Cheat Hitter Eats It All 204

Chapter 204 – Episode 202. Second National Team Selection.

-May MVP, Ji Maeng-ho Award! 2 losses in a row since April.
… Maeng-Ho Ji, who posted 0.409/0.547/0.943/1.490 during the month of May, was once again awarded the Monthly MVP. During this period, Maeng-Ho Ji entered 117 plate appearances, recording 36 hits, 11 home runs, 25 runs scored, 34 RBIs and 11 stolen bases…
ㄴHonestly, I thought it was a fluke for a month, but I have no choice but to admit it. Ji Maeng-ho is not at the KBA level.
Are you again…
The scary thing is that this is a bit lower than April.
ㄴAre we going to have an MVP now? Looking at Ji Maeng-ho’s face, he seems ready to eat Joo Hyung-jin haha
Is this kid crazy? I’m comparing two months glitter and Joo Hyeong-jin.

-Wow, honestly, in my 20 years of baseball, I’ve never seen a kid like Ji Maeng-ho. This chick is real
B frame.
ㄴSeeing that he’s alive, he doesn’t seem to be a fan of Charlotte, AT, or Volcano.

– Ji Maeng-ho, if you have your current home run pace, you can hit 70?
Replying to @Atlantic So roughly one in every two games?

-On the way home from work after baseball, a cut with Ji Maeng-ho^^
ㄴ Wow, Maengho Ji doesn’t take pictures well, but did you take pictures?
No, you are kind.
ㄴI’m working hard on my beauty today too. It’s so pretty.

-I saw it on Stargram today, and Ji Maeng-ho took a picture for a female fan.
Blah? Did I just get your autograph?
ㄴYou can take pictures, refrain from swearing
ㄴBut honestly, isn’t it a fact that when you meet a male fan of this guy, your expression gets rotten? He laughed so hard at the female fans.
ㄴ Then shit, do you feel good when a boy clings to you?
ㄴㄴIt’s a fact, but to be honest, if you do it like now, even if you slap a child on the cheek, you’ll suck Ji Maeng-ho.
Nope. If you do it like now, it will shield everything if it is not a crime.

-Wow, but this episode was a bit fun.
ㄴㅇㅇ If it’s 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, I hit the average, and I’m tired of Ji Maeng-ho and Kang Han-beom’s class haha

– Looking at Ji Maeng-ho’s grades these days, it reminds me of Joo Hyung-jin’s heyday. What did you guys do?
Calling Joo Hyung-jin is a bit…
ㄴBut looking at the force these days, I think he’s similar to Hyungjin Joo.
What’s the similarity, honestly, I don’t think there is a player who can beat Ji Maeng-ho in two months’ performance.
ㄴ AT fans are so proud of their own team that they can’t stop it.
Is Ji Maeng-ho just a promising player? I’m destroying the league.
ㄴStill, you can tell how well our Maengho is doing by seeing him compared to Hyungjin Joo.

*

“… There is a lot of public opinion. It’s been two months since their debut, and seeing that Hyung-Jin Joo has already been brought in, it must be a great blessing for Korean baseball, right?”

“Haha, that’s right. Maengho will be a great blessing for Korean baseball.”

“Ji Maeng-ho… Does the director look pretty good? Seeing you say that.”

“You’re right. Governor.”

The 7th match of the season between JT Gold Eyes and AT Thunders in Suwon. In the VIP lounge, the famous general who led the WBC to runner-up, Lee Geum-hyun, and the president of the KBA league were sitting.

The reason the two came to watch this match was to confirm the national team list for the Asian Games. Of course, the rough outline of the national team was decided, but there were some positions that had not been selected yet, and the candidates were in this stadium.

“Certainly, there is no player under the age of 25 that stands out as much as Ji Maeng-ho, right?”

“If you look at the entire league, not just the under-25s, probably none. Because Ji Maeng-ho is better than any player I have ever seen. Wasn’t it Ji Maeng-ho who did his part against the best players in the major leagues? Haha.”

