Rural Ace

Episode 7. The Minus (4)

Director Song Moon-jung.
Pitching Coach Seo Tae-seong.
General Manager Jo Woo-jin.
Team Manager Jung Tae-hyun.
Operations Manager Woo Seung-jin.
Scouting Manager Kim Hyun-woo.

Six people gathered in the meeting room, but the loudest voice belonged to Director Song Moon-jung.

“Do you even need me here? Seems like the real director is this guy, Seo Tae-seong.”

He said this, but his expression was bright. It was just a joke.

“Oh no, Director, that’s not true.”

Operations Manager Woo Seung-jin quickly waved his hands. Seo Tae-seong scratched his nose and said,

“If you’re tired from drinking too much yesterday, you can just go rest. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Look at this guy.”

As the new director and the new pitching coach bickered, the new team manager Jung Tae-hyun spoke up.

“It’s good to see you two getting along so well. Haha. Today, we are here to discuss the director’s welcome gift.”

A “welcome gift” for the director meant signing a free agent (FA) player. It was a way of saying, “We brought in an expensive player for you, so now bring us good results.”

Five days after the Korean Series ended, the list of FA players was announced—23 in total. Some of them wouldn’t apply for FA, but those players weren’t the focus anyway.

Jung Tae-hyun had just been promoted from the public relations team to team manager. He followed General Manager Jo Woo-jin’s orders and fully supported Director Song Moon-jung and Pitching Coach Seo Tae-seong.

The Gangwon Miners were often criticized for wasting money every year, but they didn’t care.

So, Team Manager Jung Tae-hyun was planning to bring in the biggest FA stars on the market and impress the new director.

“We are planning to add Park Sung-hoo and Yoon Dae-yoon to our roster.”

He said this with great confidence.

Park Sung-hoo, an outfielder from the Seoul Fighters. (Batting average: .318, 25 home runs, 21 stolen bases)

Yoon Dae-yoon, a left-handed ace from the Seoul Archers. (16 wins, 8 losses, ERA 3.45)

Any director would be thrilled to hear these names. But surprisingly, the director’s reaction was not what they expected.

“Hmm… not bad, but…”

“Sorry? What do you mean?”

Song Moon-jung clicked his tongue and glanced at Seo Tae-seong.

Seo Tae-seong looked away, pretending not to notice.

Song Moon-jung frowned and said,

“One of them is lazy, and the other one is a coward. Coach Seo, do you have better options?”

“Yes. I think Hwang Seong-tae and Kim Jae-beom would be better choices.”

The others were shocked. Only Song Moon-jung and Seo Tae-seong remained calm.

Lazy? Coward? Even though Yoon Dae-yoon had just led his team to a Korean Series victory?

“Hwang Seong-tae and Kim Jae-beom?”

“Yes.”

Unlike the confident Seo Tae-seong, Director Song Moon-jung looked a bit uneasy.

He swallowed his thoughts.

“They’re offering me a BMW, and this guy wants a Daewoo car instead? Seriously?”

—

The Value of Future Knowledge

Knowing the future is extremely valuable.

There were more important things than just predicting how baseball players would perform in a few months or years, but Seo Tae-seong decided to use his knowledge of the future to make baseball more interesting.

So—

“Yea seong, do you remember the FA players from your debut season? List them out for me.”

He asked his son, who had lived through that time.

“FA players? Well… Yoon Dae-yoon only pitched two or three games before getting injured, and Park Sung-hoo… he played well but got caught by the police after fighting with a designated driver and driving himself.”

A complete disaster.

Sure, they might perform better if managed properly, but was it worth the risk?

“What about other teams?”

“Hmm… the biggest success was Kim Young-joo.”

“Kim Young-joo?”

Seo Tae-seong quickly searched for data on his phone.

Kim Young-joo, a first baseman from the Gwangju Vipers.

His current season stats:
(Batting average: .269, 19 home runs, OBP .351)

“Did his performance improve?”

“He hit .340 with 35 home runs, I think.”

“Oh, which team did he go to?”

“Daegu Dragons.”

The Daegu Dragons had finished 5th in the East League and missed the postseason. Their fans were furious.

And signing Kim Young-joo hadn’t satisfied them—at least not before the season started.

“But he’s a first baseman.”

“Yeah.”

“We can’t bring in a first baseman. We already have too many players who need to play 1B or DH. Are there any good players in positions where we actually have a weakness?”

“Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“What about pitchers?”

Pitchers were always valuable.

But the Miners already had two foreign pitchers in the starting rotation and enough FA pitchers from past seasons to fill the rest.

And then there was Seo Yea seong himself.

“We need a starter.”

“Then am I going to the bullpen?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I’m sending all the current starters to the bullpen.”

“What?”

Seo Tae-seong smirked and said,

“If anyone can pitch better than me, they can take a starting spot.”

“…”

“Now, pick one pitcher and one hitter.”

—

That’s How They Chose Hwang Seong-tae and Kim Jae-beom

Hwang Seong-tae, a 30-year-old sidearm pitcher from the Changwon Moonwalkers.

Career ERA: 5.01 (Not great)

Last 2 seasons: 3.76 and 3.32 (Late bloomer, considered a “swingman”)

Kim Jae-beom, a 32-year-old center fielder from the Incheon Flamingos.

Last season: .267 batting average, 11 home runs

His hitting had declined, but his defense was still strong.

…

“Those players…?”

Team Manager Jung Tae-hyun looked at General Manager Jo Woo-jin in shock.

