A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 74

＃The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 74

Chapter 21: You Can Tell at a Glance (3)

Go Chang-duk said,

“Jisub, you…”

With a subtle smile.

“Now you understand everything at a glance, huh?”

He was evaluating that Jisub had reached a point where he could understand the problems of the KH Cannons ‘at a glance.’

Thanks to his past experiences, Jisub had been secretly thinking similarly to Go Chang-duk, but—

Apparently,

It wasn’t quite to that extent.

“Excuse me… Team Leader, have you perhaps heard of a player named Shim Sung-joon?”

The question he had thrown to the scout team leader as he was returning from the power reinforcement meeting.

The scout team leader’s reaction to that question was a bit different from what Jisub had expected.

“Shim Sung-joon? Shim Sung-joon, you say?”

For reference, the reaction Jisub had anticipated was as follows:

-Why are you asking about that?

-Where did you hear such a thing?

-Are you doubting my judgment?

Considering the scout team leader’s usual style, the answers he expected were about this level.

However, what Jisub actually faced that day was the complete opposite.

“Ah, Shim Sung-joon! You mean the shortstop from Myeongju Cheonnam High School?!”

The scout team leader was overjoyed, grabbing Jisub’s arms.

“Mr. Kim Jisub, do you know something about that kid?”

No, no.

The scout team leader shook his head.

“Since you know something, you must be talking to me. Right? Am I right?”

“Ah, yes, well…”

“This is perfect. I’ve been having a headache because of that Shim Sung-joon.”

Can you spare some time?

Even just for a moment.

The scout team leader was repeating exactly what Jisub had said a little while ago.

* * *

It was that afternoon when Jisub met with the scout team leader again.

After roughly finishing his duties as the manager’s interpreter, he had some ‘free time.’

At a cafe near the baseball stadium, Jisub told the scout team leader everything he knew about Shim Sung-joon, step by step.

“Hmm, I see. Shim Sung-joon… He’s quite different from what’s known.”

The scout team leader nodded after listening to Jisub’s story.

“Kids that age are usually just focused on hitting the ball with the bat… To think he’s training while considering the distance of the hit, as Mr. Jisub says, he might have a high chance of succeeding in the pros.”

Thank you, Mr. Jisub.

The scout team leader looked at Jisub.

“If it weren’t for Mr. Jisub, we almost missed out on a really good prospect.”

The scout team leader had a pleased expression.

“I need to review it a bit more, but… I think we should nominate him around the 4th round. In this draft, our Cannons have two picks in the 4th round, so it’s relatively less of a burden.”

It was because of the trade of Cheon Jin-woo a while ago.

Thanks to figuring out that Cheon Jin-woo had set up a ‘trade refusal right’ [a clause allowing a player to refuse a trade], the Cannons front office had received a 4th round pick from the other team.

“Come to think of it, I heard that Jisub’s performance was great in that trade as well… Isn’t that right?”

“It wasn’t really a performance.”

“Hehe, hearing you say that, it seems the rumor wasn’t false.”

The scout team leader grinned.

“You made a big deal in the trade, and then you brought in good information in the rookie draft… Wow, we have an amazing new recruit in our Cannons? Haha.”

The scout team leader looked like he had put down a heavy burden.

Perhaps that’s why he was giving excessive praise, unlike his usual image.

Jisub also felt more at ease knowing that Shim Sung-joon’s chances of being nominated had increased.

However, even in that relaxed mind, there was one thing that bothered him.

‘The scout team leader’s reaction to Shim Sung-joon… was a bit strange.’

The scout team leader remembered Shim Sung-joon as soon as Jisub brought it up.

And when Jisub gave him information about him, he suddenly expressed his intention to ‘nominate him in the 4th round.’

‘The man who didn’t even mention Shim Sung-joon’s name during the morning meeting… What’s going on? What is this dramatic change of attitude?’

The scout team leader’s actions didn’t make sense.

Jisub learned about this when he left the cafe and started walking towards the baseball stadium.

“Actually… I was really worried about whether or not to nominate Shim Sung-joon.”

It was the scout team leader’s words.

“According to the rumors, he’s a player we can never nominate… But the guy with the best sense in our scout team strongly recommended Shim Sung-joon.”

The guy with the best sense in the team.

Jisub knew who that was.

“Is that… Deputy Manager Cha Jong-min?”

“No, how does Mr. Jisub know Deputy Manager Cha?”

The scout team leader looked at Jisub with a surprised expression.

But soon, he nodded, saying, ‘That makes sense.’

“It seems Mr. Jisub heard the players talking. That’s right, it’s Deputy Manager Cha. If you’re talking about the scout with the best sense in our team, it’s definitely him.”

Surprisingly, the scout team leader seemed to trust Cha Jong-min’s skills.

If that were the case, there was a natural question that followed.

“Even though Deputy Manager Cha Jong-min recommended Shim Sung-joon… you didn’t accept it, Team Leader?”

In response to Jisub’s question, the scout team leader held his forehead, saying, ‘Oh, my head hurts.’

“I can’t accept it. How can I accept it? He just kept yelling that we should pick Shim Sung-joon, but in the end, he couldn’t provide any proper evidence.”

“…Yes?”

What is this supposed to mean?

Jisub blinked.

“He didn’t provide any evidence?”

“Yes, saying this is like spitting on my own face, but… Do you know what the report that guy submitted about Shim Sung-joon said?”

