A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 227

58. A Real Man Doesn’t Bother with Studying (2)

The next day, morning.

A team leader meeting was being held in Conference Room 1 of the KH Cannons field.

“Okay, so the opinions of the development team will be conveyed to the manager…”

The main topic of discussion that day was the operation of the first-team roster for the remaining games.

Having already secured the regular season championship, there was no longer any reason for the KH Cannons to field their best lineup.

It might seem like a good idea to bring up promising players from the second team to gain experience, but it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

“The manager wants to give Youngchan a rest… but it seems the operations team has a slightly different opinion?”

“Yes, General Manager.”

Cha Yoonjin, the ‘Black Curtain Cha-Cha’ department head, nodded.

“As you know, General Manager, Ahn Youngchan is practically the only one on our team who can be called a true professional.”

‘True professional’ was just a nice way of saying he was incredibly motivated by money.

“He still has two option-based incentives left: total season hits and walks… each worth one million won [approximately $750 USD]. If we send him down to the second team now and he can’t achieve those, won’t it make things difficult during the salary negotiations later?”

“Damn it, that’s why I didn’t want to include options for Youngchan…”

Options. Special conditions that players include when negotiating their salaries.

Like receiving an extra ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD] for achieving ten wins in a season, or an extra five million won [approximately $3,750 USD] for a batting average of .300.

The Cannons weren’t a team that set strict option conditions, but even so, as the end of the season approached, there were always players who were just barely meeting the criteria.

Should they provide opportunities for players to achieve their options, or encourage them to rest without pushing themselves too hard?

Deciding on this was also one of the front office’s important tasks at the end of the season.

“Alright, I’ll discuss this matter with the manager again… shall we wrap up today’s meeting here?”

“Yes, General Manager.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Just as the meeting, which lasted about an hour, was roughly coming to an end, General Manager Seo Changgi gestured for Jiseop to come over.

“Hey, Special Assistant Kim?”

“Yes, General Manager.”

Jiseop stopped organizing the minutes and approached General Manager Seo.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, um… did Special Assistant Kim have any other schedule today?”

“Schedule, you say?”

Jiseop looked up at the ceiling and then back down as he spoke.

“Today is the day the owner of Jeonju House is being admitted to the hospital. I was supposed to see him off at 2 PM…”

“Ah, is that so? Then I’ll go in your place. Special Assistant Kim, I need you to take on a separate task.”

“Understood. And the separate task you’re assigning is?”

“Ah, it’s nothing special.”

General Manager Seo Changgi looked around once and then lowered his voice as much as possible.

“It’s a VIP escort duty.”

“VIP?”

Jiseop threw out a light joke.

“Then isn’t that… a very special task?”

“Hey, don’t pick at me like that.”

* * *

The ‘VIP escort duty’ that was suddenly assigned.

It was only after the two of them moved to the General Manager’s office that Jiseop learned the specific details.

“A professor from the United States is scheduled to arrive. I need you to go to Incheon Airport, pick him up, and bring him here.”

His name was Kevin Pryor.

He was a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Fort Myers University in the United States.

“Fort Myers? That name sounds familiar…”

“Of course. That’s the area where our Cannons held spring camp last time.”

“Ah, that Fort Myers?”

The Fort Myers that Jiseop remembered was a typical summer resort.

He was wondering if there was even a university in such a place when General Manager Seo Changgi smiled as if he had read Jiseop’s mind.

“He moved schools a few years ago due to health issues, but he still has a considerable reputation when it comes to business consulting for companies.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Well, he used to be in charge of global corporations like HM and Grape… Ah, that’s right! I think he’s still doing business consulting for Major League teams?”

“Major League teams?”

Jiseop showed a slight interest.

“Ah, so our Cannons will also be receiving business consulting from… Professor Pryor?”

General Manager Seo, who usually didn’t challenge other people’s opinions, let out a burst of laughter at this point.

“Oh, come on! Haven’t you heard people say that a baseball team is just a small or medium-sized business, even if it belongs to a large corporation? How could a small company like ours receive business consulting from such a great person?”

“Ah, I guess…”

“It was the head office that called Kevin Pryor. I heard that the chairman is planning a new business and invited him for consulting.”

At this point, Jiseop couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“Then shouldn’t the head office be in charge of bringing the professor here? Why suddenly our Cannons…”

“I just told you. He’s apparently doing business consulting for Major League teams.”

General Manager Seo shrugged his shoulders.

“Kevin Pryor is said to be a huge baseball fanatic. Once he starts talking about baseball, he doesn’t know when to stop.”

“…”

“With mediocre baseball knowledge, you can’t be his conversation partner. So what can we do? The best baseball experts that our KH Group has must step up.”

So that’s why this task fell to KH Cannons, or more precisely, to Jiseop.

“The professor’s plane arrives at 5 PM… Considering the 퇴근길 [pronounced ‘toe-geun-gil,’ meaning ‘going home from work’] traffic, it will probably take a considerable amount of time to get to the head office.”

General Manager Seo tapped the desk lightly.

“Make sure to take good care of the professor so that he doesn’t get bored during that time.”

“Understood, General Manager.”

When it came to interest in baseball, Jiseop was second to none.

Even if the other person was a big shot, if it was just about talking about baseball, there shouldn’t be much to worry about.

