episode_0057

“Wow, Kimma is totally awesome.”

“Whose voice is that? Sungtaeng?”

After finishing all training schedules and taking a shower, Gwanhyeong headed to the lounge and heard Yoon Sungtae’s voice mixed with his distinctive accent.

Yoon Sungtae was a promising player Gwanhyeong had been keeping an eye on personally. With a height of 185cm and a weight in the mid-80s, his physicality was decent, and his defense and power had been good even before enlisting in the military. Transitioning from the military, he stepped up his hitting game and became a promising player for the AT Thunders, winning the title of home run king in the Southern League.

He was expected by the team to fill the vacant shortstop position for the Thunders starting next year. At 23 years old, if he continued to develop, there would be no need to worry about the centerline for at least ten years.

“Today, voluntarily staying back for extra batting practice and showing passion, he’ll quickly secure a starting position. Kimma? But who’s Kimma?”

Gwanhyeong’s curiosity was piqued by the voice. Being older, he knew that once he entered the lounge, this interesting conversation would surely come to an end.

“Why? It’s Sungtae.”

“Whose voice is this? Wasn’t he the catcher in the second team? Right, Junho.”

“No, didn’t Kimma ask to train after the test was over?”

The player who asked to train after the test was the first-round pick, Ji Maeng-ho.

“Oh, did you do it too?”

“Well, since Gwanhyeong senior was doing it, I felt like I should too.”

“You stayed back not out of your own will but because you felt pressured? Well, that’s not bad either. As long as he’s willing to train when led, that’s enough.”

Gwanhyeong had seen too many juniors like this. In a team like the AT Thunders where many players wouldn’t train even when led, just having the willingness to train when guided was sufficient.

“Anyway, Kimma said he wanted to impress the coach, so I went to ask him about it. Do you know what he said?”

“What did he say?”

“He said he didn’t even know my name. I mean, I was the home run king in the Southern League this season, but… ”

“He said he didn’t know your name?”

“Yes. Kids these days, really.”

“This guy is funny, isn’t he?”

“What?”

“When you first joined, you also said they don’t know your name because they only watch Charlotte baseball. They said they only know Gwanhyeong senior.”

“Oh, when was that! I know everyone now.”

Come to think of it, he had heard about such incidents. Still, hearing that they knew his name made Gwanhyeong, who had been playing baseball for 20 years, feel that it wasn’t all in vain.

“You two seem to get along well. By the way, he said he plays second base, right? You two would make a good Keystone combo in the second team.”

“Forget the second team; I’m going up to the first team next year. Don’t act like you know everything.”

“Forget the first team; you’re just suited for the second team for life, pal.”

“Anyway, Ji Maeng-ho, Kimma, he’s not your average guy. He said he’s going to the Asian Games next year or something, right? He definitely seems like a first-round pick material.”

“Hey, didn’t you see that?”

“What?”

“Turn on your phone and look up his interview.”

“Interview? Is this it? …Wow, he’s totally awesome. But I kinda like it? A man should have this kind of guts. He’s got some charisma.”

“Interview? Was that then?”

Gwanhyeong also seemed to have watched that interview. The interview where Ji Maeng-ho stirred up the AT team for a while. Players’ reactions to the interview generally fell into two categories.

The first was thinking the rookie was arrogant and needed to be put in his place once he arrived, and the second was liking his boldness, like Yoon Sungtae. For the record, Gwanhyeong didn’t fall into either category. He just found the interview cute.

Over the course of more than 20 years, to someone like Gwannyong who had experienced all sorts of ups and downs, it was merely cute.

“Well, I guess we do get along. You’re quite gutsy too, huh? Standing up to seniors as soon as you join.”

“Ah, if only I had held back then. I was aiming for the Asian Games, but got caught by the manager. Still, going to the military and coming back is manly and nice, right?”

“Hey, I’m a public service worker, are you targeting me?”

“Sorry.”

After listening up to that point, Gwannyong moved his steps from the lounge.

In fact, Gwannyong also knew that Maengho’s behavior today was not well-received by the seniors. Starting from boasting about his skills to voluntarily practicing, behaving so conspicuously in group activities would likely make him unpopular.

So, he offered advice and even raised his hand to bet together despite the tough physical tests.

“My rookie days were like that too.”

After losing in the 2002 Korean Series, most of the seniors who had been leading the team either retired or were traded away. Those who avoided the storm became passive, and clashing with the coach at the time who rigorously enforced military discipline, the team fell apart beyond recognition.

Gwannyong wanted to train more, but he couldn’t maintain his stance amidst the pressure from seniors who valued group activities. He, too, was swept up in that atmosphere.

Even as a senior, Gwannyong tried to change the team’s atmosphere, but the AT Thunders were already on the decline. By the time he became the top senior, it was already too late. However, he didn’t want Maengho to follow the same path as him.

So, despite not being naturally inclined that way, he had been secretly listening to what juniors were saying. But at this point, there wasn’t much to worry about. The conversation was more decent than expected.

