A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 35

Chapter 11: Can I Trust You? (2)

Ji-seop’s prediction was spot on.

“Okay, let’s sit down and talk.”

Director Jo Seong-beom gestured for Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok to sit down.

As they took their seats, Director Jo mentioned the name Ji-seop had vaguely anticipated.

“Jimmy Morris… you know him, right?”

Director Jo continued.

“He’s the new addition to our Cannons this season… you know, the guy who started in today’s practice game.”

In truth, Ji-seop barely remembered the practice game that day.

He had been too busy translating between the KH Cannons’ general manager and the president of Amuro Sports Marketing.

However, he did recall something about the foreign pitcher named ‘Jimmy Morris.’

‘…How could I not?’

A 33-year-old starting pitcher with 86 career wins in Major League Baseball.

Until just a few years ago, he was a fixture as a No. 2 or 3 starter in the major leagues and even played in the All-Star Game.

The news of such a high-profile pitcher joining the KH Cannons had set the internet ablaze.

Even here at the KH Cannons’ spring camp, flags with Jimmy Morris’s picture were fluttering everywhere.

Anyway, this foreign pitcher had joined the KH Cannons with such high expectations, but-

“He hasn’t been in good condition lately.”

Director Jo Seong-beom seemed to be quite troubled by this remarkable foreign pitcher.

“No, saying ‘lately’ might be a bit misleading. The truth is, he hasn’t been in good condition since he joined our team.”

“Is there a health issue?”

At Ji-seop’s question, Director Jo gestured to Go Chang-deok instead of answering.

“No, there’s no health problem.”

Go Chang-deok opened his mouth at the director’s instruction.

“He had an elbow injury when he was in the States, but… he’s fine now. He says there’s still some pain, but any active pitcher would have that much pain.”

He added that if there had been a serious health issue, it would have been caught during the medical check in the contract phase.

“Then, why on earth…”

“According to him, he hasn’t been able to sleep since coming to Okinawa.”

Insomnia.

Director Jo Seong-beom clicked his tongue.

“Actually, Ji-seop, you know from your time as a player… this isn’t uncommon, right? Pitchers are such sensitive creatures.”

Ji-seop nodded silently.

He, who used to throw pitches at 128 km/h, couldn’t even show such signs, but skilled pitchers often flaunted their sensitivity.

Complaining about not being able to sleep because of the changed environment, or tossing and turning due to worries about performance, it’s certainly not uncommon for pitchers to complain of insomnia.

“So, we changed his room to a single room according to his wishes, brought in a counselor from the club, and even had the manager and coaches talk to him…”

All those efforts were in vain.

“It’s become a headache. We brought him in to be our team’s ace, and he’s acting like this…”

Just looking at Director Jo Seong-beom’s frustrated expression, Ji-seop could roughly grasp the seriousness of the situation.

But almost simultaneously, a question arose in Ji-seop’s mind.

“So… what is it that you want me to do, Director?”

Ji-seop had a rough idea.

He and Go Chang-deok were to work together to solve Jimmy Morris’s insomnia.

‘But… is that even possible?’

The club seemed to have tried various methods, and even brought in a professional counselor, but it all came to nothing.

Was there anything left for him and Go Chang-deok, mere training assistants, to do?

Director Jo Seong-beom seemed to be aware of Ji-seop’s thoughts.

“Let’s get this straight first.”

Director Jo Seong-beom got up and firmly closed the slightly open door.

“Keep this to yourselves. The truth is, the head of the operations team, the general manager, and I… have agreed to replace Jimmy Morris before it gets any later.”

“Re-replace him?!”

Go Chang-deok’s eyes widened.

“He hasn’t even pitched a single game in a real match yet… are you saying you’re already discussing a replacement?”

“Hey, keep your voice down. Everyone passing by will hear you.”

At Director Jo Seong-beom’s rebuke, Go Chang-deok quietly closed his mouth, saying, “Ah, yes.”

“If he said he was physically ill, we could wait for him. Three weeks, a month, we can calculate it.”

But mental issues are different.

“Insomnia is something you can’t know when it will recover, and even if it does, there’s a high possibility that it will cause trouble with similar issues throughout the season.”

“So… a replacement?”

Director Jo Seong-beom nodded at Ji-seop’s question.

Then Ji-seop also had something to ask.

“But you’re giving us this task…”

“You guys can guess this much, right? It takes quite a while to find a replacement foreign player.”

“Ah.”

Ji-seop could finally grasp what Director Jo Seong-beom was aiming for.

“While the international operations team is searching for a replacement foreign player… you’re saying that Go Chang-deok and I, the training assistants, should try to help Jimmy Morris recover his condition?”

“Yes, ‘try.’ That’s the accurate expression.”

Director Jo Seong-beom smiled.

“The club doesn’t intend to put a big burden on you guys. We’re just giving it a try. Above all, you guys have a track record of helping Ryu Jang-ho recover his condition.”

