A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 281

Chapter 69: The Boss Is Watching (7)

Back when he played in the American independent league,

Jisub didn’t have many hobbies, but one of them was listening to the radio.

Specifically, he would listen to baseball broadcasts on a local radio channel between 7 and 8 in the morning.

Initially, it was to improve his English skills. Back then, Jisub couldn’t even understand what the coaches were saying.

But as time went on, he seemed to have become addicted to the ‘high tension’ unique to American radio broadcasts.

– Good morning, baseball fans! I sincerely pray that you can all listen to this broadcast without any issues today.

– Frankly, if you watched yesterday’s game until the end, you probably would have smashed a radio or two. Wahahaha!!!

Jisub’s hobby, which had naturally stopped when he left the American independent league,

was revived after he joined the Tampa Bay Rays, and he started listening to morning radio broadcasts again.

[Good Morning Baseball], the only morning baseball show on a local radio channel in St. Petersburg.

It was the perfect show to listen to while getting ready for work.

He enjoyed the energetic comments from the former Major Leaguer host and the silly jokes from the comedian who appeared as a guest.

The stories from the baseball blogger, who occasionally showed insights that surprised Jisub, were also interesting—except for one thing he didn’t like.

That was the fact that [Good Morning Baseball] hardly covered the Tampa Bay Rays.

Even though it was a local broadcasting station in St. Petersburg, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays.

– Yes, today we’ll start with news from the New York Yankees. Hey, Harry! The Yankees got a real beating at Fenway Park last night, didn’t they?

– That’s right! They collapsed after allowing 4 hits and 5 RBIs in 4 at-bats to Ryu, the rookie center fielder for the Boston Red Sox! Oh, I could hear the sighs of Yankees fans all the way to my house! Hahaha!

Usually, it was the New York Yankees, and sometimes the Boston Red Sox. If there were no particular issues with those two teams, it would be the LA Dodgers or the New York Mets.

Of course, it was nice to hear about Ryu Jang-ho’s performance in the voices of the locals, but as an employee of the Tampa Bay Rays, it was hard not to feel uneasy.

‘If this were the KH Cannons [a fictional Korean baseball team], it would be like a Gyeonggi Province [a province in South Korea] broadcasting station only playing news about the UB Guardians [another fictional Korean baseball team]?’

The reason was obvious.

Even though it was the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, there were far more fans of other teams in St. Petersburg.

People who had supported other teams their whole lives wouldn’t suddenly start supporting Tampa Bay just because they moved to St. Petersburg after retirement.

The broadcasting station would be well aware of this situation, so news related to the Tampa Bay Rays would inevitably be pushed back.

‘……Damn it.’

So Jisub had almost given up.

He decided to think of [Good Morning Baseball] as just a New York Yankees show.

He decided to think of it as a show that was kind enough to occasionally share news about Ryu Jang-ho.

That’s how Jisub turned on the radio every morning, but.

“Oh?!”

About a month after Jisub joined the Tampa Bay Rays.

More precisely, almost a week after he stopped Victor Johnson from going to the minor leagues.

Jisub was able to hear the words ‘Tampa Bay Rays’ coming from the host of [Good Morning Baseball].

– We have some news about our friendly neighbors, the Tampa Bay Rays, for the first time in a long time!

And of course, at this point, Jisub had a vague idea of what story was coming.

– Tampa Bay ace, Victor Johnson Jr.’s first start schedule of the season has been confirmed!

It’s tomorrow!

Whether it was Jisub’s imagination or not, he could feel a considerable amount of anticipation in the voice of the [Good Morning Baseball] host.

* * *

“Oh, don’t even get me started! I’ve never had such a hard time!”

A few hours later.

Jisub was sitting face to face with Coach Thomas Culkin, who had visited ‘Storage D’ on the second basement floor of Tropicana Field.

“Of course, the manager was happy. The team’s ace wasn’t going down to the minor leagues. But the general manager and the president of baseball operations were glaring at me so fiercely…….”

No one disagreed that Victor Johnson had done something wrong.

If he hadn’t been so ambitious to create a new breaking ball, or if he had just shared it with the coach, this wouldn’t have happened.

But in the eyes of the general manager and the president of baseball operations, this was a clear failure of player management.

Victor Johnson was fined a considerable amount, but Coach Thomas Culkin and the player management staff couldn’t avoid being reprimanded either.

“The only good thing is that Victor kept his promise to me.”

Thomas Culkin continued, drinking the coffee that John Ramer had brought.

“I don’t know if he thought he had to stay in the major leagues somehow… But he was very diligent. I think it was almost the first time I’d ever seen Victor train so hard.”

He added that the reason Victor Johnson was able to return much faster than expected was because of that.

Of course, it was also because he had such a great natural talent.

“Not only me, but the player management staff who were reprimanded are also sighing in relief. If Victor does his part, our mistake will be somewhat mitigated this time.”

Speaking of which.

Thomas Culkin put down his coffee cup and looked at Jisub.

“Kim, thank you so much.”

He continued.

“I actually came all the way here to say that. If it weren’t for you and the future strategy planning department, we would have sent an ace pitcher with no problems down to the minor leagues.”

After saying this, Thomas Culkin suddenly shuddered.

He seemed to be horrified just imagining what would have happened if Victor Johnson had been sent down to the minor leagues.

“I’m going on a road trip right after today’s game, so it’ll be a bit difficult for a while, but I’ll somehow make time. If you were a former player… You’d like this, wouldn’t you, this.”

Thomas Culkin pretended to take a shot with his cup. ‘Clink!’

When Jisub nodded with a meaningful expression, the pitching coach laughed, saying, ‘I knew it!’

“Oh, and you can expect a reward for this incident.”

“R, really?”

John Ramer, who had been silent until now, perked up at the word ‘reward’.

