Chapter 57 – Episode 57. 2022 Finish Camp (3)

“Wow, the golden horse is so crazy.”

‘Whose voice is it? Is it Sungtan?’

Kwan-hyeong finished all the training schedule, took a shower, and headed to the break room to hear Yoon Seong-tae’s voice with a unique dialect accent.

Yoon Seong-tae was a promising player that Kwan-hyung was personally keeping an eye on. He is 185 cm tall and weighs in the mid-to-late 80 kg range. Physically, he was fine, and his defense and power were good even before he enlisted in Sangmu. He was also a prospect for the AT Thunders, who took his batting up a notch after enlisting from Sangmu and even won the title of home run king in the Southern League.

He was a prospect that the club also expected to take charge of the shortstop position of the Thunders from next year, which did not have a suitable owner. He was 23 years old, so it was clear that he wouldn’t have to worry about the center line for 10 years if he just exploded.

‘Today, I voluntarily stayed and had tea batting, and since I have passion, I will soon get the starting spot. Gold horse? But who is the golden horse?’

Kwan-hyung listened to the voice out of curiosity. He was a bit older, so it was clear that the interesting conversation would be cut off if he went into the common room.

“Why? It’s Seong-tae.”

‘What is this voice? He used to be a catcher in Division 2, right. Jun Ho.’

“No, didn’t the golden horse say let’s train after the test?”

When it comes to players who were asked to train after the test, he was a fierce tiger in the first nomination.

“Oh, did you do that too?”

“Seu-eup, I heard that Kwan-hyeong seniors do it there too, but I thought it would be a little like it if I left it out.”

‘I didn’t stay voluntarily, did I stay after paying attention? Well, that’s not too bad either. Anyway, if you lead me, I will have enough will to train.’

It was a coffin type that had already seen too many juniors. It was enough for the AT Thunders, who had so many players who didn’t train even if they led them, that they were willing to lead them.

“Anyway, Geumma really wants to look good for the director, so I went to ask him. But do you know what he said?”

“What did you say?”

“They said they didn’t even know my name. I was the home run champion in the Southern League this season, but….”

“You said you didn’t know your name?”

“Yes. Kids these days are real.”

“This is a funny baby?”

“Yes?”

“You said you didn’t know the name when you first came in. He said he only watched Charlotte baseball, so he didn’t know much about AT players. You said that only senior Kwan-hyung knew.”

“Ah, when did you ever talk! I know everything now.”

Come to think of it, I heard that something like that happened. Still, hearing the story that he knew his name, he was a contemplative person who thought that his 20 years of baseball was not in vain.

“It seems like a good fit for you. Come to think of it, did you say he was a second baseman? If I keystone with you in the 2nd group, it would be a good fit.”

“What about the 2nd team, I will go up to the 1st team next year. Don’t pretend to know me.”

“What about the 1st group, you’re perfect for the 2nd group for the rest of your life, bastard.”

“Anyway, Ji Maeng-ho, the golden horse, is an ordinary guy. Going to the Asian Games next year, I heard that? It seems that there is definitely a kang like the 1st nomination.”

“Hey, didn’t you see that?”

“What is it?”

“Did you turn on your cell phone and look for an interview with that bastard?”

“Interview? Is this … Wow, dude, he’s a total asshole. But do you like it? If you’re a man, you should have this level. Dude, there’s Gonzo.”

‘Interview? Was that at that time?’

Kwan-hyung seemed to have seen that interview as well. An interview with Ji Maeng-ho, who made the AT team buzz for a while. Players who watched the interview were generally divided into two reactions.

The first reaction was that the newcomer is not cheap, and that once he comes in, he needs to be nipped in the bud. Note that the tubular type was neither of the two reactions. The interview was just cute.

To Kwan-hyeong, who had been through prenatal battles for over 20 years, that was just cute.

“Yeah, it seems to suit you. Are you doing the same thing? As soon as I joined, I challenged my seniors.”

“Sweep, if I endured it at that time, I would stare at the Asian Games, but I was stamped by the captain.

“Bitch, I’m in the public interest, are you shooting me?”

“Sorry.”

Kwan-hyung listened to that and moved his steps from his lounge.

In fact, Kwan-hyung knew that Maeng-ho’s behavior today was not good for the seniors. Starting from a talent show and volunteering to practice, if you do something that stands out in a group action, it’s easy to go unnoticed.

So he gave me advice and raised his hand to bet with me even though it was difficult with the physical test.

‘It was like that when I was a rookie.’

After suffering a high defeat in the 2002 Korean Series, most of the seniors who were the center of the team retired or were traded. The seniors who escaped the blizzard became passive, and the team was ruined out of control while creating the worst synergy with the coach at the time, who held discipline tightly.

Kwan-hyung wanted to train more, but he couldn’t maintain his stance to the end under the pressure of seniors who valued group action. He himself was swept away by such an atmosphere.

As Kwan-hyung became a senior, he tried to change the atmosphere of the team, but AT Thunders was already dying. And by the time he became the oldest, it was already too late. However, he did not want Ji Meng-ho to follow the same train as himself.

