A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 276

69. The Boss is Watching (2)

It was Victor Johnson Jr.

24 years old this year. A 3rd-year Major League player.

A player who was initially expected to be the ace of the Tampa Bay Rays this season.

But the very same player who hasn’t been able to play a single game so far due to knee pain.

In many ways, he was a ‘problematic man,’ and his first words to Ji-seop and John Rahma were as follows:

“What, you’re not the boss?”

In the dim underground parking lot.

He said this after checking their faces with his phone’s flashlight.

Wondering what he was thinking, Victor Johnson sighed deeply and extended his hand towards John Rahma.

“I have no choice. Please give it to me quickly.”

“Huh? Give you what?”

John Rahma tilted his head.

“What else could it be but a pen? Didn’t you come to get my autograph?”

Ah, this popularity.

Victor Johnson shrugged.

“Well, I understand why you’d want to meet me, since I’m such an outstanding pitcher. But please refrain from doing this in the future. I also have a private life, you know… um?”

Victor Johnson was rambling on and on, telling stories no one asked him to tell.

But he seemed to realize that something was wrong with the situation.

“Wait a minute? Even the coach doesn’t know I’m here, so how did you two find out?”

Victor Johnson’s expression turned bewildered.

“Do, don’t tell me… you’ve been following me from the clubhouse? Is that it?!”

“…What are you talking about.”

Ji-seop could tell that John Rahma was trying hard not to swear.

“Hey, Victor. I think you’re mistaken, we’re not fans who came to see you. We’re also employees of the Tampa Bay Rays, you know?”

“Team employees? No, which department are you from that you’re in the underground parking lot this late at night…? Ah!”

It was at this moment that Victor Johnson clapped his hands.

“Then, did you two also come to see the boss? Is that it?”

“We, well…”

At this point, John Rahma didn’t seem to like being on the same level as Victor Johnson.

John Rahma was quite loud himself, but he seemed overwhelmed by Victor Johnson’s overflowing energy.

However, he couldn’t think of a good excuse, so John Rahma ended up nodding.

“Ah, yes, well… that’s about right.”

John Rahma said.

“We also have something urgent to tell President Brian Span…”

“Oh, that’s great!”

Thud.

Victor Johnson’s hand, as big as a pot lid, landed on John Rahma’s shoulder.

“Then let’s wait together! I was getting bored being alone!”

Come on! This way!

A sturdy arm capable of throwing a 161 km/h fastball [approximately 100 mph] was pulling John Rahma.

* * *

What should I say?

It was quite an amusing sight.

Victor Johnson, 6’6″ (198cm) tall, playing as a starting pitcher in the Major League.

John Rahma Taylor, 6’0″ (184cm) tall, who had been fighting alligators for years.

Watching these two men, who were burly even by American standards, squatting in a corner of the underground parking lot and chatting, Ji-seop was lost in thought.

‘Victor Johnson Jr……. Wasn’t it said that he was having trouble playing in games because of knee pain?’

At least that didn’t seem to be the case.

Victor Johnson was squatting next to John Rahma.

If his knee pain was so severe that it was difficult to play in games, it would be impossible to even attempt such a posture.

‘There’s no problem with his knees? Then that means there’s another reason why he can’t play in games…’

Ji-seop’s eyes narrowed.

He had told John Rahma before, but if the cause was an injury, Ji-seop couldn’t do anything about it.

That was strictly the domain of experts.

‘But if it’s not an injury?’

An ace pitcher who hasn’t pitched in a real game for two weeks since the season started.

Perhaps Ji-seop could solve his problem and turn the whole situation around.

And if that fact were to be known to the general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays-

‘Wouldn’t the Future Strategy Planning Division be able to get back on track?’

Having thought this far, Ji-seop approached the two gorillas who were still bickering over snacks.

He was going to ask questions carefully so as not to alarm them, but there was no need for such effort.

The Tampa Bay owner’s son was already saying what Ji-seop wanted to say.

“So, what’s the reason?”

Victor Johnson seemed to be quite a persistent man.

John Rahma already had one of Victor Johnson’s autographed balls in his hand.

“Is there a reason why a player has to meet the general manager directly? The coaches and manager take care of most things.”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? They don’t listen to my opinion, so I had no choice but to come to the boss.”

Victor Johnson continued.

“Okay, I’ll tell you, especially for John. Actually, I’m going to ask the boss to send me to the minor league today.”

“The minor league?!”

It was only natural that John Rahma’s eyes widened.

“No, Victor! Are you crazy? Everyone is desperate to get to the Major League, why would you go down there on your own? If you’re sick, you can just go on the injured list!”

“I’m not sick. I’m perfectly fine.”

Victor Johnson said firmly.

“I already put my name on the injured list at the coach’s suggestion, but it’s so annoying? They keep checking my medical condition every ten days… They’re constantly pressuring me to return to the team.”

I need time.

A little more time.

Victor Johnson said, closing the cap of the pen and putting it in his pocket.

“Triple A [the highest level of minor league baseball] is fine, Double A [the second-highest level] is fine… I want to have some time in a more relaxed place. That’s what I came to tell the boss.”

