Chapter 756 – Episode 743. A Confucian Boy From the Country of Courtesy in the East. (2)

Mattingly is an old school director. Although he has learned a few things from his past failures, he is basically an old school director who believes in things that cannot be proven with numbers.

That’s why I continued to hire Stanton, following the adage of not making changes when the team is doing well, and I didn’t have any hard feelings toward Verdugo.

Of course, I still thought that Stanton was a better player than Verdugo, but that didn’t mean I thought that Verdugo was a waste player that the team didn’t need.

Rather, Mattingly felt that Verdugo was needed by the team.

The punching power to hit double-digit home runs, the contact ability to exceed .300, the ability to steal double-digit bases whenever the manager wants, although he doesn’t steal often, and the ability to score around 60 points on a 20-80 scale. Arms that are above the league average and defensive power that allows him to play left field, center field, and right field with above league average ability.

So, to put it simply, Verdugo was a 5-tool player with an average pentagon. He’s the type of guy the team needs.

Because the major league season was long, injured players could appear at any time, and because the game schedule was tight, players had to be given adequate rest. But if you go to most teams, a player of Verdugo’s level, who can play the starting role, plays the role of a super sub?

It was an absolute blessing for the team. As a coach, he was perfect for running the team.

He occasionally smelled of alcohol during training, but that wasn’t a big problem for Mattingly. When Mattingly was playing, there were times when a starting pitcher would drink alcohol the day before and throw a shutout the next day.

“What? Are you saying Jean is going out today too? No, it wasn’t my turn to go out today, right?”

Therefore, when Vertygoo woke up hastily,

“Hey, Alex. “We’re still calling the lineup.”

Mattingly appeased Verdugo. And he smiled in repentance.

Today, I was planning to use Verdugo in center field, excluding Kelnick, who has been struggling in the last 10 games.

In Mattingly’s opinion, a former legendary hitter, Kelnick seemed to have difficulty hitting good balls due to his current hitting mechanism.

No matter how great a hitter is, there are bound to be slumps. Since the team was on a winning streak so far, there was no need to change the lineup, but since the winning streak was broken, it was the right decision to hire Verdugo.

Moreover, it was clear that even Verdugo, who was angry, would be satisfied if he gave the center field position to Verdugo, who he thought had no place.

“Fuck! Donnie! Not this! I am a player who is good enough to be in the lineup! Mad! “Say something!”

That’s why he laughed at Verdugo, who was so angry in front of him.

Major leaguers were people who thought they were the best, so this was no big deal. Because when he was a player, he swore at his coach a few times.

Very soon, Verdugo’s name will be called at the last position of the cleanup, and since the last position of the cleanup is a fairly important position in the batting lineup, even Verdugo, who was angry, is bound to feel a little sorry.

Training the players slowly like that was Mattingly’s way of taking control of the Yankees’ players, who had strong egos.

So, Mattingly tried to spit out the words he had prepared right after hearing Verdugo’s insult.

‘Yes, you are a player who can be in the lineup. Number 5 today is you. Alex. ‘Wouldn’t it be a burden to play center field?’

If you say something that subtly hurts Verdugo’s pride,

‘Ha, of course. ‘Just watch.’

… He would answer with confidence.

And Verdugo will think to himself, ‘The director knows how to look at people. Number 5 is a position that suits me. I will definitely take this opportunity this time.’…

A scene like a youth baseball drama flashed through Mattingly’s mind, but unfortunately, what Mattingly wanted did not happen.

“This bastard swears at the director!”

Because there was a large Asian man who got up from his seat and was running towards Verdugo, who was angry not far away.

“… ?”

Mattingly just gaped like an idiot at what had happened so suddenly.

“… ?”

“… ?”

The players are also like Mattingly.

It wasn’t every day to swear at the director or argue, but it often happened, and it was a matter for the director to resolve, so I couldn’t imagine Ji Maeng-ho suddenly attacking Verdugo.

Puck!

So, it is natural that no one can move until Ji Maeng-ho’s fist is lodged in Verdugo’s jaw.

“Doesn’t this fucking bastard even have a mother or father? “Who taught you to act like that?”

‘… ?’

‘What is that bastard talking about?’

A fight in front of the manager and coach. The players were dumbfounded by the situation, which still did not seem realistic, and Ji Meng-ho opened his mouth once again in front of Verdugo, who fell down like a paper doll after being hit on the chin.

“Yes, it’s good to be friendly and speak informally. But, let’s stick to the basics. The basics are.”

And the first to come to his senses was Mattingly.

“Hey, Ji! Wait for a sec… !”

Mattingly approached Ji Meng-ho to stop him, but no matter how much Mattingly had gone through many hardships and was known for his charisma, he had no choice but to stop for a moment when Ji Meng-ho’s murderous eyes looked at him.

“Just because you cum like that doesn’t make the kid a bastard! If you’re a director, you should know how to give harsh advice! And these fucks, listen well. From now on, if you behave rudely in front of the director, everything will be blamed on me! Do you understand?!”

Some Yankees players, who were angry at Ji Maeng-ho’s tone as if he was admonishing them, stood up and tried to say something, but that did not happen. Verdugo, who fell down after being hit in the chin, got up and ran towards Ji Maeng-ho, swearing.

