A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 181

Chapter 47: Finding a Renowned Doctor (4)

-Wow, that’s really unfortunate for the pitcher. He threw a splitter to get a strikeout, but it ended up right in the middle! Terry Foster didn’t miss that mistake!

The Korean baseball broadcast was coming in clearly from the hospital room.

At first, Ji-seop thought that Park Myung-hoon, the head of the Futures Team, had figured something out.

‘That’s right, Manager Park said he often came to Japan with the players, didn’t he?’

Then he might know a way.

A way to watch Korean professional baseball live in Japan.

‘I should ask him. Then I can watch the games even when I’m on overseas business trips…….’

Thinking that, Ji-seop opened the hospital room door with a ‘creak.’

And the next moment, Ji-seop could only blink with a blank expression.

“Oh, Mr. Kim, you’re here? Oh my, it seems the call with the team manager took a long time?”

“Please, sit down, Mr. Kim! Terry Foster just hit a double! Just one more hit and he’ll have a cycle [hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game]!”

Park, the Futures Team manager, and Kang Jae-yoon, a bullpen pitcher for the Cannons, greeted Ji-seop happily.

“Ah, yes…….”

Ji-seop nodded slightly to acknowledge their greetings, but his gaze was fixed on the large TV hanging on one wall of the hospital room.

The TV screen was showing a large image of Terry Foster clenching his fist and cheering.

“How did you do this?”

Ji-seop asked Manager Park as he sat down in the empty chair.

He had almost no common sense in this area, so the question was vague.

“Did you use some function to send the phone screen to the TV… or something like that?”

“I heard that you can’t watch Korean professional baseball in Japan, but it’s playing so big here…….”

Ji-seop trailed off, and Park finally said, ‘Ah, this?’

“We didn’t connect a phone.”

That was Manager Park’s reply.

“As you said, you can’t use Korean portal sites’ baseball broadcast services in Japan.”

There was a way, but Manager Park added that even for him, it was quite complicated to understand.

Moreover, he continued, that method was a bit uncomfortable, so it was better for baseball team employees not to try it at all.

“Then what is this?”

Ji-seop asked again.

“If Manager Park didn’t connect it with his phone directly…….”

“It’s satellite TV.”

“You know, like in big hotels? A device that lets you watch foreign broadcasts as they are.”

It was one of the ambitious projects of the second Director Iwata.

To make Korean sports channels available in every hospital room.

“I heard they received a lot of requests for it. To be able to watch Korean baseball in the hospital room.”

It used to be so frustrating.

Manager Park gave a bitter smile.

“Depending on the player, they have to be in the hospital for as short as 1-2 weeks, or as long as over a month. But during that long time, they can’t know exactly how their team is doing…….”

They could look up articles on the internet, but that alone couldn’t satisfy the players’ thirst.

Ji-seop nodded silently.

‘Come to think of it, Jang-ho said something similar. He said the time he spent at Iwata Medical Center felt very long and tedious.’

It seemed Director Iwata hadn’t just ignored those players’ requests.

Ji-seop could once again realize how much Iwata Medical Center was courting Korean players.

‘How ironic.’

Korean 안내판 [information boards] were posted everywhere, staff fluent in Korean were 배치 [assigned], and he heard that a Korean restaurant would soon be opening nearby.

In a way, installing satellite TV felt like just the basics of Director Iwata’s ‘pro-Korean baseball policy.’

They were putting so much effort into it, but the players’ recovery rates were actually falling compared to the past.

Ji-seop couldn’t readily understand this situation.

‘It might be difficult for recovery to be faster, but there’s no reason for it to be slower than before.’

Leaning his face on one palm, Ji-seop stared blankly at the Cannons baseball game being broadcast on the large TV.

How much time had passed like that?

‘……Hmm?’

Ji-seop discovered a clue to this whole situation.

-Ah, the Cannons are changing pitchers! Starting pitcher Ma Kang-sik is coming down, and Oh Chan-wook is taking the mound!

-Ah, Oh Chan-wook! He was registered on the Cannons’ first team today, wasn’t he?

