A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 24

The Newbie in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 24 (24/512)

Chapter 8: Until It Works (3)

Jisub and Go Changdeok were pulling the ‘night shift’ in the hotel lobby on the first floor.

Suddenly, KH Cannons’ star cleanup hitter, Ryu Jangho, appeared before them.

“Ryu, Ryu Jangho?!”

Go Changdeok was flustered and panicked by the sudden appearance of the superstar.

However, Jisub simply stared at Ryu Jangho, who was dressed casually.

‘He’s twenty-three, right? He looks much younger than his age like this.’

Baseball players often look different in their uniforms compared to when they’re not.

Ryu Jangho, however, seemed to have an especially striking difference.

In the morning, wearing his uniform, he looked like a sharp and formidable baseball player.

But now, Ryu Jangho, wearing a T-shirt with the KH Cannons’ mascot ‘Cannon Boy’ on it, looked like a high school student.

‘Hehe, is this youthful, or does he just still have that student look…’

Ryu Jangho looked younger than Jisub’s cousins who were in university.

Perhaps that’s why Jisub could smile at Ryu Jangho’s arrogant approach.

“Nice to see you again, Ryu Jangho.”

“Yeah.”

The twenty-three-year-old baseball prodigy didn’t seem to think he needed to greet a mere training assistant.

“You said earlier, right? If you keep asking and it doesn’t get resolved, come find me again.”

“I did.”

When Jisub nodded, Ryu Jangho snorted and plopped down on the opposite sofa.

“Okay, I’m here now, so tell me. How can I overcome this slump?”

Ryu Jangho’s attitude was as if he was collecting money he had left with them.

Go Changdeok, who usually admired Ryu Jangho as a player, looked like he was thinking, ‘What a jerk,’ but Jisub’s face remained calm.

“Start by saying hello.”

Jisub said, pointing to Go Changdeok, who was sitting next to him.

“This is training assistant Go Changdeok. He’s been temporarily assigned to the power analysis team for a few days.”

“Ah, yes, well… hello.”

Ryu Jangho seemed to only then acknowledge Go Changdeok’s presence, bowing his head with a displeased expression.

“But does this person have to be here? I don’t really want other people listening to our conversation…”

“Yes, he has to be here.”

Jisub said firmly.

“The person who will explain how to overcome Ryu Jangho’s slump isn’t me, but the person sitting here…”

Jisub pointed to the side.

“Training assistant Go Changdeok.”

* * *

“What?!”

“Yes?!”

As soon as Jisub finished speaking, Go Changdeok and Ryu Jangho were startled and looked up.

“Ji, Jisub! What are you talking about?!”

Go Changdeok spoke first.

“You’re saying I should explain it to Ryu Jangho? We didn’t talk about that, did we? Didn’t you have something else in mind?”

“This is what I think.”

Jisub said calmly.

“The idea that you proposed to the power analysis team and got approved… you just need to explain it to Ryu Jangho step by step from the beginning.”

“Step by step from the beginning?”

Go Changdeok tilted his head.

“No, what’s the point of that? The power analysis team seniors would have already explained my idea to Ryu Jangho…”

“There is a point.”

Jisub nodded.

“Ryu Jangho wouldn’t have heard the explanation from the person who came up with the idea in the first place… you know, there’s also the saying ‘lecture by the author himself,’ right?”

“Is that so?”

In fact, for a mere training assistant to showcase his abilities to a player like Ryu Jangho was a huge opportunity.

Perhaps that’s why Go Changdeok hesitated a little, but nodded, saying, ‘If you say so, Jisub.’

“Wait a minute.”

Ryu Jangho, who had been listening to them, asked Jisub with a deep frown.

“So, you’re saying… this guy here is going to explain the power analysis team’s plan?”

“Training assistant Go Changdeok.”

Jisub mentioned Go Changdeok’s name again, but Ryu Jangho didn’t seem to care.

“Are you kidding me right now?!”

Ryu Jangho shouted.

The hotel lobby staff started to peek over, wondering what was going on, but Ryu Jangho continued without paying attention.

“Hey, Kim Jisub! I’ve been tormented by the power analysis team guys all day today! And you’re telling me what? To sit here and listen to the power analysis team’s story again?!”

“Ah, I’m really going crazy.”

Ryu Jangho raised both hands and scratched his head.

“That’s it, that’s it! I’m an idiot for having expectations for an old guy who just throws batting balls at the 2nd team’s spring camp.”

“……”

“I’m going to go swing my bat and sleep. You guys can talk about the power analysis team or the operations team here, do whatever you want.”

“Ugh, what a waste of time.”

Ryu Jangho got up from his seat, grinding his teeth.

Jisub was looking at Ryu Jangho with an amused expression.

‘It’s almost midnight, and he’s going to go swing his bat? Hehe, as expected, the hitter that Major League is paying attention to is something else.’

His temper is terrible, and he doesn’t even have basic manners, but his passion for baseball is genuine.

Jisub, who was inwardly fond of Ryu Jangho, opened his mouth with his signature sly smile.

“Ryu Jangho, isn’t now the time you should be leisurely swinging your bat?”

“What?”

Ryu Jangho turned his head sharply.

Jisub brought up something he had noticed since Ryu Jangho first appeared that day.

“Sports Hanseong [a fictional sports newspaper].”

“!!!”

Ryu Jangho stopped walking.

“I think I heard that Sports Hanseong is planning to publish a feature article about Ryu’s slump tomorrow?”

“Wh, where did you hear that…”

Of course, it was information obtained by ‘intently’ looking into Ryu Jangho’s eyes, but Jisub didn’t need to mention that.

