A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 111

30. The First Postseason (3)

Wild Card Game.

A showdown between the 4th and 5th place teams in the regular season for a spot in the semi-playoffs [a playoff round similar to the Division Series in MLB].

Cheering for the KH Cannons with all their might.

It was later revealed that the Dongjin Generals, KH Cannons’ opponent that day, seemed to have the following strategy:

-Induce the opponent’s mistakes.

So said the Generals’ coach.

-The Cannons are a team with almost no postseason experience. Even if they don’t say it outright, they must be so nervous right now that their bodies are stiff.

-If they make a mistake early in the game! Their faces will turn pale. They’ll try too hard to make up for the mistake, and the whole team could collapse!

Based on this analysis by the coach, the Dongjin Generals repeatedly attempted to induce mistakes from the opponent from the beginning of the game.

The leadoff hitter would bunt on the first pitch, and if a runner got on base, they would boldly call for a hit-and-run.

Then, there was one moment when the Generals’ coach’s plan worked perfectly.

“Waaaaah!!!”

It must have been the top of the 3rd inning.

With one out and no runners on, the Dongjin Generals’ number 2 hitter attempted another surprise bunt.

Thwack!

The ball rolled along the foul line on the third base side.

The Cannons’ defense was somewhat prepared, so it seemed like they could handle it without much trouble, but-

“Oh, uh?!

The Cannons’ youngest player, Lee Soo-bin.

The rookie infielder, who was starting at third base that day, caused an accident here.

Perhaps because he was so focused on throwing the ball to first base as quickly as possible, he failed to catch the weakly rolling ball in one go.

“Damn it!”

He fumbled for a while and barely managed to grab the ball, but by then, the batter-runner had already stepped past first base.

It was perhaps natural that cheers erupted from the Generals’ dugout.

‘That’s it, that’s it!’

The Generals’ coach clapped his hands.

‘The scene I’ve been waiting for is finally here!’

At this moment, a picture must have been drawn in the Generals’ coach’s mind.

The rookie infielder who made the mistake hangs his head, and the seniors approach him and pat him on the shoulder.

Words of comfort like, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ are exchanged, but no amount of comfort can ease the uneasy feeling as they face the next batter… such a picture.

‘Heh heh, it’s obvious.’

The atmosphere is now disrupted.

All that’s left is to take advantage of this gap and pull the opposing pitcher off the mound.

The Generals’ coach was about to give the ‘all-out attack’ sign, feeling like humming a tune, but,

‘……Hmm?’

Just then, there was a voice coming from the field.

“Hey, Lee Soo-bin!”

It was the voice of the Cannons’ veteran catcher.

“Are you still not going to admit it? I’m telling you, that cookie… it’s not because they used too much dough, is it?”

Cookie? What cookie?

The Generals’ coach blinked.

“You couldn’t catch the foul ball because you’re getting fat, right? Then you have to admit it! How long are you going to keep blaming the dough?”

“Yeah, I can see that it wasn’t because they put too much dough in it. That’s just how the Dongjin nutritionists see you.”

“Hey, pig! You chubby little piglet!”

A bizarre situation where, instead of warmly embracing the junior who made a mistake, they were scolding him for ‘being fat.’

Even more bizarre for the Generals’ coach was the rookie infielder’s reaction to such scolding.

“It’s not because I’m fat! People can make mistakes when they’re playing baseball, these old guys are really…”.

Literally adding insult to injury.

Without even a word of apology to the pitcher, he just pouted with a sulky expression.

Up until this point, the Generals’ coach still had a relaxed expression on his face.

‘It’s a shame I couldn’t completely shake them up, but there will be more opportunities in the future…’

However, in the very next inning.

With two outs and runners on first and second, the rookie infielder stepped up to the plate,

Thwaaaack!

He hit the Generals’ starting pitcher’s first pitch, sending it soaring over the left field fence of KH Cannons Field for a three-run home run.

“Did you see that? Did you see that? No, are you even watching?!”

Lee Soo-bin shouted ‘Quack, quack’ towards the Cannons’ dugout as he rounded the bases.

“This is all muscle! Not fat! How could I hit this home run if it was fat? And that cookie from earlier…”

Wham.

One last word as he stepped on home plate.

“It looked like they put too much dough in it, no matter who you ask!!”

The Cannons players’ ‘cookie talk’ didn’t end there.

“……”

Whenever someone stepped up to the plate, a cheer would erupt: ‘The cookie proves it! Ryu Jang-ho, the most handsome Cannons player!’

Whenever someone made a mistake, you could hear shouts of, ‘Hey, break the cookie! Break all that guy’s cookies!’

And above all, the shouts that Jimmy Morris, the Cannons’ starting pitcher that day, let out every time he threw the ball.

“Where is… Where is my f***ing cookie!!!”

Whoosh-Bang!

Whoosh-Baaaaang!

While making such strange shouts, he managed to strike out a whopping 12 batters in 8 innings-

“……I apologized.”

Staring blankly at the scoreboard, which remained unchanged at 3-0, the Generals’ coach could only mutter this.

“I apologized for the cookie… Why are you guys doing this, you damn bastards.”