“This damn little bastard!”

“Yeah, you’re fucking racist bastard. “I knew you would do that.”

Verdugo, who stood up and charged at Ji Maeng-ho, swung his fist at Ji Maeng-ho, and Ji Maeng-ho lowered his head as if he was expecting it, dodged the punch, and this time punched Verdugo’s stomach.

“Big… A Billion!”

When Verdugo sits down holding his stomach and spits out what he ate yesterday, a disgusting smell and the smell of undigested alcohol waft out from there.

“Under…, You idiot, the team lost because of you yesterday, so you went out drinking again? “You really can’t do it.”

Then, Ji Maeng-ho, who was squatting down and holding Verdugo’s head, began to slap Verdugo. An unrealistic situation continues once again.

‘… Am I dreaming?’

When the people in the locker room saw that scene, they thought that this place might not be real anymore.

Mate!

Mate!

Mate!

When the harmony of cheeks and hands rang out three times in the locker room, the players finally came to their senses from the unrealistic situation and shouted as they approached Ji Maeng-ho.

“Stop! Stop! What are you doing! “With colleagues!”

And the captain, Judge, pushed Ji Maeng-ho’s body with his foot, separating Verdugo and Ji Maeng-ho. And the murderous eyes of Ji Maeng-ho, who fell, look at Judge.

‘Is this even with the jersey?’

The players were thinking about the second match between Ji Maeng-ho and Judge and preparing to stop them, but that situation did not happen.

“Under… If you’re the captain of Jersey, take care of these bastards. What kind of game are you going to lose and drink? If it were Korea, all these bastards would be after me, really. Didn’t you want to win? Huh? “Am I the only one who wants to win here?”

“Stop! Stop! Fierce tiger! Follow me!”

“… Yes.”

“And the other guys just keep their mouths shut. If this situation becomes known outside, everyone here will be disciplined at the club level.”

The situation was resolved when Mattingly intervened. The players looked at Ji Maeng-ho like that and wondered what if he refused to listen to the coach, but fortunately, Ji Maeng-ho followed in Mattingly’s footsteps.

“Judge, please sort out the squad. Joel! “Let’s leave him alone and take him to the infirmary.”

The locker room where the coaches and those involved in the fight left.

‘Winning… Yes, winner.’

The head coach told the players to get their act together, but Ji Maeng-ho’s last words linger in Judge’s head.

There was nothing wrong with what he said about managing the players as a captain in order to win the championship.

In fact, Judge also knew that the Yankees were a somewhat deformed team. He was talking about winning and winning, but the only people who are really aiming for the championship are veterans with a few years left in their careers.

Under the false sign of being the most prestigious team in the league, a contract that gave money even if the performance was slightly good made it difficult to motivate the players who were supposed to be the main players of the team.

However, young players who did not sign large contracts were traded for players who were performing well in the league and had little service time left when they saw good results, and the vicious cycle of losing motivation after signing large contracts again continued.

I wanted to say something to those players, but the coaches couldn’t even touch the players who had already reached a certain level, so I couldn’t step forward.

Moreover, New York’s environment and passionate fans did not help this team win at all.

Even if they did a little well, New York’s fans treated the players like celebrities, and although it wasn’t at the level of Las Vegas, New York was a city with developed entertainment, so even if they won just a little, the players were likely to become lazy. However, the cheering was not consistent. If they lost even one game in the postseason, Judge, who had been with the team for over 10 years, would be depressed.

Since the players are human, they couldn’t help but be affected by that atmosphere, and when they win, they become lazy, and when they lose, they can’t overcome the pressure and pressure, and that’s how the Yankees collapsed every year.

When I was young, I tried to bring the team together, but it was difficult because all the players were treated as superstars when they went to other teams. Because they were all players with strong egos.

Judge was getting more and more tired, and he was paying more attention to Ji Maeng-ho than to the other players, hoping that Ji Maeng-ho, who was not attached to the team, would not end up like his other teammates.

But just now, Ji Maeng-ho’s call to stick to the basics was resonating with Judge.

Ji Meng-ho’s actions were definitely extreme, but he gave off the feeling that he was doing it for the good of the team.

In fact, there was no reason for Ji Mengho to be angry just now. The other players were laughing and saying that it was something fun to watch while watching Verdugo get angry at Coach Mattingly. Even though he knew that Verdugo’s actions were wrong.

It was the same with Jersey. When Verdugo got angry, Judge just wondered how Mattingly would handle the situation, and he didn’t think about getting angry for the coach.

But that’s wrong.

In order to become a team, the basic hierarchy had to be established, and to do that, he had to step forward like Ji Maeng-ho.

He, the captain of the team, should have resolved the situation first and brought the team together, not a young guy who joined the team less than half a year ago.

… Although his fist-pumping went too far.

“Big, big. Ji’s words and actions just now were extreme, but there’s nothing wrong with what he said. “Listen to the coaches carefully and don’t drink on days when you lose a game. These are basic things.”

That’s why Judge spoke out in hopes that other players would feel the same way.

“For now, let’s keep this a secret. “It is not a good situation for Ji Maeng-ho, who shook his fist, to be known as Verdugo for his racial discrimination.”

So, in a way, it was natural for Judge to make a comment that seemed to protect Ji Maeng-ho.