Genius Pitcher Hides 170Km [EN]: Chapter 26

25. Memories of 106 mph, and a Trade

“Hey, I saw the game. Your swing balance seems a bit off; let me fix it for you. But who’s this guy next to you?”

“He’s Senior Seong-oh Jo. You said you watched the game; he’s our team’s first baseman.”

“Ah, I see. Nice to meet you, friend. It’s hard to tell when you’re not in uniform. I’m Jacob Turner. Just call me Jacob.”

“A, a foreigner? Su-hyeok. Who is this guy?”

“He’s my personal trainer.”

In the exhibition game opener against the Titans, the Warriors won a close game, 11 to 10.

Since it was just an exhibition game, the win or loss didn’t really matter, but for the Warriors, who had lost all their exhibition game openers in the past five years, it was a meaningful victory.

After finishing the game against the Titans, I stood in front of Jacob with Senior Seong-oh Jo, who had volunteered to be my ‘slave’.

“H, hey. My name is Seong-oh Jo. Nice to meet you.”

Senior Seong-oh Jo, with a stiff face, greeted Jacob and quickly turned his head to ask me.

“Su-hyeok, what is all this? That guy is your personal trainer, and where the heck is this place?”

“It’s my personal practice facility.”

“What? This is yours?”

“I poured all my signing bonus into it.”

“Ah…”

Jacob watched Senior Seong-oh Jo, who was looking around with a bewildered expression, with an amused look. He seemed to know that he had a new job, even without me saying anything.

As I quietly watched Jacob’s profile, I suddenly remembered a conversation I had with him in my previous life.

‘Jacob, look at this. I was right. Throwing 106 mph wasn’t just a dream!’

‘Damn it, Han! How many times do I have to tell you? Velocity isn’t everything. If you throw like that, your shoulder won’t hold up.’

‘That’s ridiculous. My shoulder is stronger than anyone’s. Here, take a look. Watch my pitch.’

Whoosh!

Thwack!

‘See that? 106 mph? What do you think? Are you still going to say I’m wrong?’

‘Han, I get it, so stop it now! Stop it right now!’

It was during my time in the Seattle Mariners’ Double-A affiliate [the second-highest level of minor league baseball].

I was obsessed with increasing my velocity to 106 mph, or 170 km/h, and kept changing my pitching form.

No one stopped me.

The coaches and managers in the minor leagues are a bit different from those in Korea.

Rather than actively teaching or modifying players, they just let them do their own thing and then focus on selecting the players who stand out and sending them to the big leagues.

Therefore, touching the form of a rookie who signed with a huge signing bonus like me is a considerable risk for the manager and coaches.

If things go wrong, they could lose their jobs along with the blame for blocking the path of a top prospect. They never step forward unless there is an order from above.

But there was only one person, from the first time he saw me, who was concerned about my pitching form and worried about the shoulder of a promising prospect.

Jacob Turner.

That day, I succeeded in throwing a 106 mph fastball in front of Jacob.

And that was the last 106 mph I ever threw.

The very next day, I felt shoulder pain in the top of the 3rd inning and was taken off the mound, and after that, I never threw a 100 mph pitch again, let alone 106 mph.

Damn it.

Why can’t I forget memories like this? When the things I really need don’t even come to mind.

Anyway, I won’t make that mistake this time.

Even if it’s slow, I’ll take it easy, and after my body is completely ready, I’ll challenge 106 mph again, no, 107 mph.

“Su-hyeok.”

“……”

“Su-hyeok?”

“Ah, yes. Senior. Sorry.”

“What were you thinking so hard about…? Anyway, why did you bring me here? What does increasing home run distance have to do with this place?”

“Um, first of all, Jacob! Can you do a basic check on Senior Seong-oh here?”

“Sure, buddy. This way.”

“Su-hyeok, what are you checking?”

“The team does it too, but the machines here are a bit more accurate. Anyway, just follow him.”

It was something I had been thinking about even before Senior Seong-oh approached me.

The issue of sharing this practice facility, which was a bit too good for me to use alone.

I was wondering if there was a way to make better use of Jacob, who had a lot of free time since he couldn’t follow me around inside the team.

But I never imagined that Senior Seong-oh would be the first one.

After a while, Jacob, who had finished testing Senior Seong-oh, stroked his chin and said.

“So, looking at the test results… Damn it, it’d be faster if you just explained it. You know how to read data, right?”

“Yes, I’ll do it. Give it to me.”

“Okay.”

Even if I’m not as much of an expert as Jacob, I can handle this much data analysis.

“Senior.”

“Huh?”

