A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 244

Day Dreams Come True (2)

Torn left ACL [anterior cruciate ligament].

That was the diagnosis given to KH Cannons’ pitching coach, Nam Hong-do.

“I was fine when I was hugging the players and jumping around… Damn it, my left leg was swollen when I got back to the dorm.”

The pitching coach, lying on the hospital bed, gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, this is a shame.”

The pitching coach clicked his tongue.

“If I had gotten hurt during my active career, I would have been exempted from military service for free. How come this kind of thing happens 10 years after I retire?”

“Oh, Coach! How can you joke in this situation?”

Ji-seop scolded him.

“You always nag the players to be careful even of falling leaves… How can you get hurt during a celebration?”

“Kim Special Assistant, this isn’t my fault? If you want to blame someone, blame Jang Dae-woo.”

The pitching coach grumbled, mentioning the Cannons’ closer [the relief pitcher who finishes the game].

“If Dae-woo had struck out the three batters cleanly and come down, would I have made such a fuss? He unnecessarily went to a bases-loaded situation with two outs, making my heart pound…”

The moment the final strikeout came to end the game, he was so happy that he couldn’t see the situation in front of him properly.

Ji-seop could fully understand that feeling, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

Just as Ji-seop was letting out a short sigh and straightening the pitching coach’s blanket, manager Arthur Freeman, who was standing next to him, spoke up.

“Still, it’s a relief it wasn’t worse.”

Living with baseball as a profession, you inevitably become familiar with certain words.

Torn ligaments, muscle strains, bone fractures.

Thanks to his 30 years of experience in the industry, Freeman could easily guess the pitching coach’s current condition.

“If he were a player, I would have made him lie still in bed for about ten days… Well, Coach Nam doesn’t need to do that, does he?”

Freeman continued.

“There shouldn’t be any problem with you coming to the game tomorrow, right?”

He was already in a half-cast, but he could still move slowly with crutches.

Nam Hong-do, who had led the Cannons’ pitching staff this season, and manager Arthur Freeman seemed to want to be with him until the end.

“Of course, it will be difficult for you to visit the mound, but that’s something the bullpen coach or I can take care of.”

General Manager Seo Chang-gi nodded in agreement with the manager’s opinion.

“I think it’s possible at this point, right? Looking at him joking like that, his condition doesn’t seem too bad.”

There was respect for the pitching coach who had endured the season, but the players’ psychological stability could not be ignored.

Even if it was a bit of a stretch, they wanted him to come to the dugout for the fourth game the next day.

The Cannons’ general manager and manager were making such a request to Nam Hong-do-

“Ah, about that…”

The next moment, Coach Nam raised the bed a little and opened his mouth.

“If possible, I’d like to watch tomorrow’s game… from here in the hospital room.”

“Excuse me?!”

Not only General Manager Seo Chang-gi and manager Arthur Freeman, but everyone who had come to visit him at the hospital at this time widened their eyes.

“No, why?”

“Coach, it’s the fourth game of the Korean Series! It’s a game where our Cannons might lift the championship trophy!”

“Is there something else wrong besides your knee? Is that it?”

The Cannons people were so surprised that they were throwing questions at him.

The pitching coach waved his hand with a bitter smile.

“No, no. It’s not that I’m not feeling well or anything…”

Sigh, haaa.

At this time, the pitching coach took a long, deep breath.

He would not be attending the fourth game of the Korean Series. He would not be able to watch the team’s victory right next to them.

Coach Nam seemed to have a lot of regrets about that fact as well.

However, there seemed to be a reason why he suppressed his regrets and made this decision.

“The role of the pitching coach… isn’t just about visiting the mound.”

The expression of joking about military service exemption had disappeared, and his face was now serious.

“I have to check the players’ condition every time the inning changes, and I have to answer questions from time to time. I also have to check the bullpen situation and play a role in keeping the players’ mentality from wavering.”

In a word.

The pitching coach scratched the tip of his nose and said.

“It means that it’s a position that requires me to run around the dugout more than you think.”

“…….”

“Even if the manager takes over the mound visits, it will be difficult to handle all those tasks smoothly in this condition.”

The pitching coach said firmly.

“As the manager said, it’s the fourth game of the Korean Series. It’s the most important game. Everyone needs to be in top condition and show the best concentration… I don’t want to be a hindrance at all.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but…”

General Manager Seo Chang-gi had a troubled expression.

“If Coach Nam doesn’t come to the dugout, who will take on that role? Coach Nam has been in charge of the first team all season, and it’s hard to call up the second team coach now.”

General Manager Seo was speaking with his brows furrowed, but the pitching coach gave a gentle smile.

“Do you think I would have said this without any countermeasures? I had everything thought out and checked, so I could say it.”

“You have something in mind?”

“Yes, of course. Someone who our players follow well, who I trust deeply, and above all, who knows our pitching staff’s operation well…”

The pitching coach’s gaze turned to someone who was standing a step behind.

“Isn’t there Kim Ji-seop, the special assistant?”

“Kim Special Assistant?”

General Manager Seo tilted his head.

“Isn’t Kim Special Assistant a front office person? He won’t be allowed in the dugout during the game, will he?”

“It’s possible, General Manager.”

It was Cha Yoon-jin, the operations team leader of ‘Black Curtain Cha Cha,’ who intervened in the conversation between the two.

“According to league regulations, three interpreters can enter the dugout for each team. But currently, our team only has two interpreters…”

“Ah, so you’re saying we can register Kim Special Assistant in the remaining spot? And have him fill in for Coach Nam?”

General Manager Seo stroked his chin.

“Well, he won’t be able to visit the mound directly, but he’ll be able to do the rest of the roles sufficiently…”

His gaze turned to Freeman.

