A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 432

The New Guy in the Baseball Team is Too Good 432

Chapter 94: The Place I Need to Be (1)

About a month had passed since then.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ season preparations were proceeding smoothly.

Click! Click! Click!

It began with acquiring new players to strengthen the team.

They succeeded in signing Tommy Justice, once the ace of the Minnesota Twins, and Michael Riddle, the league’s only knuckleballer.

In addition to Richard Stelmezek, the ‘Flamingo,’ Donovan Osborne, a strong-armed outfielder, and Brandon Walton, a corner infielder with power, joined the Tampa Bay Rays.

Of course, they couldn’t completely fill the void left by ‘Two-Way Ace’ Vincent Hiyama, but they were evaluated as having made substantial improvements to their roster despite limited resources.

In fact, major American sports outlets, including [Sports Illustrated], ranked the Tampa Bay Rays in the top 10 overall in their power rankings.

Drrr! Drrr!

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The construction of Clark Wise’s luxury lounge, a New York fashion brand, was also progressing smoothly.

Don Chronos’ ambitious declaration to create the best lounge in Major League Baseball seemed to be more than just empty words.

The Tampa Bay staff who passed by the lounge, which was changing so much from day to day, often stared in amazement.

Moreover, Don Chronos was well-connected in the industry. He frequently brought famous celebrities and influencers to visit the construction site, making Tropicana Field a more attention-grabbing space than ever before.

However,

Despite all of that.

The news that made Ji-seop’s heart swell with pride the most during this time was something else entirely.

It was the fact that the rivalry between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees was intensifying.

“It’s sold out, completely sold out!”

John Ramer shouted, clenching his fist, after receiving a call from the ticket sales department around 3 PM on February 9th.

“The first exhibition game against the New York Yankees… sold out in 47 seconds after ticket sales began! It’s a new team record!”

Games against the Yankees always garnered attention, but it was rare for an exhibition game to sell out, especially the first one.

Usually, the best players didn’t appear in exhibition games, and especially in the early stages, spring training invitees or minor leaguers were the ones who took the field.

But a complete sell-out, and a record-breaking one at that. The meaning of this situation was clear.

“The Bleacher Creatures, I guess.”

David Wilson said.

“The Yankees’ die-hard fans must be grinding their teeth at us, Tampa Bay… it seems that’s showing up in the numbers.”

“Hehe, that’s not all of it, actually!”

John Ramer spread his arms wide.

“Not only the first game against the Yankees but the following two games are also sold out.”

“The other two games too? Then does that mean all the games that went on sale today are sold out?”

David Wilson, who was always calm, looked quite surprised at this news.

“Even if we consider the Yankees, the following two games were against Cleveland and Miami, weren’t they? I wouldn’t exactly call them teams with strong ticket power…”

“It seems the aggro strategy is working.”

Ji-seop smiled gently.

“You have to provoke the most popular team. You have to create a noisy atmosphere. Then other teams’ fans will also become interested in Tampa Bay…”

Swish.

His gaze turned to Charles Flex.

“Isn’t that what you told me, Mr. Flex? It seems to be working out perfectly now, doesn’t it?”

“Well, you could say it’s a natural progression. Look who’s doing the work.”

Charles Flex’s wrinkled face broke into a triumphant smile at Ji-seop’s subtle praise.

But only for a moment. This ‘Great Showman’ began to gnaw on the end of his pen.

“It’s definitely a positive signal. If we keep this up, we can expect considerable success when the regular season starts. But Kim, now is not the time to be complacent.”

“Weren’t you just being complacent, Mr. Flex?”

Charles Flex glared at John Ramer, who had interjected, and tapped the desk before continuing.

“What are exhibition games for? Ultimately, aren’t they a time to test various things before the regular season?”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

Ji-seop leaned back in his chair.

“It’s a time to test new rules, test newly acquired players… isn’t that what it’s all about?”

“That’s right, so shouldn’t we also try something? A new way to attract audiences.”

Charles Flex’s eyes were serious.

“People’s attention is slowly gathering on Tampa Bay, but I still feel like we’re missing a decisive blow.”

A decisive blow.

A groundbreaking blow.

He emphasized these words greatly.

“If we’re going to try something like that, now is the only chance. Because it’s an exhibition game, we can try anything, and if the results are good here, we can ride that momentum and push it into the regular season.”

He added that many of the methods frequently used in Major League Baseball today were initially tried during exhibition games.

Giving away souvenirs at the stadium, installing restaurants, or holding events during the change of innings.

All of these were tried during exhibition games and then introduced into the regular season based on the results.

“So, you’re saying we should run a kind of pilot program…”

Ji-seop stroked his chin.

“Do you have any ideas in mind? If so, we could suggest them to the president.”

“I have a few ideas in mind… but nothing that really stands out yet.”

Charles Flex smacked his lips.

“I thought it would be better for everyone to brainstorm rather than me struggling alone…”

“Ah, I see.”

As Ji-seop nodded, Charles Flex licked his dry lips with his tongue and continued.

“Kim, you have experience in Korean professional baseball, don’t you? Honestly, I’m interested in that.”

“Korean professional baseball?”