“…”

“It’s okay even if there’s no significant result. Even if Jimmy Morris ultimately doesn’t overcome his insomnia, the club won’t say anything to you guys. It’s a situation where they shouldn’t say anything.”

However.

It was at this moment that Director Jo Seong-beom’s eyes changed slightly.

“What if, by any chance, you guys help Jimmy Morris recover his condition? If that happens… I promise you.”

Tuk, tuk.

Director Jo Seong-beom tapped the desk with his finger and looked back and forth between Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok.

“I’ll take responsibility and convert both of you to full-time employees.”

* * *

Jimmy Morris, the new foreign pitcher for the KH Cannons.

If they could save him from being kicked out due to insomnia, Director Jo would take responsibility and convert them to full-time employees.

In fact, this wasn’t a very attractive offer for Ji-seop.

‘Well, I have connections anyway…’

From the start, Ji-seop had joined the KH Cannons through the arrangement of ‘Sakhalin Park’ Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju.

Although he was a picky old man, Ji-seop expected that his performance so far would be enough to get him converted to a full-time employee.

However, the other person who received Director Jo Seong-beom’s offer that day seemed to have a different mindset from Ji-seop.

“F-full-time conversion…”

It was Go Chang-deok.

A one-year-older *ajusshi* [a respectful Korean term for a middle-aged man] who already had a daughter.

Director Jo Seong-beom repeatedly said, ‘Don’t feel pressured,’ but Go Chang-deok couldn’t seem to shake off the pressure.

“W-what should we do, Ji-seop?”

Go Chang-deok said to Ji-seop.

“F-first, we should go to our room and have some kind of strategy meeting, right? You don’t know much about Jimmy Morris, so…”

Go Chang-deok didn’t say things like, ‘Let’s do our best, we must succeed.’

With the opportunity for full-time conversion right in front of him, saying such things felt like a waste of time.

“Ah, no. Should we go meet Jimmy Morris? We have to say hello anyway. Right?”

He was usually a bit fussy, but this was the first time Ji-seop had seen him so flustered.

Ji-seop could tell what his colleague was thinking without even looking into his eyes.

At that moment, Ji-seop seemed to have made up his mind to ‘make this work somehow.’

“We can have a strategy meeting later, so we should go meet Jimmy Morris first. Before that…”

Ji-seop patted Go Chang-deok on the shoulder and continued.

“Let’s take a deep breath first.”

* * *

The ‘Grand Ryukyu Hotel’ in Okinawa was designated as the accommodation for the KH Cannons’ first team during this spring camp.

Most of the players were staying in the hotel’s main building, but Jimmy Morris was staying alone in the annex.

“He said he wanted to be alone and quiet when he wasn’t training…”

On the way to the hotel annex where Jimmy Morris was staying.

Go Chang-deok, who had barely regained his composure, was telling Ji-seop about his impressions of Jimmy Morris.

“He’s a difficult style to deal with. He doesn’t talk much, and he seems to have a lot of pride because he’s from the major leagues.”

“How does he compare to Ryu Jang-ho?”

At Ji-seop’s question, Go Chang-deok chuckled.

“Compared to Morris, Ryu Jang-ho is cute. At least he didn’t openly ignore us, did he?”

“Does Jimmy Morris ignore people?”

“I don’t know.”

Go Chang-deok shrugged.

“I don’t know if he’s not interested in what we’re saying, or if his head is full of other thoughts…”

How can we know if he doesn’t show his true feelings?

Go Chang-deok, who had been sighing and complaining, pointed to a hotel room, saying, “Ah.”

“Here it is, Morris’s room.”

Go Chang-deok hesitated slightly here.

“S-should I knock? Or should I ring the doorbell?”

“Why are you worrying about that? It’s not like we’ve come to a place we shouldn’t be.”

With that, Ji-seop pressed the doorbell button.

After waiting for a moment, the door opened with a ‘click,’ and a large white man appeared.

“…Who is it?”

Jimmy Morris glared at Ji-seop with a wary look.

He recognized Go Chang-deok standing next to him and relaxed his expression slightly.

“Ah, you’re from the Cannons…”

“Ah, hello, Mr. Morris!”

Go Chang-deok continued in English with an accent that anyone could tell came from his school days in Korea.

“M-me and this friend will be in charge of Mr. Morris’s personal translation starting tomorrow. I wanted to say hello in advance, so I came to see you.”

“Hello, Mr. Morris.”

When Ji-seop greeted him, Jimmy Morris nodded perfunctorily.

“Personal translation… yeah, I think I heard that it might change.”

Jimmy Morris scratched his neck as if he was annoyed.

The headphones around his neck swayed back and forth.

“If the translator hadn’t changed, I would have bought you a beer, but… as you know, I’m not in good condition these days.”

Jimmy Morris said as he put his hand on the hotel room door handle.

“I’m a bit busy right now… let’s talk again tomorrow morning.”

With that, Jimmy Morris tried to close the door.

It was at this moment that Ji-seop stuck his foot in the doorway.

“What, you?!”

Jimmy Morris frowned at Ji-seop’s sudden action.