Peaceful Bullpen Life [EN]: Chapter 41

Sponsor

– He pulls it from the very first pitch, it flies high! It goes over!!

What a cool bastard.

National team’s second batter. Strong second batter. Batting thug.

Sung-hyun, known by such nicknames, pulled the slider with all his might from the first pitch, erasing my blown save. After Ki-beom, who came in as a pinch runner, struck out, Jin-hyung hit a single and got on base. And then Seung-joo,

– This hit seals the victory!!! It’s not coming back!!!

As expected, our team’s best clutch hitter hit a two-run home run at a crucial moment, and I think that’s when the momentum completely shifted to our side. We couldn’t score any more runs after that, but neither could the other team.

The bottom of the 8th inning that day was so thrilling, even after watching it multiple times. Cool guys. Wanting to feel that excitement again today, I was replaying the highlights of that day when.

– Your love is a wildcard, Folding is the hard part―

“Hello?”

A call came in from an unknown number.

– Ah, hello. Is this Kim Han-wool, the baseball player?

“…Yes, it is.”

A woman’s voice I’d never heard before.

– Ah, yes, hello. This is Rolling Stone Korea calling.

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

Rolling Stone. A historic baseball equipment company from the United States. Its tradition probably goes back over 100 years. More than half of Major League players use their products.

But why are they calling me?

“…A sponsorship?”

– Yes. Um… could we meet sometime?

“Yeah, sure…”

– When would be a good time for you?

“Um…”

I glanced at the clock. 11 AM.

“…How about today? Before evening, if possible. I have to go down to Busan tonight.”

– Ah, yes, yes. Have you had breakfast yet?

“No, not yet.”

– Then, would you mind if we treat you to a meal?

“Uh… yeah, that’d be great.”

– Okay, I’ll send you the address by text. Would 1 PM be alright?

‘Would it be alright’—is that her catchphrase?

“Whereabouts is it, roughly?”

– Um… we’d like to meet you near Konkuk University, would that be alright?

Yep, it’s her catchphrase.

“Yeah, yeah. That’ll be fine.”

– Okay, I’ll send you the address as soon as I hang up. See you later~

“Yeah, yeah.”

– Ah, ah, that’s right. Kim Han-wool, could you possibly bring the glove you’re currently using?

“Yes? Ah, yeah. I’ll bring it.”

As soon as I hung up, a text message arrived. The address wasn’t too far. About a 30-minute drive. I lazed around for a bit before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

After washing my face roughly, I checked the time and still had some time to spare. Still, it’s better to be early than late, I thought, grabbing some clothes and heading out.

Near Konkuk University Station. After parking at the restaurant where we were supposed to meet, I checked the time and had about 10 minutes left, but I just went inside.

“Welcome~”

“Ah, yes, hello.”

The restaurant’s name sounded fancy, and it was a pretty decent-looking Chinese restaurant. It was crowded and bustling, which I liked.

I wonder how the food is.

“How many people?”

“Um…”

Come to think of it, I didn’t know how many people were coming from their side, or what name they had made the reservation under. I wondered if they had reserved it under ‘Rolling Stone’.

Just as I was standing there blankly, realizing I had come in without thinking, a savior appeared.

“Ah, Kim Han-wool?”

“Yes? Ah, are you by any chance…”

“Yes, yes. I’m from Rolling Stone. We made a reservation under Oh Jin-ah.”

“This way, please.”

I followed the employee, along with the person who introduced herself as Oh Jin-ah and two other middle-aged men.

As if they had planned it, we entered a room set up for four people and sat down.

“First of all, nice to meet you. As I mentioned, we’re from Rolling Stone, and I’m Oh Jin-ah, an assistant manager at Rolling Stone Korea. This is the production manager, and this is the sales manager.”

“Ah, hello…”

Wow. Two managers for something like this.

“Hello.”

I bowed my head lightly, and the two managers chuckled and greeted me in return.

A sponsorship…

“Do you perhaps know our products…?”

“Yes, yes. I know them.”

How could I not?

“I’ve even used them before.”

“Oh.”

Jin-ah’s lips formed a circle.

“To explain it simply, it’s almost the same as what I told you on the phone. We’d like to sponsor Kim Han-wool with gloves. If possible, we’d also like to ask you to use our cleats…”

“Ah.”

