The New Guy in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 511
The New Guy in the Baseball Team is Too Good 511
107. Florida’s Lucky Guy (4)
It was almost midnight.
Jisub was at Brian Spann’s office, the General Manager at Tropicana Field.
The costume party had ended successfully, and everyone had returned home in high spirits.
However, the Tampa Bay Rays’ General Manager had been slinging his arm around Jisub’s shoulder, repeatedly shouting, ‘Just one more drink!’
“Hahaha! It’s delightful. I don’t think there’s ever been a better day. Don’t you think so, Kim?”
The General Manager laughed heartily, his face flushed with alcohol.
“Kim, did you see? The highlight of today was undoubtedly you, me, and John Llama! Our performance today will be remembered in the team’s history!”
The General Manager had chosen a Marilyn Monroe costume for the party.
The enthusiastic reaction from the Tampa Bay staff when he entered the party was something else.
Brian Spann looked happy that his final performance was a success, but Jisub’s face was slightly stiff.
“Sir, when did you do all this…?”
Jisub looked around the office.
“When did you pack up all your things? It seemed like any other day this morning…”
Indeed, the General Manager’s office was almost empty.
The photo frames that had been hanging on the wall were gone, and the signed baseballs that had been on the desk were nowhere to be seen.
All that remained was a desk and a long sofa.
The desolate sight was quite unfamiliar to Jisub, but Brian Spann didn’t seem to mind.
“I roughly organized it around lunchtime. Kim will be using this room from next month.”
“No, why are you in such a hurry? There are still almost ten days left…”
“Haha, I have to hurry. Of course, I have to hurry.”
The General Manager continued, filling a glass with alcohol.
“It’s a room that hasn’t been properly renovated in nearly 30 years. We can’t leave it like this. Before Kim starts his full-fledged work, we need to tear it down and redo it!”
He looked around the room with the bottle in his hand.
“The creaky floor over there needs some work, and the inner wall needs to be waterproofed again. And… oh, have you noticed? There are a few mice living in the ceiling!”
“Mice?”
No wonder he occasionally heard something scurrying around in the ceiling.
But shouldn’t the General Manager’s office be free of mice?
Jisub initially stared at the ceiling with a dazed look, but soon he could only nod lightly.
The General Manager’s office hadn’t been renovated for almost 30 years. So much so that a family of mice lived in the ceiling.
This meant.
What did it mean?
‘Oh, this guy… he must have been a real workaholic?’
It meant that Brian Spann had hardly ever left this office.
Since he was always here, the stadium operations department couldn’t carry out any renovation work.
‘There was someone even more dedicated than me. Is it okay to follow in this person’s footsteps?’
Just as Jisub was shaking his head with such thoughts,
“Kim, take this.”
General Manager Brian Spann took something out of the drawer and placed it on the desk.
“I wanted to give Kim a meaningful gift. I was wondering what would be good for days… and finally, I chose this.”
“This is…”
Jisub lightly picked up the object the General Manager had presented.
It was a flat paper box about the size of his palm. It felt a bit heavy, and it rattled when he shook it.
Above all, the product name written on the box was-
“…Pencils?”
“That’s right, pencils. It’s the brand I’ve been using ever since I was appointed General Manager… I’ve prepared a dozen of them.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Jisub bowed his head.
“I didn’t expect such a gift, thank you so much. But…”
Pencils?
Jisub was asking the same question as before.
Of course, the meaning was slightly different.
“It seems like most Major League general managers use fountain pens… but you’ve been using pencils, General Manager?”
“Ah, of course, I used a fountain pen when signing contracts or something. I had no choice then.”
The General Manager subtly showed the fountain pen he had in his inside pocket.
“But I always used pencils for my daily work. The very pencils Kim is holding now.”
“I think there’s a special reason… may I ask what it is?”
The General Manager’s answer to Jisub’s question was surprisingly short.
“There’s no other reason.”
He said.
“Because this is the Tampa Bay Rays.”
“Tampa Bay Rays?”
As Jisub tilted his head, the General Manager smiled gently.
“Kim, you’ll probably find out soon enough. The Tampa Bay Rays’ General Manager must always be cautious.”
He picked up his glass.
“We are basically a small market team. We have fewer resources than other teams. Therefore, we have to find efficient methods somehow, and we have to find a way to avoid failure somehow.”
“Ah, so?”
Jisub could vaguely guess what the General Manager was trying to say.
“So, pencils? Because you can always write and erase…”
“Haha, exactly! Kim understands everything I say.”
Brian Spann nodded with a satisfied expression.
At this moment, Jisub felt as if he could see how he had been working all this time.
Before a trade, he would have written and erased the constantly updated news, agonizing until the very end.
Whenever an important announcement was scheduled, he would have revised the sentences over and over again until just before facing the camera.
Brian Spann had been performing his role more cautiously and diligently than anyone else.
Now he was leaving the Tampa Bay Rays, and Jisub was succeeding him.
“…”
Before this day was over, Jisub wanted to say something.
To say he had worked hard, to say thank you, to say that the current Tampa Bay Rays existed thanks to him.
But somehow, it was a difficult story to express directly in words.
So Jisub took out one of the pencils he had just received as a gift.
“Um… Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Could you sharpen this pencil for me?”
“Sharpen a pencil?”
Jisub gave the General Manager, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, a slight smile.
“Yes, it’s been so long since I’ve used a pencil… I’d like to keep a pencil sharpened by you as a memento.”
“Ah, a memento? That’s not a bad idea.”
“Alright. Good.”
The General Manager gladly accepted the pencil Jisub had handed him.
‘People don’t change.’ He could see his personality just by looking at how he sharpened the pencil.
He put on his magnifying glasses, neatly folded a piece of tissue in half and laid it on the desk, and took out his cleanly wiped pocketknife.
