episode_0077

The national team’s training was less intense than expected. Everyone was at the top level from the KBA, and the coaches didn’t intervene much. Would it be more intense to say AT’s training was tougher?

“Alright, that’s enough.”

Blowing the whistle, Lee Geum-hyun signaled the end of base running practice.

“Training’s over for today. Now, do your individual workouts or talk to the coaches and staff if you need anything specific to work on. Those who need rest can take a break. You all know what to do, right?”

“Yes!”

“Good, we have practice matches starting tomorrow. Don’t overdo it. Oh, did you all remember what I mentioned this morning? We’re moving our gear to UG’s spring camp, so pack up everything today. No rushing tomorrow. That’s a wrap.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Already practice matches? Before the March WBC, the national team had scheduled games with various clubs to maintain their match readiness. Typically, they would analyze the opponents’ strengths for regular matches, but since these were for maintaining form, there seemed to be no time allocated for such analysis.

“Hey, Gu Jin-mo!”

The team was set to face last year’s champions, UG Overlords, the next day. After training, the players gathered around Gu Jin-mo, UG’s star batter.

“Jin-mo, even though we’re the national team, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if we lose? Can you give us some insights on UG’s pitchers?”

With the national team’s analysts busy studying players from other countries, there was no room for analyzing the upcoming practice match opponents. This lack of preparation was evident now.

“Well, then, what about our season? Shouldn’t we be able to handle it, being part of the national team?”

“You’re hopeless, man.”

“Will you tell us when we face your team, at least?”

“Well, about that…”

“In that case, I’m off to do some weights.”

Cool as a cucumber, Gu Jin-mo casually left to lift weights in response to the players’ questions. How nice would it be if our senior players were that cool?

“Maybe I should take a break?”

As the seniors focused on Gu Jin-mo, I quickly made my way to the rest area.

“Hey, Ji Maeng-ho.”

“Oh, Senior Sang-joo…”

“I was just with Jin-mo earlier… How did I end up here already? Ugh…”

Sang-joo was observant. While Kim Soo-ho from AT seemed uninterested in me, Sang-joo was different. Unlike Gu Jin-mo’s cool demeanor, Sang-joo was more attentive. He seemed overly interested in me, constantly nagging.

What annoyed me the most was that the nagging never seemed to end. We shared a room! Reflecting on the final camp experience, Sang-joo probably arranged for us to share a room… Damn.

“Why are you so interested in juniors? Seems worse than Wu Gwan-hyung. Wu Gwan-hyung rarely spoke unless necessary, but this guy seems to have a motor in his mouth, always talking.”

“Let’s go together. Were you planning to do weights?”

“Uh… Yes. Well, I was thinking about it.”

“By the way, you’re not like the others these days; you’re working hard. I like that.”

“Because you keep watching me. Damn!”

“Oh… thank you.”

I felt awkward smiling and responding to Sang-joo’s words while hiding my true feelings. How did I end up like this after reigning like a king in school until last year?

“I used to enjoy it when juniors filled in the gaps for me…”

“Now it’s payback time.”

“What payback? I helped them build their careers to get into college. They must be grateful to me, right?”

“What are you doing? Zoning out. You seem to do that a lot.”

How much has he been observing me? This stalker…

“Oh, sometimes I just think about baseball suddenly…”

“Oh, that’s nice. I have those moments too sometimes. Oh, you were with SY Agency too? Why didn’t you mention it?”

“Haha, do you really need to go that far? It feels like you’re trying to act all friendly and stuff.”

“You know SY Agency doesn’t just take anyone, right? Kid, I felt it even during Spring Camp; if you work a little harder, you might succeed.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“And how about acting a bit more familiar? When playing baseball, focus on baseball. Relax when you can relax. I understand it’s tough for you to gather on the first day, but I’m not a rigid person like that. Rest when you need to rest, play when you need to play. The rookies seem too relaxed at times. It wasn’t like that in my days.”

“Oh, is that so? I didn’t know…”

“Well, it’s understandable if you’re a rookie.”

