A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 73

＃A Baseball Team Rookie Is Too Good – Episode 73

Chapter 21: You Can Tell at a Glance (2)

Cha Jong-min, a scout for the Cannons.

In his opinion, the most promising player in the Chungcheong region this season is none other than this guy.

‘Shim Seong-joon, from Myeongju Cheonnam High School.’

Ji-seop was inwardly surprised.

He thought Cha was only interested in getting rides from the players, but it turned out he had the same idea as him.

Of course, that made him even more curious.

“Did you say Shim Seong-joon?”

Ji-seop asked Team Leader Cha.

“What’s so great about him? From what I’ve heard, the scouts don’t seem to think much of him……”

“Wow, Ji-seop, you must really like baseball? It’s rare to find someone who knows all the promising players in the Chungcheong region.”

Cha Jong-min grinned.

Ji-seop trailed off with an ‘Ah, yes,’ and Cha took a spoonful of the soon-to-boil *gamjatang* [pork bone stew] broth and opened his mouth.

“Hmm, well……”

*Slurp.*

Cha Jong-min tasted the broth.

And his answer was very much in the style of a ‘car enthusiast.’

“I think baseball prospects and cars aren’t that different.”

“Wh, what do you mean……”

“You get a feeling just by looking at them.”

Let me give you an example.

Cha Jong-min twirled the spoon like a baton as he continued.

“Ji-seop, you go to the parking lot. And there are two cars parked in front of you.”

One is a Mercedes-Benz, a famous German car.

The other is an Avante [Hyundai Elantra], a friendly car for young professionals.

Cha Jong-min looked at Ji-seop.

“If I asked you, ‘Which car looks better to you?’ would it be difficult to answer?”

“Well…… it wouldn’t be that hard.”

Ji-seop answered, and Team Leader Cha winked, saying, ‘Right?’

“Some people might ask if it’s because of the brand, but…… even if you take off the logo, the answer will be the same.”

“……”

“The overall balance of the car, the front and rear, every little detail…… If you could even start the car, the game would be over then and there, right?”

Team Leader Cha had a confident expression.

“In my opinion, Cheonnam High School’s Shim Seong-joon wasn’t much different.”

What should I say?

He scratched his cheek with his finger.

“In a large parking lot filled with old, small cars that have run at least 200,000 kilometers, there’s a shiny, brand-new Audi parked there…… That kind of feeling?”

Ji-seop barely managed to hold back from asking what that feeling was.

“Hitting, fielding, running, arm strength, and even a serious attitude towards baseball…… Ah, Shim Seong-joon is our Chungcheong region’s Mercedes and BMW.”

“Is he that good?”

“Yes, some people are saying nonsense like he doesn’t listen to the coaches or doesn’t run his best to first base, but……”

Cha Jong-min shrugged.

“A famous car is bound to have some quirks, right?”

* * *

The gathering ended quickly that day.

A drizzling rain on an early summer night.

Go Chang-deok seemed like he wanted to have a drink, but the ‘main character’ of the day didn’t drink at all.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I borrowed Ahn Young-chan’s car today……”

Of course, that ‘main character’ was Cha Jong-min.

“Then let’s meet on the next day off. I’ll go to the used car market with you and pick out a really good car! Ah, don’t worry! Hahaha.”

Leaving those words behind, the KH Cannons’ car enthusiast disappeared with a ‘whoosh.’

As his car disappeared beyond the intersection, the people left in front of the *gamjatang* restaurant all sighed deeply, as if on cue.

“I feel drained. Ugh, I feel drained.”

Go Chang-deok shook his head with a pale face.

“Jang-ho, that Cha Jong-min guy, he’s our team’s scout, right? He’s not some car dealer in Incheon or Bucheon…… or anything like that, is he?”

At that moment, Ji-seop couldn’t help but let out a burst of laughter.

He thought that everyone’s thinking was similar.

No matter what the topic, Team Leader Cha would almost always steer the conversation to cars.

Honestly, Ji-seop even doubted whether he had properly scouted Shim Seong-joon.

However, the KH Cannons’ top hitter seemed to have a slightly different opinion.

“He may seem a bit clumsy on the outside…… but he’s actually a very respected senior among our players.”

That was Ryu Jang-ho’s statement.

“Even if he’s not good at anything else, he has an amazing ‘eye’ for players. That’s why his nickname is ‘Gam Jong-min’ (Eye Jong-min) [Gam means ‘eye’ in Korean].”

“Gam Jong-min?”

“Yes.”

Ryu Jang-ho nodded.

“As far as I know, Team Leader Cha grew up with his grandfather. And his grandfather was a very impressive person.”

“Impressive? How so?”

“He ran a surgery clinic in Gangnam, Seoul [affluent district in Seoul]…… What was it? He was the national baseball team’s team doctor since the ’88 Olympics, or something like that?”

“The national team’s team doctor?”

Go Chang-deok clicked his tongue and looked at Ji-seop.

Ji-seop was also surprised.

“Since he was such a famous person, many players must have visited him often, right? Whether they were professional players or amateur players……”

Cha Jong-min had been meeting all kinds of baseball players since he was a child, thanks to his grandfather.

