The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 96

96. Spring (1)

“How’s the reaction?”

“Mostly positive.”

The team’s defeat.

No, the team’s overwhelming defeat. Two wins and ten losses. Although most professional baseball fans don’t closely follow the educational league [minor league or farm system], the regular season performance was already poor. Then, they brought in the first overall pick for two consecutive years and suffered an overwhelming defeat with two wins and ten losses. Even fans who don’t bother to watch the educational league games would be easily angered by the results circulating online.

Thanks to this, the club’s PR team became busy. And in a situation where they had to somehow turn around this angry public opinion, Choi Su-won’s heartwarming video was a perfect opportunity.

Originally, public opinion about Choi Su-won had worsened significantly before and after the contract, especially regarding the two billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD]. However, the moment he recorded 5.1 innings with no runs allowed and 11 strikeouts, and hit two home runs, those criticisms completely disappeared. The highlight was that as soon as he went down, the team tied the game and even suffered a come-from-behind loss.

Of course, it’s in the nature of fans to be overjoyed or disappointed with each game’s results, calling someone washed up or a rising star. But fortunately, there are no games until the exhibition games next year. A two-billion-won rookie shows unbelievable performance, and then there are no games? From the PR team’s perspective, it’s a gold mine. Moreover, the final fan service was perfect, so there’s nothing more to ask for.

“Spread it more and more. Especially focus on those internet broadcasters these days, you know?”

“Yes, we’ve already circulated it widely, focusing on the biased broadcasters. Especially that BJ Bongmin [Broadcast Jockey Bongmin, a streamer]? He’s asking if an interview with Choi Su-won is possible. What should we do?”

“BJ Bongmin?”

“Ah, he’s the friend with the most subscribers among those who broadcast our Marines games…”

“I know him. He played baseball until high school and now he’s a BJ. Hmm… But his reputation isn’t great, and his broadcasts are a bit dirty, isn’t it?”

“But he has almost 100,000 subscribers these days… Among the biased broadcasters, he’s top-class across all teams.”

“That’s because our Marines are top-class in popularity among all teams. Choi Su-won looks handsome and clean. Don’t let him go out to such a dirty place and create a bad image. Find a cleaner outlet.”

“Sigh… But it’s rare to find BJs with such a clean image in the internet broadcasting world… Especially biased broadcasts tend to be more successful when they’re provocative.”

“Alright, alright, stop complaining. Finding that rare one is what you guys get paid to do. Isn’t that right?”

The Busan Marines professional baseball club. Among them, the PR team, which faces the most challenging tasks, began to move, earnestly hoping that they could do some normal club promotion next year instead of this.

***

“Yo, Bong-Hi!! What’s up, my beloved subscribers!! Everyone must have been bored since the baseball season ended, right?”

─GiantLeftyLee: Lee Ju-hyuk is charging up for four at-bats, four hits, four home runs today.

─17+1kkapjuhyuk: This bastard is doing this again even though there are no games.

“Originally, I was going to analyze the results of this educational league a bit. Expectations for promising players for next season. And, uh? You know. Choi Min-hyuk, our 1.05 billion won [approximately $800,000 USD] prospect who will be back next year!! I was going to talk about Choi Min-hyuk. And what the winter league FA [Free Agent] market will be like. I was going to talk about those things, but!!!”

A chubby man wearing a snapback slightly turned the camera, which was pointed at his face, to the side.

─8888577: Uh? Is that a baseball field? Where is it?

─ChoigangDongwon: It’s not Sangdong [Marines’ training facility]. Which team’s minor league stadium is it?

─NeugegaProga: High school?

“What, 형님들 [Brothers/respected viewers]. Haven’t you seen my latest video? Or have you lost your touch?”

─ChoigangDongwon: Latest video? Wasn’t that the video of our Su-won doing fan service?

─NeugegaProga: Junang High School? Did Bongmin go to another high school in Seoul to find Choi Su-won? Wow, Bongmin is a pro.

─FallMarines: No, that’s not Junang High School.

[SajikYagada donated 2,000 won.]

─That’s Dongho University.

