The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 87

87. Two Billion (1)

An office in New York.

A bald man stared at his tablet PC.

-Tap!!

It was a truly beautiful form, even after seeing it again.

“It’s a shame. If he had come out just one year later, we could have saved $20 million, but we missed out,” said Josh Harold, the management team leader. The bald man shook his head.

“Well, it couldn’t be helped. In fact, we can say that we did our best. The problem is what comes next. How are we going to bring that guy here in the future?”

“In terms of amount, we will inevitably lose $1 million since a luxury tax reset is impossible. But a player like him wouldn’t choose a team based on just $5 million or $6 million. In that sense, aren’t we, the Yankees, the most attractive team? Because we are the New York Yankees.”

Because we are the New York Yankees.

It was an extremely arrogant statement. But the reason why that statement was persuasive was because it was the Yankees.

The most brilliant empire in the history of baseball, no, the entire sports history. Only the Yankees are worthy of that title.

“Yes, we are the Yankees.”

The chancellor of such an empire.

Brian Cashman nodded.

***

“What, you pretended to keep it a secret from me until the end? Are you just following your brother?”

“It’s not that I’m trying to follow you, it’s just that your team is so bad at baseball that I have no choice but to go.”

“That’s the same thing. Do you think I want to leave home and be like this in Busan without any ties? Anyway, judging by what you’re saying, it seems like you’re definitely coming. There are a lot of rumors in the media about whether you’re coming or not.”

“Well, if all the conditions are right. Now that the posting system [a system that allows players from certain international leagues to be available to MLB teams] has been improved, there’s no reason to play in the minors and go up to the big leagues. I can play in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] for a while and then go up to the big leagues.”

“You’ve got a lot of spirit.”

Hamin *hyung* [older brother or older male friend] smiled bitterly on the smartphone screen.

He must be having a hard time these days. If it had been before, he would have said that he would go to the United States first.

“By the way, is your body okay? Your velocity seems to have dropped a lot these days. Is there anything wrong?”

“Well, I went to the hospital for a checkup a while ago, and they said there was nothing special. I guess I’m just tired. I’ve never played so many games in a row since high school.”

“Well, *hyung*, you’ve been out a lot more than I thought.”

“Hey, don’t even mention it. It’s okay on the days I pitch. What’s more exhausting is when I throw about 20 pitches in the bullpen and then don’t get to pitch? And the pros are really different. I didn’t know when I was in school. If I just didn’t let my guard down and concentrated on pitching against the kids, it would be a little more tiring? But the pros are all above that level. And it’s like that every day. Wow, I get tired without even having time to recover. And then, when I come to my senses, I get hit with a bang!”

“But you’re doing much better than I thought. Your ERA [Earned Run Average, a measure of pitching performance] is 3.16 now? Right?”

A moment of awkward silence.

“No, 3.63. I messed up the game yesterday.”

“Then you should cut off the internet for a while.”

“The seniors told me to do that anyway. They said it’ll only make me feel more uneasy if I look at it.”

“But you’re not getting booed at the stadium yet, right?”

“Hey, I’m the third-best bullpen pitcher on the team. Would they boo a rookie who’s pitching this well?”

“No, I thought it might be possible if it’s the Marines and you mess up one game…”

“Busan isn’t like that anymore. The cheering culture has matured a lot.”

“Who was that Marines player a few days ago? Anyway, I think someone uploaded a picture of their foreign car being scratched all over?”

“No, that’s… Well, there are always some people who are mentally ill.”

In fact, those who have not experienced malicious comments don’t know how fierce they can be. Some guys say that it’s something you have to endure as you become famous, but I don’t know. Well, that’s true, but it sounds like saying that you have to endure being targeted by robbers because you live in a big and fancy house.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong, but if you’re a victim of robbery, you can’t help but get angry when you see someone saying that.

Anyway, malicious comments are not easy to overcome. There are quite a few kids who get upset when they see them, and their performance drops. Especially if you’re not used to being cursed at the stadium. It’s no wonder that you pitch better when you get cheers at home games, and your pitches shake when you hear boos on the road.

“Anyway, finish the negotiations well and let’s see each other on the team soon.”

“Yes, *hyung*, take care of your body and finish the rest of the season well. You have to take a starting spot next year.”

“Okay. I’ll have to try my best.”

***

The school without Jjoyu felt a bit empty.

Oh, why isn’t Jjoyu here? He was selected as a U-18 representative and went to Japan. In the case of the U-18 competition, the Baseball World Cup and the Asian Baseball Championship are held every other year, and last year was the World Cup, so this year’s competition was naturally the Asian Baseball Championship.

Oh, in my case, I was completely excluded from the starting members. Well, there’s no particular reason, but in the case of U-18 members, there’s a tradition of excluding players who are talking about going abroad, and since I had been in contact with the United States until the middle of this year, I was naturally excluded.

It wasn’t a bad thing. Frankly, even if it’s the Asian Championship, only Japan, China, Taiwan, Australia, Pakistan, and Hong Kong participate. I heard that they’re poking around India these days, but I don’t know… Cricket is so strong there that it’ll be difficult unless the MLB secretariat makes a grand compromise.

Anyway, it’s a waste of time to go out, and there’s nothing to gain. Basically, you have to assume that there’s almost no media attention. Of course, it was a very good thing for Jjoyu. Still, isn’t it a representative for each age group?

In any case, there was no catcher in the school who could properly receive my ball. Besides, now that the draft results are all out, it was a bit funny to participate in the competition now. Thanks to that, I was able to spend my days in faithful training.

