A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 39

Baseball Team Newbie Is Too Good – Episode 39

Chapter 11: Can You Believe It? (6)

Jimmy Morris, the foreign pitcher who was struggling to adjust to his new environment.

The plan to pair him with Ryu Jang-ho was producing unexpected results.

“Um… Chang-deok, hyung [older brother or respected male figure]?”

After spending nearly five hours talking on his day off, which came every four days, Ryu Jang-ho began to meticulously look after Jimmy Morris.

“About that steak restaurant you mentioned last time. Where is it? Jimmy says he wants to devour some meat.”

He took care of his meals like this.

“I heard there’s a spray pain reliever called [Super Cool DX] in the States… Can we get it here? Jimmy says he’s run out of what he brought.”

He also took care of his medication like this.

“Ji-seop, hyung, are you free tonight? Jimmy wants to talk to you and Kyung-seok, hyung, about tomorrow’s game…”

He would also arrange conversations with the Cannons’ starting catcher out of the blue.

“Hey, Ryu Jang-ho.”

Ryu Jang-ho’s actions were enough to draw the attention of Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok.

“What’s gotten into you? You seem very close to Morris these days, huh?”

“Why? Are you surprised that I, who can’t speak a word of English, am talking to Morris?”

Ryu Jang-ho had a look on his face that said, ‘Did you think I couldn’t even manage this?’

“These days, translation apps are so good… With just a phone, you can communicate most things.”

“No, that’s not it…”

Go Chang-deok looked at Ryu Jang-ho.

“At first, you didn’t seem interested in Morris at all, did you? So, it’s surprising that you’re suddenly taking care of him like this.”

“I got to talk to Mike Trout on the phone thanks to Jimmy. For quite a while, too.”

He was reminded of the excitement he felt during the call with the Major League star player he had been admiring.

Ryu Jang-ho shuddered as if reliving the moment.

“If I treat Jimmy well, I might be able to get other players’ contact information too…”

“Might?”

“Well, talking to Jimmy, I feel like I can learn a lot.”

Ryu Jang-ho shrugged.

“86 career wins in the Major League… I guess he didn’t just achieve that by chance.”

It might have been Ji-seop’s imagination, but Ryu Jang-ho’s face looked slightly more mature as he said that.

* * *

To Ryu Jang-ho, who vaguely dreamed of ‘going to the Major League,’ Jimmy Morris seemed to be giving him a concrete ‘direction.’

However, it was Jimmy Morris who clearly benefited more from their relationship.

From the moment Ryu Jang-ho started taking care of the little things, Jimmy Morris’s condition began to recover noticeably.

“Oh, Morris-ssi [Mr. Morris, a polite title]. You’re already out here?”

“Already? Are you kidding me? It’s 8:30 now. Breakfast started at 7.”

Jimmy Morris usually showed up leisurely around the time others were finishing their meals.

But after meeting Ryu Jang-ho, he started appearing like clockwork at 8 AM to have breakfast with Ji-seop.

“Hey, Jimmy! Your slider is amazing today! What’s going on? Did you eat something good?”

“…No, not really.”

Perhaps because he was eating regularly, or perhaps because he felt more at ease.

The frequency of coaches praising him during bullpen pitching also started to increase little by little.

“Hey, Ji-seop. Tell this guy. I’m confident in my fastball. Why do they keep calling for breaking balls?”

“The catcher says he has faith in Morris-ssi’s fastball too. However, recently, Korean hitters have also improved their ability to handle fastballs, so he wants you to be prepared to use sliders as well.”

“Have a pattern of using breaking balls too? Hmm, well, it’s not like I haven’t thought about it…”

Perhaps he was in a good mood because of the coaches’ repeated praise, or perhaps the conversation he had with Ryu Jang-ho helped.

He was starting to listen to the Cannons’ catcher’s opinions, which he had previously ignored.

“…Okay, let’s do that.”

Those small but definite changes began to accumulate day by day.

And on the seventh day since Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok had gotten involved in this matter.

Jimmy Morris showed a noticeably different pitch in his third spring camp practice game.

Whoosh- Pow!

Against the Tokyo Giants, one of the most prestigious teams in Japanese professional baseball, he pitched 4 innings with 2 hits and 1 run allowed.

Except for a solo home run in the early innings, his pitching was so stable that there were no significant crises.

He also struck out 5 batters in 4 innings, and it was encouraging that his velocity, which had been hovering around 140 km/h [approximately 87 mph], increased to 148 km/h [approximately 92 mph].

In addition, thanks to Ryu Jang-ho’s home run in the 7th inning with two outs and bases loaded, the KH Cannons achieved their first victory in the practice game.

“I’ll treat everyone today. Should we go to that pizza place you mentioned last time? You know, the one where the pineapple pizza is delicious…”

“Man, you’re the MVP of today’s game, and you’re talking about pizza! Spend some money today! Let’s have meat, meat!”

