A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 81

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 81

Chapter 23: Proof of Vaccination (1)

Was it a kind of jinx?

Or should it be seen as a coincidence?

In any case, it seemed to be quite a famous story in Korean professional baseball for several years.

[If a foreign pitcher achieves a no-hitter, that player will be forced out before the end of the year.]

The day Jimmy Morris achieved his no-hitter, the internet community was buzzing with this story.

-Is Coach P not planning to keep Morris for long? Why else would he put him on the mound in the 9th?

-I know, right! How many pitchers have lost their form after a no-hitter? Dongjin’s Wilson, Future’s Rodri, ST’s McMahon…….

-I was rooting for Geosan from the 7th inning! Begging them to get even a lucky hit. But those guys…… Wow, they couldn’t get a single hit until the end?

-Maybe they didn’t want to! They might have been thinking of getting rid of Morris if he did well.

-Ah, really?! Those guys, were they plotting something like that inside?

Even when Jisub was reading the comments written by the Cannons fans, he just lightly brushed it off, thinking, ‘Ah, so there’s a story like this too.’

After all, the baseball scene is a place bustling with all sorts of rumors, jinxes, and unscientific superstitions.

However, it seemed that not everyone could accept it as calmly as Jisub.

-Hey, Tsingtao!

The next day at dawn, Park Hong-joo, the vice chairman of KH Cannons and acting owner, called Jisub directly.

-Is there nothing for me to worry about?

It was still before 6 a.m.

Still lying in bed, Jisub rubbed his eyes and asked,

“What…… are you talking about?”

-That foreign pitcher, Jimmy Morris. The one who achieved a no-hitter yesterday.

Vice Chairman Park seemed to have already arrived at work and was sitting in front of his computer.

Beyond the phone speaker, the sound of ‘click, click’ of the mouse could be heard.

-Looking at the articles on the portal, there seems to be a lot of talk? That pitchers who have achieved a no-hitter in recent years have suffered a significant drop in condition afterwards…….

Jisub let out a hollow laugh.

“Vice Chairman, didn’t you say you played baseball a little in your younger days? Then you should have a sense of it. That it’s just a common rumor in the baseball world…….”

At Jisub’s words, ‘Sakhalin Park’ also scoffed.

-Man, where would I get that sense? All I did was high school baseball, and there wasn’t a single pitcher around me who had achieved a no-hitter……

Ah, wait a minute.

Sakhalin Park continued.

-That’s the same for you, isn’t it?

“Yes?”

-I’m an idiot for asking someone who was terrible at baseball about this. Forget it, I’ll ask a pitcher who has achieved a no-hitter directly later.

“…….”

-Tsk, a guy who’s no help in life. What did you do during your active career without ever getting a no-hitter?

Tsk tsk tsk.

With that, the acting owner of KH Cannons hung up the phone with a ‘click.’

Jisub could only stare blankly at his phone with a look as if he had been hit from out of nowhere.

‘This old man, from the crack of dawn…….’

Seriously, that’s too much.

How many pitchers in Korea have ever achieved a no-hitter?

* * *

As Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo said, Jisub was a pitcher who had never achieved a shutout, let alone a no-hitter, during his active career.

‘No, I think I had one shutout? But it was a game that ended in a rain call in the 5th inning because of the rain…….’

In any case, even for Jisub, it wasn’t too difficult to get a sense of it.

The phenomenon of a pitcher experiencing a serious decline in condition after achieving a no-hitter.

When judging this as not a simple ‘coincidence,’ what possible causes can be assumed?

‘First of all, the cause would be throwing too many pitches in one game.’

The opportunity to achieve a great record like a no-hitter doesn’t come often.

Even for a very outstanding pitcher, it might come once every few years, and for an average pitcher, it might come once in a lifetime, if at all.

Therefore, once an opportunity comes, a pitcher doesn’t think about the aftermath.

From as few as 120 to as many as 140.

Having thrown a much larger number of pitches than usual, it’s perhaps only natural that the body is strained.

‘Moreover, if it’s a pitcher who has achieved a great record, the opposing team’s scrutiny will inevitably become more severe…….’

They might dispatch two or three scouting analysts instead of just one as usual.

They might review video footage twice or three times instead of just once.

As a result, there’s a higher chance that habits that the pitcher himself wasn’t even aware of will be exposed.

‘Finally, there’s the excessive confidence that comes from achieving a great record…….’

I’m really great.

It’s a waste for me to be in the Korean league.

Arrogance, laziness, or aggressive attitudes towards the coaching staff or umpires that come with being swept up in these thoughts, and so on.

‘Hmm.’

As his thoughts reached this point, Jisub no longer considered the words of the Cannons fans or Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo to be ‘fuss.’

‘Certainly…… there’s a need to be careful.’

Fortunately, the Cannons’ coaching staff was also doing a similar analysis to Jisub.

And to some extent, countermeasures were already in place.

“Coach, I think it would be good for Jimmy to skip one start.”

