A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 479

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 479

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 479

101 The Last Piece of the Puzzle (5)

About an hour later.

The Zeus Analytics employees, having completed their on-site inspection, were heading to their accommodation in the city center.

It was a weekday evening, but the traffic was unusually heavy. The road leading to the city was congested, making it difficult to move.

However, the Zeus Analytics employees in the 9-seater van were in a celebratory mood.

The fact that they had given a nasty client a good blow made them happy.

“Justice is served, justice is served!”

The employee sitting in the passenger seat turned around and said.

“Did you all see that? CEO Peterson was sweating bullets.”

“We saw it, of course!”

Another employee took out a cola from the icebox and laughed heartily.

“His back was soaking wet, I saw it live! The nerve of that bastard, at least he has some shame, right?”

“Oh, please. Would someone with shame have done that? In all my life, I’ve never seen anyone try to get certified with equipment borrowed from another team.”

Working for a certification company, you come across some truly bizarre tactics.

There was a CEO who brought in his own father because they needed to hire a certain percentage of elderly people.

There was also a team that pretended to pay their stadium staff more, but then took the money back later.

There were countless other petty tricks, but borrowing training equipment from another team seemed to be a first.

“Anyway, it’s a real relief. The Trajectory Arc [advanced baseball training equipment] carries a lot of weight, right? In the training facility section, we could have given them a passing grade right away…….”

“Oh, yeah! We almost got screwed big time today! Giving a passing grade without knowing it was borrowed equipment? That’s not something that would end with just a couple of written apologies!”

The team representative was fixated only on getting certified as quickly as possible, rather than trying to meet the requirements properly.

Zeus’s employees couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, as they had narrowly avoided his cunning scheme.

Then, their eyes naturally turned to the man who could be called the biggest contributor of the day, Tommy Damon.

“Damon, you’re the best!”

The employees all gave a thumbs up, as if they had agreed to it in advance.

The employees in the driver’s seat and passenger seat in the front also shouted, ‘Respect!’ loudly.

“We would have been in real trouble if it weren’t for Damon. Whew, it still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!”

“I really felt it today. Not just anyone can be a main director! You have to have a knack for it!”

“But how did you figure it out? The team representative seemed to be playing it completely cool.”

The fellow employees were throwing questions at him with great fanfare, but Tommy Damon simply shrugged his shoulders.

“The Trajectory Arc is great, but it has the disadvantage of taking up a lot of space. If the space isn’t secured, the hitters can’t have a realistic training experience.”

Feeling the attention of his colleagues, he continued.

“There was a lot of space left inside, but CEO Peterson had installed the equipment in a narrow space near the entrance. There was also suspicious transportation equipment here and there…… So I just casually probed him.”

At Tommy Damon’s explanation, the people couldn’t help but exclaim with wide eyes.

Tommy Damon, feeling embarrassed for no reason, reached for an energy drink in the icebox on the floor, just then.

“Uh oh?!”

One of the junior employees opened his mouth with a worried expression.

“Damon, shouldn’t you stop drinking energy drinks? You should drink sparkling water or another drink instead…….”

“Huh?”

Why were they reacting like this when he hadn’t even picked up a beer?

To Tommy Damon, who was blinking his eyes, the junior employee was bringing up an unexpected story.

“If you drink that now, it’ll be your fifth can today. Five cans.”

700ml of energy drink.

Five cans a day.

“I know it’s your favorite drink, but…… it could put too much strain on your heart if you drink any more.”

* * *

It was past 10 p.m. when the Zeus Analytics employees arrived at their accommodation that day.

After briefly discussing the schedule for tomorrow in the hotel lobby, it was almost 11 p.m. when they came up to their rooms.

“Whew.”

Tommy Damon, after roughly throwing his heavy backpack on the bed, looked out the window and took a light sigh.

It was a point when he still had work to do. As he turned his head, thinking that he should at least take out his laptop.

What caught his eye was a can of energy drink that he had picked up earlier but hadn’t drunk.

‘There’s all sorts of things [a Korean expression implying ‘that’s strange’ or ‘what’s going on’].’

Tommy Damon tilted his head, picking up the energy drink in question.

It wasn’t because he had drunk four cans of this large-capacity drink, 700ml per can, in one day.

It was a little surprising that he had drunk so much, but what bothered him more was a word that the junior employee had added a little while ago.

-I know it’s your favorite drink, but…….

I liked to drink it? This?

It was a story that Tommy Damon couldn’t readily understand.

If you asked which one, he wasn’t the type to enjoy these types of drinks.

The carbonation that went down his throat was too strong, and he didn’t really like the feeling of being forced to inject energy.

So he thought he only drank it occasionally, really only when he felt mentally exhausted-

‘Was I drinking it almost like water? Something that’s not really good for my body?’

Why did I do that?

Health is the most important thing, no matter what.

The question that came to Tommy Damon’s mind was resolved not long after.

“Ahem!”

When he put the drink in question aside and returned to his desk.

When he started writing a report on the on-site inspection of the day, unfolding his laptop.

And above all, the moment he remembered the slick face of the team representative who had bragged about having expensive training equipment.

Chik-

Tommy Damon had unknowingly opened the energy drink.

“……Damn it.”

When the artificial fruit scent rushed to the tip of his nose, Tommy Damon could realize it.

Why he had drunk so many energy drinks. Why the motto that health was the top priority had collapsed.

‘Was it because the job I was assigned to was shitty?’

