Rural Ace

Chapter 10. Spring Ghost (3)

“Seo Tae-seong really raised his son well, huh?”

During the morning meeting, Director Song Moon-jung spoke. Seo Tae-seong smiled and replied.

“He grew up on his own.”

“I know you love your son, but aren’t you praising him too much?”

“I only helped him a little after he came back from America. It was just for a few months.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, really. After my son and wife started living together in Korea, I haven’t even trained with him.”

Director Song Moon-jung’s eyes turned sharp for a moment. Then he returned to his usual sly expression and scoffed.

“Blood cannot be denied. Well, that kind of speed doesn’t come just from training.”

They continued talking about various players. Veteran pitcher Jung Han-seung was struggling, sidearm bullpen pitcher Yuk Kang-oh’s knee was worse than expected, and second baseman Woo Hyun-geun was well-prepared.

“How are the injured players?”

Last year, the Miners had a good start to the season. Some experts even cautiously talked about escaping from the bottom rankings. But by mid-season, the bullpen collapsed.

The starting pitchers—Jung Han-seung, Jo Sung-kyu, and Bang Min-soo—could not last long in games, and the middle relievers were exhausted.

The closer, Kim Hyung-seok, had a torn rotator cuff and was even considering retirement.

The setup man, Lee Seok-jun, who had Tommy John surgery last season, was still far from returning.

Director Song smacked his lips and asked.

“Pitching coach, do you have a bullpen plan?”

“I’m thinking of moving Han-seung, Sung-kyu, and Min-soo to the bullpen.”

Some coaches’ faces stiffened at this statement.

Jung Han-seung, Jo Sung-kyu, and Bang Min-soo.

They were all veteran pitchers signed as free agents. The current director and general manager were not the ones who brought them in, but they were still valuable players.

“Any other opinions?”

Director Song looked around. Jeon Eun-soo, the performance analyst, carefully spoke.

“It could be ideal to move those three to the bullpen. However…”

“However?”

“If we do that, the starting rotation will be….”

The two foreign pitchers were fixed in the starting lineup. But there was no reliable domestic starter.

The director regretted not stopping Seo Tae-seong when he suggested bringing in Hwang Seung-tae instead of Yoon Dae-yoon.

“Pitching coach, do you have a plan?”

“We brought Hwang Seung-tae to be a starting pitcher.”

“And?”

“The rest will compete for spots.”

“Compete?”

“Yes.”

“Competition sounds nice, but you know what happens when you don’t have good players, right?”

Director Song looked dissatisfied.

Professional teams should have competition. But competition only works when there are good players.

“You say competition, but if there are no decent pitchers, the whole year will be a disaster. You’ll keep switching pitchers, pulling up guys from the second team with a 5.00 ERA, and barely making it through each day.”

Seo Tae-seong smiled at the valid criticism.

He had been away from KBO for a long time, but he had confidence in something.

“Why are you grinning?”

—

My father didn’t just ask me about free-agent players.

He asked about the whole Miners team.

Especially about the pitchers.

“Kim Joon-seo will learn to be a cutter and become a 30-save closer. Lee In-gi will develop multiple breaking balls and be a reliable bullpen pitcher.”

“Yes. But Kim Joon-seo succeeded after moving to another team.”

The two players, both 23 years old, were classic examples of promising pitchers who didn’t develop properly in the Miners.

What I was saying was their future.

“We need to find a way to improve Lee In-gi.”

My father took notes seriously.

He also asked about other young pitchers.

“Is Gu Hyun-im hopeless?”

I answered yes.

He was drafted first two years before me.

His fastest pitch was 156 km/h.

But his control was terrible.

Still, he was given chances because of his height (190 cm) and his powerful fastball.

At one point, people called him the “Right-Handed Seo Ye-seong.”

And I was called the “Left-Handed Gu Hyun-im.”

Unlike him, I managed to prove myself later.

That guy trained for one or two years after I joined, but then he caught a “celebrity disease” and stopped focusing on baseball.

“Lee In-gi will need more time…”

He needed intense weight training and a complete pitching form overhaul.

“Park Tae-gi, hmm. He just needs one good breaking ball, right? But why couldn’t the previous pitching coaches help him?”

“Not just the last one, but even the coach before him couldn’t.”

He needed a sharp breaking ball, but his hand control was weak.

“And Song Tae-guk… Why is the best pitcher in the team the one who’s in the military?”

He was good enough for the first team but was currently serving in the military.

“Ah.”

My father frowned and mumbled.

“Maybe I should just pitch myself.”

That might actually be a good idea…?

—

The training workload kept increasing.