Seong-oh, who hadn’t yet realized what was happening to him, looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“First of all… to put it very simply, your basic stats like muscle strength and body fat percentage are very good for your age. The condition of your fine muscles is also quite good. Your flexibility is also passing for now.”

“Yeah, I hate getting a belly more than anything else. I’m working hard on Pilates too.”

“The problem is that your lower body is a bit weaker than your upper body.”

“Lower body? Hey, I’m still good! I’m fine!”

“…Not *that* lower body.”

“Ah…”

“Anyway, if you fix your batting form as Jacob corrects it and strengthen the muscles needed for it… yeah, I think it’s possible to increase your home run distance compared to now.”

“Really? Really? So there’s still room for improvement?”

“If you’re serious about trying, you can come here with me after the game. During away games, you can follow the program Jacob has set up.”

“…You mean I have to do extra training after the game again?”

“Of course. Two hours every day until the batting form is corrected. No matter how tired you are, no matter how much you feel like you’re going to collapse, never skip it. Correcting your batting form isn’t that easy. You might end up using muscles you haven’t used much before, and in your case, Senior, it might take even longer since you have a long baseball career.”

“Wait, so you’re doing that every day?”

“Of course.”

“…No wonder you’re so good at baseball.”

“It’s nothing special. Just think of it as going to the army again.”

In fact, in my past life, I received an exemption for winning an Olympic gold medal, so I’ve never been to the army.

Come to think of it, how am I going to solve the military service issue this time?

“Hey… but I’m thirty-five years old.”

“There are a lot of major leaguers who keep working out like this even when they’re forty. No, you have to work even harder as you get older.”

“How do you know that…?”

Because I almost died competing with those monsters.

Seong-oh, who had nothing to say, shut his mouth tightly and looked back and forth between me and Jacob.

He’s surprised by this much? There’s still one more thing left.

“You also have to adjust your diet. You can’t eat anything other than what Jacob has prescribed. The team will prepare separate lunch boxes for me and Senior even during away games. Alcohol? You can’t even put it in your mouth.”

“You can’t even drink alcohol?”

“Of course. You’re playing in the regular season and doing extra training, and you want alcohol? Your muscles can’t handle it. Absolutely, never, not a single drop.”

Seong-oh, who is called the king of connections and has good connections inside and outside the team (though not as much as Jae-hyun Gu of the Titans), and who thinks of having occasional drinks as a joy in life, looked at me with a pale face.

Life doesn’t come free, Senior.

You have to give up a lot to become stronger.

I looked at Senior Seong-oh with a meaningful look.

Of course, if Senior refuses here, there’s nothing I can do, no matter how good I am.

I can’t put a leash on a thirty-five-year-old veteran and drag him around to exercise, let alone a green rookie.

If it doesn’t work out, I’ll have to remove Seong-oh’s name from the Warriors’ lineup that I’m planning.

“What are you going to do? Do you want to give it a try?”

Senior Seong-oh’s eyes welled up at my voice, which didn’t seem to allow any compromise.

Following a high-intensity management program like he was back in his rookie days.

It’s not an easy decision for a veteran who should be thinking about life after retirement.

To get a coaching position later, he’ll have to diligently meet people and build connections. Or he may be preoccupied with planning a second life that isn’t baseball.

To ask such a person to exercise for two hours every day after the game, to adjust his diet, and not to drink alcohol… well, of course, it wouldn’t be easy.

What choice will Senior Seong-oh make?

As I waited for his answer with a half-doubtful heart, Senior Seong-oh’s answer surprised me a little.

“…Okay, let’s do it. Once.”

“Really?”

“Let’s do it. Yeah, damn it, I can just not drink. I hate being a shameful father to my son more. So, what should I do first? What’s the usage fee here? How much do I have to pay for the course every month?”

He was rambling, but Senior Seong-oh’s eyes looked more determined than ever.

I knew very well when people get that look in their eyes.

When I first regressed, when I realized that I could put everything back in its place.

That’s exactly what my eyes looked like when I looked in the mirror then.

Okay. He’s serious.

“There’s no need for usage fees or tuition. Just don’t skip practice and follow me well.”

“Really? Really? Is it really free?”

“Yes, it’s because I used all my signing bonus to prepare this place anyway. But once you start, you can never give up in the middle. Senior.”

“Ah… thank you so much. Thank you, Su-hyeok. I’ll really work hard.”

Senior Seong-oh’s eyes welled up again.

They say people cry more as they get older, and I seem to be seeing this senior’s tears often these days.

Hmm.