-That’s right. I heard there was a lot of 고민 [worry/deliberation] within the Cannons about who to bring up from the second team……. The final decision was this Oh Chan-wook.

-Ah, a player who came up through that fierce competition! This is something to look forward to, isn’t it? Hahaha.

As the commentator and caster continued their conversation, the Cannons’ relief pitcher slowly began to warm up.

The very moment the face of the second-team pitcher, who had just been called up to the first team, filled the TV screen in the hospital room.

Ji-seop was able to read the thoughts of Kang Jae-yoon, who was sitting on the hospital bed.

[Originally… I should be the one warming up on that mound right now, not Chan-wook.]

Perhaps it was because Manager Park was there, but Kang’s expression seemed as calm as it looked.

However, his inner thoughts that Ji-seop heard were like walking through a blazing fire.

[I need to go back to Korea as soon as possible. Before Chan-wook completely settles into the first team.]

There’s no time.

I have to hurry.

The young pitcher, 26 years old this year, couldn’t take his eyes off the TV screen.

Watching Kang Jae-yoon clench his fists tightly, Ji-seop vaguely grasped what his next action should be.

The next morning.

Ji-seop was out in the front yard of the 숙소 [dormitory/lodging], talking on the phone with Terry Foster in Korea.

The American foreign hitter who had firmly held the starting first baseman position for the KH Cannons this season.

“Terry, that’s really too bad.”

Terry Foster had hit a home run, a triple, and a double in the previous day’s game, but Ji-seop was consoling him.

After hitting the double, he had two more at-bats, one of which was a strikeout.

In his last at-bat, he unexpectedly hit another home run, which ruined his chances of hitting for the cycle.

“You should have taken some power off your swing in the last at-bat.”

Ji-seop’s voice was full of regret.

“Just one easy hit would have been a great record… Geez, why hit another home run there.”

-Didn’t I tell you? Kim, I’m always a power hitter.

That was Terry Foster’s answer.

-I thought about trying for a short hit for a moment, but I decided to just go for a full swing. I didn’t want to ruin my hitting mechanics because of a record.

In some ways, he seemed like a similar type of hitter to Ryu Jang-ho.

Quietly focusing on his work, with a clear view of his baseball.

His skills were now fully proven, so Ji-seop was just hoping that his relationship with his teammates would improve, when.

-Kim, I heard you’re in Japan right now… is that right?

“Yes, I’m planning to return to Korea tomorrow.”

-Ah, then if you have time… Could you get me some glove oil?

“Glove oil? You mean the stuff you use to break in a glove?”

-Yes, the product I used in the States has run out… I heard they have some in Japan.

“That’s not a difficult task. Send me a message. I’ll try to get it for you.”

Although he missed the hit for the cycle, he was a foreign hitter who had performed even better than that.

What was the big deal about getting him some glove oil?

So Ji-seop readily agreed, but strangely, Terry Foster’s ‘request’ didn’t end there.

-Th, and…

“Yes? Is there something else?”

-Yes, I heard they sell bread filled with cream in the basement of a department store in downtown Tokyo. A set of each kind, and also…

“Also?”

The foreign hitter was listing snacks that he couldn’t possibly eat all by himself.

At first, Ji-seop tilted his head, wondering, ‘Is he suddenly craving sweets?’ but soon he could hear someone giggling softly over the phone’s speaker.

Ah, so that’s what’s going on.

“Terry, it sounds like Lee Soo-bin is next to you?”

-Yes?!

Terry Foster was startled.

-Ah, no! Lee Soo-bin does often look after our kids… But she’s not here right now! Yes, she’s not here!

“Ah, is that so?”

It was an obvious lie, but a faint smile was spreading across Ji-seop’s face.

It seemed that ‘the Cannons’ baby pig’ Lee Soo-bin was helping Terry Foster adapt to the team.

Thinking about that contribution, Ji-seop was about to turn a blind eye this once, when.

“Hmm?”

A shadow appeared in the front yard of the 숙소 [dormitory/lodging].

Ji-seop greeted the shadow with a nod and said to Terry Foster.

“Terry, would it be okay if I called you back later? Something urgent has come up.”

