Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 212

The Mound’s Villain – Episode 212

A man entered the VIP room.

Lewis, seeing the relaxed, middle-aged man, rose from his seat to greet him.

“It’s been a while, Hank.”

“Indeed, it has.”

The man was Hank Steinbrenner, one of the current owners of the Yankees.

The two exchanged a brief handshake and sat facing each other.

“Thank you for coming all the way to New York in person.”

“Not at all. I’m grateful to you for providing such a great venue.”

“This place is better for avoiding the eyes of reporters, after all.”

The Yankee Stadium VIP room comes in various configurations.

Among them, some prioritize privacy above all else.

These were mainly used by celebrities.

Some enjoyed interacting with the public, but others wanted to enjoy the game quietly in their own space.

This place was created to meet the needs of those people.

It was the most discreet option available.

A place where reservations were only possible by contacting the general manager at a minimum.

Hank and Lewis were there.

The fact that the owners of two clubs were facing each other was a significant event.

“He’s truly an amazing player.”

Hank’s gaze turned to the window.

The player visible through the special window that prevented anyone from seeing inside from the outside.

It was Ha-seong standing at the plate.

Lewis stood beside him and nodded.

“He’s a player that will be hard to come by again in Major League history.”

“I agree. He has become a player that every team in Major League wants. That’s why we, the best team in Major League, want to acquire him.”

Trade.

The act of buying and selling players as commodities.

Large sums of money are exchanged, but it is still a transaction involving money.

Naturally, the basic thing is to hide what you want.

But Hank didn’t do that.

Rather, he praised Ha-seong and revealed how much he wanted him without reservation.

The reason was simple.

“Tell me your terms.”

“You’re being direct.”

“He’s the best player. I’m prepared to accept any conditions if it means I can get him.”

“Any conditions?”

Hank nodded.

Lewis couldn’t understand wanting Ha-seong this much.

‘To want just a baseball player this much. I don’t understand,’ he thought.

He is a businessman.

He develops players and sells them.

He increases his wealth with the profits earned that way.

That was his purpose.

Acquiring the club was just one of several investment objectives.

That’s why he couldn’t understand Hank’s offer.

‘Well, it’s not like I’m going to lose out.’

He just had to get as much profit as possible.

That was all, so Lewis told him the conditions he had in mind.

“I want cash rather than a player trade.”

“How much would be enough?”

“I want $200 million.”

$200 million.

That’s a huge amount.

The annual salary of a top-tier player is $20 million.

It was the amount that could retain such a player for 10 years.

Ha-seong will become a free agent in two years if there are no major problems.

No one can predict how the FA [Free Agent] contract will be signed at that time.

Some even said that he would receive up to $500 million over 10 years.

It’s not impossible.

If Ha-seong continues to perform as he does now, both his pitching and hitting should be highly valued.

So it was a possible amount.

But to buy the right to hold a player for $200 million.

It was an unprecedented event compared to any cash trade that had ever existed.

‘Did I ask for too much?’

Lewis was uneasy when Hank didn’t say anything.

Even he didn’t expect to receive $200 million.

He was expecting about $100 million at most.

But why did he ask for $200 million?

That was the basics of the deal.

Call for a high amount and adjust the price through negotiations.

Lewis was planning to do that.

But.

“Okay.”

“Yes?”

“I will pay $200 million. However, a lump sum payment is difficult. And it’s hard to pay that much with cash alone.”

“Then…?”

“Let’s proceed with a trade that includes two of our A-class players. We will pay $100 million in cash and cover 50 percent of the two players’ salaries.”

The Yankees have tremendous top-tier players.

Being able to recruit players classified as A-class among them is a great condition.

In addition, the fact that they even cover the salary meant that the Athletics would only have to bear a small amount.

‘If it’s an A-class player from Hank, they’re players who receive at least $10 million in salary. If their salaries can be covered for more than 5 years…’

Lewis’s mind raced quickly.

‘I can only receive $100 million in cash, but if there are enough A-class players in the team, I can get more money from the buyer.’

Lewis was no longer in the position of a club owner running the club.

He only had the mindset of a merchant trying to sell goods at a higher price.

That was why the media and Oakland citizens hated him.

He even tried to move the home ground to raise the team’s selling price.

Oakland citizens abandoned the team with such an owner.

Thanks to Ha-seong, he has regained his past popularity.

Anyway, Lewis, who had made such an attempt, was now focused on securing cash.

‘The team will leave my hands anyway. There’s no reason to worry about the future.’

There is no affection for the team.

Both the team and the players are just products to him.

A product that must be sold at a high price anyway.

Now, we need to recover the invested funds as much as possible.

In order to sell with a lot of profit, he decided to sell Ha-seong, who has abundant future value.

And a suitable buyer appeared.

There was no reason to hesitate.

“The details need to be adjusted further…”

He held out his hand with a smile.

“I like the conditions.”

“Thank you for giving me the answer I wanted.”

Hank shook his hand.