So even though he wasn’t originally like that, he secretly listened to what his juniors were talking about. But at this point, he wasn’t particularly worried. The conversation was more healthy than I thought.

‘Well, who in the world would call juniors and gather them together? I’ve never done this to my juniors either.’

With a satisfied expression, Kwan-hyung went into his room where his new roommate was waiting.

*

“Are you here? Seniors.”

“Yeah, didn’t I interfere?”

“No.”

In fact, it was right that it interfered. It was because he shared Rossby’s senses and memories, and was nurturing his pioneering mind watching the pitches of the pitchers he faced.

Apparently, I had a gap of three years, so I lacked experience in practice, and to increase my experience in practice, after all training was over, I would try to create my own strike zone while watching the balls of the pitchers Rossby had dealt with.

No matter how much Rossby taught me the position of the catch, there was a limit. Besides, not every ball thrown by a pitcher is always the same, like in a game, and even if Rosby can tell you where the catcher’s mitt is, you can’t predict exactly where the ball will come from, so the experience of seeing so many balls was important.

It was such an important training, but it was only natural that I couldn’t get annoyed with Woo Kwan-hyung, the oldest member of the team. I held back my irritation and opened my mouth with the laundry I had waited for Woo-gwan to come.

“Seniors. How would you like to do the laundry?”

If a senior and a roommate are to be used, the junior must do the laundry instead of the senior. Due to the nature of the baseball sport, I had to do laundry every day, so even in middle school and high school, my juniors always had to do the laundry for my seniors.

Jin hyung did my laundry for me at school too.

“Okay. I do my own laundry.”

Is this person serious? To think such a person existed! When I first saw him, he looked like an old man, but he seemed different for some reason.

In fact, even before I actually met Woo Kwan-hyung, the image of Woo Kwan-hyung, no, Kwan-hyung senior, in me was an individualist who only knew himself. Because his father, an AT fan, always said that.

An individualist who only takes care of his own record, a guy without leadership. Something like this But to not entrust the laundry to a junior. Following Ji Maeng-ho, it was not enough to be selected as one of the top 6 adults in the world.

“Yes? You can leave it to me.”

“Because it’s okay. I’m not sharing a room to leave that to you.”

I guess Kwan-hyung sunbaenim chose me. Usually, in camp training like this, the seniors would pick the juniors. To some extent, this was to be expected.

“Rather than that, I saw you tee-batting today. Who did you learn the batting form from?”

“I just did my research on my own.”

I couldn’t tell the truth, so I answered with a little lie.

“Okay, then did you think of that close stance as well?”

“Yes.”

It was also the batting form that Rosby used in his lifetime, and I didn’t have to look at the ball for a long time by taking an open stance because Rosby taught me the pitch anyway. That’s why I took a closed stance to increase my strength as much as possible.

“Looks like you have a good vision,”

“Ah, well, it’s enough to distinguish between throwing a breaking ball and a fastball. And it’s good to focus on power a little.”

“It’s fortunate that you took the batting form with your thoughts. Usually rookies do not know their strengths and are eager to imitate famous players.”

“Ah, I’m different from those kids, so don’t worry.”

“Good. By the way, I want to tell you by my side for two weeks, okay?”

“Ah, what. It’s okay.”

Actually, it was annoying because Rossby was there.

‘I can’t stand this much since I do the laundry alone, right?’

… If I go back to the days when I had the illusion that I was, I wanted to strangle myself at that time. It’s already been a week since the finishing camp started, and senior Kwan-hyung, no, Kwan-hyung Woo, continued to follow me and pointed out each and every one of my training.

What’s even more damning is that Rossby didn’t say anything about Woo Kwan-hyung’s words! That is, Woo Kwan-hyung’s point was not wrong. Rather liked it.

‘Hmm, even in this uncivilized country, there are people with such a blow theory. It would be nice to learn.’

‘Oh, even if this guy is the leader, he will succeed. It was annoying to point out to you one by one, but learn it well.’

‘Certainly because times have changed? There must have been a theory I didn’t know about.’

‘It’s good to get up early in the morning and go for a run. How many years has that guy been in the pros? 21 years? No matter how savage a league hitter is, it’s great to last for over 20 years in the pros. Learning to take care of yourself will be a great asset to you.’

Fuck! Besides, being stuck in the dormitory for a week, I couldn’t even have sex, and my stress was piling up.

A ray of light came to me in a state where I felt like I would explode if someone touched me like that.

“Hyung, haven’t you done Pilates today?”

During lunchtime, the catcher and Hyeonseong, who were drafted together and were 1 year junior in middle school, suddenly asked a question while eating.

“Why?”

“We had a Pilates class in the morning. The instructor has changed, and it’s fucking pretty. What was your name? Was it Yoo Jo-eun?”

“… Okay?”

Originally, the instructor who taught Pilates was the director of the center where Jo Eun was. She is a woman in her early 50’s. But she changed to Mr. Cho!

‘I thought I was going to search, but it turned out well.’

Jo Eun-ssi was dispatched…. Besides, he didn’t even tell me that he was coming today.

‘I need to punish him.’

In the Pilates class of Group A in the infield, it was the last hour of afternoon training, and the lower body was already getting stronger.