A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 283

70. Something Anyone Can’t Do (2)

The final game of the weekend series took place that day at Tropicana Field.

The Tampa Bay Rays secured a victory against their AL East rival, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Final score: 4-1.

-The winner of today’s game is Tampa Bay… Rays!!!

The MVP of the day was none other than the ‘Returning Ace,’ Victor Johnson Jr.

The 24-year-old fireballer had been giving the coaching staff headaches with his insistence on developing a new breaking ball.

However, after meeting Ji-seop and changing his mind, he never wavered from his decision again.

Returning to the major league mound, he left no doubt as to why he was called an ‘Ace.’

Whoosh- Bang!

Whoosh- Baaang!

A 161 km/h fastball [approximately 100 mph], a sweeper that broke with absurd sharpness, and a changeup that was nearly indistinguishable from his fastball.

With Victor Johnson effectively utilizing his signature pitches, the Toronto lineup struggled, managing only three hits through the sixth inning.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay lineup steadily accumulated runs, and the bullpen held onto the 4-1 lead, securing the victory.

Wooaaah!!!

The moment the final out was recorded in the top of the 9th, the cheers of Tampa Bay fans echoed throughout Tropicana Field.

A victory achieved with the starting pitcher holding down the mound, and the lineup and bullpen each playing their part.

As the players put it, ‘the most ideal game,’ and as the coaches put it, ‘a game that went according to plan.’

It was a satisfying victory to savor after a long time, but-

“…….”

Among the many Tampa Bay staff members, there were two who couldn’t fully enjoy the day’s victory.

Ji-seop and John Llama, who were in the coaching staff office thanks to the consideration of pitching coach Thomas Culkin.

Even after the game ended and the TV screen showed previews for the next broadcast, the two remained seated, poring over a yellow-covered document.

“It’s definitely a bit strange, isn’t it?”

John Llama commented.

“To be honest… this ‘Yellow Book,’ was it? I’m not even sure why they bothered creating it.”

Ji-seop shared a similar sentiment.

The so-called ‘Yellow Book,’ a game prediction report handed over by Chief Director Brian Sphan.

The Chief Director had presented it as if it were a report of great significance, but in reality, its contents were full of holes.

“It said that the upper lineup members were in great condition, but the runs were actually scored entirely by the lower lineup members…”

John Llama flipped through the report.

“The analysis of the bullpen pitchers is just lazy. ‘Moore-Partha-Rodriguez are expected to appear in that order…’ Hey, I could have said that! They’re our Tampa Bay Rays’ prized three-man winning group!”

John Llama, who had been complaining while looking at the ‘Yellow Book,’ turned his gaze to Ji-seop.

“We can’t just tell the Chief Director that it was a carelessly written report, or a report below standard, can we?”

Hearing John Llama’s words, Ji-seop chuckled inwardly.

‘This clueless son of the team owner is starting to get a sense of things, huh?’

“Of course not.”

Ji-seop nodded.

“It’s obvious to anyone that there are many shortcomings in the content… The key is why this happened.”

While John Llama expressed it as ‘shortcomings,’ Ji-seop actually considered it ‘mediocrity.’

Rather than a lacking report,

Just a mediocre report.

‘Yes, that’s probably the right way to look at it.’

From a general perspective, it was natural that the upper lineup would have a higher probability of scoring than the lower lineup.

Also, in a typical game flow, the winning group would naturally appear in order in a close lead within 3 points.

From that perspective, the ‘Yellow Book’ that Ji-seop received that day only mentioned overly general, and therefore extremely mundane, information.

‘……Why?’

If the person who wrote this report was an ordinary reporter from a local media outlet, he would have just brushed it off.

However, the problem was that this report was created by the [Baseball R&D Team].

The Tampa Bay front office, which is considered one of the best in Major League Baseball, and the [Baseball R&D Team], which is considered the elite among them.

How should he interpret the fact that they wrote such a mundane report?

Just as Ji-seop was biting the end of his pen and lost in thought,

A group of people burst into the office.

“Oh, Kim! You’re still here?”

It was the Tampa Bay Rays’ coaching staff who had come to the office.

It was pitching coach Thomas Culkin who greeted Ji-seop with a cheerful greeting.

“Everyone, this is the guy! I told you about him, right? The one who fixed Victor Johnson Jr.’s bad habits in one shot! The very person who brought victory to our Tampa Bay Rays today!”

Thomas Culkin began to make a fuss, gesturing to the coaching staff following behind him.

“Assistant Director of Future Strategy Planning, Kim! Everyone, say hello!!!”

Ooh!

Oooooh!

Whatever Thomas Culkin said, the Tampa Bay coaches rushed to Ji-seop.

“We’ve heard a lot about you! They say Victor would believe you even if you told him Coke was Fanta?”

“Victor is the most stubborn guy here in Florida… You’re really amazing!”

“Now that you’re here, why don’t you tell us the story! How on earth did you persuade Victor?”

From the bench coach, hitting coach, first base coach, to the conditioning coach.

Perhaps they were very curious about how he had broken Victor Johnson’s stubbornness, as people surrounded Ji-seop and each said a word.

“Alright! Let’s take it easy, take it easy!”

With the people’s attention focused on Ji-seop, Thomas Culkin raised both arms with a subtly pleased expression.

“Even if it’s Kim, it’s hard to answer if you ask him all at once like that, right? First, starting with the bench coach, one by one… Hmm?”

And just then, Thomas Culkin’s eyes widened.

“Hey, Kim!”

