A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 155

The Baseball Team’s New Recruit Is Too Good – Episode 155

The Baseball Team’s New Recruit Is Too Good 155

40. Game with No Time Limit (5)

A large barbecue restaurant located on Fort Myers Beach in Florida, [Surfing Dog].

Considered one of the best restaurants in the area, it was scheduled to host a team dinner for the KH Cannons players and front office staff starting at 2 PM that day.

This season’s spring training, culminating in a practice game against the Boston Red Sox, was coming to a grand finale.

This event was to thank the players and staff who had worked hard in a foreign country for over a month.

“……”

“……”

The Cannons’ front office staff had arrived at the restaurant early, around noon.

The [Surfing Dog] staff had also completed all preparations to welcome the group by around 1 PM.

However, despite the fact that it was well past the scheduled time, the dinner hadn’t even started.

The most important group, the players, had not yet appeared.

“Hey, bro! What should we do? Should we start grilling your steaks and bring them out?”

“No, I think we should all eat together. Could you please wait a little longer? I’ll check on where they are.”

“Okay, but please hurry. Our chef is starting to get annoyed.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

The person in charge of setting up the dinner that day was Deputy Manager Kwon Dae-woong from the public relations team.

He took out his cell phone and walked out onto the restaurant terrace.

He was about to call the operations team staff, as he usually did, but then he paused.

‘No, I don’t think Deputy Manager Park has any idea when the players will be able to leave….’

What was the best way to get a more accurate picture of the KH Cannons players’ movements?

After a moment of thought, Deputy Manager Kwon licked his dry lips and began to dial a familiar number.

When Deputy Manager Kwon pressed the ‘Call’ button, the three letters [Special Assistant] appeared on his phone screen.

-Yes, Deputy Manager.

Ji-seop’s voice came through the phone’s speaker.

Deputy Manager Kwon Dae-woong’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

“Ah, Ji-seop! Sorry to call you when you’re busy. Well, it’s not that, but….”

-Yes, I know. You’re calling about the team dinner, right? I’m sorry we’re late.

The KH Cannons’ general manager’s special assistant continued.

-I think we can leave here in 30 minutes. I just came to an agreement with the players. We’ve decided to play the game until the bottom of the 17th inning.

“Ah, so we can arrive by 4 PM at the latest… Wait a minute, what did you just say, Ji-seop?”

Deputy Manager Kwon blinked.

“The bottom of the 17th inning?! So the practice game that started this morning still isn’t over? Weren’t the players supposed to be resting at the dorms?”

-Ah, it looks like the operations team didn’t tell you. Some of the veteran players have returned to the dorms, but the practice game itself is still going on.

The game, which was scheduled to last two hours, has been going on for six hours already.

Deputy Manager Kwon couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but an even more surprising story came next.

-By the way, Deputy Manager Kwon, is there enough space at the dinner venue today…? Can we add about 50 more people?

“Well, I heard it’s a restaurant that can accommodate up to 300 people… Why are you asking all of a sudden? I thought there were only five reporters coming from Korea?”

-Yes, that’s right. But it looks like we’re going to have to treat the Boston Red Sox players to dinner….

“Excuse me?”

Deputy Manager Kwon’s eyes widened.

“We’re treating who to dinner?!”

* * *

To get straight to the point,

The KH Cannons players’ arrival at the local restaurant [Surfing Dog] was well past 5 PM.

The practice game itself ended in the bottom of the 17th inning as promised, but the players weren’t exactly in a suitable condition to eat right away.

They had to go back to the dorms for a quick shower and change of clothes before getting back on the team bus.

As they went through each of these steps, the estimated time of arrival kept getting pushed back.

As a result, Ji-seop had no choice but to apologize to Deputy Manager Kwon Dae-woong.

“You’ve been waiting a long time, haven’t you?”

This happened right after a plate of [Surfing Dog]’s signature menu item, the ‘Fort Myers BBQ Special,’ disappeared as if by magic.

“Everyone must have been very hungry, and the restaurant staff must have been giving you a lot of looks… I’m sorry, Deputy Manager.”

“Hey, don’t be sorry! If you say that, I’ll be embarrassed. I really didn’t mind at all!”

Deputy Manager Kwon opened a bottle of beer and handed it to Ji-seop.

“We had plenty to nibble on, like pre-dinner bread, and the staff here were so happy that the Boston Red Sox players were coming that their mouths were wide open.”

“Really?”

“Of course! Look over there.”

Deputy Manager Kwon pointed to the hallway leading from the kitchen to the hall.

“Hey, bro! Is the food to your liking! We’re still grilling the meat, so just eat as much as you want! Hahaha!”

The head chef at [Surfing Dog] was overjoyed that a major leaguer had visited the restaurant.

‘See?’ Deputy Manager Kwon smiled and craned his neck like a meerkat to look around the restaurant.