“Who would gather juniors and do that these days in the world? I haven’t done anything to my juniors either.”

With a satisfied expression, Gwannyong entered his room where his rookie roommate was waiting.

“Have you come, senior?”

“Yeah, I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“No, you’re not.”

Actually, he was kind of disturbing. Sharing Ross B’s sense and memory, watching the pitches faced by Ross B against pitchers to develop an early understanding.

Due to a three-year hiatus, I lacked practical experience, so after every training session, I made efforts to create my own strike zone by watching the pitches faced by Ross B’s opponents to increase my practical experience.

No matter how much Ross B taught me about pitching locations, there were limits. Moreover, not all pitches thrown by pitchers were always the same as in games, and even if Ross B indicated the catcher’s mitt position, predicting exactly where the ball would come was not an easy task, so it was important to have such experiences.

It was an important training, but it was natural not to annoy Woo Gwanhyeong, the top senior in the team. I held back my annoyance and opened my mouth when Woo Gwanhyeong arrived, holding the laundry I had been waiting to do.

“Senior, how would you like your laundry done?”

When sharing a room with a senior, one thing juniors must do is to give their laundry instead of the senior’s. Due to the nature of baseball, laundry had to be done daily, so even in middle school and high school, juniors always had to give their laundry instead of seniors’.

Even in school, Jinhyung always did my laundry for me.

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of my own laundry.”

Is this person serious? Such a noble character exists! He seemed like an old-fashioned person at first sight, but there was something different about him.

In fact, even before meeting Woo Gwanhyeong in person, the image of Woo Gwanhyeong, or rather Gwannyong senior within me, was a self-centered individual. My father, who was an AT fan, always said so.

Self-centered, lacking leadership, only taking care of their own records. That’s how you describe someone like that. But not willing to ask their junior to do the laundry. Being selected as one of the top 6 adults in the world after Ji Maeng-ho was not enough.

“What? I can do it for you.”

“It’s okay. I’m not sharing a room with you to make you do those things.”

So, Senior Kwanhyung chose me. In these joint training sessions, seniors often pick juniors. I somewhat expected this.

“By the way, I saw you practicing tee-batting today. Who did you learn your swing form from?”

“I researched it on my own.”

I couldn’t tell the truth, so I mixed in a little lie in my answer.

“Well, then, did you decide to use that close stance by yourself?”

“Yes.”

It was a hitting form used by Rosby when he was alive, and since Rosby taught me the grip, I didn’t need to keep an eye on the ball for too long by taking an open stance. So, I adopted the close stance to maximize power.

“Looks like your anticipation is good.”

“Oh, well, I can distinguish between throwing off-speed pitches and fastballs. It’s also good for focusing on power.”

“It’s fortunate that you’re deciding on your own hitting form. Usually, rookies tend to imitate famous players without knowing their own strengths.”

“Oh, I’m different from those guys, so don’t worry.”

“That’s good. Leaving that aside, can I teach you what I want for the next two weeks?”

“Oh, sure. That’s fine.”

Actually, it was a bit annoying because of Rosby, but…

‘I can endure this much since I’m doing the laundry alone, right?’

…If I could go back to those days when I had such misconceptions, I wanted to strangle myself. It had already been a week since the finishing camp started, and Senior Kwanhyung, no, that human Wookwanhyung, kept following me, pointing out every single detail of my training.

What’s even more frustrating is that Rosby didn’t object to Wookwanhyung’s words! So, it wasn’t that Wookwanhyung’s criticisms were wrong. On the contrary, he seemed to like them.

“Huh, there’s someone in this backward country who has that level of hitting theory. It would be good to learn from him.”

“Oh, this guy could succeed as a leader. It was annoying that he pointed out everything to you, but learn well.”

“Clearly, times have changed, haven’t they? There was a theory I didn’t know about.”

“Indeed, it’s good to wake up early and go for a run. How many years has that guy been in the pros? 21 years? Even if he’s a hitter in a primitive league, lasting over 20 years in the pros is remarkable. Learning his self-management methods will be a great asset to you.”

Damn it! Moreover, being cooped up in the dormitory for a week without sex, stress was piling up as much as it could.

Just when I felt like I would explode if someone touched me, a ray of light approached me.

“Hyung, you haven’t done Pilates yet today, right?”

During lunchtime, Hyunseong, a catcher who was drafted together with me from middle school, suddenly asked while eating.

“Why?”

“We had Pilates in the morning. The instructor changed, and she’s damn pretty. What was her name? Yoo Joeun?”

“…Is that so?”

The instructor who used to teach Pilates was the director of the center where Joeun worked. A woman in her early 50s. But now it’s Joeun!

“I felt like I was going to die anyway, so this is good news.”

Joeun was dispatched… And she didn’t even tell me she was coming today.

“I might need to give her some punishment.”

The Pilates class of Infield A was just before the final training session in the afternoon, and I was already starting to put effort into my lower body.