The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 257

257. No Second Mariners in My Dictionary (5)

“Hahaha. Don’t worry. After all, very few New Yorkers believe such tabloids. There are even cases where they don’t believe it even when they bring a photo that clearly shows the person, but anyone can see that you’re too small to be Swan in this picture.”

Jack Washington laughed heartily.

“I knew New York reporters were extreme, but I thought Korea was just as bad… It seems it’s even worse.”

“Korea just combines words floating around on social media and publishes them as articles. New York’s paparazzi and tabloids have a long history and tradition. It’s not enough to compare it to that.”

I wondered if there was a need to bring up history and tradition when talking about trash reporters, but it was true that even the trashy act of attaching a low-quality side profile of an unknown Asian person seemed to have some sincerity.

“By the way, I haven’t even signed a contract with New York yet. I haven’t even played in the majors, but there’s already a tabloid. It’s a bit surprising.”

“It’s New York. Although baseball’s popularity is declining in the United States, MLB is still more popular than the NFL here in New York, right?”

Yeah, New York is definitely New York. I have to admit it’s special. Before I went back in time, even though I played in the major leagues for nine years and became a well-known player who was runner-up for MVP several times, this never happened. Even in the year I was runner-up for the third time, I drank all night and went home completely wasted, but not a single article was published.

“Anyway, I’m relieved to hear that you’re going to sign with one of the New York teams. I look forward to working with you in the future. Customer.”

“Is business still not doing well?”

“Ugh, don’t even mention it. James Corporation undervalued our 49% stake and hasn’t brought us any customers. We’re barely paying the rent and putting food on the table by coaching high school and college students.”

“Didn’t you promote it as the pitching lab I go to?”

“I did. Of course, I did. But it’s our pitching lab.”

The story is that I’m famous for hitting, and teaching pitching doesn’t help much with sales.

“Sigh… That’s a bit insulting, you know?”

“Then show some prominence as a pitcher in the big leagues. I’ll be watching you very closely from the side.”

In fact, the Washington brothers’ lives were a bit twisted for some reason. According to the original timeline, they should be starting to do well by now. Was it a problem that they received investment from James Corporation?

From LA to New York.

I had been training alone for four days, but it was definitely different to have an instructor right next to me. Even warming up was different when using tools alone versus having someone help you from the side.

After a workout, Jack Washington asked me.

“Once the contract is signed, you’ll go straight to Florida, right?”

“Yes, I have to. It’s a bit cold to work out in New York.”

“That’s right. Besides, the reporters are a bit extreme, so you’ll be worried about many things.”

“No, I really don’t know how New York players put up with this.”

“Not all players are like you. And when you have that much recognition, you don’t stay in New York on your days off, you go to the Hamptons [a wealthy area of Long Island]. You know, the place where the house prices were $162 million this time.”

“$162 million? Don’t you know the price too specifically?”

“It’s my dream to live in a place like that someday. Damn it, I thought I’d live like that when I opened this studio…”

Is it possible?

Honestly, even if Jack succeeds greatly, it seems difficult for him to live in a house worth 200 billion won [approximately $150 million USD].

“You’ll be able to live there.”

“Do you think so?”

“Of course. The Hamptons doesn’t only have houses that cost over $100 million. There must be cheap houses there too.”

“Even the cheapest one will cost at least eight million? A decent house will cost over ten million.”

“You’re the president of the pitching lab I go to, so you have to earn that much. Players in the major leagues who earn hundreds of millions of dollars will be lining up as customers.”

“Ugh, I wish that were true.”

Hotel, pitching lab, hotel, pitching lab.

Several days passed, spent only on training.

***

[Mets? Yankees? Who will embrace Choi Soo-won?]

[New York’s glamorous nightlife. Sightings of Choi Soo-won popping up everywhere!!]

[Shock!! The reason why Choi Soo-won’s entry into the United States is premature!! Mr. Y, Choi Soo-won’s high school teacher, ‘Choi Soo-won is a lazy genius. He should have built up his skills more in Korea before entering.’]

[Commentator Park Dong-hyuk, ‘Complete nonsense. Choi Soo-won is currently focusing on training.’]

“Soo-won, it’s crazy in Korea right now. No, we released an article about the team leaving for spring camp at the end of this month, but the reporters don’t even ask about that. All they do is interview people about you, ugh…”

“It’s the major leagues. And in the first place, the Mariners leaving for spring camp isn’t a big news story. It’s something that happens every year.”

“What? The spring camp of the 통합우승 [Tonghap Useung – Unified Championship] team from the previous season is definitely a big news story.”

