Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 217

#216. Back to the Big Leagues

“God damn it! Half my salary last year went to baseball tickets! Do better! You goddamn sons of bitches!”

“If you’re going to bring in Tai Johnson and still finish fourth, just disband the team right now!”

“Lower the ticket prices! You damn bastards! Why are you so greedy when you can’t even play baseball properly!”

Unlike the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], where prices are determined by seat location and whether it’s the regular or post-season, Major League ticket prices fluctuate significantly based on the team, the opponent, the day of the week, the date, and the game’s importance.

In short, it’s constantly changing.

After struggling financially due to signing Ryan Tibo to a long-term contract and acquiring several decent players over the past two years, the Mariners had to maintain a high-priced ticket policy.

Seattle fans, who had been relatively quiet while the team maintained a top-10 ranking in Major League baseball viewership and average attendance, couldn’t contain their anger when the team finished fourth for two consecutive seasons despite the expensive tickets.

“You money-grubbing cheapskates! Why are you holding onto the team when you don’t even have the ability to run it?”

“Sell it! Just hand over the team! You goddamn sons of bitches!”

“My house cat could run the team better than you! You stupid bastards!”

In fact, the Seattle Mariners maintain the closest relationship with Asia among all Major League teams, and it’s not just because of their geographical proximity.

From 1991 to 2016, the owner of the Mariners was Nintendo America, the U.S. branch of the Japanese game company Nintendo.

When the Seattle Mariners were put up for sale and faced the prospect of relocating, senators and other officials requested help from local companies such as Microsoft and Nintendo America. Unexpectedly, Nintendo, which had no prior interest in baseball, bought the Mariners for $100 million.

From the Mariners’ fans perspective, it was a situation they couldn’t help but be grateful for.

Even Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi, who became the owner of the Mariners, said, “Nintendo has grown this much thanks to the help of the United States, so I acquired the baseball team to repay that debt.” For 25 years of owning the team, he didn’t interfere in team operations at all, simply owning shares, truly embodying the ideal image of an owner.

It’s hard to say that was the only reason, but several Japanese players, including Ichiro Suzuki, began their Big League careers with the Mariners, and many Korean players also played for the team.

Over time, Nintendo sold most of its shares, and a new ownership group consisting of various companies and individuals took over, slightly changing the atmosphere, but ultimately, Seattle fans couldn’t help but be favorable to Asian players.

But,

“Why are you keeping the guys you brought in with expensive money locked up and not letting them play?”

“Damn it, did you bring in players we can’t even use? Did you waste money again!”

“That’s all you guys ever do! Die! Just die!”

During the 20 or so exhibition games held in Arizona this past March, Han Su-hyeok and Tai Johnson were barely seen.

Han Su-hyeok started the exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles on the first day, pitching 12 pitches in one inning, recording one strikeout and two ground outs.

As a batter, he only appeared in two at-bats, recording one walk and one hit.

Tai Johnson also only appeared in three of the twenty games.

Rumors of injuries, discord within the team, and dissatisfaction with the contract circulated, but the Mariners simply reiterated that it was something they had already agreed upon with the players, that the two players were getting in shape for the regular season, and that there were no problems between the team and the players.

After all the exhibition games in Arizona were over, they returned home and played three more exhibition games, but fans still didn’t see Han Su-hyeok and Tai Johnson.

“Damn it, I was worried from the start when they were praising a guy who only played in the minor leagues like he was some kind of savior!”

“Tai Johnson, that guy’s old now. Yeah, something must be broken. That’s why he can’t come out!”

“Oh my god! Are we going to fall to the bottom again? After spending all that money?”

The regular season opened in that tense atmosphere.

Fans who paid enormous prices, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, to visit the stadium hurled harsh insults at the Mariners’ owner, management, and manager.

It was anxiety.

The anxiety that the team, which had finally ended its long tanking [deliberately losing games to secure better draft picks] and chosen to compete, would end up sinking to the bottom without achieving any results.

How many teams in Major League history have been like that?

The successful long-term contract with Seattle franchise star Ryan Tibo, and the simultaneous blossoming of prospects collected through long tanking.

As it should have been, the team’s performance, which should have been steadily improving for the past two years, remained in fourth place.

Fourth place out of five teams. If Houston hadn’t been tanking, they could have finished last.

The most infuriating thing is that the rival Oakland Athletics, who always get on the nerves of Seattle fans, won the league title with less than half of their payroll.

“I don’t care if we lose to everyone else, just not to those guys! Make us feel like our money was worth it!”

“Crush them! Crush those damn Oakland bastards!”

“Goddamn it! Why do we keep losing to those guys every time after spending all that money!”

In the American League West, which consists of teams of similar size, Seattle was one of the teams that used a fairly large budget.

On the other hand, Oakland, which won the Western Division last season, has long been a team that operates its roster with a small budget and extracts the best efficiency, like the original Moneyball team, which was made into a movie and is well known to the public.

Seattle fans were furious that Oakland, which was far inferior to them in terms of player name recognition, team budget, home stadium, and average attendance, was at the top of the division standings every year.

Moreover, the opening game was against Oakland.

Oakland, which began building a new stadium to end the miserable RingCentral Coliseum era, was delaying completion due to financial problems.

As a result, Oakland was using the 10,000-seat Las Vegas Ballpark as its temporary home stadium and eventually ceded the opening game to Seattle this season.

From the Mariners’ fans perspective, it was a welcome thing, but only if they won the game.

What if they lost to those damn cheapskates here? What if they got swept [losing all games in a series]?

“Aaaagh! I don’t need anything, just disband the team!”

“You should have just moved the team! So I wouldn’t have to watch this shitty baseball!”

“I should have watched soccer! Those guys won the championship last year!”