“Yes, isn’t it a league that’s getting quite a bit of attention these days? Unlike our Major League Baseball, the number of young baseball fans is increasing in Korea.”

“Could you think about it from that perspective?”

That was Charles Flex’s request.

“Something that’s commonly used in Korea but not in the United States… I think there might be something like that?”

* * *

About 30 minutes later.

Ji-seop was inside [Cafe Flamingo], a coffee shop located inside Tropicana Field.

After finishing the meeting, and especially after taking on a new mission, he suddenly craved a sweet drink.

“Isn’t that a cheering squad?”

John Ramer said, his eyes sparkling, as Ji-seop ordered a drink and sat down.

“When you think of Korean professional baseball, that’s what comes to mind. The cheering squad comes out in front of the audience and sings and dances… I’ve seen those videos often.”

“It won’t be easy.”

David Wilson interjected before John Ramer could finish speaking.

“I heard that some teams tried it after information about Korean professional baseball was released during the COVID era. But the response wasn’t very good.”

“Yes, I heard that too.”

Ji-seop also knew about it.

Americans basically hate being told what to do.

That’s the culture in schools and workplaces, let alone at a baseball stadium where they’ve come to enjoy their leisure time.

Someone comes out and tells them to stand up, sit down, sing a song… it was said that it’s a culture where you can’t give such instructions in the first place.

So, even if there is a cheering squad in the United States, they basically just perform themselves. They can’t give instructions to the audience.

“I see. That’s a bit disappointing. Those Korean cheerleaders… sigh, they looked really cool.”

As John Ramer smacked his lips, David Wilson said with a serious expression.

“Isn’t singing cheering songs or shouting slogans what the Cowbell Boys are in charge of? I think it might be better to turn our attention to the stadium facilities.”

“Ah, stadium facilities.”

Ji-seop crossed his arms and began to think back to his KH Cannons days.

What kind of facilities were there? What were some unique aspects? Which of those could be introduced to Tampa Bay?

“Hmm.”

Just as Ji-seop was deep in thought, John Ramer suddenly jumped up from his seat, exclaiming, “Oh!”

“Oh, Timmy! Long time no see!”

John Ramer greeted a freckled white man with a cheerful greeting.

Ji-seop had seen his face a few times as well. He was trying to remember who he was when he heard the answer from John Ramer.

“Kim, do you remember? This is Timmy from the baseball operations department! He worked under Deputy General Manager Rebecca Carney until last season.”

“Ah, that’s right! I thought he looked familiar.”

Ji-seop quickly got up and offered a handshake, and the team employee called ‘Timmy’ politely extended his hand as well.

As they shook hands, John Ramer looked at Timmy’s face and opened his mouth with a worried voice.

“But Timmy, what’s wrong with your face? It’s completely red?”

“Ah, this?”

Timmy smiled with a troubled expression.

“I had a lot of business trips today. I was running around under the scorching sun since morning… I guess my skin got a little burned.”

“You had a lot of business trips?”

John Ramer tilted his head.

“Weren’t you in the pro scouting department starting this season? There shouldn’t be any reason for you to go on business trips right now?”

“Yes, that’s how it was supposed to be…”

Timmy continued, taking the iced water that David handed him.

“There was a snag in the spring training invitee list… so I’ve been a bit out of it for the past few days.”

“Really? Spring training is about to start… Damn, this has become a headache?”

As the spring training period approached, each Major League Baseball team would announce its list of invited players.

These were usually minor league players who hadn’t found a team, or players from foreign leagues who were aiming to advance to Major League Baseball in the future.

The players got the opportunity to be seen by Major League Baseball scouts, and the teams got training partners to fill the spots until the starting members’ condition improved.

Originally, it was a system used for this purpose, but it seemed that there was a slight problem this year.

“So, did you find a replacement? It doesn’t seem easy to find one right now.”

“Yes, finding a player at the minor league level will take a lot of time… For now, we’re looking into the independent leagues. If they can fill the roster for even a few days, we can call up players from our Tampa Bay minor league affiliates after that.”

Major League Baseball’s spring training didn’t ‘start’ and begin on a fixed date like in Korea.

Usually, it was a structure where minor league players first, and then Major League players who were in good condition, joined one by one, according to their own schedules, so problems inevitably arose.

‘Could this also be said to be a difference between Korea and the United States?’

Just as Ji-seop was thinking that while looking at his drink, which was just being completed.

Timmy, who was talking to John Ramer, snapped his fingers, exclaiming, “Ah!”

“That’s right, I almost forgot.”

Timmy turned his gaze to Ji-seop.

“Kim, do you happen to know a team called KH Cannons? It’s a Korean professional baseball team, and they’ve set up their spring camp in Fort Myers right now.”

“Ah, KH Cannons?”

Ji-seop smiled.

“Yes, I know them well. It’s also the team I used to be a part of.”

“I see? I thought so…”

“But why the Cannons? Is there something going on with them?”

“No, I went on a business trip to Fort Myers today and had a brief conversation with their staff… They asked if you were very busy these days.”

And the next moment,

Ji-seop felt a pang of realization.

“They said that you promised to come visit once spring camp started, but you haven’t contacted them at all…”

“Ah?!”

Oh dear,

I completely forgot.