By the way, why has my pocket been vibrating so much since earlier…

I entrusted Senior Seong-oh, who was caught up in complicated emotions, to Jacob, and I briefly went outside the practice room and took out my smartphone.

A lot of messages from Hyung [older brother or close male friend] Seong-hoon were piled up.

I heard that today is the day of the meeting of the presidents of the 10 clubs, so is there any urgent news?

I turned on the screen and checked the messages sent by Hyung Seong-hoon, and I couldn’t help but smile.

He finally succeeded. He succeeded in packaging and selling that trash well.

“Hello, Hyung Seong-hoon? Is the trade really complete?”

– Yeah, Director Park Jae-cheol just finished the agreement with Director Jeong Min-sik of the Magicians. We’ll be able to get KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] approval as soon as business hours start tomorrow.

“Who did the Magicians agree to give us? Are they giving us Choi Min-seok?”

– We’re giving up Song Ki-tae and Jeong Ki-ho, and the Magicians are giving us Choi Min-seok and Kim Doo-young.

“What?”

– Why? Is there a problem? We finished talking about it with you a few days ago, right?

“No, it’s not that… Choi Min-seok and Kim Doo-young? Not just Choi Min-seok, but Kim Doo-young too?”

– Yeah, that’s right.

Crazy.

Even when I talked about the trade with Hyung Seong-hoon a few days ago, our conclusion was that it would be a success if we received Choi Min-seok and a minor league pitcher.

Choi Min-seok, a left-handed hitting outfielder from Seoul who our team and the Magicians both targeted during the draft, but eventually lost due to the order.

Due to the Magicians’ team characteristics, which are full of veteran outfielders and overflowing with left-handed hitters, he has not been able to secure a starting position, but he is evaluated as being fast, good at defense, and talented in hitting.

However, from the Magicians’ point of view, who must challenge for the championship this year, the right-handed hitter Jeong Ki-ho, who has been verified to some extent, would have been more attractive than the left-handed hitter Choi Min-seok, who has not yet exploded.

That’s exactly according to our plan. Giving up Song Ki-tae and Jeong Ki-ho and receiving Choi Min-seok and one minor league pitcher.

But I never even expected that the minor league pitcher would be Kim Doo-young.

“Kim Doo-young… Kim Doo-young… Kim Doo-young…”

– Why, Su-hyeok. Is there a problem? You said he’s good, right? Should we cancel it now?

“No, it’s not that. What are you talking about canceling? Get KBO approval as soon as business starts tomorrow morning.”

For some time now, I have been focusing all my efforts on finding information hidden somewhere in my head.

It’s a natural story, but in my past life, I had no interest in the KBO.

I remember the players who played together on the national team, but those players are already tied to the non-trade list, so it’s useless information.

Then one day, something suddenly came to mind.

It was a TV program set in the KBO, not a baseball game.

I don’t remember the title. I didn’t watch it because I was particularly interested in it.

I just happened to see the video and soon lost interest.

Anyway, the name of the active player who taught hitting skills to prospective professional players in that program.

Yes, I remember the subtitles that were largely embedded. Choi Min-seok, the 3rd hitter for the Seoul Magicians.

The reason why I made Choi Min-seok the first trade target was precisely that. It means that he is a player who will grow into at least the 3rd hitter of a team, even if he is not a national team level.

And one more thing.

The left-handed pitcher who appeared with Choi Min-seok and taught prospective pitchers.

That was Kim Doo-young. That’s how the program introduced Kim Doo-young.

The best left-handed specialist one-point reliever in the league, whose skills blossomed late.

As soon as I remembered that, I passed on information about Kim Doo-young to Hyung Seong-hoon. Even if it’s difficult right now, he’s a player we must bring in if we ever get the chance.

But I never imagined that we would receive Choi Min-seok and Kim Doo-young at once.

“Hyung, how many years has Kim Doo-young been in the league exactly?”

“Kim Doo-young? Uh… let’s see. He’s in his third year.”

Okay, so how many years will it be until he explodes?

No, that’s the story when no one helps that player, and if we attach a dedicated coach and intensively train him, we can use him from the second half of this season if we do well. Because I know exactly what the problem is.

“Did the Magicians give up Kim Doo-young willingly from the beginning?”

“No, at first, Director Jeong Min-sik wouldn’t let Kim Doo-young go, but after being harassed by Director Park Jae-cheol for about five hours, he finally gave in. Director Park said that. He said that we must bring Kim Doo-young, even if it’s not my order. He said that he’s bound to explode.”

Hmm.

No matter how I look at it, one of the best things I’ve done in this life is to appoint Park Jae-cheol as the director.

That person would be perfect if he just talked a little less…

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