A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 470

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 470

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 470

100 Asks of You (2)

That afternoon at 2 PM, the team’s regular strategy meeting was held in the conference room at Tropicana Field.

With this meeting, attended by the team’s executives and board members, Ji-seop and the rest of the Future Strategy Planning Department had spent several busy days.

Their primary goal for this season, [Opening the 3rd Floor Upper Deck], hinged on this one meeting.

-Don’t be complacent just because you’ve gained people’s support. Momentum is crucial in matters like this. Once an opportunity arises, you have to push it to the end. Act like there won’t be a second chance.

Under the leadership of ‘The Greatest Showman’ Charles Flex, the Future Strategy Planning Department made thorough preparations.

Opening the 3rd floor upper deck would increase Tropicana Field’s capacity to 45,000.

How would the increased traffic be handled? Are there enough amenities for this many people to use? And can the safety of the long-closed facility be guaranteed?

The process involved anticipating questions that might arise during the meeting and meticulously preparing answers.

Thanks to this, the eyes of the Future Strategy Planning Department members entering the conference room that day had dark circles under them-

‘……Hmm?’

To put it bluntly,

Ji-seop didn’t even get to say 10% of what he had prepared that day.

More accurately, there was no need to explain it in such detail.

From owner Jeffrey Taylor to R. J. Higgins, the VP of Marketing.

Most of the people attending the meeting showed a favorable reaction to opening the 3rd floor upper deck.

“If we don’t open the 3rd floor upper deck in the current situation, the fans will be extremely disappointed.”

“Actually, I feel a bit regretful. It would have been better if we had opened it when Brett Evans and Vincent Hiyama faced off…….”

“Haha, why are you so disappointed? The Future Strategy Department has achieved this level of success in just a few months! I’m sure there will be many more good ideas in the future!”

To the meeting attendees, opening the 3rd floor upper deck seemed like a foregone conclusion.

Rather, their interest was focused on the Future Strategy Planning Department, which had achieved such success.

How did they recruit Richard Stelmezek? How was cooperation with the Yankees possible? And how did Brett Evans pitch so well?

“Ah, that is…….”

As Ji-seop reached for the microphone on the table to answer, Chief Director Brian Spann quietly raised his hand to stop him.

“Ah, wait a minute? It would be better for another member of the Future Strategy Planning Department to answer that question.”

“Yes?”

As Ji-seop tilted his head, a strange smile appeared on the Chief Director’s face.

“I know very well that our Deputy General Manager Kim is subtly weak at self-promotion.”

“Me, are you talking about me? No, Director! Who is more assertive in self-promotion than I am…….”

Ji-seop protested, but the Chief Director had already turned his gaze to others.

“If we let Kim answer, it won’t be clear ‘who’ led the matter…….”

The Chief Director looked over the Future Strategy Planning Department staff and snapped his fingers.

“Director John Ramma Taylor? Would you like to answer on behalf of Kim?”

“Haha, I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”

John Ramma grabbed his microphone, beaming.

“I will answer instead.”

The recruitment of Richard Stelmezek.

The collaboration with the New York Yankees.

And even Brett Evans’s great pitching.

“All of this was led by our Future Strategy Planning Department’s Deputy General Manager Kim.”

He continued.

“And the person who brought Deputy General Manager Kim to our Tampa Bay Rays…… was me, John Ramma!”

That bastard,

He was planning to get a piece of the pie like this.

* * *

About an hour later.

Ji-seop was visiting Chief Director Brian Spann’s office.

This was to discuss the follow-up measures after the team strategy meeting.

“Kim, congratulations.”

That was the first thing the Chief Director said when Ji-seop entered the office.

“You finally did it. Opening the 3rd floor upper deck…… I thought it would be a very difficult mission.”

“As I said before, I didn’t do it alone.”

Ji-seop gave a faint smile.

“The Future Strategy Planning Department colleagues played a big role. There was also support from team colleagues, including Vice President Higgins. Above all…… you actively supported us, Director, didn’t you?”

“Look at this, look at this! You’re trying to pass the credit to others again!”

The Chief Director clicked his tongue.

“Kim, will you admit it now? That you are quite weak at self-promotion.”

“No, Director! It’s not like I can say here, ‘It’s all thanks to me,’ can I?”

“You have to. You have to do that in America! That’s common sense, you know?”

He was saying that, but the Chief Director’s gaze towards Ji-seop was very gentle.

He also liked this aspect of Ji-seop very much. An Asian employee who doesn’t lose his humility even after achieving a feat that will go down in the team’s history.

Recently, Chief Director Brian Spann often thought he was very lucky.

‘Lucky. I’m really lucky. To have met such a trustworthy friend now, with retirement just around the corner…….’

But now was not the time to be lost in such thoughts.

The Chief Director picked up the reading glasses he had taken off and said.

“I mentioned it briefly during the meeting, but it will take about two months to open the 3rd floor upper deck.”

“Yes, I know.”

Thanks to Charles Flex’s nagging, Ji-seop was well aware of the upper deck opening process.

Checking safety, expanding amenities, and preparing the food and beverage stores to be located on the 3rd floor.

In fact, even two months was a tight time to carry out all these processes.

“In fact, most of the work will be handled by the marketing department and the stadium operations department. So, the Future Strategy Planning Department should focus on negotiations with the city government.”

