Chapter 625 – Episode 612. Is This a Team? (1)
“Right…, Us too?”
The person who had difficulty responding to Ji Maeng-ho’s voice was Jang Yoon, who is in charge of the pitching team. Even if they were on the same team, the batter and pitcher were originally in a relationship where they respected each other’s territory, like a non-aggression pact in martial arts novels.
In some teams, the batter and pitcher do not talk to each other except about what is necessary.
In a way, it was natural for batters and pitchers to be separated like that. Even on one team, except the catcher, the batter and pitcher receive separate training and have separate strength analysis meetings. Moreover, even if a company dinner was held, unless it was a large event such as an end-of-year dinner or an early-year dinner, the batter and pitcher would not get involved.
Moreover, the atmosphere got worse the further down the team went. No matter how well a batter pitched, he couldn’t win if the pitcher gave up points, and no matter how good a pitcher pitched, he couldn’t win if the batter couldn’t hit. Losing in a baseball game meant accumulating such imbalances, and the a more team lost, the worse the relationship between the batter and the pitcher.
At least the AT Thunders were the team that dominated the league for the past three years and were winning based on a powerful batting lineup, so the relationship between the two wasn’t that bad, but still, the batter forces the pitcher together? Also, a batsman who is in his 4th year of being so young?
Because it was an unprecedented event, Jang Yoon stammered and asked Ji Maeng-ho, who was showing signs of killing someone.
“… Aren’t pitchers on one team?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I just want to talk lightly. Lightly.”
A heavy tone of voice, as opposed to a light tone. AT’s players were quite embarrassed by Ji Maeng-ho’s serious appearance after the game, as it was almost their first time seeing him look serious. It was especially embarrassing for a 4-year player to tell his seniors to come and go.
Although Ji Maeng-ho often showed a thoughtless or hot-tempered side, Ji Maeng-ho showed a somewhat polite side to his seniors, so his current appearance was embarrassing and unfamiliar.
And as unfamiliar as it was, it had a sense of weight.
But anyway, Ji Maeng-ho was a 4-year player, and the most senior player on the team was Choi Jin-cheol, a 40-year-old captain and 21-year professional. No matter how ferocious Ji Maeng-ho’s spirit was and how heavy his words were, he couldn’t help but listen to Choi Jin-cheol’s opinion.
“Yes, Meng Hao is right. We need to talk now. For the team to bounce back. “Don’t be mean to Meng Hao for saying something like this. Let’s talk.”
“Well, then, let’s have an entire company dinner…” .”
“Senior. If you lose like this, will you still be able to eat? “Why don’t we go into the locker room and talk right away?”
“… Let’s do as Meng Hao says.”
And Choi Jin-cheol was now on Ji Maeng-ho’s side.
In some ways, to Choi Jin-cheol, Ji Maeng-ho was something he could only imagine as a child.
Choi Jin-cheol, who debuted as a third baseman for the AT Thunders, entered his professional career with the title of a slugging infield prospect like Ji Maeng-ho. When Choi Jin-cheol was young, the AT Thunders was a dream club for those who played baseball near Seoul, and Choi Jin-cheol also joined with the dream of winning AT.
However, in the midst of his sluggish performance, he was eventually traded to the Future Buffaloes, and in the process of returning to the AT, he achieved most of his dreams, including becoming the home run king, 50 home runs, and advancing to the majors, but was unable to see his home team win a championship.
However, after much deliberation, the season in which he decided to return to his former team to fulfill his final unfulfilled dream, the debut player won the season and Korean Series MVP and led the team he loved as a child to victory.
Ji Meng-ho was something he had always imagined. The team won, the Olympics won, the WBC won. He is the kind of person who makes his dreams come true.
In the process, Choi Jin-cheol was happy to see Ji Maeng-ho growing day by day, giving him advice based on his failed experiences.
Although he did not express it in words, to Choi Jin-cheol, Ji Maeng-ho was no different from his childhood self.