“Chang-deok hyung always wants meat at every chance he gets…”

It must have been then, when Go Chang-deok and Ryu Jang-ho were bickering over what to have for dinner.

“Hey, Ji-seop.”

Someone approached Ji-seop, who was helping the operations team pack up the equipment.

“Do you happen to smoke?”

Jimmy Morris brought his two fingers together and pretended to put them in his mouth.

Ji-seop put the last bag on the bus and replied.

“I quit a while ago, but…”

He looked at Jimmy Morris and added.

“It wouldn’t be bad to have one after a long time.”

* * *

Jimmy Morris approached Ji-seop with the words ‘Do you happen to smoke?’

It didn’t take long for him to realize that his talk about ‘smoking’ was just an excuse.

It turned out that Jimmy Morris had also quit smoking a long time ago, and of course, he didn’t have any cigarettes or a lighter in his pocket.

“Should I go buy one now?”

“Ah, no, you don’t have to go that far…”

He seemed satisfied just to be in a place where no one else could see them, using smoking as an excuse.

Jimmy Morris, who had been lingering in the smoking area, looked at Ji-seop and opened his mouth.

“I heard about it.”

“Yes?”

“That I’m doing internet broadcasting… You knew about it, right?”

Jimmy Morris continued.

“I happened to see Mr. Go’s phone yesterday… and there was a broadcasting app installed on it.”

Jimmy Morris scratched his chin, looking embarrassed.

“It’s an app that Koreans hardly use, so I asked him about it, and Mr. Go told me everything.”

That Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok knew about Jimmy Morris’s internet broadcasting.

That they knew everything but didn’t report it to their superiors.

That instead of reporting, they brought Ryu Jang-ho and assigned him to Jimmy Morris.

Go Chang-deok seemed to have told Jimmy Morris about this in quite detail.

“I thought I should thank you.”

Jimmy Morris rubbed the back of his head with an awkward expression.

“It would have been easier for you to just report it to your superiors… but you went this far for me.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

It wasn’t an expression of humility.

“Mr. Go found out that Morris-ssi’s personal instructor had returned to the United States, and that the instructor was really necessary for Morris-ssi.”

“…”

“Besides, Ryu Jang-ho took care of his meals, training, and arranged conversations with his teammates… He was the one who actually helped Morris-ssi adapt to the team.”

Ji-seop was the type to make sure he got credit for his work, but he felt that Go Chang-deok and Ryu Jang-ho played a bigger role this time.

However, Jimmy Morris seemed to think differently.

“I know, I know that the two of them played a big role. But Mr. Go said.”

You made the decision.

Jimmy Morris pointed at Ji-seop and said.

“Whether to report Jimmy Morris to the higher-ups and end it, or to trust him one more time and try to improve… He said you made that decision.”

“Well, that’s…”

“Yeah, there must have been a reason for that, right? You might have had your own reasons, or you might have had your own circumstances. But from my point of view…”

Jimmy Morris’s gaze turned to Ji-seop.

“That’s really appreciated.”

“…”

“Whatever the reason, whatever the circumstances… you decided to trust the baseball player Jimmy Morris one more time.”

You’ve been a player, so you know?

Jimmy Morris smiled, revealing his white teeth.

“People don’t trust you easily, do they? That you can do well, that you can change in the future… especially for players who have played abroad.”

“That’s… true.”

A player who has played on the same team for years receives the trust of his teammates and coaching staff.

Even if he falls into a slump, he is given enough time and opportunities to overcome it.

But there are few people who show such trust to a player who has just come from abroad.

Ji-seop, who had been playing abroad for a long time, going through Japan, the United States, and even China, could understand that well enough.

“I appreciate you saying that, but…”

Ji-seop continued.

“You also need to know this. It’s not low-level employees like me that Morris-ssi needs to gain trust from, but the executives of the club.”

“…”

“No matter how much I trust Morris-ssi, if you don’t gain the trust of the manager, coaching staff, or front office executives, you’ll be packing your bags soon.”

Jimmy Morris clicked his tongue at Ji-seop’s cold-blooded remark.

“I’m being thanked, and you’re still nagging me like this… I’ve always felt this way, but I really don’t get along with you.”

“I’m not much different.”

“You don’t give in at all, damn it.”

Even as he said that, Jimmy Morris put on a fairly bright expression.

“Don’t worry. I got a rough idea in today’s game. How to play against Asian hitters.”

“…”

“I don’t know about anything else, but I think I can prove that your choice to trust me one more time wasn’t wrong.”

So look forward to it.

Jimmy Morris said as he moved towards the bus where his teammates were waiting.

“Isn’t it possible for you to move up from the bottom too? If I leave great results on this team.”

Quite,