The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 259

259. Arizona (2)

Unlike the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], Major League Baseball’s spring training begins in mid-February. Of course, that doesn’t mean players just goof off until mid-February and then start getting in shape during spring training. While the KBO starts its first spring camp at the end of January for everyone to get in shape together, followed by second and third spring camps, MLB players arrive having already built up their bodies to some extent and immediately jump into real spring training.

Was that why?

The sweaty man next door greeted me as I stepped out the door.

“Good morning.”

“Out for an early run again today?”

“I told you, I just feel better when I wake up a little earlier.”

Tyler Wade.

Like me, he’s a Yankees player. He’s an outfielder who will be eligible for salary arbitration if he plays until this year, and he started personal training in Florida before I did. As you can see, he wakes up a little earlier than me and goes for a jog first, running for almost 40 minutes, unlike me who runs for about 15 minutes.

He was quite an outgoing guy, so we became quite close in just ten days. Unlike me, who needs to gain weight, he was having a hard time losing weight.

“Is the diet going well as planned?”

“Don’t even mention it. I’ve been dying for the lasagna my mom made since yesterday. You should really know you’re blessed, Swan. To have a body type that doesn’t need to lose weight. Sigh…”

Currently, he is 187cm tall and weighs 107kg.

For reference, his weight at the end of last season was 92kg, but he gained up to 117kg in just a month and a half, and then hurriedly started losing weight, and has lost 10kg so far.

“But I have a hard time gaining weight instead.”

“It would be nice if we could mix our constitutions and divide them in half. Anyway, we’re all going to play games at Anthony’s house again tonight, are you coming?”

“Sorry, I have a prior engagement today.”

“A prior engagement?”

“Yeah, I’m meeting up with some friends after a long time.”

Tyler Wade tilted his head.

Well, it’s only been a few months since I came to the United States, and it’s understandable that he’d think it’s strange for me to have friends since I’ve been training every day.

“Okay. Let me know if you change your mind. You can bring your friends too.”

I nodded once and started jogging lightly down the street.

The weather in Florida in January was cool. Before going back in time, a coach on the team told me that when he was young, the weather was like this for a month or two in the spring and fall, but it’s hard to believe. Korea is either hot or cold, there’s no in-between, so how could the weather be like this for a month or two out of the year?

I warmed up my body by jogging lightly for about 15 minutes, and then stretched in the yard of the house, just like Tyler Wade. However, what was different from Tyler Wade was that Jack Washington, who lived with me, helped me stretch.

“Swan, good morning.”

“Max, aren’t you up a little late today?”

“Haha, I went to bed a little late last night because I was video chatting with my son.”

In the meantime, people jogging down the street greeted me, some of whom were players who had come to Florida a little early to participate in spring training.

I stretched thoroughly and finished the meal that Jack had prepared in advance. I’m eating five meals a day these days, so the second breakfast was quite heavy.

“Where’s William?”

“I think *hyung* [older brother/senior] went to bed a little late yesterday after reviewing training videos. If there’s nothing special, I think he’ll wake up in the afternoon and give us feedback.”

“Okay. Then I should get some rest too.”

Training, nutrition, and rest. Then training again.

After spending such a busy day, it was finally late evening.

“Oh, Choi Su-won. What’s this? Why is your body so good?”

“Speaking of which, Jo Yu, why is your body in such a mess?”

“Well, that’s because it was the off-season…”

“Tsk, Su-won. Don’t even mention it. I nagged Jo Yu so much, but he doesn’t listen at all. He’s more willing to eat another piece of meat than listen to my nagging.”

“You’re having a hard time, *senior* [term of respect for someone older or more experienced],”

The people I had an appointment with today were none other than Jo Yu-jin and Lee Jeong-hoon. Of course, they didn’t come all the way to the United States to see me.

“How’s the training facility? Is it okay?”

“Yeah, you’ll be really surprised if you come. The facilities are crazy.”

“From my perspective, having been to the United States a lot, it’s not that crazy. But it’s definitely a little better than Tucson in Arizona last year. Especially the grass, it’s so well maintained that it’s almost better than our home field.”

I nodded at Lee Jeong-hoon’s words.

“Well, the grass here is a bit better.”

In fact, this was unavoidable. If you only consider the money spent on managing the grass, Sajik [a baseball stadium in Busan, South Korea] would be overwhelmingly larger. In the first place, the weather itself in Korea is seriously incompatible with grass, and here in Florida, it’s easy to manage the grass as long as you cut it regularly.

“But America is really America. It takes more than 2 hours by car even though it’s the same Florida.”

“Did it take that long? Isn’t the distance between here and your training facility about 140 kilometers?”

“Senior Jeong-hoon was driving…”

“Ah…”

If the guy who used to drive a convertible sports car at 60 km/h was driving, it’s understandable.

“How long are you training in the United States?”

“Until next week.”

“Are you going straight to Japan?”

“Yeah, we’re going straight to Okinawa without a third camp, unpacking our bags, and starting training. What about you, Su-won?”

“I have 2 weeks left until spring training call-up, so I’ll be doing personal training until then.”

“As expected, Major League Baseball is Major League Baseball. Autonomous baseball. Wow… That’s cool. No matter how I think about it, that style suits me better…”

Lee Jeong-hoon lightly hit Jo Yu’s back, who was giving a thumbs up.