His hitting is good.

His defense is good.

His shoulder is also excellent.

If you exclude all the flowery language he put in to fill the required amount, that’s all that’s left.

“How can any team leader order a nomination after receiving such a report? At least he should have included interviews with people around him or sketches of the training atmosphere.”

“…”

“I was so frustrated that I even gave him specific instructions this time.”

I don’t even expect you to go down to Chungcheong-do yourself.

Since the National High School Baseball Championship is being held in Mok-dong, go there and gather some information.

The scout team leader had hoped that he would follow at least this much instruction, but Cha Jong-min didn’t even do that properly.

“He left the baseball stadium right after seeing Shim Sung-joon’s first at-bat.”

“Why… did he do that?”

“According to him, it was because there was nothing more to watch…”

The scout team leader clicked his tongue.

“And because he had a prior engagement.”

“A prior engagement? No, what…”

The next moment, Jisub couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“A car test drive.”

The scout team leader continued with an almost resigned expression.

“It was the day a new car was coming out from a company called Tesla or something.”

* * *

A few days later.

Jisub was at a used car complex near Seoul from early in the morning.

“…”

It was a day off.

It was the day he had decided to buy a used car with Go Chang-duk.

Thanks to arriving a bit early, Jisub had some time to look around slowly.

“Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Tesla…”

The parking lot, which was so large that it could put most baseball stadiums to shame, was packed with cars.

As Jisub blankly stared at the scene, he naturally thought of someone.

‘Deputy Manager Cha Jong-min… Hehe, the scout team leader must have a headache.’

Since joining the KH Cannons, this was honestly the first time he had encountered such a character.

Not only did he submit sloppy reports on amateur players, but he even skipped the national tournament coverage that the team leader had directly ordered.

Anyone could see that disciplinary action was inevitable, and if he had met a slightly stricter boss, he might have been forced to resign by now.

‘But he has too much talent to just let him go… Is that the situation?’

The scout team leader seemed to be in a checkmate [a situation in chess where a player’s king is in check and there is no way to remove it from attack].

He wanted to cut him off, but Cha Jong-min was too good at spotting players.

But he couldn’t just accept Cha’s recommendations as they were, and nominating a player without any basis was out of the question.

The reason why Cha Jong-min was in charge of the Chungcheong area was said to be in the same context.

-It’s a desperate measure. Because I can’t do this or that.

-I thought he might get better if I sent him to the Chungcheong area, where the workload is relatively light… But seeing what he’s doing this year, it doesn’t seem to be the case.

-I think it’s time to make a decision. I think the general manager has similar thoughts.

That’s what he was saying, but the result of ‘staring’ into the scout team leader’s eyes was a bit different.

[If only Cha Jong-min would come to his senses…]

[If that guy came to his senses and took charge of Seoul or the Gyeonggi area… wouldn’t our Cannons be able to select good rookies every year?]

Jisub had the same thought.

He was too good to let go.

But just leaving him alone was even more of a waste.

‘But… is there a way? They say you can’t fix people.’

While thinking that, he wandered around the used car complex for about ten minutes.

Then, he heard a familiar voice from the front.

“Jisub! Hey, Kim Jisub!”

It was Go Chang-duk.

Next to him was Ryu Jang-ho, wearing a Major League Baseball team hat pulled down low.

And one step behind them, silently following, was—

‘…Deputy Manager Cha Jong-min?’

It was the person who could be said to be the main character of the day.

Although he didn’t come to buy an expensive foreign car like the players, he still came to a place full of cars that he liked so much.

Of course, he thought he would show up with the same expression as a child who came to an amusement park, but he was walking while sighing as if the ground was sinking.

“…I just received a call from the scout team leader.”

Ryu Jang-ho whispered to Jisub, who was tilting his head.

“It seems the team leader said some harsh things because he’s not doing his job properly.”

“Ah.”

“But you don’t have to worry. Even if he looks a bit depressed now… he’ll quickly recover and return to his original tension.”

“Oh, is that so?”

It didn’t seem strange.

If he was the type to keep his boss’s nagging in mind, he wouldn’t have gone to a car test drive instead of watching the national tournament.

He was about to dismiss it as nothing and move towards the used car market when—

“Excuse me… Mr. Jisub.”

Deputy Manager Cha Jong-min was talking to Jisub.

“Yes, Deputy Manager.”

The word that Deputy Manager Cha gave to Jisub, who was turning his head, was a bit out of the blue.

“How did you do it?”

“Yes? What do you mean…”

“I just heard from the team leader. We decided to nominate Shim Sung-joon, the shortstop from Cheonnam High School.”

“…Ah.”

“The team leader said that Mr. Jisub’s persuasion was decisive…”

How did you do it?

Deputy Manager Cha asked again.

“I couldn’t persuade our team leader no matter what I did… How did Mr. Jisub solve the problem so easily? What’s the secret?”

At this timing, Jisub barely managed to hold back from snickering.

‘No matter what I did… you say?’

What did you even do?

You didn’t do anything, buddy.

To be exact, he didn’t like the style, so Jisub was just going to gloss over it, but—

‘…Hmm?’

The moment he ‘stared’ into Deputy Manager Cha Jong-min’s eyes, Jisub changed his mind a little.

[Why… doesn’t anyone listen to me? What’s the reason?]

Really,

He was curious.

This crazy car enthusiast.