A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 23

## The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 23

Chapter 8: Until It Works (2)

About twenty minutes later.

Jiseop, having just left the coach’s room on the 4th floor of the hotel, was now receiving the day’s ‘Training Chart’ from the second-team batting coach.

“Two more than yesterday,” the batting coach said.

“They’re guys who were dropped from the first team the day before yesterday. They’re probably pretty discouraged, so… try to make them feel good about hitting today.”

“Understood, Coach.”

Jiseop nodded, examining the contents of the ‘Training Chart.’

After studying the chart for a moment, Jiseop cautiously raised his head.

“Coach, there’s something I’ve been wondering about.”

“What is it?”

The batting coach tapped his shoulder with a wooden massage stick, looking at Jiseop.

“Where is Ryu Jangho training? I don’t think I’ve seen him since he got off the bus on the first day of spring camp.”

Strictly speaking, he *had* seen him meeting with the power analysis team staff a little while ago, but Jiseop asked anyway.

“Isn’t Ryu Jangho also part of the second-team spring camp? It’s just strange that he hasn’t been around like this.”

“What’s so strange about it?”

The batting coach chuckled.

“Jangho, that guy, wasn’t he a notorious loner in the baseball world? He likes to eat alone, he likes to train alone…”

*I don’t know why a guy like that even played baseball.*

*He should have done a marathon or something.*

The batting coach grumbled.

“Anyway, normally I would have forced him to participate in team training for the sake of teamwork, but when he’s in such a terrible slump like now, I just…”

Oh, damn it.

The batting coach’s face showed a look of ‘Oops’ at that moment.

“…Did you hear that?”

The batting coach watched Jiseop’s reaction.

“Yes, I think I heard it.”

When Jiseop nodded, the batting coach scratched the back of his head, saying, “Aish.”

“Please pretend you didn’t hear it.”

It was the batting coach’s request.

“Jangho, that guy, is more sensitive than he looks… If articles about his slump come out and comments are made, the problem could get prolonged.”

Then, the batting coach sighed deeply.

“Anyway, it seems like articles will come out soon if this trend continues, but I should try to prevent it as much as possible until then. Got it?”

Since there was no reason to spread rumors, Jiseop replied briefly, “Understood.”

“Ah, and.”

As he was about to leave the coach’s room after receiving the training chart, the batting coach tossed something to Jiseop.

When he caught it, it was a bottle of fatigue recovery drink.

“Drink that before you start training today.”

The batting coach continued to nag.

“Did you not sleep because you were so happy to be a batting ball pitcher? Why does your face look so bad overnight?”

“Ah, yes.”

It seemed that the fact that he had a sleepless night was quite noticeable.

* * *

Swaaaaaa-

Jiseop, who came out of the coach’s room, went straight to the bathroom one floor below.

He turned on the water in the sink and splashed his face, trying to shake off the sleepiness.

*I have to work the night shift today too… Hehe, I really picked the right day.*

The night shift for a baseball team training assistant was just sitting in the hotel lobby, but it was still a burden.

*I need to drink this and get my act together.*

After downing the fatigue recovery drink that the batting coach gave him in one gulp, Jiseop shook his head and stood in front of the urinal.

He sighed and began to relieve himself, right at that moment.

“…Hmm?”

“Oh?!”

Jiseop’s eyes met a man who was walking into the bathroom.

It was a familiar face.

The very person he had made eye contact with just before entering the coach’s room.

KH Cannons’ undisputed best superstar.

*…Ryu Jangho?*

The two people met eyes again in just over 30 minutes.

A very awkward atmosphere settled in the hotel bathroom.

“…”

“…”

At this moment, Jiseop hesitated slightly.

He was too famous a person to pretend not to know.

However, Jiseop’s current position was a bit ambiguous to act like he *did* know him.

While he was hesitating about what to do, KH Cannons’ superstar ‘threw’ a word first.

“Weren’t you banned from entering?”

He said, taking a spot at the urinal a little away from Jiseop.

“The 4th floor.”

Ryu Jangho looked at Jiseop.

“I heard that people other than the coaching staff and front office staff are not allowed to enter the 4th floor?”

Ryu Jangho seemed to remember that he had made eye contact with Jiseop through the open door of the hotel room a little while ago.

Since he didn’t know Jiseop’s exact identity, he seemed to be on guard.

“Are you a reporter? Where are you from? Depending on your answer, the club may take action.”

At this moment, Jiseop thought that Ryu Jangho might be in a more serious slump than he had heard.

Seeing that he was so sharp that he suddenly mentioned ‘club-level response’ to someone he was seeing for the first time.

“Ah, it seems like there’s a misunderstanding… I’m a training assistant for the Cannons.”

“A training assistant?”

Jiseop even smiled brightly to ease the other person’s tension, but Ryu Jangho was still not letting his guard down.

“Really? I thought even training assistants weren’t allowed on the 4th floor?”

“Ah, well, that’s true, but…”

Jiseop zipped up his pants.

“Starting today, I’m the batting practice pitcher. I came to get the training chart from the coach.”