It was the moment when a trade that would change the history of Major League was made in a place where he was not present.

And at that moment.

Crack-!!

A cheerful hitting sound that echoed throughout the stadium was heard.

The eyes of the two people turned to the screen located in the VIP room at the same time.

There, Ha-seong’s figure, who was hitting the ball that disappeared outside the fence and throwing the bat, was being broadcast in two divisions.

[It’s a home run! Jeong Ha-seong achieves a home run in 7 consecutive games!! He reverses the situation of the losing team!!]

Ha-seong achieved another record.

* * *

[Jeong Ha-seong achieves home runs in 7 consecutive games!]

[Oakland Athletics wins 7 consecutive games thanks to Jeong Ha-seong’s performance!]

[The team wins on the day Jeong Ha-seong hits a home run!]

[Jeong Ha-seong is running first in team win contribution!]

Ha-seong’s 7 consecutive home runs garnered tremendous attention.

Now, people’s interest turned to the Major League record.

[Attention is focused on whether Jeong Ha-seong can achieve home runs in 8 consecutive games.]

[In Major League, Dale Long, Don Mattingly, and Ken Griffey Jr. have achieved home runs in 8 consecutive games.]

[They are all players who can be called legends.]

[That’s right. The world record in this category is South Korean Lee Dae-seong, who has achieved home runs in 9 consecutive games.]

[People are also interested in whether Jeong Ha-seong can break this record.]

Achieving home runs in 9 consecutive games beyond 8 consecutive games.

That was a tremendous achievement.

That’s why people’s interest was hotter than ever.

In addition, various articles related to Ha-seong were flowing out.

[The International Olympic Committee has begun discussions on whether to adopt baseball as a formal sport at the 2012 London Olympics.]

[An anonymous official familiar with the internal affairs of the International Olympic Committee revealed that the reason for considering putting baseball, which had been excluded from the official sport, back into the official sport is due to the popularity of Jeong Ha-seong.]

It was amazing.

To try to re-adopt a sport that had been excluded from the Olympics because of the popularity of one player.

The reason why this comic-like thing is possible is because Ha-seong’s record was like a monster.

[Jeong Ha-seong, who has left tremendous achievements in both pitching and hitting, is shaking up the history of Major League, isn’t he?]

[That’s right. With this performance, the popularity of Major League is increasing day by day.]

[In addition, the fact that Jeong Ha-seong is approaching fans in the United States, Korea, and around the world through various routes, including YouTube, is also a factor in his popularity.]

[Originally, baseball is a popular sport in certain countries. However, there are statistics that Jeong Ha-seong is popular even in Europe, which is not a baseball country.]

The YouTube channel operated by Ha-seong is currently ranked first in total subscribers.

The number was increasing, and many of his subscribers existed even in non-baseball countries.

For that reason, Ha-seong’s popularity is now high worldwide, beyond the baseball world.

[Wasn’t the reason why the IOC [International Olympic Committee] excluded baseball from the official sport also due to disagreements with the Major League Secretariat?]

[That’s right. But this time, there are also news that the Major League Secretariat is positively considering suspending the league.]

Major League has become a large-scale industry that is called the world’s top 3 sports.

Therefore, suspending the league meant accepting huge losses.

So, even during the past Olympics, the league was not suspended, and Major Leaguers were not sent to the national team.

Showed uncooperative appearance.

For this reason, the IOC caused continuous friction with the Major League Secretariat.

As a result, it became a decisive cause for the decision to withdraw from the official sport.

But this time, the secretariat was also positive about the Olympics.

The reason was related to Ha-seong.

[It is believed that Jeong Ha-seong’s popularity is increasing in Europe, so it is a good opportunity to inform Europe of the fun of baseball.]

[Yes. In addition, since this Olympics will be held in London, it is in line with the purpose of the Major League Secretariat, which is working to globalize baseball.]

The exclusion of baseball from the official Olympic sport caused a lot of regret.

Especially for domestic fans.

The baseball boom started with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, so the regret was inevitable.

In that situation, many people welcomed the fact that baseball would be re-adopted as an official sport at the Olympics.

The KBO [Korea Baseball Organization] was the same.

“The reason why we convened this emergency meeting is because there is news that the Olympic Committee will re-adopt baseball as an official sport.”

At the words of Hwang Woo-shik, who became the new president of the KBO, those who attended the meeting looked at him.

All the important figures of the KBO Technical Committee gathered at this emergency meeting.

In fact, since the current Korean national baseball team has to go through the hands of the Technical Committee, this meeting was interpreted as a preliminary work to select the national team.

“If baseball is adopted as an official sport at the London Olympics, we must meet the increased expectations of the people.”

“That’s right. Since we won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, we must achieve that level of performance at the London Olympics as well.”

“To do so, we must form a team with the best players, including domestic top players as well as Major Leaguers.”

The opinions of the committee members were the same.

And the name of one player was mentioned.

“The most important thing among them is Jeong Ha-seong.”

It is the name of Ha-seong, the best superstar in Major League.