A Rookie in the Baseball Team is Too Good

Chapter 20: A Thorn in the Pocket (2)

Oh Young-jin’s consciousness was fixed on Ji-seop.

In reality, he wasn’t being too peculiar.

“……”

“……”

Whether it was in high school or university, the atmosphere among rookie training assistants with a background in baseball was always one of mutual wariness and awareness.

“It’s not just the players with experience. Even we, who don’t have any, feel the tense atmosphere.”

This was said by Go Chang-deok, Ji-seop’s roommate, both at the KH players’ dormitory and now here in Jeju.

“They say that up until now, only about two or three people, at most, were offered a formal job after spring camp.”

“What do you mean?”

“The number of training assistants who are offered full-time positions after spring camp ends.”

Among those with player experience, one person, and among those without player experience, another person. Even so, most of them are offered only a one-year contract, and cases where they are hired as full-time employees are very rare.

“If you don’t stand out within at least a month, they say it’s impossible to even dream of joining the baseball team…”

It seemed Go Chang-deok had lost his enthusiasm for watching his favorite animation, as he removed his earphones and continued talking.

“Ji-seop, don’t you feel frustrated?”

“Frustrated?”

“No, I mean, what we’re doing… It’s not something we can distinctly say we’re good at, is it?”

Go Chang-deok emphasized “good at.”

“At best, we carry baseballs, carry lunch boxes, and collect players’ uniforms… How can anyone stand out doing something like this?”

He seemed bewildered by the overly simple tasks assigned to training assistants.

Ji-seop let out a slight chuckle.

“Hyung, it’s only been a few days since spring camp started.”

“…….”

“After some time, new tasks will surely be assigned.”

“……Is that so?”

Yes, it was.

* * *

In the early stages of spring camp, the tasks of the training assistants were roughly as follows:

– Setting up training equipment
– Stocking the fridge with bottled water
– Distributing players’ lunch boxes
– Collecting dirty uniforms for laundry and delivering cleaned uniforms to players’ rooms
– Waking up players who overslept in the morning and coaxing those who couldn’t sleep at night, and so on

As Go Chang-deok said, these were a series of simple tasks that couldn’t be distinctly “well done.”

Go Chang-deok, who was naturally good-natured, was only mildly anxious, but some people who had entered with dreams of working in the front office like in movies or dramas couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Dammit, do they think I joined the baseball team just to collect stinky uniforms from the players?”

“Exactly! If this is what it’s like, why did they ask if we knew how to do sabermetrics during the interview?”

It was around the second day after two particularly loud training assistants, who had been loudly voicing their complaints, packed their bags and went home.

Ironically, it was precisely from that point that the baseball team began assigning new tasks to the rookie training assistants.

“Who among the training assistants has experience with video editing?”

The first move was when a training assistant who could use the video editing program ‘Final Cut’ was assigned to the PR team.

Then, an employee from the data analysis team came looking for a training assistant who could use a data analysis device called ‘TrackMan.’

“Me! New training assistant Go Chang-deok! I can handle everything from setting up and operating TrackMan to analyzing the data!”

On the third day after Go Chang-deok was assigned to the data analysis team, a new task was also assigned to the player-experienced training assistants.

“You can throw batting practice, right?”

More precisely, this task was assigned to Oh Young-jin.

The KH Cannons’ second-team coaching staff had a particular fondness for Oh Young-jin, who had professional experience.

“Don’t feel pressured. Just throw it so the batters can hit. You must have done live pitching often when you were with Geosan, right?”

“Yes, Coach.”

Oh Young-jin nodded.

The coach patted Oh Young-jin on the shoulder as if he found him reliable.

“Alright, let’s see the skills of the former ace pitcher of Namyeong High today!”

“Thank you for the opportunity.”

While bowing his head to the coach, Oh Young-jin didn’t forget to glance at Ji-seop.

[Looks like I’m ahead of you?]

Oh Young-jin’s lips curled into a slight smirk.

Ji-seop thought to himself, ‘Oh, you little punk,’ but he wasn’t given a chance to say anything.

The coach who had assigned Oh Young-jin to be the batting practice pitcher suddenly yelled at Ji-seop.

“Hey, what are you doing over there! Shouldn’t you be bringing the ball cart, the ball cart!”

Ji-seop clicked his tongue.

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

Damn,

They’re really pushing it.

* * *

“Alright then, let’s start with the leadoff hitter!”

Oh Young-jin stood behind the protective screen for the pitcher.

As he picked up a white ball from the ball cart, a sense of satisfaction filled his face.

‘As expected… A professional background is everything in a baseball team.’

He definitely felt like he was ahead of the game.

Oh Young-jin really liked this.

After successfully fulfilling his role as the batting practice pitcher, what kind of expression would that Kim Ji-seop show him?

‘That guy really gets on my nerves.’

Oh Young-jin glanced at a thirty-two-year-old training assistant who was drying the catcher’s gear under the sun.

On his first day with the Cannons, Oh Young-jin had been so overwhelmed by this man’s presence that he had mistakenly called him ‘senior.’

‘Come to think of it, there’s no reason to call someone who never even got drafted a senior.’

‘Damn, why couldn’t I say that back then?’