This was the story that came out at the coaching staff meeting on the third day after Jimmy Morris achieved his no-hitter.

“He threw over 120 pitches in his last start. Considering that he’s a veteran pitcher in his 30s, I think it’s necessary to give him enough rest.”

The pitching coach’s suggestion.

As Manager Arthur Freeman nodded lightly, the battery coach opened his mouth this time.

“While he’s resting, I’d like to talk to him about new pitching patterns.”

The battery coach was looking through the scouting report on the desk.

“Recently, he’s been showing such good stuff. I think just mixing in one or two different pitches would be enough to neutralize the opposing team’s scouting analysis.”

Accumulated fatigue from throwing too many pitches at once.

And the opposing team’s relentless scouting analysis of a pitcher who has set a great record.

With solutions to the first two problems already in place, the story about the last one was also mentioned.

“The coaches on the Dongjin side used to say this? That when a foreign pitcher sets a great record, they become arrogant and difficult to handle…… Won’t we have that problem?”

The hitting coach raised the issue.

The pitching coach’s response to this was, in a word, ‘Don’t worry, be happy.’

“I don’t think we need to worry too much. He’s a guy who’s aware that he’s the ace of this team.”

The memory of ‘a glass of soju’ [Korean distilled spirit] shared at a company dinner not long ago.

The pitching coach seemed to still vividly remember it.

“I saw him in the training room this morning, pouring out a bucket of sweat. What worries would I have about a player like that?”

Hahahahaha.

The pitching coach’s appearance, laughing so hard that his uvula was visible.

* * *

Jimmy Morris, the foreign pitcher who set a great record for KH Cannons for the first time in almost 20 years since its founding.

The Cannons’ ace, who wasn’t showing any signs of wavering at all even after achieving such a great record.

It was right after the coaching staff meeting that day that Jisub came face to face with this great pitcher.

“Let’s go, Cannons! Rise up, KH! Hello, Cannons fans! Cannons TV is back again today!”

It seemed there was a filming for the club’s YouTube channel.

With the public relations team staff holding cameras and reflectors huddled together, the Cannons’ ace Jimmy Morris was standing there.

“As you know, there was a really amazing thing that happened in yesterday’s game! To be exact, it’s been a whopping 22 years since a pitcher achieved a no-hitter in our Cannons!”

The reporter of the YouTube channel clenched a small fist and continued.

“Today, we will have the main character of that great record, Jimmy Morris, and share some stories!”

Wow.

Welcome, welcome!

The public relations team staff welcomed the ace by flashing lights, scattering confetti, and making trumpets with their hands and blowing ‘ppamppababam’ [onomatopoeia for trumpet sound].

In a very different atmosphere from when they were with the players, the coaching staff, as well as Jisub, stopped and watched.

“Hello, Morris! First of all, congratulations on achieving the no-hitter! I was watching and my heart was pounding, and I’m curious about what Morris was feeling!”

As the interpreter conveyed the reporter’s question, Jimmy Morris opened his mouth.

“I was very nervous. It would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous.”

So far, it was a very smooth answer.

But the next moment, Jisub couldn’t help but doubt his ears.

“But that nervousness wasn’t because of the great record of ‘no-hitter.’ It should be seen as the nervousness that comes from the thought that I have to fulfill my role as a starting pitcher.”

What is he talking about.

Jisub tilted his head.

“I always throw the ball thinking about the team. That day, I just wanted to reduce the burden on our bullpen pitchers by pitching as many innings as possible, and I wasn’t paying much attention to the no-hitter.”

It was a lie.

A blatant lie that anyone could see.

It was true that his judgment was a little late due to a severe hangover, but after that, Jimmy Morris went up to the mound with a lot of impatience.

In the last 9th inning, he was so anxious that his legs were noticeably shaking as he headed to the mound.

‘But now…… he was paying attention to the role of the starting pitcher rather than the no-hitter?’

At this time, Jisub recalled the pitching coach’s words at the meeting.

Jimmy Morris is a player who has an awareness of being an ace.

He’s a player who will do his best for the team, regardless of whether he achieves a great record or not.

‘When I heard the story, I thought it might be a bit of an exaggeration…… But seeing him like that, it seems like he’s really become that kind of player?’

A player who values the team’s victory more than his own record.

So a player who will never waver no matter what happens.

‘If it were the Jimmy Morris I know, he would be jumping around and making a fuss right now…… I guess the coaches have a slightly better eye for players?’

Thinking that, Jisub started to move towards the dugout.

Still, as he was passing right next to him, he thought he should at least say hello, so it was when he turned his gaze towards Jimmy Morris.

[I’m a great pitcher. I’m a man who will return to the major league next year.]

Jimmy Morris’s inner thoughts were heard in Jisub’s ear.

[I, who should become an ace even in the major league…… Isn’t it embarrassing to be excited about a no-hitter in the Korean league?]

……Look at this guy?

Jisub couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.