Chapter 707 – Episode 694. Major League Spring Camp. (5)

“Sorry, Hyun. Are you very busy right now?”

-“No, I just finished training and was resting. But please speak slowly. As I said last time, it’s been a while since I came to Korea, so English is difficult.”

“Okay, okay. Originally, Hyun wasn’t good at English. Anyway, the reason I’m calling you now is Ji. That’s because.”

-“Ji? A fierce tiger? Again?”

“Yes, Meng Hao.”

As Seonghyun spoke, Judge repeated the funny name of the new student on the team. Meng Hao. I could have laughed a little at the somewhat swear-like name, but the judge was serious right now.

The reason is because of the fight within the team that took place yesterday. When he heard that Verdugo and Ji Menghao had fought, Judge couldn’t help but grab the back of his neck. It is said that the two reconciled immediately, but the important thing was that something like this could happen at any time.

The most important thing when coming to an unfamiliar league is adapting. It was not only about adapting to the pitcher, but also adapting to the culture. Furthermore, it is natural for the team to collapse if the highest paid person in the team cannot adapt and is in trouble.

So, before coming to the camp, Judge played as a teammate, and even studied about Ji Maeng-ho from his former teammate Seonghyun, who had the best status in Korea. So that Ji Maeng-ho can adapt comfortably.

But he couldn’t believe that something like that happened as soon as he got off work. Even thinking about it again made his head hurt.

-“Why again? What’s going on?”

“He fought with Alex.”

-“Alex? “What Alex?”

“Alex Verdugo.”

-“With Doogie? Dugi was really cute during his Dodgers days. Well, if you pranked me like you did, it’s not strange to fight. Meng Hao, his personality is no joke.”

Cold sweat broke out on Judge’s back as Seonghyun responded that he was not at all surprised by the news that he had fought with a teammate during spring camp. And I had a strong intuition. I have a strong intuition that if I leave him like this, something big will happen.

“I was wondering if there was anything else I should know. No, I need to know more. Please tell me all the rumors and such about Ji Maeng-ho in Korea. Even what I didn’t tell you back then. Please.”

So, at the risk of being rude, I asked Seonghyeon to tell me what he knew about Ji Maeng-ho.

-“Umm… My English skills are not enough to say that… Is there an interpreter?”

“Uh. “I will listen while interpreting right away.”

Nowadays, AI translation is available on mobile phones, so Judge immediately turned on AI translation and listened to Seonghyun.

-“First, Meng Hao is basically a complete macho. Is macho also translated? Should I say he looks like a real man? “I’m the type of person who unconditionally pays back whatever happens.”

“Oh, that kind of personality is nice. Because it is difficult for a soft personality to survive.”

-“But it’s a bit worse than other people. What can I say? Is it a bit of a victim mentality? “I think I overreacted more than others because I had a difficult time as a teenager.”

“Umm…”

-“I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know much, but anyway, the menacing tigers I’ve seen on the national team and in the league are like that. And again… “You told me last time that you like women, right?”

“Yes, and the fact that people go around talking about sex as a routine.”

-“Honestly, even if it’s really a routine, it’s not easy to tell others, right? This is especially true if you are American or Korean. “I’m the type of person who doesn’t pay attention to what other people think.”

“… “You have a difficult personality to deal with.”

Jeoji also knew a little about Korea, so he knew very well what Seonghyun was talking about. Because Korea was conservative in that respect.

-“But also, be polite to your seniors. Jin-cheol, that is, is a teammate of Maeng-ho’s club, and he said that he seems to acknowledge and accept all the seniors he recognizes.”

Are you polite to your seniors? Judge wanted to hear the story in more detail.

“Can you tell me more?”

-“So, first, I am basically polite to older people. You know Korean culture, right? Well, I’m not sure if there’s a few years difference between them, but at least 10 years? When there is that much of a difference, I tend to listen well. Ah, but you also have to acknowledge that you are a senior.”

“Senior? What exactly does that mean? “Aren’t you talking about an older person?”

-“Ha, that’s a bit complicated. No, let me explain it easily. Just give me recognition if I’m good at baseball. But he’s a good baseball player, so if you can’t play baseball, he’s merciless. Jincheol, my friend, said that when he was in a slump, he just mercilessly told him to go down to District 2.”

“To the second group? Minor league?”

-“Huh. Jincheol was the captain at that time. “You even told me to get off the mound if you were going to throw like that?”

“… When?”

-“Was it 23 years? During the WBC. “At that time, he was a complete rookie who hadn’t even made his professional debut.”

“Umm… “Isn’t that when he won 10 games?”

-“Yes. “Because I won 14 times in 2022.”

“Oh my.”

-“Now you know what kind of personality I have, right?”

The more I listened to Seonghyeon, the more I felt like I knew what his personality was. And he’s a guy who hits harder than you think.

To me, it was like telling Sabathia, who had been guarding the team’s mound for several years, to get off the mound during a game in the season when he had just entered the majors. Considering my friend’s status in Korea, it would have been even worse.

And that was something that could not have happened even in the United States. The more I listen to his story, the more my head hurts.