-Ah, is that so? Yes, well… call me back whenever you’re free!

Ji-seop thought he heard someone shouting ‘Wait, what about the cream bread? What about the snacks?!’ over the speaker, but he hurriedly pressed the ‘end call’ button.

And Ji-seop formally greeted the ‘shadow’ who had come to see him early in the morning.

“Have you arrived, Director?”

“Hello, Mr. Kim!”

Director Iwata was wiping thick sweat from his hands, as if he had rushed to the 숙소 [dormitory/lodging] where Ji-seop was staying.

He took a step closer to Ji-seop.

“I went to work this morning… and heard about Mr. Kim from a staff member, so I came here in a hurry.”

Director Iwata continued.

“I heard that Mr. Kim had something to say to me, and when I thought about it, I wondered if it was related to the players’ recovery rate… Is that why?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Ji-seop nodded and pointed to the empty chair.

“Please, sit down over here.”

Director Iwata sat down in the opposite seat, but Ji-seop couldn’t start talking right away.

“Hoo-ooh.”

Perhaps because he had run quite a distance.

It took Director Iwata quite a while to catch his breath.

But thanks to him waiting while wiping away sweat, Ji-seop was able to calmly 정리 [organize/summarize] the information he had gathered last night once again.

After confirming Kang Jae-yoon’s 속마음 [inner thoughts], Ji-seop had visited the hospital rooms of other team players under the pretext of ‘coming to say hello.’

The infielder from the Yuseong Warriors who came with back pain, the outfielder from the SH Knights who came with a knee injury, and the pitcher from the Geosan Mariners who was hospitalized with chronic shoulder pain, and so on.

After looking around their hospital rooms, Ji-seop was able to come to a conclusion.

‘Everyone… is the same.’

You’d think there would be one exception, but all the players had their own team’s games on.

And while staring intently at the broadcast, everyone was harboring similar feelings, as if they had made a promise.

[The guy who came up to the first team instead of me is doing pretty well? Damn it, it’s going to be difficult even if I recover…….]

[I have to go back to Korea as soon as possible. That’s the only way I can fill my options and aim for a salary increase next year.]

[Even after the treatment is over, there’s still rehabilitation left… What should I do? Should I do 강화 [strengthening] training without the staff knowing?]

The same 마음 [mindset/feeling] as Kang Jae-yoon.

At that moment, Ji-seop was able to realize why the players’ recovery rate was slowing down.

‘Hehe, it seems like too much of a good thing.’

As the players said, there must have been several reasons why Iwata Medical Center had been able to build its reputation.

There was the excellent skill of the late Director Iwata, and the trust that naturally arose from it.

But in Ji-seop’s opinion, there was one reason that could never be left out.

‘Severance from Korean baseball.’

Coming to Iwata Medical Center meant being able to step back from the fierce competition for rankings.

Meeting Director Iwata meant being able to forget the heart-pounding competition for a starting position, even for a moment.

Ryu Jang-ho expressed this as ‘tedious,’ but perhaps this was a very important part of the players’ quick recovery.

‘Because mental stability is the most important thing for recovering from an injury.’

Just as Ji-seop’s thoughts reached this point, Director Iwata sighed deeply and opened his mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have exercised more regularly…….”

Director Iwata had an embarrassed expression.

He drank a glass of cold water that Ji-seop handed him and then continued.

“I’m okay now, so please tell me. In your opinion, Mr. Kim, what is the problem with our Iwata Medical Center? How can we solve that problem?”

Director Iwata’s question.

Since the judgment on this whole situation had been made, Ji-seop’s answer at this time was not long.

“I think it can be solved simply.”

Ji-seop’s expression was the most comfortable it could be.

“The satellite TV installed in the hospital… I think it would be good to start by 철거 [removing/dismantling] that.”

“Sa, satellite TV?”

Director Iwata’s eyes widened.

“No, how much money did it cost to install that… Besides, the Korean players like it so much, don’t they?”

“Yes, of course, but…….”

Ji-seop explained the circumstances he had grasped in a calm voice.

It was from this point that Director Iwata’s stiff face began to relax little by little.