“Oh, 형님 [Brother/respected viewer]. Thanks for the donation. You’re sharp as always. You recognized it was Dongho University just by looking at the 운동장 [sports field/stadium].”

─ChoigangDongwon: Why Dongho University? Are there any good players at Dongho University?

“Dongho University has quite a few good players. But that’s not the important thing. I’ve got a really big scoop. What is it!!”

BJ Bongmin turned the camera back to his face. The large face that suddenly came close was quite 부담스러웠다 [burdensome/uncomfortable]. But the viewers watching the video didn’t show any particular reaction, as if they were used to it. They were just focused on what Bongmin would say next.

“It’s, it’s, Choi. Su. Won.”

[ChoigangDongwon donated 2,000 won.]

─Choi Su-won? Why is our Su-won suddenly coming out here?

“Everyone knows, right? That I have a deep connection with Choi Su-won. Uh? When he was still in his second year of high school. Before he was known nationwide like he is now. I went to see the game? Uh? I 딱 찍었어 [I pinpointed/recognized] that he was Ma Su-won [a star player]. According to the information I heard today, our Ma Su-won is training right here at Dongho University.”

[EyeglassesAce donated 5,000 won.]

─Su-won is training at Dongho University? No, why at a university when he has a club?

“Actually, I’m a little curious about that part too.”

[NeugegaProga donated 1,000 won.]

─Curious my ass. The whole world except the Marines front office knows that the Marines coaches are incompetent. I knew Su-won was good at baseball because he made good choices.

“Alright, alright, so today I’m going to see what kind of training our Ma Su-won is doing. And if I get the chance, I’m even going to try to do a little interview. Actually, I did 슬쩍 [slyly/secretly] request it to the club, but you know. If rookie players go on TV, people don’t like it. So they said it was a bit difficult.”

Was it because word of mouth started spreading through the communities?

The speed at which people were entering his broadcast began to increase quite rapidly. And the moment that finally 찍은 화룡점정 [completed the masterpiece/sealed the deal] was when Choi Su-won finally appeared on the broadcast.

-뻐엉!! [Sound effect for a pitch]

A pitching video that wasn’t properly captured by the smartphone camera.

The man named BJ Bongmin began to make a fuss. Choi Su-won said that he had been a catcher until high school and threw a few balls to BJ Bongmin, who said he would catch them. The broadcast ended with him showing his hand, which was swollen red, along with the exaggeration that he had just put the mitt on it.

“Damn…”

Yes, the broadcast ended like that.

But that wasn’t the end. The video itself was edited and uploaded to YouTube, and the number of views far exceeded BJ Bongmin’s average views. Does the topic always bring up the topic again?

“Hello. Baseball Tonight. I’m Jo Hyo-jeong.”

“I’m Park Young-ju.”

“Today, we have a very special guest. Unfortunately, he is focusing on training, so we couldn’t bring him to the studio, and we specially sent a one-day special correspondent to the place where he is training.”

Although the media is gradually shifting from TV to the internet, TV is still a powerful medium. This is especially true for old sports like baseball. Among them, Baseball Tonight, a baseball 전문쇼 [specialized show] on a sports channel, was famous for being high-nosed, but surprisingly, Choi Su-won was not only appearing on the show directly but also receiving the consideration of sending a reporter from the show to appear on the TV show.

From Coach Choi Jeong-sik’s point of view, it was 환장할 노릇이었다 [infuriating/maddening].

No, a guy who openly doesn’t listen to him is doing well without any penalties? How will the other players on the team see him, and how much will the team’s order be disrupted?

“How can I not go crazy in a situation like this?”

“I know. I’ve never seen a guy who acts like he’s so great last long. He has no manners.”

“That’s right. Reporter Park. Please do a good job. Huh?”

“But Coach Choi. Sigh… This… It’s going to be difficult, isn’t it?”

“No, why? What’s the problem? Choi Su-won has been getting a lot of attention lately. If you write an article from a slightly different perspective here, the traffic will be huge, right?”