Jiseop quickly added this, as he had no intention of entertaining any further questioning.

“But if you’re still suspicious, you can ask the manager directly. The one who allowed me access to the 4th floor was the second-team manager.”

“Manager Lee did?”

The power of the word ‘manager’ in a baseball team is much stronger than it appears from the outside.

Even Ryu Jangho, who had been so picky, seemed to back down a step at the word ‘manager.’

“Now that you mention it, I think I heard that a training assistant would be throwing batting practice…”

‘I see.’

Ryu Jangho nodded and began to focus on his own business.

He didn’t even seem to consider apologizing for pushing someone so hard.

‘Seriously, these guys who are good at baseball…’

Shaking his head inwardly, Jiseop headed towards the sink.

Just as he turned on the water with a ‘whoosh’ and reached for the liquid soap, he heard Ryu Jangho’s voice again.

“So, are you a former player?”

“Yes.”

“How long did you play baseball?”

“From 4th grade in elementary school until last year… so, about 20 years.”

Up until this point, Jiseop had been washing his hands with a nonchalant expression.

However, the next moment, Jiseop couldn’t help but turn his head towards Ryu Jangho.

“I’m asking because Manager Lee recognized you…”

‘Perhaps,’

Ryu Jangho looked at Jiseop.

“When you were in a slump during your active career, how did you deal with it?”

* * *

That night, Jiseop was in the hotel lobby on the first floor with Go Changdeok.

It was the baseball team training assistants’ ‘night duty.’

Sitting on the hotel lobby sofa from 10 PM to 2 AM the next day, watching the people coming and going.

“…….”

“…….”

The official purpose of the job was to prevent people who could disturb the players’ rest, such as reporters or malicious fans, from entering.

However, behind the scenes, there was also the aim of preventing young players from sneaking out of the accommodation and going out on the town.

Of course, the players are all adults and have personal privacy, so they don’t go so far as to stop players from leaving or create an entry log.

Just the fact that two training assistants are sitting in the hotel lobby, blankly staring at the ceiling, puts some pressure on the players who dream of ‘escape,’ or whatever.

Even if the team complains, they can just say, ‘It’s not to monitor the players leaving, but to check the people coming in.’

‘Hehe, seeing this, the baseball team is also quite good at doing sneaky things…’

Thinking that, Jiseop took a sip of the iced Americano he had bought as a drowsiness prevention measure.

It was right after that when Go Changdeok, who was sitting across from him, opened his mouth with a frustrated expression.

“So, what happened?”

“Yes?”

Jiseop tilted his head.

“What are you talking about?”

“No, I’ve noticed that you have a habit of stopping in the middle of a story?”

Go Changdeok also roughly sucked down his share of the coffee.

“Ryu Jangho asked you, right? What to do when you’re in a slump.”

“Ah, you mean that?”

Jiseop put the plastic cup with only ice left on the floor and said.

“I didn’t say much. I just told him that it helps to honestly say you don’t know if you don’t know.”

“Tell him you don’t know if you don’t know?”

“Yes, looking at that guy’s face… it seemed like he barely understood the story the scouting analysis team told him.”

Of course, it wasn’t just a fact he found out by looking at his face.

It was the result of ‘closely’ looking into Ryu Jangho’s eyes.

“It’s not unreasonable, is it? It took me almost 4 hours to understand what you were saying yesterday, *hyungnim* [term of endearment for an older brother or male friend].”

“Hmm.”

“So, I told him to ask again if he didn’t understand. If Ryu Jangho sits down for about 4 hours and asks, asks, and asks again, he’ll understand.”

“That’s actually the only solution…”

Go Changdeok stroked his chin.

“I don’t know if Ryu Jangho will be able to get out of his slump that way.”

“Why?”

“I also felt something after teaching you yesterday.”

Go Changdeok had a serious expression.

“These days, everyone talks about data baseball, data baseball… so I thought the players would have a basic understanding of the concepts? But after talking to you yesterday, I realized that wasn’t the case.”

“Players have been building walls with studying since they were young.”

Jiseop chuckled.

“How would they know about statistics, let alone basic math classes, if they’ve never taken them properly?”

“Yeah, the scouting analysis team seniors are saying the same thing.”

Go Changdeok nodded his head.

“How much does the player know? Is he understanding what I’m saying and nodding, or is he just nodding to finish the meeting quickly? We can’t know that.”

“Isn’t that why there’s a difference in performance even though all 10 professional baseball teams talk about data baseball?”

A strange smile appeared on Jiseop’s lips.

“I told Ryu Jangho just in case something like that happened…”

“What?”

“If he can’t find the answer no matter how much he asks… then come find me again.”

“You, Jiseop?”

Go Changdeok scratched the back of his neck.

“Do you have something in mind?”

“To some extent.”

“But if it’s Ryu Jangho, there will be a line of people willing to give him advice, so I don’t know if you’ll even get a chance… Huh?!”

It was at this moment that Go Changdeok, who had been sitting diagonally on the sofa, jumped up like a spring.