“The city government……?”

“That’s right. If we open the upper deck, our Tropicana Field will become a facility used by up to 45,000 people, right? To operate a facility of that size, we naturally need permission from the city government. We also need cooperation.”

Charles Flex, who had many connections with the city government, was in the Future Strategy Planning Department.

Ji-seop was also someone who could get the cooperation of Dana Sears, the city councilor of District 9.

Chief Director Brian Spann seemed to be pinning his hopes on this.

“Of course, there’s no need to rush. Make a plan with Charles Flex and proceed slowly. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Ji-seop nodded coolly, the Chief Director stretched out greatly with a look as if he had put down a heavy burden.

“Kim, what’s your schedule for the rest of the day?”

“Schedule?”

“That’s right. There’s no game today, is there? The report on the next game has already been submitted.”

The Chief Director scratched his chin.

“How about it? It’s a happy day that the opening of the 3rd floor upper deck has been decided…… shall we have a celebratory drink together? Including John Ramma, that is.”

“Ah, I really appreciate the offer, but…….”

For the first time in a long time, Ji-seop was declining the Chief Director’s offer.

“I’m sorry. I have a prior engagement today.”

“A prior engagement?”

Oh!

The Chief Director slammed the desk with his fist.

“Has our Kim finally found someone to meet? Who is it? Is it someone I know?”

“No, no, it’s not like that…….”

Whether it’s Korea or America.

Why do middle-aged men always try to steer the conversation in that direction?

Ji-seop waved his hands with a wry smile on his face.

“The people in our Future Strategy Planning Department haven’t been able to rest for the past few days. So, we decided to visit a place where we can all relax today.”

“A place to relax? What is it?”

“This is a bit difficult to explain…….”

After scratching the top of his head with his finger, Ji-seop opened his mouth again.

“Director, have you ever heard of a place called a ‘jjimjilbang’?”

“Jjimjilbang? Aha, I vaguely remember hearing about it!”

The Chief Director rolled his eyes around and then snapped his fingers.

“Isn’t that…… a Korean-style spa facility? Where they scrape people’s skin off with rough-textured towels or something?”

“Ah, yes, well…….”

It’s similar.

Although it seems a bit exaggerated.

* * *

There is a Korean-style jjimjilbang [Korean bathhouse and spa] about a 40-minute drive from Tropicana Field.

Ji-seop learned about this fact entirely thanks to John Ramma’s connections.
The ‘Ground Ghost Incident’ that happened a long time ago. The very incident where the Sapsal dog Bok-gil chased away the ghost that was wandering around Tropicana Field.

Ji-seop hadn’t been able to pay proper attention to the Korean Association of Florida since then, but our owner’s son had been steadily keeping in touch with them.

-Kim, do you remember Mr. Ko? Mr. Ko! The owner of our cute dog Puck-kil!

-Ah, yes, I remember. Is he doing well?

-Of course! Mr. Ko’s friend opened a Korean-style spa this time! He told Kim and me to visit him sometime…….

It was around 5 PM that day when the Future Strategy Planning Department people arrived at the Korean-style jjimjilbang [Seoul Sauna] located in downtown Tampa.

Built as a large four-story building on the road leading to the highway, Ji-seop couldn’t help but sigh for a moment.

‘Wow, it’s really a jjimjilbang?!’

The building itself had a very American feel, but the interior scenery was exactly as he had seen in Korea.
The steaming hot spring mark, the shoe lockers right next to the entrance, and the jjimjil clothes [loose-fitting cotton outfits worn in the spa] that the staff were diligently carrying.

Of course, while Ji-seop was immersed in these memories, John Ramma was diligently explaining this place to David Wilson.

“Oh, come on, it’s not scraping off the skin! How can you scrape off a person’s skin with a towel?”

“……Is that so?”

David Wilson blinked.

“It’s just removing dead skin cells! David, you should try it sometime, your body will feel so light! And your skin will get better too.”

David Wilson stared at the entrance of the jjimjilbang with a serious expression.

John Ramma patted him on the shoulder and then turned his head to Ji-seop.

“Kim, shall we go in then?”

John Ramma’s eyes lit up.

“You’ve worked so hard all this time…… If you rest in a place that feels like home, you’ll feel better soon.”

He had told David about the various benefits, but it seemed that John Ramma had planned this jjimjilbang visit with Ji-seop in mind.

If you’re Korean, shouldn’t you relieve your fatigue in the Korean way? Wouldn’t you feel much better if you relieved your fatigue in the Korean way?

Ji-seop, who guessed his deep consideration, nodded with a pleased expression.

“Yes, thank you. But…….”

Ji-seop was about to enter the entrance, but he looked around.

“Wait a minute, where is Flex? Hasn’t he arrived yet?”

“Ah, Mr. Flex?”

It was David who answered.

“He said he had someone to meet urgently and went to that side for a while.”

“Someone to meet urgently? Who?”

“He didn’t say who it was, but I vaguely heard that he was going to 31st Street.”

“31st Street? Then District 9? Is there anyone we know in District 9…… Ah!”

Councilor Dana Sears!

John Ramma pretended to know.

“The city councilor who came to see our game last time…… wasn’t her district District 9?”