Thanks to that experience, it seemed that he had developed a solid ‘eye’ for players.

Which players succeed?

And which players fail?

“So, it’s kind of common knowledge among the players. Any player that Team Leader Cha picks is bound to succeed…… And there are more than a few players who have actually succeeded.”

“For example?”

“There’s Chan-yeop, who’s been playing as the Future Kings’ ace since last year, and Kyung-min, who’s with Dongjin…… And I don’t know how this will sound.”

Ryu Jang-ho made an awkward expression.

“When I was a senior in high school, the only professional team scout who came to our school was Cha Jong-min.”

“……”

“At that time, I had just switched from pitcher to outfielder…… so I wasn’t a player that scouts were paying attention to.”

But Cha Jong-min boldly chose Ryu Jang-ho.

And Ryu Jang-ho, who was chosen by the Cannons, had grown into a player who was now looking to advance to the major leagues.

“Haha, this is something.”

Go Chang-deok reacted as if he was dumbfounded after hearing Ryu Jang-ho’s story.

“You can’t judge a book by its cover…… Team Leader Cha Jong-min is a natural-born scout, isn’t he?”

No one would be surprised to hear this story.

But at the same time, a question arose.

“No, that’s true, but……”

Go Chang-deok tilted his head.

“Even though we’ve had such a great scout for several years…… why has our Cannons’ rookie draft been such a disaster?”

Since Ryu Jang-ho’s emergence, no notable rookies had appeared in the KH Cannons.

Since good rookies weren’t coming out, they had no choice but to rely on external acquisitions, and as a result, they spent money and their performance plummeted over the past few years.

Go Chang-deok had an expression of disbelief, but Ji-seop’s expression was rather calm.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Ji-seop sighed lightly.

“Team Leader Cha Jong-min’s words aren’t being taken seriously in our club…… I think that’s the situation.”

“Re, really?”

I don’t know if it’s just my imagination.

Go Chang-deok had a strange expression.

“Ji-seop, you…… it seems like you’ve reached a point where you can figure things out right away?”

“……Is that so?”

I don’t know if this is a good thing.

Or a bad thing.

* * *

In fact, it wasn’t a difficult guess.

When he thought about which part Team Leader Cha was currently in charge of, the conclusion came easily.

‘He said the Chungcheong region.’

To put it bluntly, the Chungcheong region was one of the most ‘barren’ areas in the Korean baseball scene.

There was a reason why the professional baseball team based in this region had been languishing at the bottom for a long time, which was the general assessment.

Why else would the ‘first draft system,’ which selected players based on regional ties, have disappeared?

‘Of course, there are teams that have good home bases but have been at the bottom for years……’

In any case, the Chungcheong region was such a place.

The number of schools is small, the number of students is small, and therefore the probability of good prospects coming out is low.

‘If Team Leader Cha was being treated as well as his abilities deserved…… he would never be in charge of that region.’

That was the assumption that was made.

‘Team Leader Cha is not being recognized in the scout team.’

It was exactly three days after he came to that conclusion.

“Now, let’s begin the briefing on the first half of the high school baseball weekend league and the nomination candidates.”

Power reinforcement meeting held on the 3rd floor of the KH Cannons Field.

Ji-seop, who attended the meeting as Arthur Freeman’s interpreter, was able to confirm that his prediction was correct.

“Last season, our KH Cannons finished in 8th place. Therefore, we cannot nominate Jung Seong-wook, who is considered the best prospect in this draft, and we have to look at the next tier of players……”

The scout team leader listed the names of the prospects one by one, starting with the player who was expected to be nominated in the first round.

However, Ji-seop couldn’t hear the name ‘Shim Seong-joon from Cheonnam High School’ at all.

“……This concludes our scout team’s briefing.”

Ji-seop waited until the end, but the scout team leader did not mention Shim Seong-joon’s name that day.

He was just relieved that he could find his name in the distribution materials that the scout team staff handed out.

In any case, it seemed clear that the KH Cannons scout team was not very interested in Shim Seong-joon.

“Thank you for your hard work, Team Leader Jang.”

“Thank you, General Manager.”

While Ji-seop was rummaging through the distribution materials, the meeting was coming to an end.

At this time, Ji-seop had no choice but to hesitate.

‘……What should I do?’

In fact, it should be seen as a clear overreach of authority.

For him, who was only the director’s interpreter, to ask the scout team leader about Team Leader Cha Jong-min or Shim Seong-joon.

‘Well, that’s true, but……’

If he stayed still, there was a high possibility that KH Cannons would miss another promising player.

Even though they had a talented scout, and even though that scout had found a smart player, the absurd situation did not lead to good results.

‘Yeah, there’s no reason to create such a thing again.’

Was it because I was good at English that I became Freeman’s interpreter?

Even if I get cursed at for this, I have to intervene when something like this happens.

Wasn’t that why I came to this damn baseball team?

‘Yeah, what the heck…… I’ll just get cursed at one more time.’

With that in mind, Ji-seop quietly got up from his seat.

And he spoke to the scout team leader, who was just about to leave the conference room.

“Team Leader, do you have a moment?”