Trade, Season’s First (3)
Around 4 PM the next day.
About a day before Hwang Young-ju’s article in [Sports Hanseong] was set to be published.
KH Cannons’ General Manager Seo Chang-gi was in the sauna’s locker room, taking off his jacket to hang it up.
“…….”
It wasn’t the sauna Seo GM usually went to.
Located on the outskirts of Seoul, about a 2-hour drive from Yeongsan, was [Cheonghak Health Land Bulgama] (a traditional Korean bathhouse).
Future Kings’ General Manager Oh Jin-han had actively recommended it, saying he ‘visits every time he comes to Seoul for an away game.’
“Wow, this is amazing! I never knew there was such a big sauna in this remote place…….”
Seo GM, holding a towel in his hand, entered the bathhouse and involuntarily exclaimed, “Heo.”
With a size that could easily fit two soccer fields, baths filled with all sorts of medicinal herbs, and various types of saunas.
Indeed, it was a place chosen by Oh Jin-han, the industry’s number one ‘sauna evangelist.’ He nodded in agreement, but only for a moment.
“Hmm…….”
A dark shadow was already cast over Seo GM’s face as he sat down in the bath.
A concern that had been pushed aside for a moment began to rear its head again.
The worry that had been making Seo GM’s head feel like a tangled mess for the past 24 hours.
The very worry that had driven him to drive all the way to Seoul.
-General Manager, now is the time to make a bold move.
Ji-seop’s voice echoed in Seo GM’s head.
* * *
The day before, on the way back from meeting UB Guardians’ General Manager Park Min-wook.
Seo Chang-gi GM had a rather long conversation with his aide.
They talked about the strengths of both teams, and about the media’s reaction.
Several stories were told about the trade of player Ma Kang-sik, but Ji-seop’s opinion could be summarized as follows.
-In the end, General Manager Park Min-wook will side with Ma Kang-sik.
Side with.
What does this mean?
-It means that even if the team takes a loss, he will finalize the trade before Hwang Young-ju’s article comes out.
The KH Cannons’ GM’s special advisor was speaking in a rather firm tone.
-When the article comes out, the person who will be criticized the most will clearly be the Guardians’ coach. Because he said terrible things to a player who has been dedicated to the team. But can Ma Kang-sik avoid that criticism?
Ji-seop shook his head slightly.
-Absolutely not. A player who only thinks about himself, doesn’t consider the team’s atmosphere, and doesn’t follow the coach’s instructions…….
-Are you saying he’ll be labeled a troublemaker?
-Yes, Ma Kang-sik will be the one who loses more as time goes by. Isn’t that how the baseball world is?
The coach doesn’t have much of a problem.
They tend to lightly gloss over it as ‘he’s just a bit rough around the edges.’
But it’s not the same for players.
Once labeled a ‘troublemaker,’ they become an unwelcome presence to the team, the fans, and even their fellow players.
-General Manager Park Min-wook will never want things to go that way.
-Why?
-Because Ma Kang-sik is a player who has played the same role as General Manager Park Min-wook during his active career.
Ji-seop continued.
-General Manager Park knows very well what kind of mindset Ma Kang-sik has had while changing positions. How difficult it must have been. And when he got injured, how painful the recovery process was.
-Hmm.
-General Manager Park wouldn’t have wanted to let Ma Kang-sik go. But what can he do? The situation has already happened, and the Guardians’ coach and Ma Kang-sik have already grown apart beyond repair.
Ji-seop looked at General Manager Seo Chang-gi through the rearview mirror.
-In the current situation, the only thing General Manager Park can do is send Ma Kang-sik to another team before the article comes out. As if it were just a normal trade, as if there was nothing wrong with Ma Kang-sik.
Of course, there will be some gossip.
They’ll say Ma Kang-sik fought with the coach, that it wasn’t a normal trade.
But even if it’s the same gossip, there’s a world of difference between it circulating as rumors in the baseball world and being immortalized in a news article.