After all the pre-game events for the opening game were over, a white-haired tenor appeared and sang the American national anthem.

As the start of the game drew near, the fans’ shouts grew louder.

“Why are they acting like that? Has the atmosphere here always been like this?”

“I don’t know, man. I should be careful today. It feels like a riot could break out.”

“But don’t slack off, let’s make sure to get the win and go.”

“Hehe, that’s a given.”

The Oakland players sitting in the dugout looked at the crowd with bewildered expressions.

It wasn’t the first time they had visited this stadium and crushed the Seattle idiots, but the atmosphere was unusually hostile today.

In fact, Seattle wasn’t always such a weak team.

They have the dishonor of being the only team that has never advanced to the World Series since its founding, but they still had what you could call their golden age.

Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, Ichiro Suzuki.

There was a time when great players whose names Major League fans couldn’t help but know, players who were inducted into the Hall of Fame, played together on this team.

It was Seattle’s short but brilliant heyday from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.

A mound led by Randy Johnson, and a powerful lineup led by Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, and Jay Buhner.

Seattle’s heyday, which began in that way, reached its peak in 2001.

Randy Johnson, who was upset about salary issues, left for Houston, Ken Griffey Jr., who was dissatisfied with the pitcher-friendly stadium, moved to Cincinnati, and Alex Rodriguez, who was the best shortstop in Major League Baseball at the time, moved to Texas, and it seemed like the team would collapse as it was…….

Then Ichiro Suzuki debuted in Major League Baseball, recorded the highest batting average, the most hits, and the most stolen bases, sweeping the Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and MVP awards.

And Edgar Martinez, a franchise star who had seen all his teammates who had grown up together leave and remained alone on the team, anchored the lineup.

On the mound, the starting pitchers such as Jamie Moyer and Aaron Sele, and the middle relief pitchers such as Jeff Nelson and Kazuhiro Sasaki, played great roles in protecting the team’s victory.

As a result, Seattle recorded 116 wins, tying the record for the most wins in a Major League season, and advanced to the championship with dignity. Of course, the miracle ended when they were crushed by the Yankees.

Some say that may have been Seattle’s last chance to win the World Series.

Nearly 30 years have passed since then.

Seattle still carries the burden of being ‘the only team that has never advanced to the World Series.’

Despair that nothing works, distrust of players and management.

The emotions deeply rooted in the hearts of fans were still unresolved.

In such a complex atmosphere, the 2030 Major League opening game between Seattle and Oakland finally began.

* * *

“Are you ready to play?”

“Of course, Coach, no, Manager.”

“Good. It took longer than I thought to find the balance, but I believe in you. No, saying I believe in you is an expression of distrust, right? Haha, Champion. Go out there and show your skills. Turn the jeers of those spectators into cheers.”

“That’s what I do best.”

Benjamin Reynolds, who was making his managerial debut and showing Han Su-hyeok to the fans for the first time, patted Han Su-hyeok’s shoulder with a satisfied expression.

The noticeably larger trapezius muscles are certainly reassuring.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“I’m ready.”

“Good.”

Over the past winter, Han Su-hyeok has been working on gaining weight and changing his batting stance to adapt to the Big Leagues.

The reason he didn’t play during the exhibition games was not only because he didn’t see any reason to play in a game that wasn’t the regular season, but also because it took time to fine-tune his adjustments.

Anyway, Han Su-hyeok, who had devoted himself to preparing for the season with Jacob, finally succeeded in creating the body he had aimed for.

Height 193cm and weight 113kg.

It has increased by 17kg compared to when he played in Korea.

But he didn’t look obese at all.

In fact, considering his weight, he looked rather lean.

After finishing his body building, Han Su-hyeok re-established his role with the coaching staff.

First of all, he decided to give up shortstop defense in order to focus on hitting.

The reason why Han Su-hyeok gave up some power and maintained his weight at around 95 kg when he was playing for the Warriors was because there were no other viable shortstops on the team.

However, Seattle had a good shortstop named Josh Oliver, who was in his fourth year in the Big Leagues.

Also, the Warriors were Han Su-hyeok’s own team, so he endured various inconveniences and sacrifices, but there was no need to do that here.

In order to perform at his best as a hitter and as a pitcher, he needed to gain weight, and as a result, Han Su-hyeok moved to a position other than shortstop.

That’s the result: No. 2 hitter, third baseman Han Su-hyeok.

This season, Han Su-hyeok will mainly play as a third baseman, left fielder, or designated hitter with less defensive burden.

His goal is to hit even more home runs and to lead Seattle, which has never advanced to the World Series, to the top.

“How do you feel about playing your Big League debut?”

“Well, baseball is just baseball, no matter where you play it.”

“Hehe, I guess so. By the way, the Seattle fans are amazing. I can hear them cursing at us from here.”

“It’ll be different when the game starts.”

“That’s right. We have to make it that way. Okay, let’s go out.”

Tai Johnson, who also hardly played in the exhibition games, tapped Han Su-hyeok’s shoulder with his gloved hand and walked past.

It wasn’t just the position that had changed.

The pitching rotation will also be very different from when he was with the Warriors.

In the early part of this season, Seattle will use a six-man rotation, for Han Su-hyeok’s adaptation.

He will be out of the lineup to rest the day after starting, then designated hitter the next day, and then a field player the next day. It was Benjamin Reynolds’ choice, who understood Han Su-hyeok the best.

That’s how all the preparations for playing in the Big Leagues were completed.

“Woooo!”

“Do it right! Do it right! You sons of bitches!”

Han Su-hyeok and the other players who were starting today came out of the dugout and ran to their respective defensive positions.

Jeers were still pouring out of the stands.

Watching those spectators, Han Su-hyeok burst into laughter without realizing it.

It was a smile that was confident that those jeers would soon turn into cheers.