Scribble, scribble, scribble.
It seemed true that good pencils smelled like wood when sharpened.
As the General Manager began to sharpen the pencil, Jisub smelled a faint woody scent.
He thought that pencils were quite good writing instruments, and then the General Manager opened his mouth while looking at the pencil.
“Ah, come to think of it… this pencil has another hidden function.”
“Did you say a hidden function?”
“That’s right. When you sharpen a pencil like this, you can predict your luck for the day.”
The General Manager raised his magnifying glasses.
“If the pencil sharpens well, you’re lucky that day. If it’s stiff and doesn’t sharpen well, it’s better to be prepared.”
“Haha, I didn’t know you believed in such superstitions.”
“Superstitions? It’s true.”
The General Manager said firmly.
“There was a day when the pencil sharpened the best in recent years. Wow, that day was amazing. The pencil sharpened as if it were sliding as soon as I put the knife to it.”
“I guess you had something good happen that day?”
“Of course! Something very good happened. Not long after I sharpened the pencil, Jeffrey Taylor called me.”
Swoosh.
He looked up.
“John Llama seems to have made a new friend. He says he sold all the season tickets with the help of that friend… something like that.”
“Hmm, John Llama and season tickets… that sounds familiar.”
Jisub chuckled here.
Because it was his story.
Because Jisub’s relationship with the Tampa Bay Rays began by selling the season tickets that John Llama had taken on.
It meant that Brian Spann remembered Jisub’s appearance as a great fortune.
Jisub, who realized the hidden meaning, asked with a subtle expression.
“How is it now?”
Jisub pointed to the pencil.
“Is it sharpening well? It looks a bit stiff to me…”
As Jisub joked, Brian Spann responded very skillfully.
“Well, I don’t know right now. I’ve had a few drinks, so my fingertips aren’t sharp.”
But.
What did it matter?
Brian Spann continued.
“I’m already a person who has gained great fortune. I met the Tampa Bay Rays team, and I was lucky enough to become the General Manager and work as much as I wanted for a long time! And above all…”
The General Manager looked up.
“Kim, I’m so glad to have met a great junior like you and be able to hand over the position like this.”
“…”
“So Kim, please take good care of this pencil. It may become a very reliable companion as you perform the role of General Manager in the future. No matter what anyone says, this pencil is…”
Swoosh.
The General Manager handed over the neatly sharpened pencil and smiled brightly.
“It’s a pencil sharpened by the luckiest guy in St. Petersburg… no, in all of Florida.”
“The luckiest guy in Florida…”
Jisub was also accepting the General Manager’s work with a bright expression.
“Thank you, Sir.”
Jisub nodded lightly.
“I will cherish the luck you have given me.”
* * *
And the next morning.
In the media room of Tropicana Field, many employees were out from early in the morning.
“Okay, everyone, hurry up! We don’t have much time left! The event starts in an hour!”
These were employees belonging to the stadium operations division and the public relations and public cooperation division.
They brought folding chairs into the large space and laid them out, installed newly made banners on the stage, and checked the cameras and lighting on one side.
As everyone was moving busily, a man came rushing in.
“James, James! How is the preparation going? Is there anything I can help with?”
“Oh, Llama?!”
It was at this moment that the employees stopped and blinked.
Llama. John Llama Taylor. No one had expected the only son of the Tampa Bay team owner to appear at this timing.
“Oh, Llama! What brings you here at this hour? I heard you ran until the 7th round yesterday?”
“Ah, that’s right. The baseball operations people drink too well… Ugh, I hardly slept.”
Yaaawn.
John Llama yawned long.
“But I couldn’t stay still. My heart was pounding for no reason, and my hands were sweating… So what could I do? I came to the stadium!”
“Haha, anyone would think Llama is becoming the new General Manager? Why are you so excited?”
“Hey, how can I not be excited? Our ace in the future strategy planning division… It’s the day our Kim is promoted to General Manager!”
John Llama looked around the media room with a proud expression.
He seemed to have a hard time believing it himself.
That friend who once went around the city with him, that friend who ran around to sell season tickets.
Now he has become the General Manager of the Tampa Bay Rays and will lead everyone.
John Llama recalled the old days with a wistful look, and then turned his gaze to the employees.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
Ah, right!
John Llama snapped his fingers.
“Coffee! Should I buy some coffee? I think the Flamingo Cafe is open by now…”
“Hey, Llama! You’re still a long way off. You’re still a long way off.”
The employees laughed.
“Kim came a little while ago and bought everyone a cool drink! We’re all caffeinated now!”
“What? Kim? Wow, that guy really knows how to read the room?”
As John Llama shook his head with a disgusted expression, an employee from the stadium operations division pointed to a box with his chin.
“Llama! If you still want to help… can you bring the nameplate over there?”
“Oh, a new nameplate is out?”
“Yes, you know the order, right? You’ve done this event several times.”
“Yes, leave it to me! I’m glad to have something to do, even like this.”
John Llama held the new nameplate in his arms and went up to the platform.
The press conference was almost ready on the platform.
The microphones were installed, the bottled water was placed, and the bright lights were turned on.
“Let’s see…”
John Llama began to put down the nameplates as usual.
On the far left was the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeffrey Taylor.
On the far right was the new team advisor of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brian Spann.
And finally, one more.
“…”
John Llama stared at the nameplate in question for a while.
Then, he rubbed it with his shirt sleeve to make it shine, and carefully placed it in the center.
“James! Is there anything else to do? Just tell me anything!”
The owner’s son was moving away to find something else to help with.
In the spot where he had disappeared with a thud, the letters on the nameplate he had just placed were shining under the bright spotlight.
[Tampa Bay Rays]
[New General Manager]
[Jisub Kim]