The most annoying thing about the nagging was that there was just too much talking. Will it be this talkative once I get to the majors? Choi Jin-cheol didn’t do this…

Moreover, 90% of what was said was about baseball. The remaining 10% was related to baseball.

“…Are you listening? In the Major Leagues, they don’t even do weights during training. If only I had known before entering the majors. The detailed differences in infrastructure between Korea and here make a big impact.”

My head was pounding. Damn, why is the weight training room so far away? The nagging continued until I fell asleep after the weights that day.

*

“Hyung, why do you look so unhappy? It’s just a practice game, are you nervous?”

Nervous my ass. It’s because I couldn’t sleep. Sleep!

“Nervousness, when I won’t even play in the game anyway.”

Furthermore, I had no reason to be nervous at all. Our position within the national team is like a face lady at best. I don’t even get to start, so being nervous would be a waste. The coach did look at me quite favorably during training, but he wouldn’t push aside top players for a rookie like me.

“Well… that’s true. But since it’s practice, I might throw a few balls.”

“Well, I could probably take one turn at bat.”

It’s the 9th inning, so I could probably take one turn at bat, right? I sat on the bench waiting for the seniors to warm up. As the 1st inning passed, the 2nd inning passed, suddenly it was the 9th inning.

During the middle of the game, Jang Woo-joo heard from the pitching coach that he needed a relief pitcher and stuck by my side. Maybe because there were only him and me as rookies on the national team, he seemed to rely on me quite a bit. Annoying.

“Well, it’s not very exciting.”

“Just warming up.”

Thwack!

“Nice!”

“Senior Han Beom! Nice batting!”

“Oh! Kang Han-beom isn’t dead?”

In the top of the 9th, when Kang Han-beom hit a single, the coach called me.

“Mang-ho, ready to pinch-run?”

“Yes!”

Well, it was boring just watching, so this was a relief.

“Do you know who the pitcher on the mound is?”

“Kim Geun-woong?”

“Yeah, he’s one of the best pitchers in our country at holding runners. The coach saw you training yesterday and said you could be a pinch-runner. Let’s see you in action today. Okay?”

“Got it.”

With a significant lead and a loose game, motivation seemed to arise.

“Player change! Pinch-runner Ji Maeng-ho!”

Putting on the running gloves and heading to 1st base, I felt a slight thrill. Except for the internal scrimmage during the closing camp, it had been about 3-4 months since I had played in a real game.

“The feeling of a real game after a long time…”

“What real game, it’s just a practice match.”

“Still, it does feel somewhat like a real game. We didn’t even practice with the second team during the closing camp.”

“That’s true. The level of baseball in this country is too low.”

“After a long time, please tell me the signs. I have to run.”

The coach gave me the green light. The green light holds many meanings, but in baseball, it grants the runner the freedom to steal bases. And I had earned recognition for my fast feet during training.

“Oh, are you the rookie who made it to the national team this time? Lucky you. Getting into the national team at such a young age.”

‘First meeting and he’s already mocking… Look at this guy?’

As I prepared myself to steal a base, UG’s first baseman struck up a conversation. Since UG’s regular first baseman Gu Jinmo is on the national team, this guy is probably the backup.

“Are you trying to show off because you’re young?”

“This guy has some nerve, huh? Didn’t Jinmo hyung tell you anything? You don’t know?”

“No, I don’t know. Can we focus on the game?”

“Wow… This guy is quite amusing.”

“Let’s not use profanity. I’m not that kind of person, you know?”

Since there was no reason to welcome his obvious jealousy, I ignored him and focused on the pitcher’s delivery. He seemed taken aback and stopped talking.

‘The first pitch is a fastball grip.’

Hmm… On the day I came out as a lead runner, will I really challenge him? Being close to 190cm tall, no one ever thought I could be fast judging by my appearance. Due to injuries, I rarely stole bases in high school.

