A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 364

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 364

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 364

83. The Ghost of the Ground (7)

Tony Bannister, the starting shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays.

When he returned after the top of the first inning, his teammates teased,

“Shouldn’t we get the puppy a treat?”

They poked Tony in the ribs as they spoke.

“That little guy sprinkled ‘holy water’ on your uniform. Thanks to that, the ghost of the ground disappeared.”

“That’s right, even I think that defense was the result of some mysterious power. It’s beyond human skill!”

It’s all thanks to Bokgil.

Thanks to his ‘accident’.

The players were saying it with the most serious expressions, but even then, it was still just lighthearted banter.

Tony Bannister was a player with excellent defensive skills, and a diving catch was a play that he could pull off without much difficulty.

So, they brushed off the situation in the bottom of the 1st inning. But before long, the Tampa Bay players were seized by a ‘mysterious’ feeling.

Wahhhhh!!!

Wahhhhh!!!

It was in the bottom of the 7th inning, with the score tightly locked at 0-0.

The opposing pitcher’s superb pitching had made it difficult to get the offense going.

In a hard-earned chance with runners on first and second with no outs, Tampa Bay’s leadoff hitter, Mark Kohun, signaled for a bunt.

Thud!

It was a sacrifice bunt towards third base.

Toronto’s third baseman hurriedly rushed to pick up the ball, but the catcher, coming from the opposite side, shouted.

“Don’t touch it, don’t touch it!”

The voice was loud enough to be caught on the broadcast camera.

“The spin is perfect. It’s going outside the foul line!!”

He meant that they wouldn’t allow the Tampa Bay Rays to advance a runner.

If they caught the ball there and threw it to first base, it would create a crisis with runners on second and third with one out.

Considering that the next batter was Vincent Hiyama, they seemed to have judged that it was better to let the ball roll foul and keep the Tampa Bay runners in place, as they could potentially give up the winning run.

“Keep an eye on it! If it goes outside the foul line, grab it! Grab it as soon as it goes out!”

Roll, roll, roll.

The ball rolled along the line, teetering on the edge of going over, but not quite, in a nail-biting manner.

Toronto’s catcher’s judgment didn’t seem wrong. Even though it was slow, the ball was definitely heading towards the third base line.

‘Just a little more, just a little more, just a little more…….’

The Toronto third baseman raised his glove, ready to snatch the ball.

The third base umpire also seemed to be expecting a foul more than 90% of the time.

Not only that. Even the Tampa Bay runner who had already arrived at third base was clicking his tongue in disappointment, but right then.

“Huh?!

Toronto’s catcher couldn’t help but gasp.

The ball seemed to spin once, then stopped dead in its tracks.

As if measured with a ruler, it stopped exactly on the third base foul line. If the ball stopped here, the call would naturally be-

“In!!!”

The third base umpire pointed to the line with his finger, declaring that the ball had landed in fair territory.

Fair ball. Ball in play. The third baseman belatedly scrambled to pick up the ball, but the batter-runner had already stepped past first base.

-Runners safe all around, runners safe all around! With this, the Tampa Bay Rays face a bases-loaded situation with no outs!

-Haha, what a coincidental situation here! Luck has favored Tampa Bay at this crucial moment!

Wahhhhh!!!

Wahhhhh!!!

Tropicana Field instantly heated up like a furnace.

As the fans in the stands all jumped to their feet, the Tampa Bay players also raised their arms in the air and cheered.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Bases loaded! Bases loaded with Vincent Hiyama!!!”

“Wow, it’s alive! Huh? How is that alive?!”

They naturally thought it would be a foul.

It was a ball with perfect spin.

How could it stop dead on the foul line?

Among the players who were looking at each other and rejoicing, someone seemed to have shouted this.

“Bok-Kill!!”

Some say it was Victor Johnson Jr., others say it was Julio Arcos.

“Hey, this is Bok-Kill helping us out! The mysterious puppy from Korea brought us luck!”

“Oh, that’s right! This hit can’t be explained without Bok-Kill!”

“Oh, Bok-Kill! My love! My Korean mystery boy!!!”

Bok! Kill! Bok! Kill! Bok! Kill!

As the excited Tampa Bay players stomped their feet and chanted Bokgil’s name, the bench coach sitting in the front row was startled and waved his hand.