“Oh my, yes, it’s very impressive.”

“By the way, aren’t you going to release an article refuting this? I heard from Senior Jung-hoon that you’re training every day, not having wild nights.”

Not even a few days ago, an article about a wild night first appeared, and exactly one hour later, an article translated into Korean was published, and Senior Jung-hoon called me right away after reading it.

He was saying nonsense about how you have to learn proper entertainment from your seniors and that he was going to come to New York, but I replied that it only took about an hour for that article to come out, so how could I suddenly be in a hotel room receiving a call from my senior while having a wild night?

“The agency must be too busy with contract issues these days to pay attention to the Korean media. But even though reporters came and took a lot of pictures of me training, these stories keep circulating, so Korean reporters are really something.”

“That’s because it’s more sensational than an article saying you’re only training every day. But people are commenting that in the past, SNS compilation articles were really careless with just hearsay without related data, but now they’re translated articles, so they have sincerity.”

“It’s still either insincere garbage or sincere garbage, so what’s the point?”

I couldn’t train all day long.

Besides, I was worried about the paparazzi taking pictures, so I didn’t really want to go anywhere. Especially when the team hasn’t been decided yet. Thanks to that, I spent my time calling people or watching movies and dramas in the hotel, except for training.

“But so, how much progress has been made now? Is it the Mets? Or the Yankees?”

“Well, James is still negotiating. It seems like it will be resolved if a few minor details are worked out.”

“I saw a video of Anthony calling you to join his team on social media.”

“Anthony Volpe?”

“Yeah. The Yankees shortstop.”

Anthony Volpe is the Yankees’ shortstop, six years older than me, and is said to be the successor to Derek Jeter.

In fact, since Derek Jeter retired in 2014, many players have debuted with the title of Derek Jeter’s successor, but Anthony Volpe was a bit special among them. He was a local boy from the Yankees who was drafted 30th overall in the first round in 2019 and was the youngest Yankees player to debut since Derek Jeter.

Besides, his performance wasn’t bad, and he was selected to the All-Star Game in the 2025 and 2027 seasons. Of course, he got a bit of a boost from being on the Yankees.

I don’t know how things will change now, but in the future I was in, he was a decent player who accumulated over 40 war [Wins Above Replacement – a baseball statistic] for 16 years and retired, although not as much as Derek Jeter. Of course, the evaluation of being the second Derek Jeter was ultimately a futile story, but no, the comparison target itself is a bit harsh.

“But what, Anthony Volpe isn’t the only player who’s called me to join his team on social media. Yankees, Mets, Dodgers. Honestly, these days, I think they’re just putting my name up to increase their followers.”

“Well, I always put your name in the hashtags when I post pictures on social media these days. I got 4,000 likes when I put your name on the picture of the lunch I ate yesterday.”

“No, why are you putting my name in the hashtag on your lunch menu picture?”

“Because I got 4,000 likes? And I didn’t just put your name. I always put ‘best friend’ right after it. Ah, it’s time for me to go work out. Anyway, if you have any concerns when deciding on a team, be sure to contact me. See you later.”

It was late at night in New York, so it was still morning in Korea.

With about three weeks left until the start of the Mariners’ spring camp, I was relieved to see him steadily training individually.

And the day after.

Four documents were placed in front of me.

“These are the final conditions from the Yankees and the Mets. This is the Korean translation. The Yankees’ conditions are a bit worse than the Mets’. Especially regarding the clubhouse, the front office is coming out quite strongly, saying that touching it would be counterproductive because it’s a tradition of the team…”

I was honestly a bit surprised by this.

In fact, I thought I would get convenience in various other areas as much as there was an absolute upper limit that I couldn’t do anything about in terms of money. But I didn’t know I would get detailed things like clubhouse locker room seats and airplane seats. What’s even more surprising is that the Mets accepted all those conditions. Truly amazing…

“No, you’ve worked hard enough.”

Three days to receive these conditions. I thought and thought about it enough. Was that why? The decision was quick.

The Mets’ conditions were good.

But I smelled KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] from the Mets.

A team that is not profitable in itself but is run on the pocket money of the owner.

Was the Mariners really a better team than the Braves?

I, who had played for both teams, could say for sure. If the Braves had a little more money, they would have been a better team than the Mariners.

“Let’s go to the Yankees.”

***

[New York Yankees. Receive the choice of a Superman from Asia!!]

[The winner of the fierce competition is the New York Yankees!!]

[Steve Cohen, ‘He will soon realize that his choice was a very big mistake. No, I will make him realize it.’]