Chapter 72 – Episode 72. 2023 Spring Camp (1)

“So the higher ups want Ji Maeng-ho to go to the national team?”

Tony Sands, the foreign manager who has been in charge of the AT Thunders for the past two years, said in a disgruntled tone. Of course, the words that came out of his mouth were English, befitting Sands’ nationality.

“Yes, it is.”

In response to his two-year head coach’s reply, Sands pressed his head. He didn’t seem to like this situation either, the head coach he had brought in from the States.

Haha, there was a lot of stress taking on this trashy team, but it will only get worse. Guys who don’t even know baseball say this and that every time.”

In fact, it was not very important to Sands what kind of Sunsun Ji Maeng-ho was or what kind of potential he had. However, he just didn’t like it when the front desk told him what to do.

“What can I do? If you tell me from above, you have to do it.”

“Fucking! I should go back to my hometown soon. Coming here has ruined my career.”

That said, his life in Korea was important to Sands. When Sands first joined the AT Thunders, he had big dreams.

Leading this team, like the Chicago Cubs of Korea, to the championship and return home in gold! Even in the major leagues, there is a lot of interest in periphery baseball these days, so it seemed that a winning career in the KBA league would work in the mainland.

And the team called AT Thunders, which I saw for the first time, was a very attractive team. The performance of each player was good, and the salary was good. And since 1994, the team’s history without a championship was thought to be a device that made them stand out more.

And in one year, coach Sands led the AT Thunders to a 6th place finish. One year is a period of adaptation. He had never thought he would be outmatched by these periphery coaches, so he thought it was simply an adjustment problem.

‘Yes, I was the problem because I tried to play big ball baseball with these guys’ pitiful physicality. In addition, there was also the uniqueness of the stadium called Jamsil.’

Coach Sands thought that the cause of his failure was his mistake in overlooking the physical limitations of Asians and the widest Jamsil baseball stadium in the world, so he thoroughly studied Korean baseball during Stove League.

And the second year in office. Sands said he thought he had fantastic pitching, but he led the team….

… I got a score of 7th. Even though two key bullpen pitchers were out for the season, the team changed, but the results were disastrous.

‘Fucking! These fools can’t keep up with my tactics.’

Excessive bunt and extreme splitting of innings! His own tactics were flawless. But the players couldn’t keep up. And the reason is the lack of training. Athletes in this country acted as if they did not know the concept of self-training.

Coach Sands was the type of coach who guaranteed autonomy to his players, but he came to think that was a decisive defeat. He actually didn’t even train individually after team training, except for a few players.

‘Training! After all, training was the only thing that could lead a team to victory! I’ve been stupid all this time. Do you trust the players…. It was my mistake for trusting those idiots who just need money!’

He was Sands’ coach who thought that if he had thoroughly trained for the picture he wanted in last year’s spring camp, he would not have had the disaster of 7th place.

“First of all, the players in this country lack basic skills. In spring camp, plan your program to focus on defense drills, bunt drills, and running base drills.”

“All right.”

Of course, the trend in modern baseball was at odds with Sands’ orders. It is even more different from the major league trend of increasing the launch angle and abandoning the batting average and only pursuing home runs.

In particular, bunts have been disappearing from baseball these days, but Sands didn’t think so. He completely abandoned the idea of ​​playing big ball baseball in pursuit of a home run while using the wide Jamsil. Baseball is led by a manager who completely discards the individuality of each player.

That was the look of the third year that director Sands pursued.

‘Next year should be the last contract. At least I have to spend fall baseball.’

If you fail to advance to fall baseball, it is safe to say that the road to employment in the mainland is completely blocked. That’s why you need to prepare more thoroughly this year! Only then will there be an opportunity to renew the contract and challenge again.

Of course, the reason the AT Thunders appointed coach Sands was to introduce trendy baseball in the mainland and improve the nature of the rifle unit, but that wasn’t Sands’ business. Because the most important thing for a pro team is the performance.

“Okay, coach. Let’s talk about next year’s match from now on.”

Anyway, Sands stopped complaining and talked about the reason for calling the head coach. How will you roll next season? It was an important issue to address before spring camp.

“All right.”

“Well, first of all, speaking of the players we recruited this time…. Ki Sang Joo and Jang Yoon are good, but Choi Jin Chul is difficult to use in Jamsil….”

