A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 61

The Inevitable (1)

The beginning was a phone call.

It was early in the morning, and Ji-seop had just arrived at the office and turned on his laptop when he received a call.

“Hey, is that Ddao?”

The caller was ‘Sakhalin Park’ [a nickname referencing his business dealings in Sakhalin, Russia].

The acting owner of the KH Cannons, who was about to board a plane to Korea after finishing his business trip to Australia.

As always, he immediately began relaying his instructions.

“Keep your schedule open tonight.”

“Is there something going on?”

Click, click.

Ji-seop replied indifferently, opening an internet window with his mouse.

Normally, he might have retorted with something like, ‘If you want me to come, just say so, why all the nagging?’ but Sakhalin Park seemed to be in a very good mood that day.

“I heard from Secretary Yang. KH has climbed up to 4th place?”

His business trip to Australia must have been quite packed.

The Cannons had already risen to 4th place several days ago.

“When I left, they were in 6th place… I need you to explain what’s been happening.”

Ji-seop was now used to Sakhalin Park’s unique communication style.

He says he wants to ‘hear what’s been happening,’ but in reality, he probably means he wants to ‘have a drink and celebrate the Cannons’ rise to 4th place.’

“Anyway, today’s a day game, right? Everything should be wrapped up by 8 PM… So, let’s meet around 9 PM.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?”

Despite everything, Ji-seop was still concerned about Sakhalin Park’s health.

“You must be very tired from your overseas trip. I think it would be better for you to just go home and rest today. You can get the report tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow? What do you mean tomorrow! I know you’ll just try to avoid me tomorrow, saying you’re busy!”

“From the start, there’s no real reason for you to get a report from me, is there? There’s the manager, the operations team leader…”

“What kind of report would I get from those guys who freeze up and can’t say a word when they see me? It’ll ruin my appetite.”

‘Ruin my appetite.’

Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju subtly revealed his true feelings.

Ji-seop didn’t have any other plans, so he was about to accept Vice Chairman Park’s offer with a simple ‘Okay,’ when it happened.

‘…Huh?’

A post that was trending on the internet bulletin board ‘Most Recommended Posts’.

Ji-seop, who was holding the phone to his ear while looking at the post in question, had no choice but to answer like this.

“Vice Chairman.”

“What?”

“It seems like you’ll have to spend this evening with Secretary Yang.”

“Secretary Yang? No, why would I have dinner with someone I see every day…”

“I’m sorry, Vice Chairman! I’ll call you back in a bit.”

“What, what did you say? Hey, you! How busy can you be that you have to call me back later…”

Click.

Ji-seop hung up the phone and started scrolling through the post with his mouse, ‘Drrr, drrr’.

Even after looking at it again calmly, it seemed like this wasn’t a situation where he could leisurely have a meal with Vice Chairman Park.

[Trade Rumors Posted on the Cannons Gallery a While Ago.txt]

The internet,

was in an uproar.

* * *

-KH is crazy. Rejecting Cheon Jin-woo of all people.

-??? : There’s no room for Cheon Jin-woo even if he comes.

-But isn’t Cannons a rebuilding team right now? Doesn’t it make sense to give up a promising player and bring in a catcher in his late 30s?

-You’re showing you don’t know baseball. Is Cheon Jin-woo just any player? He’s still batting cleanup for the Warriors…

About 10 hours had passed since the first post was uploaded, but the internet community was still buzzing.

One interesting thing was that, unlike the internet atmosphere, which was like pouring oil on a fire, the expressions of the Cannons reporters were indifferent.

“Thank you for your words, Manager.”

“Good luck in today’s game.”

Before the game, an interview was held in the dugout between the manager and the reporters.

You’d think at least one of them would bring up Cheon Jin-woo, but not a single reporter mentioned it.

“Well, that’s only natural.”

The answer from Park Yong-hwan, the Cannons’ first-team manager, was as follows.

“There’s a lot of talk about ‘reporters’ and whatnot outside, but reporters have pride too, don’t they?”

“Pride?”

“That’s right. Unless another reporter has covered and broken the story… mentioning stories floating around on the internet is seen as a bit undignified.”

The expectation was that the reporters wouldn’t mention the internet ‘rumors’ unless the manager or coach, unable to bear the atmosphere, brought it up first.

‘Heh, it seems like there’s an unspoken rule in this industry.’

Ji-seop thought that if the reporters didn’t ask first, there wouldn’t be any particular problem.

However, the first-team manager, who had been with the Cannons longer than Ji-seop, seemed to feel quite bleak about the situation.

“Actually, if this happens… it seems like our Cannons will be dragged around by the Warriors.”

“No, why is that?”

Ji-seop tilted his head.

“If the reporters don’t blow things up too much… can’t we just quietly move on?”

“That might be the case with other teams. No, unless it’s related to Cheon Jin-woo, it seems like there wouldn’t be a big problem…”

Manager Park lowered his voice.

“I don’t know if Ji-seop knows this… but we have quite a few people in our Cannons who like to meddle in the team’s operations, don’t we?”

“Ah.”

Ji-seop had heard about it.

‘I heard that executives from the parent company often interfere with the team’s operations.’

Although the situation was said to have improved a lot compared to the past, baseball teams basically receive operating funds from the parent company.

The Cannons were no exception, receiving financial support in the form of advertising revenue from KH Group’s major affiliates.

But even if you borrow just 10,000 won [approximately $7 USD] from a friend, it’s hard to treat that friend carelessly.