However, one of the candidates was not Ji Maeng-ho. When making the list for the Asian Games, Ji Maeng-ho was the first player Lee Keum-hyun put in the lineup.

“It is. JT’s Koo Seung-hyun is also a good player, but Ji Maeng-ho is no good.”

Koo Seung-hyeon, a young pitcher who caught the eye of manager Lee Geum-hyeon and the president, was also one of the candidates, but looking at him against Ji Maeng-ho, he looked infinitely shabby.

Ta-evil!

“Did you pass?”

“It’s gone.”

Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball against Koo Seung-hyun went over the Suwon fence. A batted ball that gives you an intuition that it is a home run from the moment it hits.

“Director, what will Koo Seung-hyun do?”

“Well. It’s ambiguous. I was going to take a last look and decide for myself, but this side of it is…”

In response to the president’s question, director Lee Geum-hyeon’s concerns deepened. Originally, he was thinking of selecting Koo Seung-hyun, who is playing Pilseung’s group at JT Gold Eyes at a young age, but seeing Koo Seung-hyun’s appearance against Ji Maeng-ho, I thought that he was not young.

“But isn’t your opponent Ji Maeng-ho?”

At that time, the president pushed for the selection of Seung-hyun Koo for the national team in a calm tone.

“That’s right.”

“Um, there are unfilled members per team, so shouldn’t we do some distribution? JT was secretly pushing Koo Seung-hyun…”

Of course, the president did not push for the selection of Koo Seung-hyun for personal gain. I didn’t say it openly for each team, but there were players who pushed to the national team from the team, and all of them were players with skills that would not cause any problems even if they were selected for the national team.

“… All right.”

‘Well, if it’s Ji Maeng-ho now, he’s a hitter who can’t guarantee a match even if Seong-hyeon comes.’

Lee Geum-hyeon also knew that Koo Seung-hyun was a player with the skills to be selected for the national team, so he nodded at the president’s words, but he couldn’t help but feel sorry when he saw Ji Maeng-ho and other pitchers.

‘Still, if Ji Maeng-ho holds the center of the team, it’s about the Asian Games…’

“By the way, Maeng-Ho Ji, are you okay?”

“Yes?”

What do you mean okay? Director Lee Geum-hyeon was slightly taken aback by the sudden question from the president.

“Ji Maeng-ho… Your skills are certain, but don’t you have some gossip? Maybe the director’s style…”

However, the governor’s concerns were natural. It was because even if Lee Geum-hyun said something nice about Ji Maeng-ho, he wasn’t sure if it was sincere.

Lee Geum-hyeon, an elder in the Korean baseball world, won numerous championships as a professional team manager and led the revival of Korean baseball as a national team manager. In particular, his record of winning the 2008 Beijing Olympics and runner-up at the 2023 WBC was an immortal record in the history of the Korean baseball team.

However, as much as he has been a manager for a long time, he is also a bit of a traditional style manager. In order to make up for the failure of the Tokyo Olympics, the president brought back coach Lee Geum-hyun, but Ji Maeng-ho and coach Lee Keum-hyun with a freewheeling style. In a way, it was a relationship that could be seen as water and oil.

… Thought the governor.

“Excessive ceremony. A controversial interview. Maybe it doesn’t match the director’s style? The odds of getting into an accident in the future are a bit high.”

And in reality, there were many elders in the baseball world who did not like Ji Maeng-ho. Most of the people in the baseball world who strongly criticized Ji Maeng-ho during the sniper ceremony incident were elders in the baseball world. Moreover, looking at Ji Maeng-ho’s actions so far, it wouldn’t be strange even if he caused a bigger incident.

‘And if that happens…’

If Ji Maeng-ho is excluded from the national team due to coach Lee Geum-hyun’s decision, who was not able to see Ji Maeng-ho… There was a possibility that all the governor’s plans would go awry.