After hearing this, Seo GM asked his aide.
-So, you’re saying we should hold out? Because General Manager Park is willing to take a loss for Ma Kang-sik?
-That’s right, General Manager.
-I understand your opinion, but…… how can you be so sure?
Seo GM was a cautious person.
-It’s been well over 10 years since General Manager Park retired from active duty. There used to be talk that he cared too much about the players’ interests, but now everyone sees him as someone who stands on the team’s side…… Would such a General Manager Park sacrifice the team’s interests for an individual player?
-I think he will, General Manager.
Ji-seop’s answer was as follows.
-No matter how much time passes…… memories etched in the body are not easily forgotten.
* * *
‘Memories etched in the body, huh?’
Back at [Cheonghak Health Land Bulgama].
After sitting in the bath for a while, Seo GM was getting up, thinking about Ji-seop’s words.
‘Hehe, seeing this, Special Advisor Kim must be a former player. Friends who used to play sports sometimes say things that are hard to understand.’
It wasn’t that he couldn’t grasp it at all.
He had spent years in the baseball world.
To roughly infer, it seemed to be saying that things felt with the body while playing sports cannot be easily forgotten.
But he wasn’t easily convinced that this was a solid enough basis to make a ‘bold move.’
‘No matter how I think about it, it seems right to take a step back here…….’
Seo GM’s worries were deepening.
A trade at the beginning of the season. Depending on the situation, it was a trade that could determine the direction of the entire season.
He felt that he should go safely and smoothly, as he usually did, and he also felt that he should take a bold gamble to maximize the Cannons’ profits.
‘Damn it, it’s not an easy decision.’
In any case, he had to make a decision within the next few hours.
Seo GM shook his head and walked towards the sauna.
He seemed to want to sweat it out and refresh his mood.
But,
It was the very next moment.
“Oh…….”
“Ah, no…….”
Seo GM, who was opening the sauna door and entering, stopped as if rooted to the spot.
Someone he didn’t expect was already inside the sauna.
It was none other than UB Guardians’ General Manager Park Min-wook.
* * *
“What brings General Manager Park here?”
After an awkward silence, Seo Chang-gi GM said.
“Ah, yes, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather for the past few days, and my head has been heavy…… My condition hasn’t been good.”
Park GM replied.
“Future Kings’ General Manager Oh Jin-han said that sauna is the best for that kind of thing…… So I came here on General Manager Oh’s recommendation.”
“Ah, General Manager Oh? Haha, at this rate, all 10 team general managers might end up meeting in the sauna.”
“Then you too, General Manager Seo?”
“Yes, I also came on General Manager Oh’s recommendation.”
As Seo GM gave a wry smile, Park Min-wook GM pointed to the seat next to him.
“Please, sit down. It’s nice and hot.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seo Chang-gi GM bowed slightly and sat down next to Park GM.
On the outside, he was trying to maintain a smiling expression, but on the inside, he was actually quite perplexed.
‘I ran into him in a strange place.’
He wondered what kind of twist this was.
To run into the opponent he had been subtly warring with over the trade of player Ma Kang-sik at the beginning of the season like this.
Moreover, to be sitting naked side by side in a sauna that was barely two pyeong [approximately 70 square feet], a narrow space.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Seo GM couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.
‘Still, now that we’ve met like this, I should try to move the trade talks forward somehow…….’
The problem was that Seo Chang-gi GM’s own mind wasn’t firmly made up yet.
If he brought it up carelessly, there was a risk of getting caught up in the opponent’s pace.
For now, it would be best to watch how the opponent comes out, he thought, when.
‘Hmm?’
Something caught Seo GM’s attention.
It was Park Min-wook GM, who was sitting right next to him.
Even though sweat was pouring down like rain, he didn’t seem to want to wipe it away.
Thick drops of sweat were getting into his eyes, his nose, and his mouth.