They had planned to bring in the top FA stars as a gift for the director.

Jo Woo-jin adjusted his glasses and thought for a moment.

The owner had said to “give the new director whatever he wants.”

But skipping the biggest FA stars for two B-tier players?

He cleared his throat and asked,

“Director, Coach, have you discussed this thoroughly?”

Song Moon-jung, who had been sitting with his arms crossed, answered,

“This guy says if we don’t sign them, he’ll quit.”

“Oh? Is that true?”

“So I told him to quit.”

“Hahaha…”

“But then he said he wouldn’t quit. Acting like he’s the real director.”

It sounded like a complaint, but he was basically telling them to do what Seo Tae-seong wanted.

Jo Woo-jin carefully spoke.

“So this is not about money. You believe this will bring better results?”

“Of course. Just wait and see.”

Seo Tae-seong was confident.

Jo Woo-jin looked at the team manager and nodded. The owner might not be happy about skipping the biggest FA stars, but since they had hired a star director and coach, he would probably let it slide.

“Alright, we’ll move forward with this plan.”

“Well, if the rotation collapses, I guess he’ll just have to pitch himself.”

Jo Woo-jin smiled and answered,

“I’m looking forward to it.”

—

Winter was long, and even though Geoje Island was in the south, it wasn’t warm. The sea wind was colder than expected.

Training in the cold could cause injuries, but the indoor training center made things easier.

“Make sure to warm up before exercise.”

If your sweaty body cools down too fast, you might catch a cold.

“Keep moving so your body doesn’t get cold.”

So…

“Please stop, you muscle monster!”

“You can’t get a body like this without effort!”

“I don’t want it!”

“You need it!”

“Why? And it’s not even that great!”

“Haha! Your sense of beauty is broken!”

…That’s how intense the training was.

I wanted this, but at this point, I was starting to lose my mind.

One day, I woke up in my sleep and found myself in a lunge position, using my core muscles to stay balanced.

“The boy is finally becoming a man…”

That was Timothy Goldberg’s reaction.

He was a madman. A real madman.

I complained to my dad,

“How can I handle being locked up here, forced to train, and then told to start dating?”

My dad scratched his ear and said,

“If someone is determined, they can do it even in the Arctic.”

That sounded… very old-fashioned.

“You sound like an old man.”

I didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“You’ll understand when you’re older…”

“I’m already a little older.”

“You need to live at least 60 years for your words to have weight.”

Well, what could I say?

Both of us had returned to the past. Because we knew this, our relationship was different.

My relationship with my dad had changed a lot.

My mom was busy even though she wasn’t working in broadcasting anymore. I wondered what she was doing until she sent me a photo a few days ago.

[Mom: (photo)]

It was a picture of her KBO-certified player agent license.

[Mom: You’ll sign with me as your agent, right?]

No matter how many connections you have, nothing is stronger than family, right?

With my dad as the pitching coach and my mom as the agent…

“Well, your mom didn’t even hesitate when I asked her to be my agent…”

“I guess she loves her son more than her husband.”

“…”

…Finally, I won one!

“Timothy!”

“What!”

“He’s not resting! Get him moving!”

“I was waiting for that!”

I wouldn’t lose this petty revenge battle. Even if I felt like passing out from lifting weights!

“Ugh!”

“That’s the sound of your soul getting stronger!”

“That’s the sound of pain!”

“The more you scream, the stronger you get!”

“Aaaaah!”

Most of my training focused on endurance, weightlifting, and core strength. Pitching practice was short, so I concentrated hard on each throw.

I spent the whole winter training.

On Christmas, my dad built a huge Christmas tree in the yard because my mom loved it.

“Wow, this looks like the Rockefeller Center tree. Just a bit smaller.”

“Yeah. My wife loves that tree, so I tried to make one like it.”

His effort was impressive.

We lit up the tree, ate cake, and enjoyed Christmas together. That’s when I learned a secret from my mom.

“Actually, I don’t really like Christmas trees that much.”

“Really? Dad said you did.”

“During the season, we couldn’t spend time together, so I said we should at least have Christmas as a family. He took it too literally.”

Even in a second life, you can’t notice everything.

Note: Dad thinks he knows everything, but he doesn’t.

Another note.

“But his effort is touching, so I’ll pretend to like it.”

My mom smiled. I decided to keep this secret to myself.

On New Year’s Day, we ate tteokbokki (rice cake soup). The Americans were confused by the chewy rice cakes, but they enjoyed the food.

Of course, that didn’t stop Timothy from eating tteokbokki.

He ripped up kimchi, put it on hot dumplings, and burned the roof of his mouth.

“Oh my gosh!”

…Guess he didn’t plan to train his taste buds?

Anyway, I trained that day too.

And the next day.

And the day after that.

Even when my dad and Timothy were away for team business, I kept training.

Then, after some time…

The spring camp roster was announced. My high school catcher, Byung-joo, and I were the only rookies selected for the first-team spring camp.

“Son, I’ve said this many times…”

“If I fail, I’m dead, right?”

“People don’t die that easily. It’s just…”

“I’ll be unemployed, right?”

My dad laughed and said,

“But I don’t think you’ll fail. Still, people might criticize me for favoring my son.”

“Don’t let the hate comments bother you, Dad.”

“I won’t. I’ll just sue them.”

My mom, who was reading a book while listening to us, flipped a page and said smoothly,

“I’ll give you a discount on my legal fees.”

Who knows? Maybe she’ll make more money from lawsuits than my dad’s salary.