Tommy Damon smiled bitterly.

‘Well, since I joined Zeus Analytics…… there’s hardly been a day that I thought was okay.’

The job of team value certification itself wasn’t incompatible with his aptitude.

Rather, there were many times when he thought it was better than working for a Major League team.

The fact that he didn’t have to be concerned about the daily games, the fact that he could look back at the team’s situation with a slightly longer breath.

For Tommy Damon, who had a weakness for improvisation, it felt more suitable to be one step away from the front lines of the game.

But it seemed that everything in the world was like two sides of the same coin.

‘People are so…… frustrating.’

Tok tok tok.

Tommy Damon thought, tapping the half-opened can of energy drink.

‘Team value certification is…… isn’t it ultimately about working together to create a better team? But why are they all so focused on deceiving me?’

It was the same today.

For Tommy Damon, it was a condition that he had come up with after days and days of deliberation.

A minor league team that was just opening. More precisely, an independent league team that was trying to qualify for the minor league.

Of course, it was difficult to secure experienced coaching staff, and they couldn’t get any points in that area.

So what he suggested was the [Trajectory Arc] training equipment. If you have good training equipment, you can make up for the lack of experience of the coaching staff to some extent.

‘It’s much easier to hire equipment technicians than to hire coaching staff…….’

He also introduced a dealer he knew from his Boston days to reduce the team’s price burden.

He also drew up a list of nearly 10 technicians to operate the equipment and delivered it to the team.

He worked so hard, but what came back was a clumsy deception, so Tommy Damon felt like he had hit a wall.

‘Damn it, I should have followed Director Perkins.’

Director Perkins, who left the Boston Red Sox and is now employed as a professor at a university in Detroit.

As he recalled his old boss who had stepped down from the front lines of the industry, he was fiddling with the energy drink, just then.

Brrr- Brrr- Brrr-

A phone call came to his cell phone, which he had placed on his desk.

Tommy Damon, who tilted his cell phone slightly to check the caller, licked his lips and pressed the [Call] button.

“Yes, Boss. This is Tommy.”

-Oh, yeah! Did the on-site inspection go well? Was CEO Peterson cooperative today?

At the boss’s voice coming from beyond the speaker, Tommy Damon couldn’t help but let out a slight chuckle.

“Yes, well…… he’s the same person. In many ways.”

-I know it. Damn it, if I had known he was such a troublesome person, I would have slipped it to another company.

“No. It will still take some time for the on-site inspection report to be completed…… What should I do? Should I send you the first draft for now?”

-No, you can take your time with Peterson…….

The next moment, the representative of Zeus Analytics made a suggestion in a subtle voice.

-Hey, Tommy! Sorry to bother you while you’re busy…… but I think you’ll have to take on one more project.

“One more?”

-Yeah, didn’t we talk about it briefly last time? It’s a request from the city government of St. Petersburg. Team value certification for the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Tampa Bay Rays…….”

Tommy Damon paused for a moment, as if something suddenly came to mind, but soon slowly shook his head.

“Boss, I think I told you that it would be better not to take on that job.”

-Hmm? Did you?

“Yes, was it Joseph Carter? That St. Petersburg city government advisor…… That person’s intentions are obvious.”

Tommy Damon grabbed the energy drink.

He was about to gulp down the drink any minute now.

“He didn’t seem interested in a fair certification process. He just clearly intended to find fault with the Tampa Bay Rays and overturn the project itself.”

-Hmm.

“We’ll only get tired if we get involved with someone like that. The certification process isn’t about catering to someone’s taste, is it?”

-Well, that’s not wrong, but…….

The representative of Zeus began to persuade him in an even more subtle voice.

-The Tampa Bay Rays are becoming quite a hot team these days, aren’t they? The media is also talking about their new stadium construction a lot…… If this happens, the size of the job will increase! If this project is passed on to another company, it could damage the reputation of our Zeus, which is the top in the industry.

“Representative!”

-Hey, don’t get too excited! It’s not just for my own good, is it? Maybe it’ll be good news for you too.

“……Good news?”

-Yeah! I just got a call, and the person in charge of negotiations for the Tampa Bay Rays has been decided. And that person in charge is…….

Kim.

Kim in the Future Strategy Planning Division.

The representative of Zeus Analytics continued.

-That Kim guy, didn’t he used to play on the same team as you? Am I right?

“W, well, that’s true, but…….”

-Yeah! Then isn’t that good?

The representative laughed heartily.

-Haven’t you always said that you have to be able to communicate with the other person, that you have to be in sync with the other person? That’s the only way to have a proper certification process!

“…….”

-In that case, Kim could be the best partner, right? Your heart that cares about the other team…… that friend will know, right?

“The best partner?”

Tommy Damon scratched his cheek slightly.

“Representative, the certification process isn’t something that goes so smoothly, is it? In principle, we’re the attacking side, and the other side is the defending side…….”

-So what?

The representative seemed to have seen through Tommy Damon’s inner thoughts.

-You don’t want to work with an old friend? The chance to work with him…… are you telling me to pass it on to someone else?

“Th, that’s…….”

Tommy Damon hesitated for a moment, but soon replied in a firm tone.

“No, I’ll do it.”

He continued.

“The Tampa Bay Rays’ team value certification…… Leave it to me. I’ll do my best.”

Tommy Damon, answering with shining eyes, was already clenching his fist.

The can of energy drink that he had been holding like a habit had long been pushed to the end of the desk.