“General Manager Park, are you alright?”
Seo GM asked, unable to watch any longer.
“Why don’t you wipe your face? It must sting a lot if sweat gets in your eyes.”
“Ah, it’s alright. It’s nothing…… I’m used to it now.”
“Used to it?”
Honestly, at this time, Seo GM thought it was a boast typical of former players.
Baseball players are like that sometimes.
They insist that they can endure any physical hardship.
But Park GM’s next words deviated slightly from Seo Chang-gi GM’s expectations.
“Yes, I can’t move my elbow properly. No matter how hard I try, this is as far as I can go.”
As he moved his arms to show, his elbows didn’t seem to bend beyond a certain level.
“Could it be…… a surgical aftereffect?”
“You could say that. When I was young, I stretched, cut, and reattached ligaments…… I did all sorts of things.”
Park GM replied calmly.
“It wasn’t this bad when I was active…… But as I get older, I lose muscle mass, so the range of motion gradually decreases.”
“No, then how do you usually wash your face or anything like that……?”
“Ah, I can do it when I shower. Like this…… If I bow my head deeply like this, I can roughly get the angle, you know? Hahaha.”
Thinking it would be good to change the awkward atmosphere, Park GM showed how he washes his hair.
Park Min-wook GM was laughing cheerfully, but Seo Chang-gi GM, who was looking at him, was inwardly greatly surprised.
‘The surgical scars…… there’s more than one or two.’
Even though more than 10 years had passed, the surgical scars were still clearly visible.
Seo GM, who had worked in baseball for a long time, was seeing a player’s surgical aftereffects up close for the first time.
He wasn’t a doctor or a trainer, so he didn’t think he needed to look closely, and active players didn’t usually talk about these things in front of front office staff.
‘Memories etched in the body, huh?’
Seo GM felt like he finally understood what Ji-seop had been talking about.
Memories etched in the body are not easily forgotten.
It wasn’t a figurative expression that people often use.
For players who had played in games as active players, for players who had endured in the professional world, it had a literal meaning.
‘If the surgical scars are so clear, if he can’t even wipe the sweat flowing on his face because of the surgery…… Yeah, he wouldn’t be able to forget it no matter how much time passes.’
Thinking that, Seo GM silently looked down at Park Min-wook GM’s surgical scars.
Feeling his gaze, Park GM raised his head with an awkward smile.
“Haha, don’t look at me like that. I think of it as a scar of honor. Actually, more than that…….”
It seemed that Park Min-wook GM thought it was time to get to the point.
“Now that I’ve met General Manager Seo like this, I was wondering if we could continue the conversation we couldn’t finish yesterday…… Is the time alright for you?”
“Ah, time?”
Seo Chang-gi GM raised his head and looked at Park Min-wook GM.
“…….”
At this moment, Seo GM felt a bit of awe.
It was an awe for Park Min-wook GM personally, but also an awe for all the players who wear uniforms and play in games.
Players who are throwing everything for the team.
Players who go to the operating table multiple times, repeatedly fail in rehabilitation, but ultimately endure, get up, and return to the field.
He thought it would be nice to be able to talk about this awe with Park GM someday, but Seo Chang-gi GM soon changed his mind.
‘There’s work to be done now.’
As a non-player front office member, it seemed necessary to put aside his awe for player-出身 [出身 (chusin) – origin or background, often used to denote someone’s former affiliation].
If Park Min-wook GM can’t forget the memories etched in his body, and therefore can’t bring himself to let go of Ma Kang-sik.
At this moment, he must exploit that gap as much as possible.
‘Because non-players have their own kind of baseball.’
Seo Chang-gi GM nodded lightly.
And he said to the man who was once the main pitcher of the UB Guardians.
“Alright. I have plenty of time, so let’s talk about it slowly.”
It was the moment when Seo Chang-gi GM accepted Ji-seop’s advice and made a ‘bold move.’