Chapter 629 – Episode 616. God of Coaching? (3)

‘Wow, I missed it, but it goes away. ‘This is why I love literature.’

I felt it from the beginning of my debut, but Munhak was a truly lovely stadium. Even if the timing was off or the bat missed, if the direction of the hit was set correctly, it would go over the fence.

‘Ha, if I had debuted in Munhak, I really think I would have hit 300 home runs by now…’

Well, if that were the case, I wouldn’t have had this kind of relationship with Soyoung. Honestly, meeting Soyoung was more valuable in my life than hitting about 100 more home runs in Korea.

… And even if it wasn’t Soyoung, I liked the team called AT. The scene of the day Senior Kwan Hyung hit his 3,000th hit was still engraved in my mind, and the moments of victory were vivid. And what I liked most was that I was the main character in this club.

A team that hasn’t won a championship in 20 years can win by hard-carrying the team? And that too in his debut season? Even winning the MVP and home run title, something that has never been won in the club’s history? But, is that me?

It was a taste of mulberry that ordinary people could not even imagine. Is this the ultimate pleasure that can be felt as a baseball player? I enjoyed the reaction as I was standing in front of a large audience, and the pleasure this club gave me was a kind of pleasure I will never forget. It’s different from sex, but is it equivalent?

‘Wait a minute, but I’ve never lost my memory during sex, but when I won my first championship, there was a slight blackout… So, does winning make you happier than having sex?’

It was random because I was in the middle of a game, but once this thought occurred to me, I became curious. I like sex and baseball. Which of the two are you happier with?

Honestly, when I thought about one baseball game and one sex, sex was more enjoyable and the amount of pleasure gained was on a different level. However, looking at the high point, baseball gave me such pleasure that I was so happy that I couldn’t even think about it…

So, if I had to choose between sex and baseball, which would I choose? Before I met Mr. Rossby, I would have chosen baseball without a second thought, but now it was difficult to imagine life without sex.

‘What kind of idiotic worry are you having? You can do both.’

‘… That’s right.’

Well, as Mr. Rossby said, there was no need to worry about it in the first place. Because I liked both sex and baseball, I couldn’t give up on both, and I had no intention of giving up on either.

After thinking about it like that, I looked at the ground, and Kim Sang-min’s bat split the air with a difference of about 4 to 5 balls from the curve falling to the ground.

‘Ugh, fuck. Still, I miss senior Jincheol.’

A swing that almost made me curse in my voice… In the past, I would have just cursed under my breath and moved on, but perhaps because I reaffirmed my love for baseball and this team, I somehow didn’t want to do that now.

And I was also responsible for Jincheol going down and Kim Sangmin coming up.

‘Butch alone is annoying, but hey, since I love baseball, I have to do this much.’

Unlike Burch, I only saw Jincheol for about two weeks at most when he came, so I decided to give him a quick word and called Sangmin Kim, who was returning to the dugout.

“… Don’t swing roughly.”

“… “I’m sorry.”

When I told him not to swing too roughly, tears suddenly began to form in Kim Sang-min’s eyes.

‘What? Why is this kid crying all of a sudden? Did I say something harsh? … No, right? Mr. Rossby? I said something harsh…’

‘Ugh, seeing a man’s tears always makes me nauseous. I saw something I haven’t seen in a long time, so I have to go quickly to purify my eyes.’

‘Oh my…’

Did Birch tell you a story about getting some education from me? It was a mysterious thing, but since the innings were changing, I tapped Kim Sang-min on the shoulder and spoke to him.

“Big, big. Let’s focus today. Sangmin, you can do it all, right? Huh?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll give it a try. “I will try harder.”

“Oh, yes. Either that…”

Well, he was a difficult person to understand. He suddenly started crying and suddenly said he would do his best.

Even though something happened that was so difficult to understand, fortunately the game went on normally. Park Jun-hyung, who came out as a starter, showed solid pitching by allowing 3 runs in 6 innings, and I led the team to victory with 2 hits in 5 at-bats, 2 home runs, and 5 RBI while adding one more home run after the home run in my first at-bat.

‘Sseuup, I didn’t get many DMs today… If this is the case, should I go to a club? Sigh, Soyoung told me not to go to the club if possible…’

The night the game ended like that. As I was lying in the away hotel wondering whether I should go to a club or call a girl I knew through DM, I heard a knock on my door.

‘Who is it at this hour? Are you Junhoon? But Junhu is starting tomorrow?’

I wondered if Junhu had come to ask me to go to the club with him, but since he was also a starter for tomorrow, I opened the door, wondering who the person behind the knocking was.

“Who are you?”

“It’s me, it’s me.”

“… Huh?”

And the person responsible for that knocking sound was someone completely unexpected.

“… Kim Sang-min?”

That is, Kim Sang-min, who I gave advice to today.

‘Why did this person come here?’

“Feel free to call me hyung.” Wow, we’ve been on the same team for 4 years, but we haven’t even exchanged a few words. I find it a bit awkward to be a senior.”

“… Ah, yes.”

A sudden act of closeness and a strange silence spread between us.

‘Why are you suddenly acting friendly? Are you really going to ask me to go to the club with you?’

As I was thinking about this and that in that silence, Kim Sang-min’s mouth opened again.