‘I need to make sure to speak up clearly today.’

The twenty-six-year-old former ace of Namyeong High School made up his mind.

‘Of course, first…’

Fixing his gaze on the catcher’s mitt beyond the protective screen, he began winding up slowly.

‘I need to make a strong impression on the coaches!’

Shwoooosh—paang!

Shwoooosh—paang!

Shwoooosh—paaang!

The satisfying sound of the ball hitting the mitt.

A clean strike that brought back memories of his prime.

Pleased with the excellent trajectory, Oh Young-jin instinctively clenched his fist in triumph, but—

“Young-jin! Hey, Oh Young-jin!”

The second-team coaching staff watching nearby wore bitter smiles.

“Yes, Coach!”

Oh Young-jin turned his head sharply at the coaches’ call.

“Hey, you’re throwing batting practice.”

The second-team hitting coach, who spoke up, smiled as he started talking.

“If you throw it with all your might like that, what are you going to do? I told you to throw it lightly, didn’t I? No wind-up.”

“Oh, yes!”

Realizing his mistake, Oh Young-jin bit his lower lip slightly.

‘Right, lightly, lightly…’

Oh Young-jin picked up another ball.

He repeated “lightly, lightly” in his head as he started throwing the ball again.

Shwoosh—thwack!

Shwoosh—thwack!

Shwoosh—thwaack!

This time, the batter reacted.

The first two swings resulted in ground balls, but the last one flew quite far into the outfield.

Thinking to himself, ‘This should be enough,’ Oh Young-jin waited, but the coaches’ reactions remained lukewarm.

“No, Young-jin! How can you throw an Arirang ball like that? I told you, you’re throwing batting practice balls!”

“B-batting practice… balls?”

It was at this moment that Oh Young-jin’s face started turning red.

“Yeah, batting practice balls, man!”

The smile had disappeared from the hitting coach’s face.

“Think about it! It’s a pitch thrown so the batter can hit it! A pitch meant for the batter to hit and practice with! So how should you throw it?”

“L… lightly?”

Even though it was a random guess, the hitting coach nodded vigorously, as if it was the most brilliant answer ever.

“Exactly! You need to throw it lightly! Now do you get it? Throw it again.”

“Oh, yes….”

Even though the hitting coach cheered him on with a “You got this! You got this!”, Oh Young-jin was already feeling like his mind had gone blank.

‘A pitch that’s meant for the batter to hit?’

He still couldn’t quite grasp what that meant.

After all, he had spent his life thinking only about pitches that the batter *couldn’t* hit.

How was he supposed to throw a pitch that was meant for the batter to hit?

‘That alone is confusing… and now they’re telling me to throw a pitch that helps the batter practice?’

What kind of pitch was that supposed to be?

Did they mean to throw it right down the middle so the batter could swing the bat with power?

Or did they mean to throw it close to the body to help them overcome their weaknesses?

‘Damn it, what do they want from me….’

Though he returned to the protective screen, the batting practice pitcher hesitated, unable to throw the ball.

Sweating profusely with a red face, Oh Young-jin’s struggle finally prompted the second-team manager to step in.

“Coach Park.”

“Yes, Manager.”

“Pull him out. This isn’t going to work.”

The second-team manager took off his sunglasses as he spoke.

“We’re already pressed for time trying to develop players, how can we waste time training a batting practice pitcher?”

It was a reprimand for putting up an unprepared pitcher.

Knowing this, the hitting coach hung his head.

“I’m sorry, Manager. I trusted him because he had professional experience…”

“You need to stop relying on experience so much. Why would you need professional experience for throwing batting practice? All that matters is if you can throw the ball properly.”

The second-team manager gestured with his chin.

“Go check if any of the other training assistants have experience as a batting practice pitcher. If not, you’ll have to take over.”

“M-me?”

The hitting coach’s eyes widened.

“But Manager, for the past week, it’s been just me and the second-team manager throwing batting practice. I’m not as young as I used to be, and my shoulder already feels heavy as it is…”

“Oh, so should I do it then?”

The second-team manager’s sharp gaze pierced through.

“Should I do it?”

“No, no, sir! I’ll do it.”

The hitting coach hurriedly bowed and retreated.

He then called over the player-experienced training assistants with a displeased expression.

“Let’s see… you! I think I heard you were the ace at Seongjin University. Would you like to give it a try?”

The hitting coach had apparently memorized all of the training assistants’ backgrounds.

Judging by how he suggested batting practice pitching to the one he thought would be most useful first.

“Um, you mean… me?”

However, it was right after he had seen professional-experienced Oh Young-jin humiliated in front of the manager.

The training assistant who had been an ace in university didn’t seem eager to volunteer and risk ruining his reputation.

“I’m sorry, Coach. I’ve hardly ever thrown batting practice either….”

“Really? Then what about you?”

A guy who was pretty good in college.

A guy who was decent in high school.

A guy who did alright in the Korean Independent League.

The hitting coach went down his “list,” pointing out one after another, but none of them nodded.

‘Damn it. Am I really going to have to pitch batting practice myself?’

Just as this thought crossed the hitting coach’s mind, a voice reached his ears.

“Coach, can I give it a try?”

“Hmm?”

The hitting coach turned his head.