“No, but…”

John Rahma seemed frustrated.

“Why do you need time? Did you break up with your girlfriend? Or did the stock you invested all your money in get delisted [removed from the stock exchange]?”

“That’s…”

It was at this moment that the smile completely disappeared from Victor Johnson’s face.

“I’ve come to think that my baseball isn’t cool anymore.”

“Baseball… isn’t cool?”

When John Rahma tilted his head, Victor Johnson spoke in a tone as if he were doing a great favor.

“Do you have a phone?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then can you search for it? Last year’s regular season final game of our Tampa Bay Rays.”

“The final game?”

John Rahma obediently took out his phone.

As Victor Johnson said, the owner’s son was looking at the Tampa Bay Rays’ game record from last season.

And the next moment, a very pitiful expression appeared on his face.

“Tampa Bay starter Victor Johnson… Early knockdown with 7 runs in 1 and 1/3 innings?!”

1 and 1/3 innings and 7 runs means he was taken down before the end of the 2nd inning.

In the players’ terms, it means he was beaten ‘like dust on a rainy day’.

“No, then because of this game…”

John Rahma looked at Victor Johnson with pitiful eyes.

Just as he was about to say something comforting to Tampa Bay’s ‘rising star’.

“Victor!!!”

A voice coming from somewhere.

“Victor! Victor Johnson Junior! You son of a b*tch, where the hell did you run off to?!”

A thunderous voice coming from the hallway leading to Tropicana Field [the Tampa Bay Rays’ home stadium].

“Damn it, it’s the coach?!”

Victor Johnson, who had been wearing a serious expression, jumped up in surprise.

“Things have gotten worse. I’ll have to postpone meeting the boss to another time.”

With that, Victor Johnson picked up the bag he had thrown aside.

“If you see the boss, please tell him that I really want to meet him! Please! Then I’ll be going…”

Dada dadat [sound of running footsteps].

Immediately after Tampa Bay’s ace left the underground parking lot with lightning speed.

Click-

As the lights in the dim parking lot turned on, a chubby middle-aged man suddenly appeared.

“Victor! You son of a b*tch, you were hiding here? No matter how you run away, you’re still in my palm… um?!”

Blinking, blinking, blinking.

The middle-aged man, looking back and forth between Ji-seop and John Rahma squatting in the corner of the parking lot, had a blank expression on his face.

“Ah, hello?”

Fortunately, John Rahma seemed to recognize him.

“It’s been a while, coach.”

* * *

Thomas Culkin.

That was the name of the pitching coach who had come all the way from the clubhouse to this parking lot to catch Victor Johnson.

“So, Victor already ran away? Damn it, that slippery bastard!”

The pitching coach, who had heard the whole story from John Rahma, gnashed his teeth and huffed and puffed for a while.

“I was going to persuade him no matter what today… Aish, another day is going to pass like this.”

The departure of a starting pitcher is like a ticket to hell for a pitching coach.

The pitching coach, sighing as if the ground was sinking, turned to Ji-seop and John Rahma and said.

“I hope you keep the story you heard from Victor today a secret.”

He put his finger to his lips.

“If it gets out that the ace of a team is refusing to play even though he’s not sick? The world will be in an uproar. The team’s performance isn’t that good as it is… You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes, keeping that secret isn’t that difficult…”

John Rahma glanced at Ji-seop’s face.

He seemed to remember what Ji-seop had done in Korea.

“Coach, is there anything we can do to help?”

“Help? With what?”

“Of course, it’s about Victor Johnson.”

John Rahma pointed to Ji-seop.

“Actually, this person here is Kim… He used to be a special advisor to the general manager in Korea. He’s an expert in managing players’ mentality.”

“An expert?”

The pitching coach raised one eyebrow.

John Rahma interpreted this as a positive sign and began to introduce Ji-seop.

“Yes, you know Ryu, the Korean center fielder who just joined Boston? And Jimmy Morris, who was appointed captain of Baltimore this season? Both of those players received Kim’s help and had good results in Korea…”

“Ah, is that so?”

The pitching coach nodded.

But the answer that came back was ‘No’.

“Thank you very much, but I’ll have to decline. Our Tampa Bay also has a department that manages the players’ mentality separately. The ‘experts’ there have already had several consultations with Victor Johnson.”

He was smiling on the outside, but Ji-seop could see right through his true feelings.

[Aigo, Rahma is really… He seems to have been caught by another con artist.]

[An expert in player mental management? Where is he bringing up his Korean professional baseball career?]

Ji-seop laughed it off up to this point.

But the story that Ji-seop paid attention to came the very next moment.

[Anyway, Victor this guy… If I don’t help him regain his confidence quickly, this season will be a disaster.]

[To think he’d be this upset over just one bad game… Players are so hard to understand.]

The pitching coach, full of worries about Victor Johnson, greeted John Rahma and turned to leave.

Ji-seop called out to him, ‘Excuse me, coach’.

“What, you can speak English?”

The pitching coach, showing interest in his surprisingly fluent English pronunciation.

But Ji-seop did not answer that question.