-“Oh, and he said he likes to solve problems with his fists. “I didn’t hear that in detail, but that’s what they said anyway.”

“If it’s fists, fight?”

-“Okay. Of course, he doesn’t swing his fist at just anyone, so he probably did something wrong.”

“From what I heard, he hit me in the back of the head.”

-“Geez, if you have a fierce personality, you can’t stand something like that. It was worth the fight.”

He has a macho personality, so he has to repay what he has done, doesn’t pay attention to what others think, and when problems arise, he solves them with his fists…

‘… What, it’s just a redneck.’

For some reason, his accent was like that used only by old people in Texas, and his personality was just like that of a local redneck. How should I deal with this guy…

As a captain, I had no idea.

In fact, it was becoming increasingly urgent to stop. It is now the 12th season since entering the big league in 2016. Winning the World Series, which I thought I could do at any time when I was young, was becoming more and more distant.

Although he was the league MVP three times, he had never even stepped foot on that stage, let alone won the World Series. Now, he was getting older, year by year, and the colleagues he dreamed of winning with were disappearing one by one, and the remaining colleagues were also getting older like him.

In addition, the young players were satisfied with the background of playing for the prestigious Yankees team, the large salary, and the big city of New York, rather than winning the championship, and were satisfied with the performance of barely advancing to the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the guy who was recruited with the highest salary in the team started punching his teammates as soon as he joined the team and had the personality of a redneck. There are a lot of crazy people in the major leagues, but their personalities are more like idiots than I thought, which gave me a headache.

Is it even more of a headache because the baseball skills that I only saw briefly seem to be worthy of that level of salary? Seeing how he passed Logan’s curve as soon as he saw it, it seemed like he could do it to some extent, but it wouldn’t have mattered if he was a bad guy, but if a guy with that level of skill acts like an asshole, the team chemistry was naturally going to break down.

Then it was natural that we would fall short of winning. The Yankees have had many superstars so far, but the players’ inability to unite as one was one of the reasons they did not win the championship.

“Ha… It’s a pain in the ass.”

-“Haha, if you just listen to what I say, he’s definitely a weird guy. By the way, Aaron.”

“Huh?”

At that time, Seonghyeon’s words were like a ray of light to Jeoji.

-“Don’t worry too much. If you are good at baseball, the problem will be solved. “If I just show a little bit of skill, they’ll follow me right away, right?”

Listening to Seonghyun’s words, I felt like I could understand why Ji Maeng-ho had that look on his face after the first training. It seems that the level of his players was not up to his expectations.

‘Hmm… I think I have a bit of a clue.’

Although he had the personality of a maverick general, he was the kind of person who became generous to those he recognized. And in order for him to be recognized, he had to be good at baseball. Fortunately for him, it was simple. Because being good at baseball is what Judge has done his whole life

Now I have some idea of ​​how to deal with him.

“Thank you, Hyun.”

-“Okay, Aaron. I sincerely hope that we win this season. It’ll probably be easy with him.”

“I sincerely hope so too. And I hope you win in Korea too.”

-“Haha, Meng Hao went to America, so of course he should win.”

After hanging up the phone with Seonghyeon, a thought passes through Judge’s mind.

‘Is it possible that he did something like that yesterday because he didn’t like the others? Nothing much happened with Gary, who was ready to show me what he saw…’

It seems like that for some reason…

First, I felt like I would have to stay by his side throughout the camp and show some force to prevent him from acting carelessly.

*

Ta – Aak!

Free betting time. It seemed like Judge’s batted ball flew over the fence and almost to the road. Does it feel like you flew 200 m?

“How is it? “It flew farther than you, right?”

“… Ah, yes. It flies well.”

Judge must have been excited about sending such a batted ball, so as soon as he finished free betting, he started bragging to me, who was watching. It’s a kind of frivolity that doesn’t suit a top-level athlete…

“Ji. “It won’t be easy to become the Major League MVP.”

“Oh, well, I guess so.”

When you follow me around and do this throughout spring camp, I feel like I feel a bit of a rivalry.

‘I think you’re too conscious of me?’

For a three-time MVP to act like this toward a rookie who was just making his debut, I felt like the fantasy I had about Judge was shattered. After the second day, Judge continued to follow me and behave like this. It felt a little like that on the first day, but it seems to have gotten worse now.

‘Tell him to stop following me around. It smells like a black man.’

So much so that even Mr. Rossby was sick of it. Still, Mr. Rossby wouldn’t go to such lengths with mixed race people or Hispanics, but at this rate, I didn’t have to explain how close Jersey was to me.

Well, his skills were quite acceptable for a judge.

“Then thank you for your hard work.”

When I was about to leave Judge behind to do defense training, Judge grabbed me and said one more thing.

“You know that the Grapefruit League will be held tomorrow, right? “I will clearly show you what MVP is tomorrow, so watch carefully.”

Even that talkative Sangju senior didn’t get to this level, but until the end… I was so annoyed by this that I felt like I had to win MVP this season.

“Okay?”

… I understand, so stop following me!