“… Can I come in? Tsk, you’re a guest, but you don’t tell me to come in.”

“Oh, please come in.”

‘What are you doing? Tell him to fuck off. Fuck. Should I waste my time meeting a man at this time of night?’

‘Ah, a little. ‘Just stay still.’

Normally, I would have told him to leave because it was a waste of time, but something happened during the game today, so I called Kim Sang-min into the room.

“But why did you come?”

Well, there was no reason to spend a lot of time, so I asked him straight to the point.

“No, when I saw you during training these days, you seemed to be watching other kids’ swings. Hwicheol is like that, and Birch is like that too. “I also look after other kids a few times.”

“… Then I’ll tell you during training time.”

“Ah… Sorry. I didn’t think of that. I wanted to ask a question quickly…”

In the end, was this it? Well, there is no hitter like me who wouldn’t want to take a one-point lesson.

The words I was thinking of came out of Kim Sang-min’s mouth after hesitating for a moment.

“Can you take a look at my swing?”

And Kim Sang-min’s eyes as he spoke those words looked somewhat familiar.

It’s like the look in my eyes when I was abandoned by my coaches in high school and practiced my swing on my own, wishing someone would teach me.

‘But why?’

However, the situation between me then and Kim Sang-min now was very different. At that time, I had no one to teach me because of Lee Ki-cheol, and now Kim Sang-min has many people to teach me. First, hitting coach Lee Ki-cheol was not to be mentioned, and even manager Lee Soo-hyun was a legendary hitter. And nearby was a Sangju senior who hit .300 in the major league.

“But why are you asking me? Honestly, I think the coaches teach better than me.”

“That’s right, because you play the best…”

Hehe.”

And the words that came out of Kim Sang-min’s mouth were what I wanted to hear. The saying that I play the best! It’s something I hear all the time, but it’s still thrilling every time I hear it. Moreover, it was even more exciting because it was the first time that he had voluntarily asked me to teach him properly during his personal time and not during training time.

“Then shall we go?”

“Uh, uh, okay. And, thank you.”

“Hey, we’re a team, so I can look after you a little bit.”

So we packed up a few bats and headed to a large space near the weight room. A few athletes who were working out in the weight room said hello, but since we didn’t have much time, we quickly got to the point.

Huh! Whoo!

Kim Sang-min’s swing had a lot of power, unlike in the game, and when I saw it with my own eyes, it didn’t seem to have any flaws. However, it didn’t feel like this when I saw it at the stadium, so I felt a sense of discomfort.

‘So, what’s wrong with you, Mr. Rossby? It looks okay to me?’

‘Fuck, you listen to the compliments and I give the advice.’

‘So are we going to be here for an hour or two? I think the club will close soon.’

‘… Let’s finish it quickly and leave. Hmm…’

“How is it? “Is it Meng Hao?”

“I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer to understand? Well then, shall we go ahead and set the situation a bit? How do you swing with two strikes?”

“Me? Like this.”

Huh! Sangmin Kim shows off his swing once again. It was a more compact swing than when I first tried it, but it wasn’t a problem because that was the standard for two strikes. However, the swing wasn’t clumsy either. However, this swing also looked different from when seen in the game.

‘Hmm, it’s not perfect, but it doesn’t seem to be a big problem…’

‘That’s how Mr. Rossby sees it, right?’

Well, it was a natural thing. If a player who made his professional debut more than 10 years ago still has an awkward swing, there would be no reason to send such a player to the first team unless the second-team coaches were assholes.

Moreover, if Mr. Rossby said this, it meant that there was no problem with the method of swing. The perfect swing Mr. Rossby talks about was the swing I showed. However, since each person had a different physique and swing speed, each person had a different batting style, and that was not a big problem.

‘If this is the case, is the timing of the strike a problem? Then he has to try to hit the ball himself, and he can’t hit the ball here…’

To be honest, if he showed me the swing he showed during the game, I could have corrected a few things, but if he had this kind of swing form, telling him what to do was actually poisonous. A batter’s swing mechanism is as sensitive as a pitcher’s, so changing just one thing can cause problems.

‘Well, there won’t be a big problem if I change it because my grades are shit anyway, but I still feel bad if it ruins me…’

“What do you think?”

“Yes? Hmm… Honestly, I can’t tell just by looking at the swing, right?”

“Okay? … I guess so. “Of course.”

“Can I see you properly during training tomorrow?”

“Really? Then, then.”

When Kim Sang-min, who was depressed when he was told that he could not tell just by looking at his swing, said that he would watch him properly during training, he raised the corners of his mouth and nodded, as if he was in a good mood.

‘For now, that’s it for today. Oh, Mr. Rossby, do I have to help you tomorrow too?’

‘Tsk. When did you stop helping me?’

‘Well, that’s true.’

So I left Kim Sang-min and headed straight to the club,

“How is it? What looks strange?”

“… No, are you okay? But why do you play so hard once you get into the game?”

“…”

Even at the training ground, the cause could not be found. The second game of the series started with such doubts.

“Out!”

Kim Sang-min hit an infield fly in his first at-bat and retired from the at-bat,

‘Hmm, I can kind of get a feel for it.’

… As soon as Mr. Rossby saw it, he immediately recognized the cause.