“You two know it well, don’t you? Victor Johnson… He’s such a chatterbox.”

Thomas Culkin smiled wryly.

“While reporting on this incident, that guy talked about you two a lot. He did it in front of the general manager, and in front of the president of baseball operations…….”

Jisub’s ears perked up at that moment.

“He even went to Brian Spann, the president of baseball operations, and talked about it very excitedly.”

Thomas Culkin looked helpless, but Jisub was shouting ‘Good job, Victor!’ in his mind.

This incident being reported to President Brian Spann was practically a foregone conclusion, but it would have a different impact if it was delivered by the ace pitcher himself.

And he was also curious. What was President Brian Spann thinking now? Had he started to realize that the future strategy planning department had changed?

Just as Jisub was lost in thought, Thomas Culkin checked his watch and exclaimed, ‘Oops’.

“I have to get up now. I have a coaching staff meeting scheduled for 30 minutes.”

He shook off the coffee left in his cup and looked back at Jisub, asking.

“Kim, what are you going to do tomorrow?”

“Yes?”

“Victor, I mean. Tomorrow is his first start of the season.”

It seemed like he was asking where he was going to watch tomorrow’s game, but Jisub just scratched the back of his head.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch it live. I’ve received support requests from quite a few departments…….”

“Support requests?”

“Yes, still, isn’t it the day our Tampa Bay ace is returning? There are more people who have made reservations than usual, so there are a lot of things going on because of that.”

“Oh, is that how it is again?”

The pitching coach clicked his tongue.

“Victor told me to make sure you guys watch the game. I think he wants to show you a great performance, and he also needs it to discuss new breaking balls in the future.”

“I’ll check the recording later. You know, our future strategy planning department, now is the time to do anything.”

“Hmm, I’ve heard about that situation…….”

Let’s see.

Thomas Culkin crumpled his hat and pondered for a while.

It was at that moment that he exclaimed, ‘Aha!’ and pointed at Jisub.

“Kim, then on Victor’s start day… Can you help me with some work?”

* * *

Two days later.

On the very day that ‘Breaking Ball Researcher’ Victor Johnson would have his first start of the season.

Jisub and John Ramer were walking to the coaching staff office in Tropicana Field.

It was to carry out the ‘work’ that Thomas Culkin had entrusted to them.

“I didn’t think so, but the coach is really too much.”

That was John Ramer’s reaction.

“When did you say you had to watch Victor’s game, why are you suddenly telling me to organize the game records again?”

Organizing game records.

This was the task that Thomas Culkin had entrusted to the two of them.

There were a lot of game records piled up in the coaching staff office, so he wanted them to take care of it somehow.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have just said I was working at the fan shop as usual… You can check your cell phone from time to time over there, right?”

“Why? Is it difficult in the coaching staff office?”

For some reason, Jisub was wearing a soft smile, but John Ramer didn’t seem to notice his expression.

“Of course, it’s difficult! All the coaches who can’t go into the dugout will be in the office. Then how can you look at your cell phone because you’re conscious of them. You just bow your head and work hard.”

It’s too much, too much.

John Ramer sighed as if the ground was sinking and knocked on the office door. ‘Knock knock’.

“Excuse me! I came to organize the game records at the request of Coach Thomas Culkin… Um?!”

It was at this moment that John Ramer’s face changed strangely as he opened the office door without thinking.

The scenery of the coaching staff office was quite different from what he had expected.

“Wh, what is it?”

First of all, there was no one there.

There were no game records piled up in the office.

Instead, there were a few cans of chilled beer on the office table. And a note.

“No, what the hell is this…….”

John Ramer tilted his head and picked up the note in question.

And at the next moment, his face, which had been frowning, brightened up.

“헐 [Korean slang expressing disbelief or surprise]… Kim!!!”

John Ramer approached Jisub, who was sitting in the chair in the middle of the office, fluttering the note.

“This is all… Coach Thomas Culkin prepared it for us?!”

John Ramer was very happy.

“The coaches who can’t go into the dugout today left for the airport in advance… He told us to watch the game comfortably here?!”

It was Thomas Culkin’s consideration.

John Ramer, who can’t be comfortable in Tropicana Field because he is the son of the owner.

He emptied the coaching staff’s office so that he could relax and watch Victor Johnson’s first start of the season.

There is a big TV, chilled beer, and above all, no one would dare to open the door of the coaching staff’s office-

“From my point of view, there is no better place than here. A place where you can watch baseball comfortably.”

John Ramer scratched the back of his head.

I wondered if it was because he was embarrassed that he had blamed Thomas Culkin at first, but it seemed like there was another reason.

“Kim did all the hard work again this time, but it seems like only good things are happening to me.”

John Ramer said.

“I need to be able to do things as well as Kim as soon as possible.”

“Hey, don’t say that.”

Jisub took out a cold can of beer and handed it to John Ramer.

“Tampa Bay Rays are currently at the bottom of the division, but I think they will be moving up soon. Victor Johnson has only made his first start, but he will soon be playing the role of the team’s ace.”

Ramer, you too.

Jisub continued.

“Even though you may feel like you’re not doing anything right now, you’re a big help from my point of view. So I think you’ll be able to play your role soon. Like our Tampa Bay Rays, or Victor Johnson over there.”

“R, really?”

“Of course, you’re welcome.”

Jisub opened a can of beer and held it out to John Ramer.

“We’ll have to concentrate on the game when Victor gets on the mound, so let’s have a drink quickly!”

“Ah, yes! Let’s do that!”

You’ve worked hard.

It was at that moment that Jisub and John Ramer, the two members of the future strategy planning department, clinked their beer cans and celebrated the resolution.

“As expected… You have great speaking skills as I’ve heard?”

In Jisub’s ear,

A voice is heard.