On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 224

“Listen carefully. This is Goat. The team with the most money in the league. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, listen up. Your salary increase next year will be at least 100%, and since our team is Goat, I’m guessing it’ll be at least 400%. That alone would be 100 million won, right?”

“100 million won?”

“Why? What’s so special about 100 million won? With your skills, 100 million is nothing.”

“Still, a 400% salary increase is a bit…”

“Minimum 400%, minimum. And Seok-hyeon, you know who our parent company is, right?”

“Jeonseong.”

“Good. Once this season ends, you’ll have at least, and I mean at the ve~ry least, four or five CFs [commercial films, or advertisements] lined up. Just from our parent company alone. Big company CFs. I don’t know the market price, but you’d make at least tens of millions of won per CF, right?”

Song Seok-hyeon’s eyes widened.

“I’m saying that by the end of this season, your bank account will have hundreds of millions of won in it. Of course, that money won’t come in right away, so you’re right to live in a monthly rental and look for a better house next year or the year after, but that doesn’t mean you have to worry about money at all.”

“But will I really get that many CFs?”

Ham Seong-hoon suddenly smirked, crossed his arms, and crossed his legs.

“Want me to tell you something interesting?”

“Yes?”

“Our team is doing well this year. Just making it to the Korean Series is the first time in years…? Anyway, it’s our best performance in almost ten years. You’re the biggest star besides Jeong-ryul. You’ll be making hundreds of millions of won next year, and you’ll be filming CFs. But you know, Seok-hyeon.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think will happen if we win the Korean Series?”

“Well… I don’t know… What happens?”

Ham Seong-hoon snapped his fingers.

“Super rookie Song Seok-hyeon leads the team to victory right after his debut! Will only our parent company, Jeonseong, use you as a model? Your name will be all over the news, and companies will be lining up to use you every day. Then your CF price will go up too, right? You’ll be filming a lot of CFs.”

Song Seok-hyeon swallowed hard.

“What if you become the MVP [Most Valuable Player]? Oh, game over, game over. Korean Series MVP! Rookie of the Year! No one has ever achieved such results at the age of twenty, right? But what if you achieve such results? You saw Kim Young-hoon last year, right? Do you know how many CFs he filmed?”

“Yes, he filmed a lot.”

“You’re next. The moment you lead the team to win the Korean Series and become the MVP, it won’t end with just a few hundred million won.”

“……gulp.”

“The thing you’re most worried about is your mother and younger sibling, right?”

“Yes, since I’m responsible for the family’s livelihood… My mother isn’t in a position to work right now either.”

“Is your mother not in good health?”

“Not to that extent, but she can’t really lift heavy things.”

“Then she could run a cafe or something. If you open a cafe in the neighborhood and put up your photos and autographs, how many Goat fans wouldn’t go there? If you occasionally go there to sign autographs and take pictures, it’s game over.”

“Ah… I didn’t know there was such a method.”

“Many other baseball players do that. So don’t worry about money, just worry about the Korean Series. The better you play baseball, the more money you’ll make. The amount of money you get will be several times different depending on whether you win the Korean Series or not. You’re going to be a dad soon, so you need to make money quickly, buy a nice house, and take care of your parents, right?”

Song Seok-hyeon nodded.

“Thank you, Manager. Thank you for listening to such personal stories and solving them.”

“It’s not solved yet. You have to do well to solve it.”

“I was really frustrated, but I feel a little relieved now.”

“Can you focus and train now?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll focus and train properly.”

“Okay, don’t worry about money, what should you worry about?”

“The Korean Series…?”

“That’s right, playing baseball well is the most important thing. You understood everything I said, right?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Song Seok-hyeon bowed to Ham Seong-hoon several times before leaving.

Ham Seong-hoon chuckled a few times.

“Baby formula buff in the Korean Series. If both In-hwan and Seok-hyeon have the baby formula buff, it’ll be interesting to watch.”

* * *

Song Seok-hyeon was planning to announce his marriage after the Korean Series, but unexpectedly, the article came out first.

What Jeong Mi-nam said was passed on to Jeong Mi-nam’s parents, and the rumor spread quickly.

Amid everyone’s shock and surprise, Song Seok-hyeon devoted himself to training, and more training.

A short break passed, and it was the day before the first game of the Korean Series.

Pegasus’s manager, Choi Seong-yeon, called a player into his office.

“Sit down.”

The player called into the manager’s office was Choi Young-il.

