Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 93

Mound Villain – Episode 93

Seo Hah-sung’s sudden behavior caused the player walking ahead to stop and stare.

Hah-sung didn’t even glance at the player, instead asking the child,

“What’s your name?”

“Huh?”

“Your name. I’m more famous than that guy over there, you know? I’ll give you an autograph, so let’s stop crying.”

“M-My name is Park Tae-woo!”

“Park Tae-woo. That’s a cool name. Do you play baseball?”

“Yes! My dream is to become a professional player!”

“That’s great. If Tae-woo becomes a professional player, we might even play on the same team. You know I’m in the Major League, right?”

“O-Of course!”

“Let’s meet in the Major League next time. Got it? Here you go.”

“Th-Thank you so much!!”

Park Tae-woo bowed his head in gratitude.

The player approached Hah-sung, who was lightly ruffling Tae-woo’s hair.

“Hey, what did you just say?”

“What about it?”

“You’re more famous than me? Just because you’ve had a good year, you think you own the world?”

“Did I say anything wrong? I am more famous than you, aren’t I? You don’t actually think you’re more famous than me, do you?”

“What? You little punk!”

“And since when did we start using informal language? Just because you’re older, you think you can talk down to me?”

At Hah-sung’s quiet words, player Yang Dae-hyun’s face turned bright red.

The atmosphere was so tense that it seemed like he would throw a punch any second, and the players nearby approached.

“What’s going on?”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Who are these guys fighting in front of the fans?!”

Thanks to the other players’ intervention, Yang Dae-hyun had no choice but to back down.

Regardless,

“Anyone else want my autograph?”

“Me!!”

“Kyaaak! Please give me one too!”

“Me too!!”

Hah-sung signed autographs for each of the remaining fans, not forgetting his fan service until the very end.

Seeing this, some of the players who were coming down from behind also started joining in on the autographs.

In that way, the fans were able to receive autographs from the players they wanted and receive compensation for their wait.

* * *

The incident between Hah-sung and Yang Dae-hyun became a hot topic online.

-I heard Hah-sung and Yang Dae-hyun almost fought?

-What are you talking about?

-Apparently, after the awards ceremony, fans were waiting in the underground parking lot, and a young boy grabbed Yang Dae-hyun’s clothes there.

As soon as one user wrote a detailed account, comments immediately followed.

-Those KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] guys have terrible fan service.

-Is that anything new?

-But does Hah-sung have that kind of side to him?

-He seemed like a complete jerk on TV.

-His fan service is amazing, though.

-I heard he signed autographs for all the fans who were gathered there?

-Wow… those people hit the jackpot.

-Jung Hah-sung is different from what he seems.

-It was awesome how he called out Yang Dae-hyun, lol [laughing out loud].

-Isn’t he being too disrespectful?

-Still, he’s being too rude to his senior.

-Yang Dae-hyun was the one who started using informal language first, lol.

-He spoke informally because he was spoken to informally.

-Hah-sung didn’t do anything wrong in this incident.

As it became a hot topic among fans, related articles also began to appear.

The public opinion was overwhelmingly in Hah-sung’s favor.

In Korea, professional athletes’ fan service was notorious.

Some players even said that giving too many autographs would devalue them, so they didn’t give them out.

Ignoring waiting fans was a common occurrence.

The media also pointed out these issues.

[Professional Athletes’ Behavior of Ignoring Fans!]

[Major Leaguer Jung Hah-sung! Stays Until the End to Sign Autographs for All the Fans and Returns!]

[Professionals Exist Because There Are Fans.]

Most of the articles criticized Yang Dae-hyun and KBO players’ fan service rather than Hah-sung’s actions.

And fans were enthusiastic about this, starting to talk about the need to improve fan service.

In that way, Hah-sung once again became the center of attention, but the person in question didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Wow, even this kind of thing gets turned into an article. In Korea, professional athletes are the top dogs, the top dogs. Don’t you think?”

“That’s right. That’s why I was so touched by Hah-sung’s actions.”

“That’s only natural. Sports exist because there are fans.”

“That’s the right mindset. Anyway, this incident has been a boon for us.”

“A boon?”

“The love calls from companies wanting Hah-sung are becoming more intense. In their eyes, Hah-sung’s value has increased because he is more likable to the public, who are the target of their marketing.”

For companies, the general public, who are the majority, is more important than the small number of professional athletes.

But with Hah-sung’s favorability greatly increased due to this incident, companies had no choice but to want Hah-sung even more.

“And Ohsung Electronics has offered 2 billion won again for a 2-year contract.”

“The amount is the same?”

“Yes. They say that even if it’s not a long-term contract, Jung Hah-sung is worth that much.”

“Even big companies are good at sweet-talking.”

“Huhu, they don’t say these things to just anyone. It just means that Jung Hah-sung’s value has increased that much.”

“Then let’s go ahead and sign the contract as is. Oh, and can the schedule be adjusted for the date I mentioned?”

“Yes, I think it’ll be possible. I had already scheduled fewer events for Christmas Eve anyway. But a sudden appointment on Christmas Eve, is it a date?”

Hah-sung shook his head.

“Not at all. Eun-ha sent me tickets because she’s performing in a concert. I’m attending that.”

“Oh~ Are you still in contact with Eun-ha?”

“She contacted me again after I came to Korea. She said she’d give me tickets, so if I was interested, I should come, so I said okay.”

“Eun-ha probably doesn’t have enough recognition to hold a solo concert yet. It’s probably a company-level performance.”

