A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 96

27. The Left-Right Game (2)

The next day dawned.

The ST Rhinos held a press conference to officially announce the appointment of their new manager.

-We, ST Rhinos, are informing you that we have appointed former national team manager Lee Seok-ho as our new manager.

-This season, the Rhinos have not lived up to the expectations of our fans, but we are determined to face the challenge of rebuilding our prestigious team with the new manager.

-New manager Lee Seok-ho will begin his term by attending a meeting with the team this afternoon, and the contract period is 3 years with an annual salary of….

Manager Lee Seok-ho, who led the KH Cannons until last season.

With the news of his sudden reappointment, various reactions poured out among the Cannons’ staff.

“He was dismissed from our team less than a year ago, and he’s already succeeded in getting re-employed… As expected, Manager Lee Seok-ho is truly an amazing person.”

“I know, right? It was the general opinion in the baseball world that he showed all his cards while he was with our team… How did he miraculously come back to life and go to ST as their manager?”

“By the way… Shouldn’t we appeal to ST about this? ‘Former national team manager Lee Seok-ho’? Here, it should be ‘Former KH Cannons manager Lee Seok-ho’!”

“Eh, just leave it alone. Does ST not know the customs [unspoken rules]? This must be Lee Seok-ho’s request. He wouldn’t want to reveal the fact that he was with our Cannons….”

The atmosphere was far from friendly, even as an empty gesture.

Ji-seop learned the reason for this underlying tension during a conversation with KH Cannons general manager Seo Chang-gi.

“He was an excellent manager. He had a passion for baseball and a deep affection for the players… Anyway, winning the Korean Series five times is not something anyone can do, right?”

This was on the way to the meeting room for a meeting with manager Arthur Freeman.

Of course, as always, general manager Seo Chang-gi was cautious and didn’t openly say anything bad about manager Lee Seok-ho.

“It’s true that there were some troubles in the relationship with the club’s front office… But that must have been because of the team’s performance. If the team had performed well, would the manager have wanted to blame us?”

“….”

“I felt sorry that he couldn’t complete his contract with our team and had to leave… ST made a good decision. He is a manager who represents Korean professional baseball, so he should be given a chance to restore his honor.”

General manager Seo Chang-gi seemed to accept the former manager’s reappointment as good news.

However, Ji-seop could see through other people’s minds.

Ji-seop could accurately grasp the slight sense of unease that general manager Seo couldn’t bring himself to express.

[That Lee Seok-ho… He’s known for being proud and secretly holding grudges.]

[I don’t know how he’s taking this situation, where the Cannons, who fired him, are now looking to advance to the post-season after just one season.]

[I hope he doesn’t act out against our Arthur Freeman for no reason….]

* * *

Old general (老將) manager Lee Seok-ho, who shone with five Korean Series wins.

He was a famous manager who brought the Korean Series trophy to every team he took over, but he tasted bitter failure only with the KH Cannons.

How will this old man, who is proud and holds grudges, act against the KH Cannons in the future?

‘Hehe, it’s no wonder the general manager is worried.’

In fact, the first few days were quiet.

Even for a veteran like manager Lee Seok-ho, it seemed he needed time to adjust to his new team.

But on the day the ST Rhinos swept their first weekend 3-game series this season, after struggling at the bottom of the league all year long.

And on that very day, when they jumped from 9th to 7th place in the standings.

Manager Lee Seok-ho’s grudge, which general manager Seo Chang-gi had been worried about, began to take effect.

-Manager, thank you for accepting our interview request! Our subscribers have been looking forward to seeing you!

Manager Lee Seok-ho made a surprise appearance on a YouXube [YouTube] channel run by a baseball player who had retired a few years ago.

-To get straight to the point. What do you think is the biggest problem in Korean professional baseball this season?

-People are so strange. Why do they only ask me about the problems of Korean baseball? Even if I say something, it won’t be fixed, and in the end, I’ll be the only one getting criticized….

Manager Lee Seok-ho grumbled like this when he received the question from the host.

But that was only for a moment. The new manager of the ST Rhinos began to rant as if he had made up his mind.

-The problem is that the players’ skills are inferior to those in the United States and Japan. The problem is that they know it, but they don’t show any will to improve.

-Ah, I see.

The YouXube host showed a slight disappointment at the fundamental level of the answer.

But there seemed to be a reason why reporters and YouXube people liked manager Lee Seok-ho.

The next moment, an answer that would attract everyone’s attention popped out of manager Lee Seok-ho’s mouth.

-But the problem that is particularly prominent this season… I think it’s the fact that managers these days are too conscious of public opinion.

-Conscious of public opinion?

-Yes, a typical example is the platoon system, right? On days when a right-handed pitcher comes out, they put in a left-handed hitter, and on days when a left-handed pitcher comes out, they put in a right-handed hitter….