I was prepared, so it was fine for me, but the Miners’ usual spring camp was much easier than this.

“I understand that veterans take longer to get in shape. But.”

My father, now acting as the pitching coach, gathered the pitchers and warned them.

“If you are in worse shape than a retired player like me, isn’t that a problem?”

His expression was full of disapproval. Most pitchers had come to camp unprepared, and he was angry.

From my experience, players who prepared well in the offseason performed well in the season.

Players who thought they would improve during spring camp were just hoping for a miracle.

“Bang Min-soo.”

“…Yes.”

“Pack your bags.”

The entire pitching group froze.

He was being tough on Bang Min-soo.

He had been signed as a free agent from the Gwangju Vipers for 7 billion won.

Once, he was a left-handed fireballer for the national team.

Now, he was a 120kg pitcher who got lazy after earning big money.

This drastic action had a big impact.

My father sent Bang Min-soo back to Korea, telling him not to return until he lost weight.

I later heard something funny about it.

“He said he’d rather go to the military?”

“Really?”

“He begged me to go easy on him, so I told him I didn’t know much about the military. I just sent him back to Korea.”

After that, the pitchers started training harder.

Even Jo Sung-kyu, another free-agent pitcher, suddenly became serious.

Rumor had it that he and Bang Min-soo had planned to resist together, but now he was left alone.

And two position players were also sent away.

“If you’re going to drink in secret, don’t get caught. Be smart about it.”

Two players got caught drinking at 3 AM.

Normally, small drinking incidents were ignored.

But they got caught by the strictest coach.

“You need a million more ground balls before you improve.”

One infielder kept making mistakes and was sent away.

A total of four players were gone.

A star free-agent pitcher.

A starting left fielder.

A backup infielder.

A promising young infielder.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

“Damn, I didn’t think Min-soo and Byung-chan would both get cut.”

The veteran players felt the pressure.

“Now there are openings in the outfield.”

“This might be my chance to start.”

The younger players saw an opportunity.

In this team, younger players rarely got chances because of free-agent signings.

But now, things are different.

“Hey, Ye-seong.”

Byung-chan , who had lost about 5 kg and looked ragged, approached me.

“What?”

“Heard any rumors?”

He lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. Byung-chan is naturally sociable and always has the latest gossip.

“No, have you?”

“Hmm. Can I trust you with this?”

If you say yes, Byung-chan spills everything.

A veteran brought his girlfriend to the dorm and got caught by the head coach. A young pitcher from last year’s minors is addicted to online gambling…

“You know Terry, right? Poor guy.”

Terry, a tall pitcher with a good fastball. Byung-chan rambled on.

“He made it to the pros, but some seniors really give him a hard time for not acting like a proper junior.”

Byung-chan, of course, is the perfect junior.

“The minor league pitching coach didn’t even look at him last year.”

Not to defend him, but communication was impossible.

“But he worked his ass off alone and made it to the spring training roster. Man, it almost made me cry.”

Byung-chan kept talking while watching my reaction. I sighed and replied, “Don’t worry.”

“Really?”

My short answer implied, “My father likes that pitcher,” and Byung-chan understood immediately.

“A left-handed fireballer like that, and the previous coach just left him to rot.”
“Right?”

From what I know, the previous coach failed to control the team and had little influence. Communication with the minors was nonexistent.

“So stop worrying about others and focus on yourself.”

“Can I ask you a favor?”

“A favor?”

Byung-chan is destined to be a star catcher, not just in the KBO but for Korea.

Yet, his attitude hasn’t changed. He’s always helped me, even when I was a mess. If it’s a reasonable request, I’ll do it.

“Teach me some English.”

“English? Why?”

“I saw you talking to the foreign players in English. I forgot you lived in the U.S.”

“So why?”

Byung-chan answered confidently, “If I can speak English, it’ll be easier to communicate with the foreign pitchers!”

That’s true.

The Minus league’s backup catchers aren’t great, and being able to communicate with foreign pitchers would be a big advantage.

“And I can talk to Terry better.”

This kind-hearted guy.

“Alright.”

“Really?”

“I can’t imagine you speaking English, but…”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“I can’t believe you said okay.”

“You asked for a favor, and now you’re complaining?”

Byung-chan muttered with a puzzled look.

“I mean, Seo Yae-seong agreeing to help someone…”

What kind of person did he think I was?

“Anyway, thanks! I’ll head out first!”

“Where to?”

Byung-chan, looking sad and ragged but with defined muscles, especially in his lower body…

“The strength coach is a madman…”

“Ah.”

“I have to go work on my legs…”

I know all about that. Work hard. It’ll pay off, even if it feels like death.