“Is the source of the information important? What’s important is that Ryu Jangho’s surroundings will be noisy starting tomorrow.”

Jisub crossed his legs and placed his hand on them.

“If Sports Hanseong writes an article, other media companies won’t stay still. Then the internet will be buzzing with Ryu’s story again, right?”

Jisub was subtly dropping honorifics, but Ryu Jangho didn’t seem to have the余裕 [leeway/composure] to notice.

“Where does it end? These days, all retired baseball players are on YouXube [a play on YouTube], right? Those seniors will be calling like a swarm of bees, begging you to say a word on their channels… How are you going to deal with all that chaos?”

“…What do you want?”

Ryu Jangho growled, biting his lower lip.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“Invest 10 minutes.”

Jisub pointed to the sofa opposite him with his chin.

“Think about it. As Ryu said, I’m just a batting ball pitcher… Would I have called Ryu out without any thought? Would I have called you just to repeat the power analysis team’s explanation? I wouldn’t do that, right?”

“……”

“Sit down first. Sit down and listen for just 10 minutes. I’m not as clueless as you think I am.”

While pointing to the opposite sofa again, Jisub.

Ryu Jangho stared at Jisub for a while, then blew his hair up and turned back.

“Alright.”

Ryu Jangho, who sat on the sofa, stretched his back with his hands on his knees.

“I’ll listen for just 10 minutes.”

* * *

Ryu Jangho returned to his seat entirely because of ‘suspicion’ towards Jisub.

The suspicion that the person who leaked his slump to the media was this training assistant, Kim Jisub.

‘If that’s not the case, there’s no way he would know that the article is coming out tomorrow, right?’

After listening to the story for just 10 minutes, Ryu Jangho planned to thoroughly question Jisub.

So, if he found even a slight loophole, he was going to report it to the front office and get him fired.

In conclusion, Ryu Jangho was not feeling any attraction to Jisub’s suggestion to ‘listen to the power analysis team’s story again.’

‘The power analysis team’s story… it just gives me a headache, and it doesn’t really help with baseball.’

Some people might criticize him for saying nonsense in the ‘era of cutting-edge data baseball,’ but at least Ryu Jangho thought so.

He had never paid attention to the power analysis team’s data since joining the team, but he had still been performing well while being called a ‘baseball prodigy.’

That’s why Ryu Jangho’s gaze towards Go Changdeok, who cautiously began to speak, was not very favorable.

“So, well… the beginning of my idea is this. Instead of focusing on the angle of the batted ball, let’s focus on the exit velocity of the batted ball!”

Before Go Changdeok’s first words were even finished, Ryu Jangho snorted softly.

‘Damn it, here it comes again. That damn exit velocity!’

Of course, Ryu Jangho had tried to listen to the power analysis team’s story after falling into a slump.

However, Ryu Jangho’s honest feelings at the time were as follows.

‘So… what the hell is that!!!’

The angle of the batted ball was okay.

In Ryu Jangho’s view, it was better to hit the ball at a moderate height than to hit it high.

However, he didn’t know what it meant to create a barrel hit, what it meant for muscle memory to be important, and above all, what it meant to ‘focus on exit velocity’ specifically.

‘Asking one by one is only good once or twice… If I keep asking, I’ll just look stupid.’

If he didn’t understand the first word, it was only natural that he didn’t understand the words that followed.

Ryu Jangho, who had given up early this time and was just waiting for 10 minutes to pass-

“Hey, Changdeok hyung [older brother/friend].”

Suddenly, the training assistant Kim Jisub interrupted Go Changdeok.

“What exactly is that exit velocity? I’ve heard it a few times, but I can’t get a feel for it.”

It was a brief moment, but Ryu Jangho’s expression brightened slightly when he looked at Jisub.

‘Oh, that old guy is similar to me? You don’t understand either, do you? What is exit velocity?’

At the same time, he also had some expectations.

Wouldn’t that old guy Go Changdeok give a different explanation?

However, Ryu Jangho’s expectations were shattered again.

“Ah, that’s… the moment a batter hits the ball, using equipment such as Hawk-Eye or TrackMan [baseball stat tracking technologies] installed in the stadium…”

After that, there were more incomprehensible stories.

Ryu Jangho, who wasn’t expecting much, crossed his arms and shook his head.

‘See, see? What’s the point of asking? I can’t understand the answers I get back…’

Ryu Jangho wanted to shout.

I started playing baseball because I didn’t want to study.

I only know ‘Hello’ and ‘Fine, thank you, and you’ in English.

If you don’t explain it more easily, I can’t understand what you’re saying.

‘Hehe, but I can’t say that because it’s embarrassing, right?’

As he was thinking that and nodding, pretending to know, that was the moment.

‘Hmm?’

Ryu Jangho felt someone staring at him.

‘What, that old guy?’

It was Jisub, who was sitting across from him.

The training assistant who had been staring at his eyes intently since some time ago.

‘No, if he asked a question, he should be looking at the person answering, why is he staring at my face like that…’

Just as he was about to say, ‘Is there something on my face?’ Jisub turned his head and looked at Go Changdeok.

And he said one thing.

“Hyung [older brother/friend], I started playing baseball because I didn’t want to study. I can’t understand if you answer like that.”

“?!!”

Whether he knew that Ryu Jangho was looking at him in surprise or not, Jisub continued to speak with a sly expression.

“Explain it easily, easily!”

Jisub said to Go Changdeok.

“Explain it so easily that even an elementary school student can understand it.”