Manager Lee Seok-ho continued.

-These days, people call it the ‘left-right game’ and think of it negatively, right? So, managers tend to avoid doing it if possible.

-It’s true that there is such a tendency, but it’s a bit much to call it an act of being conscious of public opinion….

-What are you talking about? That’s the managers being conscious of public opinion! It’s an act of trying to extend their lives by playing baseball that suits the public’s taste!

That won’t do.

That won’t do.

Manager Lee Seok-ho raised his voice.

-The platoon system is actually a strategy for the fans who come to the baseball stadium.

-What… do you mean?

-You think about it. What do people want to see when they come to the baseball stadium? Do they come to see a left-handed hitter swing at a left-handed pitcher? Or do they come to see a sidearm pitcher throw a ball at a left-handed hitter?

No, they don’t!

Manager Lee Seok-ho said firmly.

“They come to see them win! They come to see the moment when their team wins!”

“That’s… right.”

The host nodded.

“Frankly speaking, if there were about ten guys like Ryu Jang-ho on the team, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Those guys hit ‘bang, bang’ regardless of whether it’s a left-handed or right-handed pitcher.”

“….”

“But how common are such players? There are only three or four at most on the team. The rest of the players all have one or two weaknesses.”

What should you do to lead such players to victory?

The thoughts of the old manager, who led the KH Cannons until last season, seemed firm.

“You should avoid matchups with difficult opponents as much as possible, and you should set the stage so that you can compete with easier opponents.”

“So, what you’re saying is….”

The YouXube host continued.

“The platoon system is the best way to achieve victory under limited conditions… Can we summarize it like this?”

“It may not be the best. But it’s definitely not a strategy that you can just throw away because you’re afraid of public opinion.”

It was at this moment that a truly meaningful expression appeared on manager Lee Seok-ho’s face.

“Unlike someone who lives somewhere.”

* * *

It was about 30 minutes later that manager Lee Seok-ho’s YouXube broadcast ended.

“Thank you for your hard work, Manager.”

The channel host came up to manager Lee Seok-ho and bowed deeply.

“I think we were able to make a good broadcast thanks to you, Manager. The fans’ reactions are also very good. Hehe, I don’t know how to thank you….”

“Thanks for what.”

Manager Lee Seok-ho patted the host’s shoulder once with an indifferent expression.

The host looked at Lee’s face and carefully opened his mouth.

“Are you okay, Manager?”

“What about?”

“KH Cannons, I mean.”

The host scratched the back of his head.

“The ‘someone who lives somewhere’ that you mentioned during the broadcast… Everyone could tell that it was Arthur Freeman, the manager of the Cannons, right?”

“….”

“I was wondering if you were setting up too much of a confrontation….”

The host seemed worried about the arrows of criticism that would be directed at the old manager, but manager Lee Seok-ho only let out a strange laugh, ‘hehe.’

“In the few years I haven’t seen you, you’ve become a broadcaster? You were agreeing with me so well, saying ‘That’s right, that’s right’ during the broadcast, but now that it’s all over, you’re pretending to worry about me?”

“No, Manager! That’s not it….”

“Okay, you don’t have anything pricking your conscience.”

Manager Lee Seok-ho continued.

“I was just trying to take care of my own livelihood.”

“Livelihood?”

“ST Rhinos… My new job.”

Manager Lee Seok-ho smiled bitterly.

“You can probably guess, but there are still many people within the ST Rhinos who are negative about my appointment as manager.”

Saying that I’m an outdated manager.

Saying why are we bringing in a manager that the Cannons threw away.

The story that there was a lot of noise in the manager selection process.

“Hehe, it’s no wonder. The Cannons, who fired me, are doing well by hiring a foreign manager.”

“….”

“It’s best to cut off this atmosphere as soon as possible. That way, I can properly manage the Rhinos.”

“Th, then….”

The host scratched his mouth.

“You openly criticized manager Arthur Freeman… Are you saying that was all intentional?”

“Yes, I have to do this much to get people’s attention.”

Manager Arthur Freeman, who declared in his inaugural speech that he would ‘not play the left-right game.’

And manager Lee Seok-ho, who declared that ‘the platoon system is the best way to win.’

It was obvious that there would be a debate among people about who is right and who is the better manager.

“Arthur Freeman, was it? That friend is also a high-spirited American, so he won’t avoid a match with me….”

“….”

“If I win that match completely, wouldn’t people’s perception of me change a little?”

Isn’t it said that the one who tied the knot should untie it (結者解之) [the person who caused the problem should solve it]?

Manager Lee Seok-ho continued.

“The KH Cannons left a stain on my managerial career… So, it should be their job to erase that stain.”

Then, manager Lee Seok-ho took out his cell phone and checked the game schedule.

“Five days from now.”

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

“The 3-game series with the Cannons.”