Ki Sang-joo is a player whose skills he played in the major leagues until last season are unmistakable.

Last year’s performance was sluggish with 373 at-bats and 0.241/0.303/0.357/0.660 with 5 home runs, but in the KBA League, he was a pinch hitter with a batting average of 0.338, an OPS of 0.953, and 181 home runs while using Jamsil as his home. The reason why he was willing to trade Jang Hyeon-ho, the team’s main hitter, was because of Ki Sang-joo.

In addition, Ki Sang-joo was a mid-to-long-distance hitter optimized for Jamsil.

And Jang Yoon, a solid starting pitcher who recorded an average ERA of 4.22 with 1085 strikeouts in 1351 innings while playing 8 seasons at UG Overlords. In particular, it was noteworthy that even though he is a fly ball type pitcher, he achieved this result while writing literature, a small home stadium.

Of course, the price was high, but Sands didn’t know that.

“But since he was recruited from the front desk, shouldn’t he use it? I am from a team. And since I’m 1st base….”

“That’s what it takes. Wouldn’t it be better if I was a third baseman?”

“That is also a problem. Because there is Kim Soo-ho in the team.”

However, Choi Jin-cheol was different. Choi Jin-cheol is the type of hitter that does not suit Jamsil. In addition, Choi Jin-cheol’s record last season was disastrous. A disastrous slash line of 0.230/0.311/0.475/0.786. Of course, he hit 28 home runs, but since he moved his home stadium to Jamsil, the number of home runs inevitably fell.

It would have been better if he had been a third baseman, but Choi Jin-cheol’s position last season was designated hitter. The condition of this contract was to change the position to first baseman, so there is no advantage of the position of third baseman anymore. To put it bluntly, a retired batter. It was nothing more and nothing less.

‘The problem is that since I signed as a free agent, I have to spend this season…. Do you have to pay an annual salary of 600 million to such a hitter? It’s not my money, but it’s a waste.’

If only he had given me that money….

‘This is not the time.’

Director Sands quickly erased the useless thoughts from his head. The important thing now is not the money, but the team’s performance. The important thing was that the team had a problem with the recruitment of Choi Jin-cheol.

Choi Jin-cheol’s biggest problem wasn’t falling grades or turning 37 in Korean age.

“The biggest problem is the mercenary hitter who was recruited this time, and the position I usually saw in the minor leagues was first baseman. The front desk says they recruited him as the best mercenary, but their positions overlap.”

The mercenary hitter recruited from the AT Thunders this time is 27-year-old Roberto Bour. He was a player who had a good record of 0.307 / 0.372 / 0.517 / 0.889 in the minor leagues last year and was barely caught with a sum of 1 million dollars including transfer fee and annual salary.

However, according to scouts, he is a player whose defense is unstable. Reportedly, he recommended writing as a designated hitter.

The AT Thunders’ designated hitter position was firmly held by a franchise star that coach Woo Kwan-hyung could not help. Of course, he declared that he would go out to the outfield again this season, but he couldn’t help but feel anxious.

In addition, Choi Jin-cheol said that he had seen first base in the majors, but he was basically a third baseman. Besides, he was too old. Just last year, he was the designated hitter for the future Buffaloes. A player who may return to the designated hitter at some point.

In other words, the designated hitter positions overlap.

“Woo-gwan-hyung, Choi Jin-cheol, Bore.”

Can Woo Kwan-hyung make a comeback as an outfielder? Can Choi Jin-cheol adapt to first base? Even with most happy circuits, it was impossible to guarantee that all those assumptions would explode. Unless you can see what stats a player has.

“But aren’t you in a position to not use those players?”

“That is the problem.”

Woo Kwan-hyung, a player who is not greater than the team, but can be said to be almost the same as the team. If this player was removed from the lineup, it would not be strange if the office would become a sea of ​​fire right away.

The same was true of Choi Jin-cheol, a huge free agent. He cannot guarantee his future if he violates the will of the front desk.

“As expected, it is difficult to plan a lineup.”

“Yeah, the pitching staff is somewhat assorted, though.”

Two foreign mercenaries, Jang Yoon and Park Jun-hyeong, were selected in Korea. The 5th starter is something you can find in spring camp, and the bullpen wasn’t to the point where you couldn’t roll the season if you somehow added it to last year’s bullpen and second team.