What came into his view were the players from both teams, each occupying a table of six or seven, eating meat like crazy.

Deputy Manager Kwon turned his gaze back to Ji-seop and asked.

“By the way… what on earth is going on?”

Even though he had seen it with his own two eyes, Deputy Manager Kwon couldn’t quite believe the situation he was in.

“The fact that you played the practice game until the 17th inning, and the fact that the players from both teams are eating together… I mean, how is this even possible?”

“Hehe, you tell me.”

Ji-seop was just as incredulous about the situation.

“Originally, we were only supposed to play until the 9th inning. The Boston players said they couldn’t stop the game they were playing.”

The game, which had been going on until the bottom of the 9th inning, ended ‘provisionally’ with a score of 7-5, with the Boston Red Sox winning.

This was also the point at which the Boston cheering squad nodded their heads, saying, ‘We still won,’ and left.

“But this time, our players were being stubborn. They said that since we had given them a chance, they had to give us one too.”

“Huh?!”

Deputy Manager Kwon looked dumbfounded.

“I mean, it’s not like a fight between kids in the neighborhood… Did the Boston players accept such an unreasonable demand?”

“Yes, they accepted it. I don’t know if they were secretly competitive or if it was a trick to skip their usual training.”

Since they had already played a 9-inning game, they couldn’t send the existing players back into the game as they were.

First, the backup members went out, then the younger players who didn’t usually get a chance to play, and if there were still positions that needed to be filled, they would bring in ‘mercenaries’ from the opposing team.

As a result, the outcome of the game naturally took a back seat, and before they knew it, the players were only focused on ‘hitting, throwing, and running’ itself.

“Ugh, that was even scarier. There were no tactics coming out of the dugout, and there was nothing to worry about separately… Both teams of players were so excited that they didn’t want to stop.”

“Hmm, I can see that.”

Deputy Manager Kwon nodded.

“Baseball without thinking, just hitting and running… It must have been a long time since both teams of players had played baseball like that.”

“That’s right. It was probably the first time since they were kids. Once you decide to become a professional, it’s hard to play baseball freely.”

That was why Ji-seop couldn’t actively stop the players.

It wasn’t just Ji-seop. Wouldn’t the coaching staff of both teams have been thinking the same thing as Ji-seop?

They, too, were people who had enjoyed playing baseball until they decided to become professionals, and then started playing baseball that could no longer be a ‘game.’

They knew that professional players don’t get opportunities like this very often.

“In a way, I think this was the best way to end this spring training’s last practice game.”

That was what Deputy Manager Kwon said.

“Coach Nam used to say that the reason why major league players show such outstanding play is because of the skills they learned while playing freely as children.”

“Ah, there’s that story too.”

“If that’s the case, then our players had a fun game with the Boston players today… Wouldn’t it be good to think that they’ve gained something new?”

“Ah, is that how it works?”

Ji-seop turned his head and looked at the table where the players from both teams were gathered.

He had a feeling that Deputy Manager Kwon’s story might already be coming true.

Even while piling up mountains of meat and eating like crazy, the players seemed to be engrossed in baseball stories.

“Hey, watch this! Watch this!”

The player who was picking up a morning bun and turning it around was clearly talking about the rotation of a breaking ball.

“Here! Here! This point is very important!”

The player who was holding a large bone in his hand and moving his waist seemed to be explaining the swing mechanism no matter how you looked at it.

“Hmm.”

If that was the case, then it seemed that the KH Cannons’ front office staff had a certain amount of work to do.

“Deputy Manager Kwon, are you full yet?”

“Yes, I’ve eaten my fill. Ugh, I don’t know why American restaurants have so much food. I can’t even eat a full serving by myself.”

Deputy Manager Kwon patted his bulging stomach.

Ji-seop looked at Deputy Manager Kwon and continued.

“Then would you mind helping me out?”

“Ah, yes! If it’s for Ji-seop’s work, I’ll help you. What is it?”

“I think you’ll have to go to the players’ tables and do some interpreting.”

Ji-seop pointed to the players with his chin.

“The Boston players are explaining something enthusiastically, but I don’t think our players are understanding them properly.”

“Ah, is that so? If that’s the case, well… I’m pretty good at English, you know? Hahaha.”

With that, Deputy Manager Kwon readily got up from his seat.

It was the very next moment that Ji-seop and Deputy Manager Kwon went out among the players and shouted loudly.

“Interpreter! Anyone need an interpreter!”

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, please let me know!”

Me, me, me!

Before Ji-seop could even finish speaking, the Cannons players were raising their hands here and there.

Ji-seop approached one of the tables and began to interpret the Boston players’ explanations to the Cannons players.

“Okay, so what Eric McConnell is talking about right now is….”

“Ah, approach? He was talking about the hitting approach!”

This season marked the last day of the KH Cannons’ spring training official schedule.

It was exactly one month before the season opener to be held at Seoul Generals Stadium.