At that time, Choi Jin-cheol collapsed under the pressure, but Ji Maeng-ho, unlike himself, overcame the pressure and led the team to the championship and became the best hitter in Korea.
And now, Ji Maeng-ho was speaking out in front of numerous seniors in order to improve the team’s performance. At that time, he didn’t have the courage to say it directly, so he just imagined it.
Choi Jin-cheol wanted to give strength to his young junior, or rather, to his younger self, who was making it a reality.
“Like Meng Hao said, we need to talk. “I think everyone felt it in today’s game.”
When Choi Jin-cheol, the team’s most senior member and captain, took Ji Maeng-ho’s side, the players had no choice but to follow Ji Maeng-ho to the locker room without saying a word. Seniors, pitchers, and even mercenaries who could not understand Korean walked to the locker room, drawn by the atmosphere.
… And the veteran catcher who joined AT this season.
‘Fuck, the atmosphere is so bloody. Isn’t this kid now 4 years old? Why does Jincheol listen to his brother and other kids Ji Mengho? It looks familiar… Could it be that he called me like this every time he went on a losing streak? Yeah, it was something like that. The team wins its 100th game because this psycho bastard throws a tantrum every time they lose in a row. There was a reason why AT was doing so well.’
Baek Kyung-ho, who was recruited by AT Thunders this season, was embarrassed by the unprecedented situation, but he could not say no in this situation. And on the other hand, he felt like he had finally become a member of AT.
Not only did I transfer this season, but calling my older self to this position was the same as acknowledging him as a member of the team.
‘Probably, every time you lost in a row, you would call the kids under you and hit them, right? That didn’t work, so I collected them all. … Hehe, but I’m old, so you won’t hit me too, right? Well, if Jincheol hyung had hit the mark at our age, there would be no reason for him to say something like that. Well then, great. I should also add a word. ‘I need to tell the pitchers what I’m dissatisfied with.’
As Baek Kyung-ho’s absurd imagination was coming to an end, the players arrived in the locker room and took their seats with Ji Maeng-ho at the center. With more than twenty players gathered in the locker room, there was a strong smell of sweat, but no one had any thoughts of complaining and was waiting for Ji Maeng-ho to open his mouth.
And in that solemn atmosphere, Ji Maeng-ho’s mouth opened.
“Is this a team? Yes? Does it make sense to lose a game like today? It’s Children’s Day, and I had a great cycling hit. Does it make sense to lose on a day like this?”
“That is…”
Someone tried to make an excuse for Ji Meng-hao’s words, but Ji Meng-hao did not listen to such excuses and continued his words.
“Pitchers, shouldn’t you cherish every single run? Yes? Don’t we get upset on days like this because the batters give us one point each, thinking they will give us a point? Let’s do it with some responsibility. And the batters are the same. No shit, does it make sense that I made almost 5 points by myself, but the others can only make about 3 points? Is this a team? Uh? “Am I playing baseball alone?”
As he spoke more and more, he began to use profanity and informal language, perhaps because he was angry, but none of the players in the locker room could refute the words. Because it was true.
If the person who said this wasn’t Ji Meng-ho, it would have been something that would be rebutted no matter how true it was. There are rebuttals like this, from a young bastard to being cheap and all sorts of things. However, the person who spoke was Ji Maeng-ho, the best batsman in Korea.
By recording a batting average of .400 for three consecutive years, which had never been seen since the first year, they not only broke the history of the KBA League in terms of various batting records, but also achieved great results and won against national teams lined up in major leagues such as the United States, Dominica, and Japan. Ji Maeng-ho proved his skills.
From anyone’s perspective, it was a cocky remark for a young player to make, but since the person who said it was Ji Maeng-ho, his words were filled with authority.
“Let’s just do the basics. Just the basics! I’ve been thinking about it, but we’re still acting too much like a winning team. In reality, they are the 9th ranked team. Honestly, it sucks when a junior says something like this, right? But I would be like this if I was so frustrated. Everyone wants to win. How many times does it end after you win? Am I the only one who wants to do well right now?”