“Major League style suits you my ass. You’d be so bloated that you wouldn’t even be able to play in the season if you did that. It’s only okay because it’s Korean baseball. Su-won, how did you manage his weight in high school? How can he get so bloated after not exercising for a while?”

“In high school… I never stopped exercising back then. I was rolling around almost every day. You know that.”

“Ah, yeah. I was like that in high school too. Come to think of it, it’s Jo Yu’s first time taking such a long break since he finished his first year.”

After exercising as directed by others for nearly 6 years at the shortest and 12 years at the longest, he played a full season for the first time and received a break of nearly two months. Frankly, it’s only natural that he’d get so out of shape in that situation.

“In that sense, I think he’s doing pretty well.”

-Slap!!

Lee Jeong-hoon’s palm hit Jo Yu’s back. This time, it landed with a resounding thud.

“You’re just asking for it. Look at Su-won. Is he a 10-year pro? He’s only in his second year, just like you.”

“No, he’s a Major Leaguer. He’s different from me.”

“You said you’re going to go to the Major League later through posting [transfer system] or free agency.”

“Well, I’m a growth-type, so I’m growing step by step, and by that time, I’ll be like that too…”

-Slap!!

This time it was me.

“Ouch!! Choi Su-won. Why are you hitting me again?”

“No, I was just checking how much weight you’ve gained because I think you’ve gained weight on your back too. Hey, Jo Yu. But when I see you gaining weight like this, I think you’re going to regress step by step, not grow step by step. You’re a catcher. If your weight increases like this without any measures, your knees will be completely shattered, right?”

“…”

It was quite nice to meet in person after a long time and have ordinary conversations. No, frankly, it was very enjoyable.

‘I guess I was under a lot of stress.’

One season, 144 games.

That means working 144 days for 7 months. Moreover, in our case, we advanced to the Korean Series, so we played for about 30 days more, and before that, we went through spring camp and exhibition games. Considering that ordinary office workers work about 230 days a year, the two-month break that I receive after working for 10 months from the end of January to the beginning of November is more like receiving the remaining days that I couldn’t rest all at once.

However, this season was a bit special for me. After finishing the season, I built my body with almost no rest and proceeded with negotiations regarding my Major League advancement. Of course, since the training itself was conditioning training, I succeeded in efficiently building my body while definitely relieving physical fatigue.

However, seeing how good I feel from trivial small talk, I guess the mental fatigue was unavoidable.

“Oh, right. Su-won. But are other Major Leaguers training here too?””Yeah, Tyler Wade is training right next door.”

“Tyler Wade? Is he a famous player?”

“Well… I guess he’s not famous *yet* since you don’t know him? He’s in his third year this year. He’s the Yankees’ right fielder.”

-Ding-dong.

“Huh? Who is it? I’m not expecting anyone.”

Speak of the devil?

It was Tyler Wade.

“I heard you had an appointment tonight, but the car was still there, so I wondered if you had invited a friend to your house.”

“Oh, introduce them. This is my friend Jo Yu-jin. And this is Lee Jeong-hoon, a former teammate from my Korean days.”

Tyler Wade approached them without hesitation and gave them a fist bump.

“I was wondering who it was since Swan, who only trained like a monk, said a friend was visiting. So it was a teammate. Oh, can you speak English?”

Just as I was about to answer that they were both terrible at English.

Lee Jeong-hoon answered Tyler first.

“A little. I can hardly speak, but I can understand a little. So you have to speak slowly.”

“Oh, that’s great. What brings you to America? A last trip in the off-season?”

“No, we came as a group because spring camp is in America.”

“Spring camp? Oh, you mean spring training. But Swan, didn’t you say that your country is 14 hours away by plane from here? But you came all the way here for spring training?”

“Yeah. The temperature in our country can drop below -10°C [14.0 °F] at this time of year. Usually, we train at the facilities here or in Arizona for about 2 weeks before the Major League teams’ spring training starts, and then we train for another 3 weeks on a southern island in Japan before starting exhibition games.”

“Really? That’s a tough schedule. Anyway, nice to meet Swan’s friends. Oh, right. If you’re okay with it, Anthony is having a party tonight, would you like to join us? There’s no alcohol, but instead, there’s delicious pizza and dry chicken breast, delicious nachos and cardboard-flavored oatmeal. And protein shakes and zero cola.”

“Party?”

Jo Yu, who hadn’t understood a word until now, recognized the word party and his eyes sparkled.

“A party sounds good. I’m not the type to refuse a party anywhere. It was already gloomy with just three guys. Let’s go. Let’s experience an American-style party.”

A self-proclaimed party person.

Lee Jeong-hoon, who claims to have washed his hands now, but once called himself the Crown Prince of Seomyeon [a popular district in Busan known for nightlife], also did not refuse the party.

“Senior, wait a minute. Are you really going to the party?”

“Yeah, of course. I wanted to experience a home party like the ones in American movies at least once.”

“No, but that party doesn’t feel like that…”

“Hey, so what if it doesn’t? When else will I get to experience a Major Leaguer’s party if not now?”

***

“Oh!! Come on!! Light weight baby!! Yeah buddy!! Come on!! Come on!!”

Iron.

“Hey!! Go!!! Eagles!!! Go!!!! Go!!!”

Sports.

“Su-won… Didn’t you say it was a home party?”

“That’s why I said it wouldn’t feel like that.”

“No, this isn’t a matter of feeling, it’s a ‘gym’ in the first place, isn’t it?”