Should I run? I took three steps away from first base. A standard lead. But with enough speed to steal second base even with just three steps…

I caught a glimpse of the pitcher looking at me. Ignoring his gaze, I focused on his right foot. It was hard to distinguish whether he was pitching or trying to pick me off since he had a good pickoff move.

‘Back in high school, it was more obvious…. Is this what it’s like in the pros? Let’s stay put on the first pitch.’

It seemed like I needed to watch the pitch a bit more. I had seen Kang Hanbeom face strong pitchers from the bench, but watching from the field was a different experience.

“Ball.”

The first pitch was a ball. Was the speed around 140 km/h? It wasn’t a difficult speed to steal on. Despite having a good pickoff move, his delivery didn’t seem particularly quick. Hmm… So does he catch many runners because of his good pickoff move despite not having a fast delivery? Maybe that’s why there are more runners attempting steals.

‘Oh, did I actually think about this for once?’

‘Well, I do have baseball instincts, you know.’

‘Haha, surprising.’

Moreover, the UG catcher currently sitting at home plate didn’t seem to have a great throwing arm based on what I’d seen. Should I try to steal on an off-speed pitch as usual?

‘Let’s go for it on the off-speed pitch as usual.’

I waited until Rosby mentioned the off-speed pitch grip. Second pitch, third pitch. The pitcher seemed to completely disregard me since I didn’t make any sudden moves.

‘It’s a curveball.’

‘Okay.’

I took half a step further than my usual lead. But still, the pitcher didn’t seem intent on picking me off.

‘Good thing I stayed put. He’s not even paying attention to me.’

Now, aligning with his familiar pitching form…,

“Second base!”

As the ball left the pitcher’s hand, I sprinted towards second base. Using a headfirst slide, which I wasn’t usually good at, I slid into second base. The tingling sensation on my chest and the feeling of the base under my hand were exhilarating.

“Safe!”

“Phew.”

The second baseman receiving the ball couldn’t even attempt to touch me—a perfect steal. That’s the taste of victory. Looking at the dugout, the coach seemed satisfied, applauding.

Is this a pretty good first impression?

*

“As expected, you’re fast. I thought you might get nervous in a real game, but you boldly attempted the steal. You certainly live up to your reputation. It seems Hyungjin’s praise wasn’t unfounded.”

“I noticed during practice that your physicality is really impressive.”

“After taking a closer look, it seems like he has the courage to be used as a lead runner in actual games.”

In response to the head coach’s words, the national team’s coach, Lee Geum-hyun, nodded. Even in the eyes of Lee Geum-hyun, who had been coaching since the 90s, Ji Maeng-ho had a corner that didn’t seem like that of a rookie. Especially his performance during training was so appealing that it made Lee Geum-hyun want to put Park Cheol-young as a candidate and select Ji Maeng-ho.

“Jang Hoon, what do you think?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard from the others, it doesn’t seem like his style is aggressive.”

“Sigh… This is really a dilemma…”

Thud!

Even as the game between the national team and UG Over Roses continued, Lee Geum-hyun’s dilemma showed no signs of stopping.

“Jang Hoon, how does he compare to Cheol-young?”

Lee Geum-hyun whispered to the assistant coach, Lee Jang-hoon, in a voice too low for the players to hear.

“Compared to Cheol-young? No matter what, they’re on different levels.”

“That’s true.”

Did I go too far? Lee Geum-hyun nodded in response to the assistant coach’s words.

The current second baseman of the national team, Park Cheol-young, had won the second base Golden Glove for three consecutive years from 2019 after playing full-time, and he was a hitter with a batting average over .300, winning the stolen base title in 2020 and 2021. While Ji Maeng-ho was good, comparing him to Park Cheol-young felt almost disrespectful to Park Cheol-young.

“But there’s something strangely captivating about Ji Maeng-ho. His performance during training is also impressive.”

After Ji Maeng-ho successfully stole a base and returned home, the inning ended. And until the practice game with UG concluded, the dilemma of Lee Geum-hyun, the coach of the national team, persisted.

——————————————————————–

Park Cheol-young, right-handed pitcher and left-handed batter, second baseman.

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