A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 112

31. Just One More Game (1)

A week later.

The KH Cannons succeeded in breaking through the semi-playoffs.

Wowwww!!!

In truth, it wasn’t an easy fight.

The foreign starting pitcher collapsed right from the start in the first game.

The pitching team managed to eat up innings, but the batting lineup was collectively silent in the second game.

This was a series that progressed after losing the first two games.

-Ah, KH Cannons! Doesn’t this completely drive them to the edge of a cliff?

-These are two teams with more than a 10-game difference in the regular season. We can’t ignore the difference in power.

KH Cannons are finished.

Their autumn ends here.

Everyone was saying that.

However, the Cannons’ baseball.

In fact, it was just beginning then.

Swiiiish-Boom!

Swiiiish-Boooom!

After taking a generous 5-day break, ‘Ace’ Jimmy Morris returned to the mound.

He showed tremendous pitching with 2 hits and 11 strikeouts in 7 innings, and KH Cannons succeeded in counterattacking.

Thwack!

Thwaaaack!

The next day, the batting lineup exploded, scoring 12-6, Cannons’ 2nd consecutive win.

And again, two days later, in the highly anticipated Game 5, a fierce bullpen battle unfolded with a total of 13 pitchers from both teams taking the mound.

-A high fly ball to the outfield! Ryu Jang-ho has already called it! The center fielder is ready to catch it… Catches it! The 27th out count, game over!!!

Three consecutive wins after two losses.

A so-called ‘reverse sweep.’

Wowwww!!!

The Cannons fans’ enthusiastic cheers swirled around the ground.

-Wow, what an amazing match! Who would have predicted that KH would show this level of performance!

-Now, I’m honestly a little scared! How far will KH Cannons’ momentum continue! How will this autumn be remembered!

Baseball experts who once asserted, ‘Cannons are only going as far as the Wild Card decision match,’ were shaking their heads.

“Of course, it’s the Korean Series championship! No matter what the acting owner says, we have to go all the way!”

“Of course! I don’t think there’s any team that can stop our Cannons!”

The Cannons players clenched their fists with flushed faces, but-

“…….”

The next day in the afternoon.

Ji-sub was stepping onto the KH Cannons field with a relatively calm expression.

His gaze was already directed towards the playoffs, a showdown with the 2nd place team in the regular season.

* * *

“Ah, I’m going to die.”

Frankly, Ji-sub was feeling more tired than ever on this day.

It was as if his ‘energy was being sucked out.’

That was exactly how Ji-sub felt at this moment.

Even though he wasn’t directly on the ground playing the game, the fatigue felt at least three or four times greater than during his active days.

“Hehe, I know that feeling! I know it well!”

The name of this middle-aged man, who was laughing heartily at Ji-sub’s story, was Do Jin-cheol.

He was the first-team pitching coach of the KH Cannons.

“That feeling of all the strength draining from your body, making it impossible to even move a finger! How could I not know.”

‘It’s only natural, you rascal,’ Ji-sub thought to himself.

Coach Do Jin-cheol slapped Ji-sub on the back hard enough to make a ‘thwack’ sound.

“A doctor I know told me that on the day of the [Korean] college entrance exam, patients who collapse from exhaustion often come to the hospital… and they’re all the students’ parents! Not the students themselves.”

“…….”

“I guess that’s how it is. The person watching from the sidelines burns up more inside than the person participating in the actual game.”

“Yes, I think that’s right.”

Ji-sub was amazed by the fact that he hadn’t realized this during his active years.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, Ji-sub turned his gaze towards Coach Do Jin-cheol.

“But… Coach.”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you seem to have more energy than usual?”

Ji-sub tilted his head to one side.

“I’m like this, but… shouldn’t you be lying down somewhere by now?”

That was the truth.

Because he was the first-team pitching coach.

Usually, he would guide the pitchers and, during the game, decide on the timing of pitcher changes with Manager Freeman.

Besides, in the game the day before, a fierce bullpen battle had unfolded with a total of 13 pitchers from both teams being used.

Yet, Coach Do Jin-cheol’s face looked very bright on this day.

“Hehe, well, that’s true.”

Coach Do Jin-cheol smiled.

“Yesterday’s game was incredibly tough… but honestly? I’d be willing to play another game right now.”

“Huh?”

Ji-sub was dumbfounded.

“No, what do you mean…”

“The postseason is tough. It’s mentally exhausting. But when you’re working as a coach… there aren’t many times as rewarding as the postseason, you know?”

A rewarding time.

The reason was simple.

“During the postseason, the players listen to the coaches’ advice.”

“Ah.”

“Ji-sub, you know it too, right? Pitchers… they’re all stubborn as bulls.”

‘They really don’t listen to others,’ Ji-sub thought.

‘They think they’re the best in the world.’

Especially the pitchers who are key players in a team.

“But it’s different during the postseason. Those guys want to win the game too! It’s a game where there’s no turning back! So, what choice do they have? They have to open their ears and listen to the stories of the coaches they usually ignore…”

That’s why players’ growth is noticeable during the postseason.