“Stop, stop! That cheer is forbidden. Don’t do it in the dugout! The opposing team might misunderstand!”

“Hey, Coach! It’s not a curse! We’re just saying the name of our cute puppy…….”

“Are you kidding me? Do you think that’ll work? Do you think the umpires will buy it!”

The bench coach bit his lower lip and glared, and the players quickly became sullen again and sat down.

“And when I asked Kim earlier, it’s not even Bok-Kill! The pronunciation is closer to Bo-ook-Kill. Those guys can’t even say the puppy’s name right…….”

“Bo-ook-Kill?”

The players twitched their noses.

“Damn it, why are Korean names so difficult?”

“I know, right? Kim can just be called ‘Kim’, simply, but…….”

While constantly grumbling, they tried to pronounce the puppy’s name, Bo-ook-Kill, Bo-ook-Kill.

The Tampa Bay dugout seemed to quiet down a bit, but even that didn’t last long.

Crack!

A sound of a hit that seemed to split the ball in two came from the field.

“…….”

It was Vincent Hiyama.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ two-way ace who had stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and no outs.

The moment he lightly tossed his bat and took a step towards first base, swinging his arm all the way past his shoulder.

Tropicana Field once again fell into a frenzy of excitement.

-Ho, it’s a home run!!!

The voice exploded from the broadcast.

-Vincent Hiyama’s 37th home run of the season!!! The long balance of 0 is being broken like this!!!

A grand slam that exploded after a truly ambiguous situation in the bottom of the 7th inning.

With this, the score was 4-0, and the Tampa Bay Rays’ division championship was as good as confirmed.

* * *

That day, Tampa Bay won.

The final score was 4-0.

The grand slam in the bottom of the 7th inning became the winning run.

The Toronto players also did their best until the end, but the flow of the game was already with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Crack!

In the top of the 9th inning, after two outs, when the Toronto batter’s hit didn’t leave the infield and went into Tony Bannister’s glove.

The 25,000 fans who visited Tropicana Field that day let out a hotter roar than ever before.

Wahhhhh!!!

Wahhhhh!!!

It was the moment when the Tampa Bay Rays emerged as the champions of the American League East Division.

Rising from the failure to advance to the postseason last year, they achieved the division championship again after 5 years.

The Tampa Bay Rays players also gathered around the mound and began to enjoy the moment of joy.

Hugging their teammates and shedding tears, endlessly high-fiving, and giving the manager who led the team this far a ‘heave-ho’ [a celebratory tossing into the air].

“Stop! Stop! Let’s stop!”

Coach Mike Clemblas, usually serious, shouted, but the players didn’t seem to want to stop.

“Even if you’re the manager, we can’t listen to you today!”

“Congratulations, Manager! And thank you!!”

Heave, heave, heave.

The players endlessly gave the manager a heave-ho, as if trying to take his soul out, and after the heave-ho for the manager, the bench coach, and the pitching coach, the heave-ho for Vincent Hiyama, who hit a home run that day, ended.

The players, who had changed into championship t-shirts, gathered in front of home plate to take a commemorative photo.

“Alright, let’s take the picture!”

Click, click, click.

After the club’s photography staff flashed a few times, one of the players raised his hand.

“Oh, wait! Just a moment!”

It was shortstop Tony Bannister.

“Please wait a moment! There’s someone who absolutely has to be in the photo today…….”

Tony Bannister, wearing the championship hat backwards, hurriedly ran to the club staff member who came next to him.

And what he held in his arms was Bokgil, the puppy that Jisub brought.

“I thought we should take a picture with this little guy too.”

At Tony Bannister’s words, voices of agreement were heard from here and there.

“Of course! At least for today’s game, this little guy deserves a lot of credit!”

“That’s right, if it weren’t for this friend, the damn ghost might have played tricks on us!”

“Hey, Bok-Gil! Come here! Come here and take a picture with us!”

It was at this moment that the Tampa Bay Rays team readjusted their posture.

Playfully touching Bokgil’s ears, raising his front paws, and puckering their lips towards him.

As the players finished preparing for the photo shoot in a noisy manner, the club staff member looked into the camera and shouted.

“Alright, let’s take the picture!”

One,

Two,

Three!

“Bo-ook- Kill-”

Click, click, click.