* * *

That’s how the game went.

The Wild Card game between the 4th place KH Cannons and the 5th place Dongjin Generals.

Final score 5-0, a perfect victory for the KH Cannons.

That night, the sports channels of internet portal sites were almost entirely covered with news reports announcing the Cannons’ victory.

[Cannons ‘Enjoyed’ the Game… KH Wins with Perfect Harmony of Offense and Defense]

[A Refreshing Home Run After a Mistake… 19-Year-Old Rookie Had No Fear]

[Cannons’ Jimmy Morris Named WC Game MVP… Showcases ‘Perfect Pitching’ with 8 Innings and 12Ks]

Similar articles poured out, but the article with the most views that day was this one.

[“There’s None for Me?” $1 Million Ace Furious Over ‘This’ One Thing]

[Sports Hanseong] Interview article by reporter Hwang Young-joo.

The news that the ace pitcher put on a ‘furious performance’ because of a single cookie was enough to delight Cannons fans.

-I knew it! Jimmy’s pitches were flying faster than usual!

-But isn’t it a bit much for a guy who gets paid $1 million to get upset over a single cookie?

-You’re such a baseball newbie. Who cares if he gets a little upset? If he pitches like he did today, who cares if he’s petty?

If you play baseball well, everything looks good.

The internet community bulletin boards were filled with praise for Jimmy Morris.

-By the way… isn’t that cookie in the article the one they said Dongjin made the day before yesterday?

-ㅋㅋㅋ So what? The Cannons took the cookie made by Dongjin and used it to awaken their ace?

-Did only Morris awaken? Looking at SNS, it seems like the chubby Lee Soo-bin awakened too?

-Burp~ Thanks for the cookie, Dongjin hyungs ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [Hyung is a Korean term used by males to refer to older male friends or brothers]

-Our front office has gotten a lot smarter? In the old days, they would have been easily fooled by other teams’ tricks…

The ‘cookie incident’ became a big topic in the media and on the internet.

Thanks to that, Ji-seop was able to receive more praise from Arthur Freeman than ever before.

“Ji-seop, a few days ago…”

The first thing Arthur Freeman said when he came to work with a bright expression the next morning.

“I met a Korean fortune teller through an acquaintance.”

Fortune teller. A psychic.

It seemed that Freeman had gone to see a Korean-style fortune.

“That fortune teller told me. I’m a very ‘lucky guy.’ My luck this year is really outstanding.”

Freeman chuckled.

“Honestly, I was skeptical. That fortune teller… sounded like a scammer. So I listened with one ear and let it out the other…”

A little while ago.

Freeman shook his cell phone.

“I made another appointment with that fortune teller. I wanted to ask about my fortunes for next year and the year after, if possible.”

Suddenly, his credibility soared.

Ji-seop didn’t need to ask why.

“It’s true that luck follows me, right? Seeing that I have an interpreter like you, Ji-seop.”

“Rather than being lucky… it’s that you made a good choice, Manager.”

Here, Ji-seop added a little oil [flattered him].

“You were the one who chose me as the interpreter, Manager. It was your choice, so you can’t call it luck, can you?”

“Look at this, look at this! A subordinate who knows how to praise his boss! Getting a subordinate like this is something you really need luck for, you know?”

“Oh, is that how it is again?”

Hahahahaha.

Laughter erupted from the manager’s office.

After letting out a pleasant laugh, Freeman opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Ji-seop, you’ve worked hard.”

“Thank you, Manager.”

Ji-seop bowed slightly.

“Not only in this Wild Card game, but also during the regular season, your contributions were very significant. Before this season ends, I’m planning to repay you handsomely…”

Now, Ji-seop knew Freeman’s style very well.

When he trailed off like this, it meant that there was something else he wanted to instruct.

“Actually, there’s something I want to ask you to do.”

“What is it?”

“During this postseason period… I was thinking of giving you a ‘free pass’.”

“By ‘free pass,’ you mean?”

As Ji-seop tilted his head, Freeman continued with a faint smile.

“It’s simple. It means that I will accept any suggestion you make, without asking for a reason, just one.”

Hence, the free pass.

Freeman seemed to have his own reasons.

“Because you have a good sense.”

“……”

“I know it well because I have experience. When you’re in the baseball world, when you sit in the dugout and look at the field… sometimes you get a strong feeling.”

It’s hard to explain the reason.

It’s a bit ambiguous to give a basis.

But it’s definitely ‘going to be like that,’ that strong feeling that comes over you.

“Normally, you’d have to go about it as if you were tapping a stepping stone [proceeding cautiously]. You’d look for a more valid reason, think of more grounds… But now it’s the postseason. We’re in a series of do-or-die matches, so we don’t have time to leisurely look for grounds, do we?”

“So… a free pass?”

At Ji-seop’s question, Freeman slowly nodded his head.

“Anything is fine. I won’t put any restrictions on it. It can be about player selection, or it can be about tactics.”

He continued.

“Ah, don’t feel pressured. I’ll take responsibility for the decision. I’ll support you from behind…”

You just,

do your best.

The calm voice of the veteran manager with 30 years of experience was reaching Ji-seop.