the corners of his lips were also rising slightly.

“Hey, of course! Absolutely!”

Me,

Whose son am I?

* * *

As always, Giseop had a hectic schedule that day.

The plan to leisurely tour the White House with the players was impossible from the start.

Throughout the White House visit, the front office staff had to be constantly on the move.

“Mr. President, please meet Mr. Jeff Heuer, who helped us a lot in this negotiation.”

Before the official White House tour began, he handled the requests of CEO Brian Sphan.

“Is that really true? Damn it, why can’t those people be on time…”

During the luncheon with the President and his wife, he had to run through the vast White House grounds to bring in the reporters who had arrived late.

“Alright, you know what to do? Hold your heads up high and walk in confidently. It’s being broadcast all over the United States right now.”

Just before the official welcoming ceremony, he even handed over the championship trophy to the players who had been nervous.

“…Hoo.”

Giseop was able to find some time to relax when the official welcoming ceremony began in the East Room of the White House.

The coaching staff, including manager Mike Klemblas, and the players who had participated in the World Series went up on the stage.

As the President of the United States, who appeared with majestic music, received cheers from the people and shook hands with the Tampa Bay players one by one, the people in the Future Strategy Planning division were finally able to look at each other and breathe a sigh of relief.

“Kim, you’ve worked hard.”

“David, you’ve worked hard too.”

“Oh my, I see why there are no teams that win back-to-back World Series. Visiting the White House is no easy task.”

“Hehe, you’re telling me.”

The White House staff were strangely overbearing. The players and their families kept wandering into restricted areas, and there were constantly unexpected situations.

The White House visit was a much more troublesome mission than expected, but Giseop was soon able to feel it firsthand.

The reason why a White House visit is called the greatest honor for a Major League front office, and why the 30 Major League teams value this event so much.

It was a tiring, troublesome, and exhausting mission, but the moment he heard this one word from the President, he felt completely refreshed.

“There have been many presidents who have welcomed Major League players in this East Room. Many, indeed. But today, I am able to say something that no president has ever said before.”

It was a word that the President, standing on the podium with his arms wide open, shouted.

“Welcome, Tampa Bay Rays!!”

In fact, the President’s words themselves were not particularly impressive.

Welcome to the White House. It was a sentence that could be expected.

But when he heard that sentence, the expressions that the Tampa Bay players on the stage showed, amidst the loud cheers from the audience, and the expressions that CEO Brian Sphan and owner Jeffrey Taylor made as they looked at each other, seemed to say:

[We did it. We’ve finally made it this far. We’ve reached the top.]

The moment he saw those expressions that conveyed their inner thoughts, Giseop also felt something hot rising from deep within his heart.

‘Yes, it’s been achieved.’

That wish that we had dreamed of.

That desire that we had hoped for.

Perhaps that earnest wish that we had all cherished in our hearts from the moment we first set foot in the Tampa Bay Rays–

Finally,

It’s been achieved.

A different feeling from what he felt at the stadium.

Giseop had been sending generous applause for a while, but soon he returned to a serious look.

“…”

The players can enjoy this feeling a little longer.

They can savor their achievements while listening to the President’s praise.

But Giseop was part of the front office, a person who has to think about tomorrow and think about next year.

‘Let’s see…’

Giseop began to look at the draft of the President’s speech that he had received from a White House staff member.

As the harvest season comes to an end, Giseop’s interest was focused on the President’s last words.

Would he move as the Tampa Bay Rays had expected? Would he say something that would help the construction of the Tampa Bay Rays’ new stadium?

‘He’ll mention the agreed-upon wording as it is, right? It would be troublesome if he suddenly changed it…’

What should I do if the flow develops differently than expected?

It would be impossible to protest to the White House, so should I find another way?

If I do, where should I find it? Should I meet with the White House administrator, the city government officials, or a third party?

As he looked at the draft of the President’s speech and was lost in thought for a while…

“Kim! Kim!”

Giseop suddenly raised his head at the sound of a voice.

“Oh my, Kim! What are you doing?”

“Yes? What is it?”

The surroundings felt strangely quiet.

As Giseop blinked, not knowing what was going on, John Lama said urgently.

“The President called Kim’s name! He’s looking for Kim right now!”

“Yes? What’s going on…”

There was no need to ask if it was true.

No sooner had John Lama’s words fallen than the President’s voice was heard through the microphone.

-Kim? Kim! Did you leave your seat for a moment? Ji, Seop, Kim in the Future Strategy Planning division?!

To be honest, I didn’t know what was going on.

The original plan was to introduce only the players and coaches of the Tampa Bay Rays.

But there was no time to think about what was going on. Wouldn’t it be a great discourtesy not to respond to the President’s call?

“Yes! Here! I’m here!”

As Giseop raised his hand, the people filling the East Room hesitated and stepped back.

Then, from where Giseop was standing to the podium where the President was standing, a path was created.

“Come on, Kim!”

“Let’s go!”

“You have to shake hands with the President!”

The front office staff, the players’ families, and even the reporters who had come to cover the event and the White House staff all were smiling and reaching out their hands, urging Giseop to move forward.

“Yes, thank you.”

Giseop was out of his mind.

He was overwhelmed by being surrounded by so many people and embarrassed by the intense spotlight that was being shone on him.

He just followed the path that appeared in front of him and approached the podium, and the President said with a hearty laugh.

“Haha, he’s a friend with showmanship! He knows how to look like a main character!”

It must have been an American joke.

The President’s words caused laughter to erupt in the venue.

“Everyone, let me introduce you again! He’s said to be a ‘superstar’ in the Tampa Bay Rays’ front office! It’s Kim from Korea!”

The President put his hand on Giseop’s shoulder and said.

“Even at this moment, I would like to ask this superstar, who was so worried about the team’s future that he couldn’t even hear the President’s call… for a round of applause!”

No sooner had the President’s words ended than applause poured down like thunder.

The President, who had introduced the front office staff who had appeared late, gave Giseop a relaxed smile.

“Kim, congratulations on the victory.”

And then, the following words.

“How about it? Would you share some of your luck and passion with me?”

Then the President quietly raised his fist towards Giseop.

“Ah, yes, of course.”

With a slightly dazed feeling, and with a slightly proud feeling, the moment Giseop lightly bumped fists with the President…

Kim! Kim! Kim! Kim!

Amidst the Tampa Bay players chanting Giseop’s name with playful expressions, the image of an Asian front office staff member bumping fists with the President was vividly conveyed to everyone who loved baseball.