“No, that’s true. But the atmosphere is a little different these days. If I write such an article alone in this situation, people will remember my name forever. Besides, the company atmosphere is very different these days… The Marines PR team is gritting their teeth and pushing Choi Su-won right now, so if I 초 치면 [pour cold water/sabotage] with such an article, I’ll be 찍힌다 [targeted/marked] for a long time.”

“So? I think you’re misunderstanding something. The president, the general manager, and the club don’t bury their bones in the club for life anyway. It’s different from Reporter Park and me. Look at it in 10 years. Who will be left in the Marines?”

“Of course, Coach Choi will be left.”

Coach Choi Jeong-sik nodded 크게 [greatly/emphatically] and drank a glass of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] before chewing on the 안주 [side dishes/snacks eaten with alcohol].

“Besides, what if people remember the name forever? Articles are only good if they generate traffic, right? In the end, it’s a matter of how well you get information. Are the kids who write 악플 [malicious comments/hate comments] on the internet going to give you information? No. In the end, I’m the one who brings Reporter Park information. Isn’t that right?”

“Coach Choi. That’s right. But let me live too. Besides, even if I put this kind of article up now, it won’t be approved, right?”

Reporter Park filled Coach Choi Jeong-sik’s empty glass with soju.

“Anyway, Coach Choi, don’t worry too much. You know. This is just for 분위기 전환 [atmosphere change/shifting the mood]. He’s just a rookie. Right now, everyone is praising him, but this will all come back as a 부메랑 [boomerang]. If he has just one bad game, he’ll fall harder than he was raised. It’s not a big deal. I’ll give you a lot of 힘 [strength/support] then. Okay?”

“Really?”

“That’s right. No matter how big a rookie he is, he’s just a high school student and a rookie. If you put so much 바람 [wind/hype] in his 허파 [lungs] before the season starts? I guarantee he won’t be able to handle it.”

***

The name Choi Su-won did not fill the baseball scene for very long. In the end, the flower of winter baseball was the big FA [Free Agent] signings. Stories of players with a total of 8 billion won [approximately $6 million USD] or 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD] filled the sports news column.

“Whew… I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.”

“I know. Who would have known that Baek Gang-ho would really give up his major league advancement and stay in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization]? Thanks to that, the story of the educational league’s two wins and ten losses has disappeared.”

“But honestly, if I had that much money, I would stay in the KBO too.”

“Why? The Braves offered him $5 million for two years. Isn’t that worth trying? It’s 3.2 billion won [approximately $2.4 million USD] per year?”

“Considering the cost of living there, the unit of living expenses is different. Besides, he’s a superstar here, but he’s just a foreign mercenary there. There’s no reason to go if the amount is similar.”

“Really? By the way, Team Leader. Does our team have anything to do with bringing in FA? Honestly, this time, Choi Min-hyuk is back, Baek Ha-min’s starting conversion is successful. If Choi Su-won really 터져주고 [breaks out/performs exceptionally] as expected, the pitching staff will be very strong. If we pick the 용병 [foreign players/imports] well, reinforce the center line a little, and bring in a 타자 [hitter/batter] FA properly, it’s worth a try, right?”

“Hey, if you pick the 용병 [foreign players/imports] well, reinforce the center line, and 지르면 [spend big/invest heavily] the 타자 [hitter/batter] FA properly, where in the world is there a team that can’t do it…”

“……”

A moment of silence.

The names of two KBO’s representative teams flashed through the heads of the two people. In particular, one of the teams was their workplace, so they couldn’t bring themselves to say it.

“Anyway, there’s nothing special that’s been talked about yet this time.”

“Tsk… If Baek Gang-ho is 11 billion won [approximately $8.3 million USD], I think we could have brought him too.”

“Hey, we have plenty of designated hitters. It would be better to reinforce the center line, even if they can’t hit as well. Anyway, stop talking nonsense, and let’s get to work. You’ve made all the promotional materials to use this time, right?”

Big FA.

Compensation player.

And trade.

December and January flew by.

And finally, February 1st. The weather was still cold winter. But the spring of baseball started one step faster than the cold weather.

[‘Goal is to win the championship’ Busan Marines start spring camp!!]

35 years since the last championship.

Already the thirty-fifth article with a similar title!!