Whether it was velocity, control, or game management.

The players were growing noticeably, day by day.

For a pitching coach, there’s no greater reward or joy.

“I rack my brain, offer a piece of advice… and boom! It works! The kid transforms! He’s throwing strikes like crazy in a big game! How can that not be fun? What could be more enjoyable for me?”

“…….”

“Once you’ve had that experience a couple of times, you’ll start thinking like me, Ji-sub.”

Ah, I want to do more.

I want to play just one more game.

Not with anyone else, but with these guys I have right now. I wish we could just play one more game and be done with it.”

Coach Do Jin-cheol muttered with a faint smile.

“With these guys you have right now…?”

“What else can I do?”

That was Coach Do Jin-cheol’s reply.

“Because when the fall season ends, the team changes.”

Some players retire, some are released, and occasionally, some leave the team as free agents.

From the start, most coaches only sign one-year contracts with the team, so the pitching coach himself might end up leaving the team.

“That’s probably why it feels even more desperate. Just one more game, just one more game… like that.”

Coach Do Jin-cheol, holding a white ball in both hands, gazed at the empty field.

As the atmosphere seemed to be dipping, Ji-sub tossed out a casual remark with a subtle smile.

“Feeling sentimental, Coach?”

“Huh?”

“Stop looking at the field with that wistful expression. We have tough games to play starting the day after tomorrow, don’t we?”

“Ah, right, we do.”

As Coach Do Jin-cheol scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile, an alert rang from his pocket.

“Oh, it’s from the operations team.”

“The playoff roster?”

At Ji-sub’s question, Coach Do slowly nodded.

“Yeah, it seems the Guardians have announced their playoff roster…”

“Tsk.”

Coach Do narrowed his brow slightly and looked at Ji-sub.

“Ji-sub.”

“Yes?”

“We need to get to the meeting room quickly.”

The wistful expression from just a moment ago had completely vanished.

* * *

About 20 minutes later.

The KH Cannons field’s third-floor conference room was filled with the team’s key staff.

It was a relatively large meeting.

The coaching staff, led by Arthur Freeman, along with training staff and members of the scouting team, were all gathered in one place.

“…Then, let’s begin.”

It was Go Chang-deok who took the microphone.

A rookie who joined the team with Ji-sub, but now recognized as a key member of the scouting team.

With skillful hand movements, he advanced the presentation slides and began to speak.

“The league office just announced the playoff roster.”

The names of the players appeared on one wall of the conference room.

It was the roster of the second-place team in the regular season, the UB Guardians.

“The roster is not significantly different from what our scouting team predicted.”

Go Chang-deok chewed on his lower lip.

It was a habit of his when facing a tough opponent.

“As you know, the UB Guardians have the strongest roster this season. I believe everyone here recognizes that.”

“Well, that can’t be helped.”

It was the head coach who spoke.

“They’re a team that gathered a bunch of free agents to try and win a championship, right? They’re the only team that openly ignored the salary cap, weren’t they?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Go Chang-deok nodded.

“They failed to win the regular season title due to a series of injuries in the latter half of the season. However, while we were playing in the Wild Card game and the semi-playoff [a playoff series before the final], most of the players who were on the injured list have returned.”

The people attending the meeting all let out long sighs, as if on cue.

The players on the screen were indeed impressive.

“Jeong Hyo, Min-guk, and even Fernandez are all back… Damn, those guys! Did they find a bunch of wild ginseng somewhere? How did they recover from their injuries so quickly?”

“Considering their need to regain their game sense… it seems there are areas we can exploit, don’t you think?”

“They need to regain their game sense, we need to recover our stamina… I guess that’s how it is.”

People offered their opinions as they looked at the names of their playoff opponents.

It was then that Coach Do Jin-cheol, who had been silently observing, raised his hand.

“Go Chang-deok, there’s one person… an unexpected figure seems to be included?”

“An unexpected figure?”

As everyone re-examined the roster, Go Chang-deok nodded.

“Yes, there is only one, but… a player that our scouting team did not anticipate has been included on the roster.”

Pitcher Ma Kang-sik.

As Go Chang-deok’s laser pointer circled the name, a strange sigh rippled through the conference room.

“Ma Kang-sik… isn’t that the guy? The left-handed pitcher who was a setup man [a relief pitcher who typically pitches in the late innings] for the Guardians until last year?”

“Wait, didn’t he barely play this year? I heard he was injured… Did he recover already?”

“That guy is included on this roster… Damn, my head is already throbbing.”

The Cannons staff buzzed with the name Ma Kang-sik.

Ji-sub quietly took out his phone and entered his name into the search engine.

‘Ma Kang-sik, Ma Kang-sik…’

Left-handed three-quarter pitcher Ma Kang-sik.

Based on the stats on the Wiki site, he seemed like a slightly above-average pitcher.

Perhaps due to numerous injuries, there seemed to be many gaps in his career.

Yet, why were people reacting this way?

It didn’t take long for Ji-sub to realize.

‘Wait a minute, this is…’

The ‘Trivia’ section at the very bottom of the Wiki site.