Although he is a fan of the future Buffaloes, the governor was a man who loved Korean baseball too much and devoted his life to baseball before that. There were quite a few things the president planned for Korean baseball, which was gradually losing popularity. Starting from reducing the year of FA, and other things like adjusting the posting period.

In order to implement such a plan, the performance of young players like Ji Maeng-ho was important. Because the popularity of Korean baseball only increased when players with star qualities like Ji Maeng-ho played an active part in the national team.

Korean baseball was in need of a star now. The three next-generation stars selected by the governor. It was Joo Seung-cheol, the son of a hero, Ji Maeng-ho, a monster rookie, and Jang Woo-joo, who threw 100 miles of dreams. The WBC made a mark on the public, and now only the Asian Games remain.

In fact, although Ji Maeng-ho was caught up in various gossips, from the president’s point of view, such controversy also raised the topic of baseball, so he felt good inside.

‘As long as they don’t commit crimes, we have to protect players like Maeng-Ho Ji…’

With a slightly trembling heart, the president waited for Director Lee Geum-hyun’s answer.

“… So, are you worried that I might drop Ji Maeng-ho? What else do I say?”

“Then… ?”

“Which coach in the world would cut out a player like Maeng-Ho Ji just because he didn’t care. Haha.”

Contrary to the president’s concerns, Lee Geum-hyeon answered the president’s question with a bright smile. Contrary to the president’s worries, director Lee Geum-hyeon’s one pick was already Ji Maeng-ho.

In fact, director Lee Geum-hyeon never hated Ji Maeng-ho. It was coach Lee Geum-hyeon himself who finally approved Maeng-ho Ji’s promotion to the national team.

A rookie player who had not even debuted as a professional was active on the big stage of the WBC and proved his discernment, so he raised the team to the finals by performing a so-called ‘hard carry’ in the match against Japan in the semifinals of the WBC, where fate was at stake. Well, even if I put it in my eyes, it wouldn’t hurt.

“Rather, this is just what I would like to ask the President. It was to prevent Ji Maeng-ho from being broken by things outside of baseball. Ji Maeng-ho, a name that will become a treasure of Korean baseball.”

“The director and I have a connection.”

The moment the elders of the two baseball worlds confirmed their feelings for each other, white stars embroidered the night sky at Suwon Stadium.

Ta-evil!

Ji Maeng-ho’s batted ball flew through the night sky again and disappeared over the fence.

“… Perhaps, with Ji Maeng-ho, winning an Olympic gold medal again would be a dream.”

Coach Lee Geum-hyun’s contract with the national team runs until the 2024 Los Angeles Olympics. Manager Lee Geum-hyun was already nervous about what Ji Maeng-ho, who had accumulated experience in the pro league for a year, would show.

*

– Ji Maeng-ho selected for the Asian Games!
… AT Thunders’ Ji Maeng-ho, who has been playing a big role recently, has been selected for the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games baseball national team. The members of the national team selected for the Asian Games include Ji Maeng-ho, who has been playing a big role recently, Joo Seung-cheol of the Hancheol Grizzlies, Jang Woo-joo of the Future Buffaloes, and Kim Won-ho of the Shilla Triggers, all of whom are shining in the KBA League. There is. Also, as a wild card…

‘Oh, Kim Won-ho was also selected? After all, he was a good guy even in high school.’

When I saw the Asian Games article, I thought that I would like to meet and play with Wonho after a long time. At that time, since he played at the club, the time wasn’t right, so I didn’t see him well.

“Do you want to go see Wonho after a long time too?”

“Wonho? Why all of a sudden?”

“I just remembered it when I saw an article on the national team.”

“Oh, the national team again? Well, I heard you’re pretty good these days.”

“Of course. Hey, but are you going to Hangzhou too?”

“Me? Of course go I was the Rookie of the Year last season. I am Choi Hyun-ah.”

Hyuna is also going to Hangzhou. The Asian Games are already starting to look forward to.