While Rolling Stone definitely has a strong presence in the glove market, shoes are… well…

“…Haha…”

She laughed awkwardly, probably knowing it herself.

It’s okay. It’s enough if a glove company makes good gloves.

“I’ll just use the shoes I have. Since it’s related to my feet, I’m more comfortable with what I’m used to…”

“Yes, yes. I understand. And today’s meeting isn’t something we’re forcing you to do. We just wanted to see what you think of us.”

“Yes…”

“Here’s the contract guide. Please take a look.”

And then the sales manager steps up. I skimmed through the documents he handed me.

…Huh?

“…You’re offering me this much?”

“Haha, it’s a considerable amount.”

A sponsorship is definitely not just giving away a glove for free. It’s a formal contract.

Publicity.

The fact that a sponsored player uses their glove is an advertisement in itself. Yes, this is a formal advertising contract.

Since the year was already half over, the contract was for six months. After that, we would renew it on an annual basis, which meant this amount was for half a year. Is it really this much?

The compensation is quite substantial for just changing gloves for free.

“Yeah, well… if the glove fits my hand, I don’t see why not.”

“Could we see the glove you brought?”

I took the glove out of my bag and handed it to Jin-ah.

It was quite old. The shape was naturally ruined, and the hardening was already severe in many places.

But it seemed to be worth the price I paid for it, as the leather itself was still holding up.

“You’ve been using it for quite a while.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve used it for about… 5 years.”

I had to replace my cleats regularly because they wore out, but not really the glove. Since I was the one throwing the ball, not catching it, I didn’t pay much attention to it.

Jin-ah looked over the glove and handed it to the production manager next to her.

“You wear a 211? [Glove size and type]”

“Ah, yes. I had a hairline fracture in my index finger a long time ago from getting hit by a comebacker [a batted ball hit directly back to the pitcher]. I’m too scared to wear a 1111.”

He put it on his hand, flapped it around a few times, and examined it from side to side. He asked if he could take some pictures, and when I said it was okay, he took out his phone and took detailed photos.

“Do you want anything specific in terms of the ‘gada’? Should we just go with the same one?”

“‘Gada’… what’s that?”

“Gada.”

“…What’s ‘gada’?”

“Ah, the pattern, the pattern. The glove pattern.”

“……”

What is he talking about?

“Each glove has a different ‘gada’. For infielders, whether it’s a blocking style, a catching style, or a hybrid. For pitchers, whether it’s a twisting grip, a radial, or a standard. In terms of appearance, whether it’s a fastback or an open back.”

The world of gloves was more profound than I thought.

Seeing that I didn’t understand at all, the production manager kindly showed me pictures on his phone and explained it to me.

What a radial is, what a standard is. What a fastback is, what an open back is. Only then did I roughly understand.

“Um… but I haven’t used other ‘gadas’ before… so I don’t really know.”

“Ah, then let’s proceed with the same one as you have now for this year, and we can meet again during the off-season to talk about it. We’ll bring some samples to explain to you then.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’d appreciate that.”

I took my glove back and put it in my bag. They said it would take about two weeks to produce.

After deciding on the size, color, and shape of the glove, the four of us were finally able to eat.

After finishing the meal, I signed the contract. After shaking hands with the two managers and Jin-ah, I got in the car and headed to Jamsil instead of home.

Since an away series against KP was scheduled, I had to move to Busan. And on the weekend, there was a 3-game series against Gaya in Daegu. Each team was currently ranked 6th and 5th, respectively.

If we maintained our momentum, which was slowly picking up, I thought we could definitely achieve good results this week.

“No bullshit.”

“Ah, I’m serious.”

“Even if my wrist is broken, the morning will come, got it?”

What.

As I headed towards the bus, Seung-joo and Hoon were bickering.

Being the same age as me, the two of them had been teammates since middle school. Having eaten in the same place for 15 years, they seemed quite close.

Yeah right!

You son of a bitch!

…They seemed quite close.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“What were you guys talking about?”

“They say Gyu-jin hyung has a girlfriend?”

“Oh?”

I can’t miss this.

“Where’d you hear that from?”

“Myung-jin.”

“……”

Ah, that’s a bit much.

While we were chatting, the person in question appeared. Our little cutie, Gyu-jin hyung.