“I think so.”

“Anyway, have a good time. But we’ve moved up the schedule for that day, so work harder!”

To say that the work will become more difficult so easily.

Kim Hye-ryung was truly something else.

* * *

Even though the season was over, Chris was coming to the office every day and holding meetings.

“Don’t the Twins have some decent hitters?”

“I know they have quite a few in Triple-A [the highest level of minor league baseball]. The list is… here.”

“Thomas… not bad, but we have enough right-handed hitters. Hill is a first baseman. We already have enough at first base. Let’s focus on picking out shortstops and second basemen.”

“Understood.”

“Manager, Matthew from Houston is asking to be connected.”

“Tell him I’ll call back!”

“Yes!”

As the stove league [off-season trading period in baseball] was in full swing, preparations for next season were in full swing.

They would trade away unnecessary players and acquire needed players, and if that wasn’t possible, they would release players and reorganize the roster.

On top of that, they also had to handle contract negotiations with the players for next season, so they were spending even busier days than during the season.

“For next season’s marketing, we should focus on Hah-sung, right?”

“Of course. And let’s include marketing for Korea as well.”

“Marketing for Korea?”

“In the past, the LA Dodgers had a lot of fun with Korean Day. Let’s benchmark that.”

“To do it to that extent, we’ll have to consult with the city.”

“Then let’s do it. Oakland will also like it because the number of tourists will increase. Have a meeting with the relevant people and prepare for it.”

“Understood.”

Chris was planning to maximize Hah-sung’s star power.

* * *

While Chris was making plans to utilize Hah-sung.

The KBO was struggling because of Hah-sung.

“The media is pouring out negative articles about the players’ fan service every day.”

“How many days is this going to last?”

“It seems like the accumulated dissatisfaction has exploded all at once.”

“Tsk! They’re making too much of a fuss over not giving a few autographs. And why is Jung Hah-sung making so much noise over this?! I heard he even spoke informally to Yang Dae-hyun?”

“Yes… I’ve confirmed with other players who were at the scene. It seems certain.”

“That rude brat! What kind of education did he receive to talk back to his seniors like that?”

The meeting was dominated by voices criticizing Hah-sung.

What was important to them was the collapse of the senior-junior relationship. Therefore, the issue of fan service was pushed to the back burner.

“We need to call him in immediately and get an explanation!”

“How are we going to do that?”

At that moment, Kim Tae-hyun opened his mouth.

All eyes turned to him.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Jung Hah-sung is not affiliated with the KBO but with the Major League. How can we call him in and make him apologize?”

“That’s…”

The committee member who had been arguing that they should get an explanation shut his mouth.

Because he couldn’t think of a way.

Kim Tae-hyun turned his gaze away from him and looked at the committee members in the conference room and said.

“In fact, the problem this time is the players’ fan service. Why are you ignoring that and shifting the blame to Jung Hah-sung?”

“Isn’t fan service up to the players’ discretion?”

“We’ve been leaving it up to them voluntarily, but it’s become a mess. At this rate, the fans will turn their backs on us.”

“Haha! Professional baseball is at its peak right now. The number of spectators this year alone has exceeded 7 million. How can they turn their backs on us?”

“Committee member Kim is too excited. Let’s just leave this matter alone for now. As Committee member Kim said, there’s no way to bring Jung Hah-sung in, so if we just stay quiet, it will quiet down.”

Kim Tae-hyun’s rebuke failed to change the atmosphere of the meeting.

Although he was a legend, he had not been a leader for long. Therefore, his voice in the KBO was inevitably weak.

‘Damn it…! What do these guys think the fans are?!’

Professionals exist because there are fans.

That was the belief that Kim Tae-hyun had held onto throughout his professional career.

But the association didn’t seem to think so.

They seemed to be only interested in protecting their own reputation. And they thought that their popularity would last forever.

‘There’s nothing permanent in this world. If this kind of behavior continues, the fans will eventually turn their backs, you morons!’

But right now, these cries were meaningless.

Because he had no power.

‘I need to build power. I need to build enough power to change the association.’

While Kim Tae-hyun was strengthening his resolve.

The useless meeting continued.

* * *

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Hah-sung invested time in training even while spending busy days.

He started building his body in December to prepare for next season.

‘To play as a starter, I need to build even better stamina than this year.’

The mechanics of a closer and a starting pitcher are different.

If a closer who pitches for 1 inning is like a sprinter, a starting pitcher must maintain stamina like a marathon runner.

‘To do that, the training method must also change. I need to develop my cardiorespiratory endurance to the extreme.’

If the heart and lungs are strengthened, blood can be sent to every part of the body with a single breath.

This effect leads to an increase in stamina.

‘I played as a closer in my first season, so there were no stamina issues. But if I play a full season as a starter, there will definitely be stamina issues.’

Building the stamina to play a full season as a starter was the first task that Hah-sung had to accomplish.

To do that, he had to build his body sufficiently before going to Hawaii.

That was why Hah-sung was squeezing in time to exercise even in a tight schedule.

“Hoo…”

Hah-sung, who had sweated profusely, moved on to his next schedule.

As December was coming to an end, most of the contracts and commercial shoots were being finalized.

There were only a few schedules left.

And today was the day he was going to the concert to which he had been invited by Eun-ha.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve been to a concert.’

Hah-sung, who had arrived at the underground parking lot, got into his car.

He got into the sports car provided by Aston Martin and left the parking lot.