“What do you think, Manager? From my point of view, this is something I have to be careful about.”

Even in the Cannons, there were distinct boundaries between the field staff and the front office.

Sending Ji-seop, who was clearly a front office person, to the dugout could be seen as interference in the field, depending on the team’s circumstances.

Seo, who had a cautious personality, couldn’t help but pay attention, but to Freeman, Ji-seop was a special existence who was not bound by such ‘boundaries.’

“I’m in favor.”

That was Freeman’s answer.

“Of course, it would be best if Coach Nam could be with us until the end, but if that’s really difficult, I don’t think there’s a better replacement than Ji-seop. However…”

Freeman continued.

“Isn’t his own opinion important in this decision?”

“Ah, right, his own opinion.”

Ssssh.

The Cannons people who had come to the hospital room to visit the pitching coach that day.

It was at this moment that all of their eyes turned to Ji-seop.

“Kim Special Assistant.”

General Manager Seo asked on behalf of everyone.

“What is your opinion?”

* * *

The next day, in the morning.

On the day of the fourth game of the Korean Series.

Ji-seop was in the visiting team’s manager’s office at the SH Knights’ home stadium.

“Ah, I see.”

There was still about 30 minutes left until the coaching staff meeting hosted by Arthur Freeman.

The reason Ji-seop visited the manager’s office at this time was because he was a ‘replacement player.’

Ji-seop already knew the game plan from the beginning, but there might be a problem that he didn’t know about.

With that thought in mind, Ji-seop had come to see Arthur Freeman early.

“So, you’re saying that the manager wants to entrust the finish of today’s game to Jimmy Morris?”

“Well, that’s what I’m thinking.”

Freeman said.

“After all, he’s been the ace of our Cannons for the past two years, hasn’t he? I think it would be good to give him that courtesy in the last game of the Korean Series.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Ji-seop nodded, making a note on his tablet PC.

“I’ll give Jimmy a heads-up in advance. Depending on the game situation… should I have him prepare around the top of the 6th inning?”

At Ji-seop’s question, Arthur Freeman made a sound of air escaping.

“Hey, Ji-seop. It seems like you haven’t forgotten your memories of working as my exclusive interpreter? That Jimmy Morris takes a lot of time to warm up?”

“Of course, it’s something the manager told me directly… How could I forget that?”

Ji-seop shrugged his shoulders.

“Are there any other instructions?”

“Well, nothing else. I think we can discuss the rest while watching the game situation…”

Wait a minute.

Arthur Freeman put his hand under the desk and rustled something.

And a moment later, what he put on the desk was a large paper bag.

“Ji-seop.”

The manager pointed to the paper bag.

“Go and change into this. It would be better to wear this to the game today in many ways.”

“Yes?”

Ji-seop scratched his cheek with his finger and approached the paper bag.

The expression on his face flashed with embarrassment the moment he checked the contents of the bag.

“M, Manager! This is…”

It was a uniform.

The KH Cannons’ away uniform.

The uniform itself was familiar, but what surprised Ji-seop was his name engraved on the uniform top.

[Kim Ji-seop]

The uniform was meticulously engraved with his number 37 from his playing days.

Ji-seop could only blink and look at Arthur Freeman.

“I had it prepared in advance.”

Without even asking, the manager seemed to see through Ji-seop’s mind.

“I heard that you were going to America next year, and I was wondering what kind of gift would be good… so I asked the marketing team to prepare one.”

Come to think of it, there was even a home uniform in the bag.

Home and away uniforms. And even a thick team jumper.

Arthur Freeman had prepared a full set.

“It might be just my own thought… but I thought you might have some attachment to this uniform.”

Freeman’s eyes were affectionate.

“Didn’t you say that you worked hard to join a professional team for a long time? And in the end, you didn’t achieve that goal.”

“…….”

“If I had hired you as a coach, you would have had a uniform by now… but the situation didn’t allow it.”

Last season, he was the manager’s exclusive interpreter.

This season, he was the general manager’s assistant.

Both were positions that did not receive a uniform and number.

“So I prepared one. Our Cannons’ player uniform. With your number and name properly engraved.”

How is it, do you like it?

Arthur Freeman asked.

“I was worried about just giving you a uniform… but it worked out well, didn’t it? Now you have a chance to wear it officially and play in the game.”

“Manager…”

Thank you, thank you so much.

That was what Ji-seop was going to say.

However, the moment he put those words into his mouth, he felt like he couldn’t say anything more.

So Ji-seop forced a bitter smile and replied.

“Manager, according to the regulations, I’m going into the dugout today as an interpreter. I’m not qualified to wear a uniform…”

“Hey, what’s the big deal!”

Freeman slapped Ji-seop on the shoulder.

“You can put on the team jumper over the uniform. If you zip it all the way up, who would know? That you’re wearing a Cannons uniform.”

The important thing is.

Freeman continued.

“Ji-seop, you deserve to be given this uniform. Everyone in our Cannons acknowledges that.”

“…….”

“So hurry up and go change! Even if you have to wear the team jumper in the dugout… let’s wear the uniform for the coaching staff meeting today! Huh?”

“I understand.”

I understand, Manager.

As he left the manager’s office with the heavy paper bag, Ji-seop couldn’t help but stare at the uniform inside.

‘A uniform…’

It was definitely a dream.

A dream he had since he was a child.

A professional team’s uniform, especially a uniform with his name and number on it.

To be qualified to wear that uniform.

“…….”

In a sense, it was this morning that one of his long-held dreams came true.

However, Ji-seop was a greedy person.

In order to achieve another one of his dreams, he abandoned his sentimental feelings and hurriedly began to change into the uniform.