So, if you’re receiving hundreds of millions or billions of won in support every year, the attitude of the executives from the affiliates who provide that money is obvious.

“Managing directors, executive directors, presidents… they must be great people to have reached that level. But that doesn’t mean those people know baseball well.”

Basically, they’re no different from the people who write comments on the internet.

Park Yong-hwan, who had settled down as the first-team manager after nearly 10 years of professional life, seemed to think so.

“Right now, those great people must be giving our manager a hard time.”

Don’t you know the symbolism that Cheon Jin-woo holds for the Cannons?

Contact the Warriors right now and resume negotiations to acquire Cheon Jin-woo.

Acquiring Cheon Jin-woo will greatly help the Cannons advance to the fall baseball season.

“Unable to withstand the pressure from the parent company executives, they will eventually acquire Cheon Jin-woo… Is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s what I think. The Cannons have always been like that.”

There’s nothing the manager can do.

The first-team manager shrugged.

“The people who control the team’s purse strings are acting like that… What can you do but do as they say?”

* * *

To be honest,

Ji-seop was hesitant at first.

‘Isn’t this just… a rumor?’

The story of the first-team manager.

It was hard to believe.

‘The executives of KH Group are busy people… Are they really making harassing phone calls to the baseball team because of one player?’

Wouldn’t they be too busy for that?

Wouldn’t they be too decent for that?

Ji-seop wondered if the first-team manager’s story was just a rumor circulating within the team.

But what do you know-

‘Hmm?’

It was the point when the game ended that day, and he was returning to the office from the ground.

A man was exhaling long streams of white smoke in a small smoking room on the outskirts of the second floor of the stadium.

It was Manager Seo Chang-gi.

“Manager, hello.”

“Ah, Mr. Kim Ji-seop.”

Manager Seo Chang-gi raised his hand towards Ji-seop.

At this point, Ji-seop intuitively knew that the first-team manager’s story was true.

Manager Seo Chang-gi’s face was so pale that it was pitiful to look at.

So much so that Ji-seop inadvertently said this.

“…Are you okay?”

“Huh? I’m okay. Of course, I’m okay.”

For other people, the conversation would have ended there, but the other person was the personal interpreter for Manager Arthur Freeman.

Perhaps because they had a history of talking about the trade of Cheon Jin-woo, Manager Seo Chang-gi exhaled smoke and continued.

“Ji-seop, you should know this too. Baseball teams have a lot of eyes on them compared to the size of the company.”

It was a story that people in baseball teams often brought up.

[Baseball teams are just small and medium-sized enterprises in terms of their size.]

But the attention that is focused on those small and medium-sized enterprises is comparable to that of a major corporation.

The company size is that of a small and medium-sized enterprise, but the attention is greater than that of a major corporation, so it is right to assume that there are no secrets from the start.

Manager Seo Chang-gi seemed to want to tell the long-standing adage among baseball team front offices.

“No matter how much we try to keep things quiet among ourselves, internal information is bound to leak out…”

Manager Seo Chang-gi continued, putting a cigarette in his mouth.

“Just take it in stride… If you get stressed out by every little trouble, you won’t be able to do this job for long. Got it?”

He looked like he was under a lot of stress for someone who was saying that.

How many harassing phone calls Manager Seo had received that day, or how many more he would receive in the future.

Ji-seop had a vague idea.

‘Before discussing whether to acquire Cheon Jin-woo or not… I need to cut off those useless harassing phone calls first?’

Ji-seop was capable of this much judgment.

No matter how good a pitcher’s control is, no matter how good a pitcher’s game management skills are.

A pitcher under excessive pressure can never show good game content.

The thought was that if he could somehow deal with the fuss of those ‘great people’ first, the Cannons front office would be able to calmly respond to this matter.

‘…Is there any way?’

Ji-seop was lost in thought for a moment, looking at the white smoke that Manager Seo was exhaling.

It was right after that that a lifeline came down to Ji-seop.

Brrr-

A message came to Ji-seop’s phone.

“…Ah.”

A faint smile appeared on Ji-seop’s lips as he checked the message.

Ji-seop, still holding his phone in his hand, spoke to Manager Seo Chang-gi.

“Manager.”

“Hmm?”

“Have you had dinner?”

“Dinn, dinner?”

Manager Seo Chang-gi smiled bitterly.

His expression seemed to say, ‘How can I eat in this situation?’

However, Ji-seop continued without paying attention to that expression.

“It’s important to take good care of yourself, especially at times like these, isn’t it?”

“That’s true, but I think there will be a lot of phone calls to the manager’s office today?”

“Then let’s eat together in the manager’s office. These days, delivery food is also good. Instead…”

Ji-seop gave a subtle look.

“Would it be okay to call one more person to eat with us?”

“Ha, call one more person?”

At this time, Manager Seo Chang-gi had a dumbfounded expression.

It was ridiculous for a mere interpreter to tell the manager to ‘eat together.’

But to add one more person here.

In many ways, it was an inappropriate thing to do, but perhaps Manager Seo was curious about ‘what he was trying to do’ because of who the other person was.

“Okay, it wouldn’t be bad. Call them.”

“Thank you, Manager. Then…”

Ji-seop started making a call somewhere.

And the next moment, Manager Seo Chang-gi couldn’t help but gasp.

“Yes, Vice Chairman! This is Qingdao.”

Ji-seop was calling Vice Chairman Park Hong-ju.