The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 108

Spring-Homeruns (1)

The KBO’s [Korean Baseball Organization] winter trade market.

Unlike Major League Baseball (MLB), which operates on purely capitalist market principles, KBO clubs take a slightly different approach. Therefore, general managers face overwhelmingly greater risks from failed trades than potential returns from successful ones.

Moreover, while MLB, with its six divisions across two leagues, can mitigate risks by trading with different leagues or divisions, the KBO’s single-league structure makes this challenging.

Consequently, KBO trades tend to be very conservative.

“Asking for Bae Jong-hyuk with Kim Hoon on top for Han Myung-hoon? Seriously, that’s insane. I can’t even respond to something so ridiculous.”

“Then, what about Phoenix’s offer?”

“Phoenix?”

Phoenix, the strongest contender vying for the bottom spot in the league alongside the Marines.

They also made a rather significant proposal this winter, offering their most valuable asset among their current resources.

Lee Yong-seung, the center fielder who won his third Golden Glove last year.

Choi Eu-ddeum, who recorded a sensational debut with 7 innings, 8 strikeouts, and no runs allowed in his debut game the year before last, and established himself as a domestic ace last year with 171.2 innings pitched and an ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of runs allowed per nine innings] of 3.47.

It was a shocking proposal that could have led fans to stage one-person protests.

However, despite Phoenix’s generous offer to give up their key players in both pitching and hitting, Marines’ general manager Jeon Sang-ik couldn’t nod in agreement.

“No way, we can’t give up Choi Soo-won, no matter what. I’d rather negotiate with the Dolphins. Choi Soo-won is absolutely not for sale.”

From a certain perspective, it wasn’t a bad offer. But it was impossible due to the secret agreement with Choi Soo-won: MVP [Most Valuable Player] twice or active cooperation with posting [allowing a player to negotiate with foreign teams] if they win the championship. Of course, the latter condition was highly unlikely to be met with Phoenix, just like with the Marines, but the very fact that such a condition was being discussed externally was too risky.

“Sigh… If only Lee Joo-hyuk could just explode properly…”

Lee Joo-hyuk, the Marines’ eternal prospect.

He was originally evaluated as a tool-laden player with MVP-level potential, but it’s already been six years since he joined the team. He’s tried various things, served in the military with the Sangmu team [a military sports team], and occasionally performed well in the minor leagues. But he’s still only known as a prospect.

Most seriously, there’s his trademark zigzag defense that appears every time you forget about it. At this point, shouldn’t they consider changing his position to a corner outfielder? But his speed and agility are too good to give up.

“I know. Honestly, I was somewhat prepared for Kang Ho-chang to move up to a Seoul team, but I was hoping Lee Joo-hyuk would fill his spot without any issues…”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do. Anyway, let’s continue the discussion with the Dolphins a bit more.”

This winter season.

The Marines lost two players to other teams as free agents. On the other hand, they didn’t sign a single new FA [Free Agent], and they even failed to retain a player despite offering 500 million more, realizing just how significant the *Sudogwon* [Seoul Metropolitan Area] premium is.

As a result, the Marines have lost two starting-level players from last year, Choi Min-hyuk has returned from injury, and a monster rookie named Choi Soo-won has been added.

Is it possible?

General Manager Jeon Sang-ik asked himself.

Objectively analyzing the situation, it’s not entirely impossible. Last year, they slipped due to a lack of stamina in the second half, but if the players’ physical condition had been managed a bit better, they could have definitely competed for 5th place.

“How are Cha Myung-hwan and Kim Sung-joon doing?”

“Coach Choi Jeong-sik is intensively managing them at the minor league stadium.”

“Have you prepared transportation for the players returning to Korea in advance?”

“Yes, we’ve finished arranging the interview location at the airport.”

“Good, the exhibition games start in a few days, so pay special attention to managing the players’ condition so that no one has trouble adjusting to the time difference.”