Along with the players’ playful voices, another commemorative photo was being created.

* * *

About 20 minutes later.

A champagne party celebrating the division championship was being held in the Tampa Bay Rays’ clubhouse.

“Coach, take this!!!”

“Ugh! You guys!!”

Thanks to the quick movements of the club staff, the clubhouse had been completely transformed into a festival stage.

Boxes full of champagne were brought in here and there, and wide waterproof vinyl was laid down to prevent damage to the internal facilities.

While the Tampa Bay players were frantically enjoying the champagne party on the stage that had been completed in that way.

“Kim, you’ve worked hard.”

Exactly one step back from the enthusiastic party.

Jisub was receiving words of encouragement from Brian Spann, the president of baseball operations.

“Kim’s help was really great this season. Starting with the Yellow Book Project, the acquisition of Vincent Hiyama, and…….”

Brian Spann, the president of baseball operations, looked at Bokgil, who was lying on the cushion outside the clubhouse.

‘The mascot of luck’ who was now exhausted and fast asleep because he had been harassed by the players so much.

“……Was it Bokgil? Bringing that guy and turning the atmosphere around was a great idea.”

“Thank you, President.”

Normally, he would have expressed humility starting with ‘Ahyu’ [a Korean expression of humility], but on this day, Jisub was just smiling with a bright expression.

It was the day of victory. It was the day they stood at the top of the AL East Division, which is notorious even in Major League Baseball.

Wouldn’t it be okay to enjoy what he had achieved to his heart’s content for just one day?

Of course, that didn’t mean that Jisub would forget to say a word to praise his superior.

“But…… I think it’s all thanks to the president of baseball operations for giving me the opportunity.”

Jisub continued, watching the champagne being sprayed by the players, ‘Chuaaaak!’

“If you hadn’t trusted me and the Future Strategy Planning Division, we would still be guiding cars in the parking lot.”

“Haha, the parking lot……. Memories are coming back to me. The first thing Kim did when he came to Tampa Bay was that, right?”

The president of baseball operations smiled and nodded, as if he remembered the events of the season opener.

However, that smile soon changed to a slightly tense expression.

“Kim, I think you know without me having to say it.”

He continued.

“It’s definitely a great achievement. Winning the division is by no means easy. But this season, our Tampa Bay Rays…….”

“Yes, I know.”

Jisub nodded.

“The goal is to win the World Series……. Isn’t that what you were going to say?”

“That’s right. Exactly.”

Brian Spann, the president of baseball operations, smiled and stroked his chin.

“Please be prepared. The postseason is a very difficult road.”

A stage where the best teams come out.

A stage where the best players are waiting.

Jisub could feel it in his skin that the postseason was approaching.

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

Of course, Jisub had a rough plan in his head.

He would have to re-examine the Tampa Bay Rays’ roster and analyze the opposing teams they would face at each stage.

He would have to prepare to improve his performance, but he would also have to pay attention to the atmosphere outside the game, like this time.

Just as he was thinking about the things he needed to do to prepare for the postseason, one by one.

Chuaaaak!!!

Jisub couldn’t come to his senses for a moment at the champagne shower that flew into his face.

“Ugh, ugh! What is this?!”

“Hahaha, Kim! What are you doing here?!”

It was the Tampa Bay players.

Victor Johnson Jr., Vincent Hiyama, Alex Montero, and Brett Evans.

The Tampa Bay players who had a relationship with Jisub were looking at him with champagne bottles in their hands.

“I know you’re starting to worry about the postseason, but shouldn’t you enjoy a day like today?”

“That’s right, Kim! You have to play with us today! There are more than one or two people who are determined to spray champagne on Kim!”

“Don’t tell me…… were you deliberately sticking by the president’s side? Because you thought you’d lose if you had a champagne battle with us!”

“Wh-what?”

Ha, look at these guys?

Jisub chuckled.

Wiping the champagne off his face, he said a word to the president of baseball operations.

“President, can we discuss the postseason from tomorrow? It seems like I have something urgent to take care of today…….”

“Sure.”

At the words ‘something urgent to take care of’, Brian Spann, the president of baseball operations, also chuckled.

“Go take care of it in a cool way.”

“Yes, then…….”

Having received permission, Jisub took off his suit jacket and began to roll up his shirt sleeves.

You guys,

You’re all dead today.