‘The problem is the field crew.’

Among them, the infielder. Strictly speaking, the center line of the infield. First of all, the outfield wasn’t a big problem. Because we have center fielder Kim Joo-yeop, corner outfielder Han Sang-gyu, and Lee In-hyeok who can play all outfield defenses. There was no problem if one of the three was used in combination with Gisangju and Woogwan.

“Oh, the infield team is having a hard time again this year. The shortstop is nowhere to be seen. Ah, I heard that Yoon Seong-tae and Ji Maeng-ho were good at the finish camp.”

“Anyway, young people. It cannot be regarded as a constant.”

First of all, there was a big hole in the center infield. Last year and the year before last, I couldn’t find a starting shortstop and a starting second baseman, so I changed 4-5 players.

“Well. Third baseman Kim Soo-ho is also having a problem because his record is getting worse and worse.”

“How old is he this year?”

“I’m thirty-three in Korean age.”

No matter how much life expectancy of baseball players has increased these days, it was not a strange age to plummet at any time.

“Still, wouldn’t it be okay if Choi Jin-cheol could be an average first baseman?”

“That’s right. Because I really wanted to kill Phares, who was a mercenary last year.”

Thinking of last year’s mercenary hitter Fares, who played for one month, rested for two months due to an injury, played again for one month, and missed the season due to an injury, Sands’ coach was still bubbling in the stomach. In the KBA league, where the proportion of mercenaries is high, such a low-grade mercenary was a big blow.

“Then Kim Su-ho at third base, Choi Jin-cheol at first base. How about Maeng-Ho Ji at second base? Since I am the first nominee, I think the expectations are high at the front desk.”

“If he has the skills to live up to expectations.”

Haha, that’s right. I’m not expecting too much either. How great would it be to be the first nominee in such a small country?”

“Shouldn’t the catcher still go to Jeong Yun-cheol?”

“It seems inevitable. Even if you had a bad performance last year, you can’t easily change the position of catcher.”

“Huh. This year is going to be a difficult season.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone performed at their peak?”

As the head coach said, the names of the players were not bad. Catcher Jung Yun-cheol and third baseman Kim Su-ho were also players who had won Golden Gloves, and Choi Jin-cheol, Woo Kwan-hyung, and Ki Sang-joo were the players who dominated the league.

Haha. Mason, do you still believe in this worm team? Do you think such a miracle will happen?”

Haha, sorry. Boss. I told you so much like a dream.”

“There is no player greater than the team…. That’s what I felt when I came to this country. The players on this team tend to act as human beings only when I, the coach, guide them one by onehaha.”

Director Sands’ smile contained bones. How many betrayals he suffered after leaving it to the players for two years already.

‘I’ll roll you to vomit this spring camp. Garbage bastards!’

*

‘Still, since it’s about spring camp, I see a few people I know.’

Hehe, they must be pretty great enough to be stored in your pitiful brain capacity.’

‘Well, there are people like that.’

Giang Sang-joo, Choi Jin-cheol, and Kim Su-ho were pretty great people in the KBA league. Excluding those people, it’s just the AT players I used to watch in elementary and middle school. And Jun-hoo and Hyeon-seong, who were my motives for joining the spring camp, and Jeong-do?

“First of all, congratulations on joining the spring camp. They are the most likely players to play in the first team next year, so go to training with hope.”

The interpreter was translating the director’s words without omission. Well, thanks to Rossby, I could hear the director without an interpreter.

“…… Lastly, training starts right from today, so leave your luggage and gather here again. The first day is lower body training.”

Didn’t Kwan Woo say that he guaranteed autonomy? Well, since it’s spring camp, you can train from day one.

Anyway, after the boring assembly time, I went into the dormitory. I was familiar with the 1st spring camp because it was the Icheon District 2 baseball field where I had a finishing camp.

“Uh? Seong-tae hyung?”

“Did you put a keystone on it?”

“I guess so?”

Fortunately, my roommate this time was Yoon Seong-tae. He was also friendly, so there was no complaint.

“Wow, I was worried that it would be the youngest, but it worked out. W This is my laundry.”

… Might be a bit annoying

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Kim Su-ho, third baseman, right-handed, left-handed hitter.

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