“…”
“When training, is it just regular training and that’s it? Your team is in 9th place? On Children’s Day, I was beaten by a rival team, even the 10th place team? If not, you have to train harder. These days, is there anyone who comes out early in the morning to train or stays and trains after the game?”
‘Well, I’ve been a bit lazy these days… Maybe it’s because I won so many championships, but the passion I used to have is gone.’
‘It may not be cheesy, but it’s true…’
‘Without guidance… Well, it’s okay if you hit a fierce tiger level, but…’
Although Ji Maeng-ho’s words were in principle, it was a story that almost everyone sympathized with, so the players nodded and listened to Ji Maeng-ho.
‘What, you just say it and it’s over? Normally, if you set the tone like this, don’t you have to throw in a few juniors and do that?’
… Although there were some people who were slightly disappointed when things did not happen as expected. Anyway, when the atmosphere was forming that the gathering would end with such a general discussion, Ji Maeng-ho’s mouth exploded with another bombshell.
“Senior Jincheol. “Senior, let’s go down to the second division and come back.”
“… Huh?”
The batter Ji Maeng-ho’s bomb was aimed at was Choi Jin-cheol, the team’s captain. Even manager Lee Soo-hyun knows the power that Choi Jin-cheol possesses, so even if he performs poorly, he is a hitter who cannot be removed from the lineup.
Who is Choi Jin-cheol?
After being traded to the Future Buffaloes in 2013, he was the league’s most impactful hitter at the time, winning three home runs and hitting 50 or more home runs for two consecutive years. He hit 20 home runs in one season in the major league, and after returning to the KBA, he once again became the home run king, following in the footsteps of Joo Hyung-jin before Ji Maeng-ho.
In addition, since returning to the AT, he has won three championships, hitting 44-38-22 home runs, and has always been the second-leading hitter in home runs on the team. If it weren’t for Ji Maeng-ho, AT’s main gun could have added to his career as the home run champion.
Of course, he is old now, and his performance was not good, but considering Choi Jin-cheol’s name value, potential for rebound, and position as captain of the team, no one could tell him to go down to the second team to his face.
… Except for Ji Maeng-ho.
“Sir, I’m putting in too much effort right now. “I hit a home run today, but having a senior here now doesn’t help the team.”
“… Huh.”
Someone took a breath at those direct words,
“… Is it that much?”
Choi Jin-cheol nodded his head. When he was a rookie, Ji Maeng-ho was a hitter he gave advice to, but in fact, even back then, he only gave advice on the mental aspect, and Ji Maeng-ho was a technically complete hitter. And Ji Maeng-ho developed every year, creating a sense of awe.
If it were someone other than Ji Maeng-ho, even if he was a coach, Choi Jin-cheol would certainly not have acknowledged those words. Even though he was a coach, he wasn’t a better hitter than he was. Because the essence he had accumulated over 20 years was contained in his batting.
But Ji Maeng-ho was different. He is such a batsman that it is safe to say that he is the sky above the sky. Choi Jin-cheol’s heart is shaken when such a batter gives him this advice despite the vast age difference.
“Yes. Senpai, I’m putting in too much effort right now. A lighter touch is enough. “Senior, didn’t you try to hit me harder because of your age?”
“… Yes, I know it well. “Because my quickness was low, I practiced with direction to cover with strength.”
“But, you still have enough strength. Hit it lighter.”
After hearing this advice from Ji Meng-ho, he felt at ease. Ji Meng-ho’s words gave Choi Jin-cheol, who had a vague sense that something was wrong, but lacked the courage to admit it, the courage to go back.
“But, in District 2.”
However, it was also cold.
“…”
“The first team is not a place for practice. It’s a winning place. Please make some adjustments in District 2. “Once you get your swing in order, let the senior come up then.”