“Understood.”

***

On the plane back to Korea. This time, I was in business class again.

When I first came to the United States, there was a lot of talk behind my back about me flying business class. But on this return flight?

“Soo-won, you definitely have long legs, so economy class must be more uncomfortable for you.”

“Yeah, even though Korean planes have wide seat pitches, your knees must be almost touching the seat in front of you.”

Beyond just ignoring it, they understand the necessity of it. It was a bit strange. It’s natural for anyone to be treated specially once they become successful in any industry, but it’s not easy to treat a rookie this well.

If I were the 18-year-old version of myself before going back in time,

I would have just shrugged and thought, ‘I guess the older guys are just being nice to me because I’m good at baseball.’

But in the eyes of a 34-year-old veteran who has played in the pros for 16 years, the current situation reads a bit differently.

The Marines are currently divided into three major factions.

The first is the so-called ‘Sacred Bones,’ a faction of players who graduated from high schools in the Busan and Gyeongnam areas long ago. From team captain Lee Gyu-man to Seo Kyung-joon and Kwak Jae-young, they effectively control more than half of the team. It’s not just the players. Since the Marines are based in the Busan area, more than half of the front office, managers, and coaches also belong to this faction.

The second is the entertainment faction led by Lee Jung-hoon.

This one is a bit ambiguous, but its core members are players who graduated from schools outside of Busan and Gyeongnam. Initially, it seems like it wasn’t a group of people who gathered to enjoy entertainment or drinking, but rather a group of people who couldn’t fit into the ‘Sacred Bones.’ However, some of the players who stood out among them happened to enjoy entertainment, so it seems to have leaned in that direction.

And the last is a kind of gray area that doesn’t belong to either of those two.

In other words, a group of people who are neither Sacred Bones nor enjoy entertainment that much. In fact, this isn’t so much a faction as it is a group of outsiders who just do their own thing.

They’re more focused on doing their best in baseball than making friends with anyone, and they usually leave the Marines without hesitation once they earn FA *jageok* [eligibility]. Kang Ho-chang, the center fielder who went to Seoul as a free agent this time, and pitcher Oh Young-hoon were also such cases.

The current representative of this faction is Noh Hyung-wook, the Marines’ third baseman. This senior is a bit unique in that he signed a contract with the Marines during the last FA period, but it’s not really that unique considering he was offered a huge sum of 11 billion won for 4 years, which was too good to refuse. Of course, in the history before I returned, this senior also left the Marines as a free agent in the following years, and I remember he received quite a bit of criticism from Marines fans for choosing to leave the Marines without hesitation even though the Marines offered him a total of 1 billion won more.

He said he wanted to wear a championship ring before he retired, but he couldn’t see any hope with the Marines, so he had no choice.

Anyway, the Marines’ factions, which are divided into three, have recently been undergoing a major upheaval, and the reason is simple.

It’s because of the full-scale draft that started in the fall of 2022.

Before 2022, when the first draft was still in place, the overall number 1 pick had to be from Busan. In other words, the person who seemed to be the best at baseball in Busan would definitely come to the Marines, and in fact, the players who came with the first draft priority pick often made it to the first team. If the Marines were a normal team, it wouldn’t have been a bad system.

But the Marines were in the bottom tier. And they had been in the bottom tier consistently for a very long time.

But even so, they couldn’t bring in the best players from all over the country thanks to this system. That’s because such players are snatched up with the first priority pick in the first draft.

However, in the fall of 2022, the first priority pick finally disappeared, and a nationwide full-scale draft began. Instead of a system that allowed them to bring in the best resources from Busan, the Marines, who were able to acquire the most outstanding talent from all over the country, have been picking players from Seoul and the *Sudogwon* [Seoul Metropolitan Area] area in the first round for five consecutive years, from the 2023 rookie draft in the fall of 2022 to the most recent 2027 draft.