However, the small problem here was that I didn’t know what to do with the faithful training. Besides, my form has changed little by little while throwing the ball steadily for about 7 months, and I don’t know if this is a good change or if I should correct it back to the previous one.

In fact, I wanted to go to the United States right away and refine my pitching at the NBM Center again. But in the current situation, it’s difficult to go to the United States rashly.

If it were batting, I would have tried this and that, so I would have taken a video of my movements and tried to correct them, but pitching is not like that, so it’s quite difficult. Of course, there is a pitching coach on the team, and there are opportunities to get lessons from professional coaches here and there, but what should I say? It’s a bit difficult to trust them entirely like the Washington brothers?

Anyway, while spending time like that, I heard from the agency that my negotiations were almost close.

And in the case of Park Eun-jin, who contacts me once a week, her debut is almost here, but she’s stressed out because she’s not studying for the college entrance exam. From experience, I knew that it was better to just tell girls to cheer up than to suggest solutions, so I just told her to cheer up, and she seemed to like it.

And Jinwoo *sunbae* [senior or older friend/mentor].

I heard from Jinwoo *sunbae* for the first time in a while.

“Suwon, are you free this weekend?”

“Yes? Weekend? On Saturday, I have to go to the kids’ game and warm the bench, but why?”

“No, Byung-young is coming out as a starter again on Sunday’s game. The university league is a district in the first half and a lottery in the second half. So, they’re coming to Seoul for an away game, and I was wondering if you’d like to go see it with me if you have time.”

“Why do you want to go see Byung-young *sunbae’s* game on Sunday? Why don’t you go see Gyuhyuk *sunbae* in Ganghwa-do instead? I heard he’s been hitting pretty well these days.”

“No, actually… Byung-young seems to want you to come to his game.”

“Byung-young *sunbae*?”

“Yeah, you know how much he cares about you. Besides, Byung-young is pitching pretty well these days, so it’ll be worth seeing. The stadium is right nearby, so it’s only about 25 minutes by subway. I’ll buy you a delicious dinner, so let’s go see it together. Huh?”

To be honest, I didn’t want to waste a precious Sunday to go see Mungae’s game. But since I didn’t have any special plans, I felt bad to refuse Jinwoo *sunbae* who was saying this.

“Okay, *sunbae*. Well, let’s go see it.”

***

“Wow, Suwon, you seem to have gotten taller since I last saw you?”

“No, it’s only been three months. More than that, *sunbae* is a bit…”

“Haha, I’ve gained some weight, right? Ugh, I don’t have time to exercise, and I keep eating snacks while studying. Especially these days, I’ve been drinking so many sweet canned coffees that I can’t control it. But I feel like my brain works when I drink it. Anyway, if your body is bad, your brain suffers. My brain is suffering a lot these days.”

The buzz-cut hair, the thin body, and the Jinwoo *sunbae* who always seemed to be in the shade were gone. A plump body and a bright face. Anyone could feel the youthful energy of a college freshman who was suitable for his age.

“I guarantee you’ll be surprised when you see Byung-young throwing the ball. Dongho University is not a prestigious university for nothing. He’s gotten a lot better.”

“Really?”

To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations.

Again, the university league is not necessarily more advanced than the high school league. Moreover, Mungae’s performance has improved recently. That is, after the early draft ended. I didn’t think I would be surprised that he was pitching a little better in the regional preliminaries in a league where even the good players had left and only the bad ones remained.

-Whoosh!!

“Strike!! Out!!!”

The ball that left Mungae’s hand soared high and then dropped.

It was already the fourth strikeout.

Of course, the level of the batters Mungae was facing today was not high. At best, the average of high school baseball players? But even so, it was really amazing.

If Mungae could have thrown that ball a year ago, wouldn’t Jinwoo *sunbae* have asked me to win while crying?

“See? I told you you’d be surprised.”

Of course, it wasn’t that he threw a curve that was so good that I was surprised. Clearly, if he went to the professional level, it wouldn’t be a great power to use as a final pitch. If I were at the plate right now, I was confident that I could aim for the curve and swing my bat to send it out of the stadium.

The really surprising thing was the direction of the ball.

Originally, the curve that Mungae threw when he was at Joongang High School was just a common curve that you could see anywhere. But only eight months. Mungae’s curve was a little different now. Although it wasn’t accurate because I didn’t see it from the plate, the launch angle itself was extremely suppressed.

It was a proper American-style curve that was hard to see in Korea.

“*Sunbae*, did the pitching coach at Dongho University install that curve for Byung-young *sunbae*?”

“Yeah, I heard they’re still sticking together and coaching him. I greeted him once, and he was a really nice person. He said that Byung-young has a bit of a knack for throwing curves.”

“Really?”

The period until joining the team was not long.

It was the moment to discover a small goal.

***

Park Gwang-sik was a pretty good pitcher in high school.

His career was twisted when he recorded a no-hitter against a school that was considered a championship contender at the national tournament in his second year of high school, and he caught the eye of American scouts.

A signing bonus of $1 million.

At the time, it was a whopping 1.2 billion won [Korean currency].

At the time, the highest amount in KBO history was 1 billion won, so the amount of 200 million won more than that was enough to seduce him. In the end, he went to the United States instead of staying in the KBO.

And now, 23 years later.

“Wow, nice to meet you. You’re Choi Suwon. Wow, is he the 6 million dollar man? He certainly has a good body.”

As a coach who has never properly set foot in the major leagues, let alone the KBO, he shook hands with a distant junior who was discussing a huge amount of money similar to him, but incomparable to him.