Choi Young-il sat down hesitantly.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Yes? Ah, I’ll pour it for you.”

“No, no. Sit down. Coffee? Is coffee okay?”

“Yes, I would appreciate it if you gave me some.”

Choi Seong-yeon handed a cup of coffee to Choi Young-il.

Choi Young-il took the coffee, took a sip, and then held the cup with both hands.

He had no idea why he had been called.

“Seong-yeon.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“You’ll be thirty-four next year too, right?”

“Yes, that’s how it turned out.”

“Thirty-four. It’s not a young age. Right?”

“…….”

Choi Seong-yeon glanced sideways at Choi Young-il.

“Young-il, what are your plans for the future?”

“Plans?”

“Yes, plans.”

Choi Young-il stammered and hesitated.

“Well. My goal is to play in the first team next year as well.”

“Um, okay.”

Choi Seong-yeon sipped his coffee.

“How many games did you play this year?”

“About 12 innings… But I had a problem with my finger this season, but there’s still nothing wrong with my pitches. I can definitely play next year.”

“Young-il, it’s a shame. You’re a left-hander, your speed is over 145 [kilometers per hour], and your pitches are heavy. If your control was a little better, you would have been a FA [free agent] a long time ago. Right?”

“……Yes.”

“Everyone felt your talent was wasted, so they traded you. This is your sixth team already, right?”

“Yes.”

“Young-il, if you play as a professional player in the future, you can play for about a year more. But that won’t be on our team. You’ll be put up as a trade card at the end of this season. If that doesn’t work, the team will just release you. If you’re lucky, you might get another chance with another team.”

“……Is it decided?”

“99%. You knew it to some extent, right? It’s hard to see your performance this season as good. Considering your age, it’s absurd to invest in the future.”

Choi Young-il lowered his head.

“Manager, can you give me one more chance? If I get waived like this, it’ll be hard to go anywhere else. You have to show something to get a chance.”

“There’s nothing I can do. The club decides.”

“But if you mention it even once… Manager, you know. I’m divorced and my mom is raising my child. I still need to play more. If you give me a chance until next year, I’ll work hard with the determination to be buried here. My shoulder is still fresh. I can throw with this arm for another 2-3 years. Can you give me one more chance?”

“Um.”

Choi Seong-yeon fiddled with his cup.

“Wouldn’t it be okay to be a coach somewhere else?”

Choi Young-il muttered in a barely audible voice.

“You need connections to get in there… My high school has been closed for a long time, and I’ve been moving teams, so where would I have any connections to show off?”

“There are baseball academies and stuff like that. Lessons or something?”

“You need a reliable senior or some money saved up, but I’ve been ripped off by my child’s mother a lot…”

“This is, you have a complicated situation.”

“Manager, if you just help me once, I will never forget this favor. If you give me a chance until next year, I will prove my ability.”

Choi Seong-yeon took a breath.

“Young-il.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“Let’s be honest. You haven’t fixed your control yet. It hasn’t worked for over 10 years. It’s hard for you as a player. You know that too. Right?”

“……Manager, still, just one more…….”

“But you have experience from going around to various clubs, and you have a good personality, so you’re not bad as a coach. So that’s why.”

Choi Seong-yeon paused for a moment.

“How about coming to our team as a coach next year? Even as a rookie, you’ll be guaranteed 50 million won in salary, and with team performance bonuses added, you’ll be able to receive several times more than your current salary.”

A sudden proposal.

Choi Young-il opened his mouth wide.

“Me? A coach? But I don’t have anything…….”

“If you want, I can contact Japan and arrange for you to go on a coaching course. If you go on a coaching course for about a year, your salary and treatment will improve a bit more, right? Whether you want to be a coach right away or take a course is up to you. Of course, the club will pay for the course.”

Choi Young-il swallowed hard.

“Is that really possible?”

“I’m saying it because it’s possible. If you sacrifice for the team.”

“Of course. If you give me a chance, I’m ready to sacrifice as much as possible, as much as possible.”

Choi Young-il’s eyes lit up.

Choi Seong-yeon looked at Choi Young-il and carefully brought up the topic.

“Then, there’s something I need you to do. Definitely. Absolutely.”

“Just tell me. I’ll do anything.”

“Yeah, it won’t be difficult if you put your mind to it. It’s not a big deal.”

Catcher’s Success Story

Opener

“Opener?”

“Yeah, you’re on standby tomorrow. Depending on the situation, you may play, or you may play the day after tomorrow.”