The most controversial of these was last year, because last year was the year when the 103rd class members, who were called the best golden generation in *gyeonghago* [high school baseball] history, came out in the draft.

Among the die-hard fans of the Busan Marines, there were many who thought that if the price was the same, they would rather have a *gyeonghago* [high school baseball] player. Surprisingly, the Marines picked Ha Min-hyung from the Seoul area instead of Jo Gyu-chan, the *gyeonghago’s* [high school baseball] left-handed ace, or Jung Byung-cheol, the home run king catcher.

In fact, when I, who played in the same era as them, think about it, it wasn’t an entirely unreasonable choice. Jo Gyu-chan and Ha Min-hyung. If you ask who would be a better pitcher, assuming Ha Min-hyung is healthy, I would definitely pick Ha Min-hyung. Of course, if you compare Jung Byung-cheol and Ha Min-hyung, hmm…

Well, it’s always been the norm for the Marines’ first round pick to fail anyway.

Anyway, thanks to this, the factions within the Marines were also shaking quite a bit.

Why are the Sacred Bones Sacred Bones?

Simply because there are many players from Busan and Gyeongnam? Because retired legend seniors are coaches, managers, or in the front office? Because those players pull and push each other?

Yes, of course, all of that is true. But at the root of all of that, there must ultimately be ‘skill.’

And at the pinnacle of that skill is that man, Lee Gyu-man. He is one of the top hitters in KBO history.

What’s noteworthy here is that Lee Gyu-man himself was not a priority pick but a 2nd round 1st pick. Some call him the proof that the Marines’ 1st round pick is a failure.

In any case, Lee Gyu-man is from Busan and remained with the Marines until the end despite being able to go abroad for a very large sum of money. In fact, it would have been normal for someone with that much skill to go abroad unconditionally, but the timing was not good.

During his first FA [Free Agent eligibility], he remained with the team due to loyalty to the team, the limitations of the first baseman position, and an overwhelming amount of 16 billion won for 4 years. And during his second FA [Free Agent eligibility], the contract fell apart due to a global pandemic. And during his last FA [Free Agent eligibility], he was already entering his age 37 season, so it was too late to challenge.

But thanks to that, he set an immortal record in the KBO that no one can break.

Career record.

21 seasons, 2517 games, 10311 plate appearances, 8812 at-bats, 2772 hits (407 doubles, 8 triples), 451 home runs, 1812 RBIs [Runs Batted In], 12 stolen bases, 14 stolen base failures.

Slash line 0.315/0.409/0.516

It’s no exaggeration to say that he has all kinds of cumulative hitting records in the KBO except for stolen bases and triples.

And that best hitter will retire at the end of this year. Moreover, the best of the newly incoming players is no longer a player based in the Busan area.

In that situation, what kind of judgment did the Sacred Bones make?

Networking isn’t just about being pulled up from above. You also need people to push you from below.

“Soo-won, have you found a house yet?”

“No, not yet. I’ve told my agent about it.”

“If it’s hard to find a house, why don’t you move into my place? I have some rooms left. It’s super close to the stadium.”

“Hey, hey, Kyung-joon. Say something that makes sense. Would you want to live with a senior?”

“Why not? I loved it when you let me stay with you when I was a rookie.”

“That’s because you came with a contract bonus of 100 million won, so you didn’t have any money. Soo-won’s case is different. Instead of that, Soo-won, if you’re going to find a house, find one near our apartment. I’ll tell you all the good restaurants nearby.”

“Soo-won, you’re so lucky. Gyu-man knows all the good restaurants nearby, even if he doesn’t know anything else. He looks like he’ll eat anything, but he’s secretly a gourmet. All that fat is from eating only delicious things.”

The signal was too clear.

The most powerful player representing the largest faction within the Marines, the Sacred Bones group.

I am being considered for the position that MVP-level catcher Jung Byung-cheol from *gyeonghago* [high school baseball] should have inherited last year.