Countryside Ace

Chapter 15 : mama (2)

mama (2)

The exhibition games were approaching. Each of the 12 teams made their predictions and set fans' hearts aflutter.

Of course, the fans' attitudes varied.

Some shouted, "This season too!" while others cried, "This season will be different!" and there were those who gritted their teeth and muttered, "Are you still watching baseball?"

[Now that Park Seong-hoo is here, it's the perfect time for the King Busan Stars to win.]

└ This is what happens when people say it's the perfect time for the Last Place Stars to win—never happened.

└ LMAO, what kind of team thinks signing an FA corner outfielder will make them win the championship when their real problems are pitching and defense?

Busan's fans, whose team was a major player in the FA market but underperformed last season, were burning up with hopium.

The Gangwon Miners' message board, however, had a slightly different vibe.

[Can a coach play as a player? If we're short on pitchers, just put Seo Tae-seung on the mound, lMAO]

[Jaebeom-hyung, are you happy here?ㅠㅠ]

[Hwang Seung-tae, that son of a bitch]

[Hey, when did our head coach change to Song Moon-jung???]

[Is Seo Tae-seung's son's fastball really that good??]

Fans from the other 11 teams, except the Gangwon Miners, actually had a bit of a soft spot for the Miners.

They took care of players at the end of their careers, made sure they left with a retirement bonus, and even let them win when they faced them again—what's not to like about that?

But the team itself wasn't all that popular.

They had poor results, and although the entire Gangwon province was their home ground, geographic issues made it hard for fans to attend games.

Even so, the Miners took their PR pretty seriously.

They'd hold Seo Tae-seung autograph sessions at their first home exhibition game, or sell Seo Tae-seung commemorative jerseys, and so on.

[If you didn't know better, you'd think Seo Tae-seung would play as a player]

└ If you beg hard enough, maybe he'll pitch one game?

└ As if, lMAOOOOO

└ Am I the only one looking forward to Seo Tae-seung's son?

└ A high school rookie is just a high school rookie

└ Honestly looks overhyped. If he weren't Seo Tae-seung's son, he'd be a third-rounder at best

└ You think a lefty over 150km/h is just some high school kid?

└ Realistically it's a two-pitch arsenal, so he'll need a circle change or something to get righties out

└ If he'd gone to another team he might have been a star, too bad the Miners ruin so many prospects

└ Still, isn't it because Seo Tae-seung wanted to take care of his son that he became pitching coach? I'm looking forward to it

The Gangwon Miners were in the East Sea League alongside the Seoul Kangaroos, busan Stars, Incheon Flamingos, Daegu Dragons, and Suwon Castlers.

Each of these five teams had its own flair and was fighting for post-season baseball, with the Miners lagging by themselves.

They were still a new team, and most of their big investments had failed, so fans tended to be a little cynical.

Head coach Song Moon-jung had seen articles with that sort of tone and, standing before the players before the exhibition games, barked out,

"If you're not furious after reading this article, pack up your bags! If your eyes aren't lit up right now, you don't deserve to be a professional!"

***

... To be honest, I wasn't furious.

I'd played here a long time, so I understood the team's situation well.

Of course, that didn't mean I was going to pack up or voice how I felt.

Father seemed more at ease than the head coach.

"Me? Not really. I'm just the pitching coach."

"Sir?"

"A pitching coach only has to produce good pitchers. We've got two solid foreign guys, you're here, and if FA Hwang Seung-tae screws up, it's on you. The last spot is just the #5 starter anyway. The bullpen... well, the foundation's gone, so how am I going to rebuild it all in a few months?"

So he said.

At any rate, father tended to share the staff's operational plans with me.

With both the closer and setup man out hurt from last year, he figured people would cut some slack on the pen.

"Even so, it won't be that bad."

"Really?"

"Jo Sung-gyu has the experience, so he'll deliver somehow. Plus..."

Father thought Terry would be quite useful.

"I originally planned to whip Bang Min-soo into shape as a lefty reliever, but now that Terry's here, I don't need him. If Bang Min-soo doesn't slim down, no first team appearances for him."

"What about Jung Han-seung-sunbae?"

"Han-seung?"

Jung Han-seung, who'd once ruled the league with a fastball effortlessly over 150 km/h, a two-seam, and a devastating curve, now couldn't break 140 km/h.

"Frankly, he's long relief if I put it nicely, mop-up duty if I don't. He asked me not to worry about his pride, just let him throw. Honestly, he's more of a mentor to the younger guys now."

Pro ball is harsh.

Even stories that would sound like touching tales of a veteran teaching his successors are, in reality, just battles to fill a useful spot on the roster.

One mentor is enough.

Even before I came back to the past, Jung Han-seung had locked down the bullpen mentor role and moved on quickly to coaching after retiring.

"By the way, you won't let it shatter your mentality if people curse you during the exhibition games, right?"

"Excuse me? Why would they?"

"Can you avoid getting flak for just throwing fastballs, sliders, and using a get-me-over curve?"

"How much am I even going to throw in the exhibition?"

"Can you handle the pressure they'll put on Seo Tae-seung's son?"

Father smirked as he said it.

He probably remembered what I'd been through, and recognized the situation had changed.

I planned to keep my two-seam and changeup under wraps till the regular season, and with Father as pitching coach, the attention would be greater than before.

"The exhibition only lasts three weeks anyway."

"Yeah?"