Jo Jin-hee couldn’t speak.

When Manager Choi Seong-yeon called him, he thought he was calling him to prepare for tomorrow’s game, so he came lightly.

He had no doubt that he would be the first starter tomorrow.

“But why suddenly an opener…?”

Jo Jin-hee asked carefully.

The opener strategy is not to put up the starting pitcher, but to put up the first pitcher and then change him immediately depending on the situation, like a bullpen pitcher.

In Korea, there was ridicule and criticism as a fake starting strategy, but it was a strategy that had been used secretly for a long time.

As Pegasus had domestic left and right-handed top pitchers Jo Jin-hee and Kim Seong-hoon, and two A-class foreign players, the players had not even thought about the opener strategy.

“Our sense of the game has deteriorated a lot. You too, and overall, our sense of the game is still dull.”

“The results of the scrimmage were good, right?”

“The scrimmage is just us playing against our own team. I’ve been watching the Scorpion and Goat games. You’ve seen the games too, right?”

“Yes.”

“Goat’s bats are really hot right now. It wouldn’t be good for us if they started scoring from the beginning. You saw the Scorpion. They had a good bullpen, but they still gave up a lot of runs. It’s because they didn’t change quickly enough. In a short-term game, you need to change pitchers faster. Even faster against Goat. So I’m trying to save you, Jin-hee. Regardless of your skills, if you get caught up in the atmosphere, I’ll have to take you down right away…….”

Manager Choi Seong-yeon sighed.

“Major League scouts will be following you throughout the Korean Series, do you want to show them a quick hook [being removed from the game early]?”

Major League.

Jo Jin-hee couldn’t open his mouth easily when he heard the words Major League.

“No…….”

“That’s right. Tomorrow is the first game. You know how important the first game is, right?”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow, I’m thinking of putting up bullpen pitchers until the 4th or 5th inning. Everyone except Gwang-wook and Gyu-ok can go up tomorrow.”

“Then am I going up after the 5th inning?”

“You may go up, or you may not.”

“……Yes?”

“If we use up all our bullpen and still can’t break Goat’s momentum? Then you have to go out tomorrow.”

“Are you giving up on tomorrow’s game? But you just said the first game is important-”

“It’s important. I’m saving you because it’s important. If it’s difficult even if we squeeze out all our strength, shouldn’t we focus on the day after tomorrow’s game? Right?”

“…….”

“So don’t warm up tomorrow until I give you the sign. I’ll give you the sign after seeing the situation.”

Manager Choi Seong-yeon got up from his seat.

“Jin-hee, you have to be the main character and go to the Major League. It’s the finale, don’t you need a great look?”

After finishing his conversation with Manager Choi Seong-yeon, Jo Jin-hee left the manager’s office.

When he returned to the locker room with a gloomy expression, catcher Jeong Yong-wook asked.

“Why the long face?”

“Yes? Ah, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. If the guy who’s going to start tomorrow is looking like he’s about to die, will the catcher be worried or not? Tell me. What’s wrong?”

“It’s not that…….”

Jo Jin-hee told him what he had heard from the manager.

Jeong Yong-wook listened intently with his arms crossed.

“Opener……. Um, the manager is different than usual.”

“Right?”

“Our team doesn’t need to take this risk. You haven’t done it before either. Do you know who’s going out first tomorrow?”

“I didn’t ask that.”

“Okay…….”

Jeong Yong-wook thought for a while and then got up from his seat.

“The manager must have some thoughts. He’s doing it all for you. So think positively.”

“Is that……so?”

“Of course. What else could it be.”

Jeong Yong-wook comforted the anxious Jo Jin-hee and sent him home first.

Jeong Yong-wook, who was left alone, leaned against the wall and muttered.

“It’s out of the blue, really.”

* * *

-Run! Goat! Run! Goat! Whoa whoa whoa whoa!

-Pegasus! Fly up! High, high, so high! Our valiant steed is unstoppable!

Korean Series Game 1.

Before the game even started, the cheerleaders from both teams turned up the volume on the amplifiers.

Suwon Stadium, which is one of the largest except for Jamsil and Sajik, began to fill up with people, even the outfield seats, an hour before the game started.

Goat, challenging for the championship for the first time in 23 years.

Pegasus, challenging to rebuild the dynasty after being unexpectedly hit by Phoenix last year.

The fans of both teams filled the stadium with different reasons but the same heart.