He said, pointing to the yellow-covered document in Ji-seop’s hand.

“Isn’t that… the ‘Yellow Book’? How did you get your hands on that?”

“Ah, you mean this report? It’s nothing special…”

The Chief Director gave it to me.

He told me to review it.

Ji-seop, who was about to say this without much thought, suddenly closed his mouth quietly.

[The Yellow Book… Why is the Chief Director doing such useless things?]

[Predicting the contents of the game! Does he think that’s realistically possible?]

As soon as the coaches saw the ‘Yellow Book,’ their inner thoughts reached Ji-seop’s ears.

In fact, Ji-seop had calmly brushed aside everything up to this point, but the story that caught his attention came the very next moment.

[The front office people predict the contents of the game, and our coaches prepare for the game based on that?]

It was the bench coach’s inner thought.

[In a way… isn’t that the front office encroaching on the territory of our field staff?]

* * *

At that moment, Ji-seop felt a light bulb ‘flash’ in his head.

‘Ah, I see.’

That could be the case.

Ji-seop nodded inwardly.

‘The very act of creating the Yellow Book could be seen as an overreach by the front office to the field staff.’

During his time with the KH Cannons, Ji-seop had learned something from Director Cha Yoon-jin of ‘Black Curtain Chacha’ [a well-known and influential figure].

The role of the front office should stop at the door leading to the dugout. If you take one more step from there, the conflict between the front office and the field staff begins.

From that point of view, the fact that the [Baseball R&D Team] was discussing specific game details had the potential to cause problems.

The Chief Director may have thought it was a simple ‘prediction,’ but to the field staff, it could be seen as a kind of guideline.

Whether it’s a guideline in the sense of ‘do it this way’ or a guideline in the sense of ‘avoid this at all costs.’

‘What if the [Baseball R&D Team] knew about this atmosphere among the field staff?’

Ah, I see.

That’s why.

Ji-seop felt as if all the questions surrounding the extremely mundane content of the ‘Yellow Book’ were resolved in an instant.

“I think so.”

The next morning.

Even in the meeting with Chief Director Brian Sphan, Ji-seop was able to speak with a confident voice.

“I think the Baseball R&D Team wanted to prevent unnecessary discord within the team.”

“Unnecessary discord?”

“Yes.”

Ji-seop nodded.

“The higher the quality of the ‘Yellow Book,’ the more help the field staff would receive. But in a way, that’s an act of interference by the front office in the game… Doesn’t it have the potential to disrupt the division of labor system of the Tampa Bay Rays, which was in perfect balance?”

Front office and field staff.

Field staff and front office.

According to pitching coach Thomas Culkin, it was that division of labor system that was working ‘almost perfectly.’

“Therefore, I think the Baseball R&D Team decided to write only mundane content. If there’s nothing particularly noticeable, the coaches won’t feel the need to look into it in detail…”

The story that if the coaching staff doesn’t pay attention, the Yellow Book won’t cause discord within the team.

Hearing Ji-seop’s words, Chief Director Brian nodded with a satisfied expression.

He turned to John Llama and opened his mouth.

“Hey, John.”

“Yes?”

“Where did you find such a smart guy? I had some expectations, but… I didn’t know he would pinpoint it so accurately?”

“Haha, you know, boss? I’m lucky with friends, even if I’m not good at anything else…”

Watching John Llama laugh heartily, President Brian smiled.

It was the very next moment that he let out a short sigh and spoke again.

“Kim, excellent. It was a very excellent analysis.”

And it was an analysis close to the correct answer.

Chief Director Brian leaned back in his chair and continued.

“Actually, the ‘Yellow Book’ is not entirely my idea. It came up a few years ago during a conversation with other team presidents at the Winter Meetings [an annual gathering of MLB team owners and executives].”

Major League Winter Meetings.

Ji-seop also knew from experience that this was a treasure trove of new ideas.

“Of course, there were teams that tried this idea before us. Among them, the Pittsburgh Pirates proceeded with the plan quite concretely, I think?”

Ji-seop could easily predict what would follow.

It didn’t go well. It failed. The effect wasn’t as good as expected.

As expected.

“Unfortunately, the plan fell through in just one year. The reason was exactly what you mentioned earlier, Kim.”

Having said this, President Brian stared at the ‘Yellow Book’ on the desk.

With a very lingering expression, he flipped through the pages, and then finally uttered a word.

“But I still highly value this idea.”

President Brian said.

“The method of discovering promising players through cross-checking has now become commonplace, and most teams now have scientific training systems through data analysis… All we can do is focus on each and every game.”

Major League Baseball, with a whopping 162 games a year.

As you go through such a long schedule, you naturally end up abandoning some games and neglecting others.

President Brian Sphan seemed to be planning to carefully take care of these games and lead them to victory.

“Of course, predicting each and every game is difficult. As we talked about earlier, there is a possibility that it will be seen as an overreach by the front office. But if, just if, this idea takes root in our Tampa Bay Rays…”

The next moment, Ji-seop heard the story that he never thought the Chief Director of the Tampa Bay Rays would bring up.

“I think it’s possible. Our Tampa Bay Rays’ first-ever World Series victory.”

So, about that,

President Brian looked at Ji-seop.

“Kim.”

“Yes?”

“Won’t you take charge of it with John?”

A strategy to overcome the realistic conditions of the Tampa Bay Rays.

A strategy to focus more on each and every game and aim for higher places.

So that someday, we can create the Tampa Bay Rays’ first-ever World Series victory.

“I’m talking about the Yellow Book Project.”