So Jiseop, with a confident expression, clenched his fist and showed that he would take care of it.

‘Hmm?’

But in the very next moment.

Jiseop couldn’t help but tilt his head at General Manager Seo’s inner thoughts that he heard.

[You have to do well, Special Assistant Kim.]

[Today’s meeting… will be a really important opportunity for you.]

* * *

Several hours later.

Jiseop was at Incheon International Airport to greet Professor Kevin Pryor.

‘Let’s see, if the plane arriving at 5:15 PM…’

Jiseop stood in front of the arrival gate, holding up a large nameplate with the professor’s name on it.

After checking the professor’s photo one last time, this thought naturally came to Jiseop’s mind.

‘What… did that mean?’

It was General Manager Seo Changgi’s inner thoughts.

The story that meeting Kevin Pryor would be an important opportunity for Jiseop.

Jiseop tried to ask a few more questions to understand the meaning more accurately, but he couldn’t because General Manager Seo called him at that moment.

‘An American university professor and a baseball team employee? I don’t think there’s much of a connection…’

The only hint was that Kevin Pryor was a business consultant for a Major League team.

So if he had a considerable network in the Major League, digging into this part might be of considerable help to Jiseop.

But if it was just that kind of story, he could have just said it out loud, but it felt a little strange that he was only holding it in his mind.

‘Well, let’s think lightly.’

Jiseop, who had been thinking seriously for a while, soon shook it off with a short sigh.

‘It’s not like any answers will come out if I think about it now… I’ll ask the General Manager separately later.’

고민은 나중에. [Gomin-eun najunge: Let’s worry about it later.]

First, the assigned task.

Just as Jiseop made up his mind, the arrival gate in front of him started to get noisy.

It seemed that the passengers who arrived at 5:15 PM were starting to come out after finishing their procedures.

‘It seems like it’s about time for him to come out… Aha!’

Jiseop’s expression brightened slightly at this moment.

One white man appearing with the ‘드르륵’ [onomatopoeia for a sliding door opening] opening of the arrival gate.

A plump physique as if he would roll if you poked him from the side.

White beard that grew thickly from under his ears to under his chin.

Up to this point, he was just like Santa Claus, but surprisingly, his sharp eyes were also very impressive.

If Jiseop saw correctly, it seemed like that was the person.

Professor Kevin Pryor of Fort Myers University in the United States.

(According to General Manager Seo’s inner thoughts) The man who would be a great opportunity for Jiseop.

* * *

“Hello, Professor.”

Jiseop, who found Professor Kevin Pryor from afar, ran up and greeted him.

“I’m Kim. I’m from KH Group.”

“Ah, Kim… Nice to meet you. This really makes me feel like I’m in Korea! The first person I greet here is Kim [a common Korean surname].”

Then Professor Kevin Pryor suddenly reached out for a handshake.

As Jiseop quickly grabbed his hand, his eyes twinkled strangely.

“Are you a pitcher?”

“Yes?”

“Your shoulders are broad, and the calluses on your hand feel like a pitcher’s? It feels a little soft, so it seems like it’s been about 2-3 years since you retired?”

‘He’s said to be an unstoppable baseball fanatic.’

Jiseop recalled General Manager Seo’s story and nodded lightly.

“Yes, I’m a pitcher.”

Jiseop took Professor Pryor’s luggage and continued.

“I heard that you really like baseball, Professor… so I came to pick you up.”

“Ah, was this 사할린 박 [Sahallin Park]’s instruction? I heard that old man is running a baseball team these days…”

Professor Pryor raised one eyebrow and started walking.

He smacked his lips.

“Well, it’s not a bad consideration. Talking about baseball with a former player while looking at the scenery of Seoul…”

But you know.

It was at this moment that Kevin Pryor shot a sharp look.

“Kim, was it? There’s one thing I want to confirm with you.”

“Confirm?”

“Yes, shouldn’t conversations be with people who have matching codes? If the codes don’t match, it’s just tiring for each other, even if you talk.”

To be honest, Jiseop was a little nervous at this time.

The other person was a university professor. Could he bring up something like Saber metrics [advanced baseball statistics]?

He was diligently learning from Go Changdeok, but Jiseop wasn’t confident yet when it came to baseball statistics.

“P, please speak.”

“Really? Then I’ll ask directly…”

But in the next moment, Jiseop let out a burst of laughter inside.

“Which team do you like?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know even if you tell me a Korean team. Major League! Which is your favorite team in the Major League?”

Was he trying to pressure the other person to get an honest answer?

Kevin Pryor raised his finger with a very serious expression and started counting.

“Three, two…”

Someone else might have been a little embarrassed.

The Major League, which has more rivals than Korean professional baseball. If you’re not careful, you could get on the VIP’s bad side from the start.

But at least when it came to this kind of question, Jiseop was someone who could always give a perfect answer.

“One…”

“New York Yankees.”

At Jiseop’s clear answer, Kevin Pryor exclaimed, “Oh!”

“You like the Yankees? Is that true?”

“Yes, the world’s best prestigious club with 27 World Series wins… If you know the value of victory, shouldn’t you naturally like the Yankees?”

“Hmm, someone who knows the value of victory…”

A satisfied smile appeared on Kevin Pryor’s face.

“For example… like us?”

“It’s needless to say.”