“Hyung, hyung!”

“Huh?”

“I heard you got a girlfriend!”

Hoon immediately ran to Gyu-jin hyung.

“……”

Gyu-jin hyung seemed confused by the situation, blinking his eyes.

“No… well. It’s kind of a ‘some’ thing [Korean slang for ‘something going on,’ implying a romantic interest but not yet a committed relationship]. How did you know?”

“Is it true? Is it true?! Give me 100,000 won!”

“No bullshit. It’s not dating, it’s ‘some’. So it’s not like you got one. Give me 100,000 won.”

“No, if you’re meeting, you’re meeting.”

“But you’re not meeting!”

Here we go again.

“Hey, hey. Don’t do that. You’re both half right and half wrong, so you should both give each other 50,000 won. That’ll do it.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah, you son of a bitch.”

Then the two of them took out 50,000 won from their wallets and handed it to each other. They put the 50,000 won they received back into their wallets and wore satisfied expressions.

Are they idiots?

Leaving the two of them, who were happy and back in friend mode, I headed to the bus with Gyu-jin hyung.

“…What’s that?”

“What else? Something to study.”

As soon as we sat down on the bus, Gyu-jin hyung, who was sitting next to me, took out a notebook. He took out his J-pad [tablet computer] next to it.

What could a baseball player have to study?

“KP?”

“Yeah.”

It was the opposing team, of course.

Gyu-jin hyung was scheduled to start the day after tomorrow.

Even though he had debuted over 10 years ago, he was known as someone who constantly studied baseball. Whether it was mechanics or the theory of baseball itself.

Since I was also quite interested in things like baseball theory, it was quite fun to talk about baseball with Gyu-jin hyung.

You know, what about FIP [Fielding Independent Pitching, a baseball statistic], hyung, your fly ball rate has increased recently, let’s borrow the power of BABIP [Batting Average on Balls In Play, a baseball statistic].

I remembered the pitching coach passing by and glaring at us with a disgusted look.

“But why did KP suddenly collapse?”

“I think it’s just luck.”

“Luck?”

I didn’t have the time to look at the detailed information, so I decided to look at the information from Gyu-jin hyung, who was a bit more of an expert than me.

He tapped his J-pad and a graph appeared on the screen.

Whirr, whirr.

The rising and falling columns and lines made my head hurt.

Ugh, my eyes!

“Just tell me the main points, hyung.”

“It’s because their line drives are all getting caught. Their walk-to-strikeout ratio isn’t good, and it’s true that they’re hitting more ground balls, but they’re all going straight to the fielders. They’re not scoring.”

“Hmm…”

After listening to the explanation, I understood the graph. Roughly, the columns here are last year’s batting average on balls in play, and this side is this year’s batting average on balls in play. Next to it, the batting average on line drives is being compared.

Cut in half.

This year’s KP was a different team from last year’s KP.

No Fear!

KP, who had been at the bottom of the league for years, fearlessly and aggressively approached batting under the orders of their newly appointed manager, and the team, which had been at the bottom in all stats, became a team known for their hitting. That trend continued until last year.

It wasn’t that they weren’t doing that this year. They were always ready to smash the opposing pitcher without fear.

But was it because the results were different from usual that they were scared?

The batter who aggressively swung from the first pitch stupidly gave up the first-pitch strike, and the batter who fearlessly swung even at 2 strikes, chilling the pitcher’s spine, just watched the fastball that was stupidly stuck in the middle of the zone.

A vicious cycle.

Currently, their hitting was like senior Choi Eun-gu’s pitching.

Once they slipped up, they plummeted endlessly to the bottom. If you consider that this phenomenon is happening on a team level rather than individually, well, wouldn’t it be even worse than that?

“Still, be careful. KP isn’t just any team… even if you can’t trust their hitting, they’ll come back up soon. I don’t know when that will be.”

“Teacher, do you have any evidence for that?”

“Would I have any? It’s just a feeling.”

Tch.

Smiling slyly, he turned off his J-pad and opened his notebook. I leaned my arm against the window and continued to watch what Gyu-jin hyung was doing.

Writing something, searching for something on the internet, tapping his J-pad to manipulate some numbers. At the same time as Gyu-jin hyung’s J-pad screen went dark, my vision also went dark.