"I got called a bust and took abuse for years. I even had to pay my own hospital bills if I got hurt, or pay for the second team's meals out of my pocket."

Father flinched, but I just grinned.

When he saw me smiling, he finally laughed too.

"Guess there's nothing to worry about."

It's only now that I've come to realize something. Father's tone is easy to misunderstand.

Now that I think of it, my tone wasn't exactly great either—no wonder it was so hard for us to get along.

"An exhibition game is just an exhibition game."

"True enough."

"If being good in the exhibitions guaranteed being good in the regular season, the Busan Stars would be KBO's greatest dynasty."

"That's true. You know your grandfather was a huge Stars fan, right?"

"He doesn't even watch baseball now, does he? Anyway, I'll pitch well and make sure you don't get fired, so don't worry."

"Oh, you..."

"You should enjoy having a successful son for a change."

"Heh..."

"I'll take care of you when you get old."

"You... you'll take care of me in my old age...?"

***

The indoor bullpen at the training facility before the exhibition games was bustling.

This was a stark change from before I returned to the past.

Kim Jun-ho, who was originally set to be the team's pitching coach, was a slider fanatic, and would have pitchers spend all their time fixing their mechanics without the ball, rather than testing new pitches in the bullpen.

With the exception of a few needing other training, most pitchers were flocking here.

Father was intensely coaching several of them, and the assistant pitching coach, analytics staff, and trainers were all busy moving about.

I was working on my sweeper.

"Hey, kid."

It was Harold Bradshaw, the old foreign pitcher, who was watching me throw with disinterested eyes.

He spoke absentmindedly.

"Bradshaw, what's up?"

He wasn't the type to hang out with the other players. He focused on his own workout.

Porter just followed Father around. Of the new foreign players, only batter Domingo Batista was sociable.

"What are you trying to do with that pitch?"

It was a blunt question.

Bradshaw is a pitcher who throws a four-seam, cutter, circle changeup, and sweeper.

I answered his lazy question.

"I want to catch them off guard."

My arsenal is four-seam, two-seam, slider, changeup (Vulcan).

When lefties sit on my slider, my aim is to add another option and shake them up.

Bradshaw seemed to understand, giving a small nod and a slight laugh.

"Follow me."

Apparently, he wasn't much of a talker, and he got straight to the point.

I followed immediately, thinking I could pick up something from a pitcher who'd thrown the sweeper for years, especially since my understanding was still lacking.

I trailed behind his well-maintained physique, which was impressive for his age.

He was a little shorter than me, but his solid shoulders and massive forearms stood out.

"Oh."

When I followed Bradshaw into a small meeting room, I saw Terry sitting there. Right, he was working on the sweeper too.

Bradshaw plopped into a chair, crossing his left leg over his right.

I sat down and asked,

"Did you decide to help us young guys trying to master the sweeper?"

Bradshaw snorted.

"No."

"Then?"

"I called in every kid throwing a shitty sweeper who can speak English to tell them to quit mangling it."

"That's the same thing, isn't it?"

Terry shrugged and agreed, while Bradshaw scowled but soon slapped the table and laughed.

"Goddamn kids."

This time Terry spoke.

"Let me introduce you. This is the old man who loves goddamn kids."

"Damn it."

Guess that's just his style. Bradshaw clicked his tongue and continued,

"Okay. Let's cut the crap. You both throw two-seams, right?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"You get the gist? This is a slider thrown with a two-seam grip. But I don't want to explain the basics."

We both nodded.

This slider is held like a two-seam and released to change the seam direction.

It shifts the spin axis, making it drop less but move more horizontally than a regular slider.

The problem, as Father said, is that the specifics of how to throw it vary from pitcher to pitcher.

That's true for many pitches, but with its short history and focus on individual differences, many pitchers give up learning it.

"I throw it like a curveball."

His words had an offhand but seasoned wisdom.

"I used to throw it more like a cutter, but since I throw cutters too, I needed to differentiate them."

Bradshaw's grin seemed almost wicked.

"You try throwing it like a curve. You do know how to throw a curve, right?"

"Yeah, sort of."

Like a curve, huh?

It sounded vague, but I could imagine it. A slider gripped like a two-seamer and thrown like a curve.

It was fuzzy, but started to form a picture in my mind. Bradshaw now turned to Terry.

"You, turn your palm down over the plate as you release, and snap."

Terry mimicked Bradshaw's grip but looked puzzled, as if he didn't quite get it.

"Okay, I'll try, professor."

Bradshaw gave him a look of pure disgust and muttered, "Don't call me that."

But Terry didn't seem bothered at all.

"Thanks. I'm heading back now."

"Make it natural. If you tense up your delivery..."

"Ok, mama."

"Goddamn kid."

Now I understood why Terry spent so long in the minors and disappeared.

No way Korean coaches would tolerate a character like that.

Anyway, throwing it like a curve... I think I'm getting a feel for it...

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?"

"If you picked something up, go test it out right away!"

I hadn't realized, but this suited me better than the Korean style.

"Let's go together."

"What? Why me?"

"If throwing it like a curve doesn't work, you'll have to teach me something else."

"Why should I?"

I laughed at Bradshaw repeating himself like a parrot.

"Please, mama."

"......."

The muscular old man's face flushed, as if he might really hit me.

"... Goddamn kid."

He uncrossed his legs, glared at me, and stomped off to the indoor bullpen.

No matter how rough he talked, I realized this tsundere veteran actually did care about goddamn kids like us, so I hurried after him.