Chapter 815 – Episode 802. Reason for Recruitment.
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Trout wins AL Player of the Month for July!
… Trout performed well in 20 games over the past month, recording percentage stats of 0.358/0.463/0.806/1.268, 7 home runs, and 29 RBIs. Trout, who was sluggish at the beginning of the season, gradually improved his performance and showed that he is still in good shape even at the age of 35.
Trout’s performance this season is as follows.
97G 0.290/0.379/0.550/0.929 108H 21HR 67R 83RBI 3SB 0CS
Meanwhile, as Trout received the AL Player of the Month award, Ji Maeng-ho’s record of winning the Player of the Month award for three consecutive months was broken…
Ji Maeng-ho, who had won the Player of the Month award for the past three months, unfortunately lost his record of winning the Player of the Month award, but as he received the AL Rookie of the Month award for four consecutive months…
Player of the Month
AL: Mike Trout (LAA)
0.358/0.463/0.806/1.268 24H 7HR 15R 29RBI 3SB 0CS
NL: Austin Riley (ATL)
0.378/0.417/0.689/1.106 34H 6HR 23R 22RBI
Pitcher of the Month
AL: Greg Trilling (BOS)
6G 3W 1L 1.47ERA 43.0IP 50K
NL: Sandy Alcantara (ATL)
5G 5W 0L 0.83ERA 34.2IP 49K
Rookie of the Month
AL: Ji Maeng-ho (NYY)
0.367/0.523/0.767/1.290 33H 8HR 31R 24RBI 13SB 0CS
NL: A. J. Shaver (PHI)
0.380/0.424/0.587/1.011 35H 4HR 17R 117RBI 2SB 2CS
Reliever Pitcher of the Month
AL: Mason Miller (NYY)
12G 1W 0L 10SV 0.00ERA 12.2IP 13K
NL: A. J. Smith Schober (ATL)
11G 0W 1L 8SV 0.00ERA 12.1IP 17K
┗Wow Trout, that old man is still doing well
┗┗Looking at you playing these days, you look rejuvenated haha
┗Hmm… But isn’t Meng Hosin’s performance in July better? With OPS and stolen bases, isn’t this a power hit?
┗┗It seems like they intentionally gave similar trouts because it was 3 in a row. The major leagues don’t usually give out consecutive matches.
┗┗It’s such a shame. I wanted to see him receive player of the month throughout the season.
┗┗I think there are some things I didn’t get because I was disappointed compared to my grades. I finally feel like a person.
┗Does it seems like I’m the only one who’s not good at the results of Fierce Tiger? Looks like you’re screwed sexually?
┗┗The grades so far don’t make sense haha
┗┗In terms of fierce defense, it is true that it is underperforming haha
┗It’s a pity Shin Su-ho. If he hadn’t hit a home run from Maeng Ho-shin, he would have had 0 points and deserved to be Rookie of the Month. ㄲㅂ
┗┗I’m lucky that I haven’t met a fierce tiger in all this time haha
┗Honestly, if the Mets game had been held in July, he would have just won the award. ㄲㅂ
┗┗It’s so fucking disappointingㅅㅂ
*
“This! Ji didn’t win the award… !”
As soon as Eric, the Yankees’ general manager, saw the article, he shouted without realizing it. This was because I had imagined in my mind the impact this article would have.
Even though there was a brief slump due to a back injury, Ji Maeng-ho’s performance was ahead of Trout’s in all aspects, including the American League Player of the Month award, except for RBI.
Trout’s record is such that if the player who recorded such performance was not Trout, who was the biggest star in the major leagues in the 2010s and brings nostalgia to reporters, he would never have won Player of the Month…
Of course, unlike the Yankees, who were consistently doing well, Trout’s performance in raising a low-ranking team to a wild card spot was great, but considering that team records are not much considered when evaluating individual baseball players’ records, the main character of this award is Ji Maeng-ho was right.
In other words, it means that Ji Maeng-ho was robbed of his award.
And the Ji Maeng-ho he knew was not a player who would tolerate such robbery. Especially, if he is a man who spits out interviews so thoughtlessly that he wants to gather Mets players in one place and beat them up.
‘Fuck, why do I even have to worry about this?’
And when he thought of that, Director Eric felt a moment of desperation. He doesn’t even take care of a child, he also has to think about the feelings of an adult player…, I felt like I was a teacher, not a leader.
In fact, Eric, the general manager of a prestigious team called the Yankees, has rarely been able to match the mood of his players.
First, not only has it been a short time since I’ve been in office, I’ve never signed a contract big enough to have to accommodate the players’ feelings, but the Yankees are the most prestigious team in the major league in the first place, so if they match the money, they are one of the few major league teams that don’t need to consider the players’ feelings. Because it was a team that was in the position of ‘A’ who couldn’t do it.
A team that has the power to mercilessly kick out Torres, who has grown into the team’s franchise star. That was the team called the New York Yankees.
‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have preferred Torres…’
And when I thought about Torres, I thought I missed him, but I soon put that thought aside after comparing Ji Maeng-ho’s performance with Torres.
‘Whoa… The OPS is more than double the difference. Yes, my choice of Ji was not wrong.’
Choosing Ji Maeng-ho, who has the most overwhelming performance in the league, was a correct choice. However, although I knew about Ji Maeng-ho’s gossip, it’s unfortunate that I didn’t expect that he would give an interview like he did on a big stage like the major league.
Director Eric knew that Ji Maeng-ho’s tendency to do this would be suppressed to some extent.
It may not be said that it was entirely to suppress Ji Maeng-ho, but they recruited coach Mattingly, a team legend and retired coach, and within the team are Judge and Cole, who are confirmed Hall of Famers, and if they continue their careers like this, they will be in the Hall of Fame. Soto, who can hit 500 home runs, and Stanton, who has the potential to make the Hall of Fame. The Yankees’ lineup was full of players whose stature would be overshadowed by baseball players.
And even with a lineup like this, if Ji Meng-ho could have been expected to act as he pleases, he should have been a fortune-teller, not a leader.
“If I had known this would happen, I should have included a clause prohibiting talking about unnecessary things in interviews in the contract terms…”
If they had known this would happen, they would have inserted a clause prohibiting interviews even if they paid more…
How will Ji Maeng-ho react when he sees this article?
“Please, I hope you don’t give an interview about wanting to beat Trout’s ass… Phew…”
Eric exhaled cigarette smoke from his burning insides. When nicotine enters the head, the happiness circuit starts working.
“But we recruited Jeong.”
Asians are sensitive to hierarchy, and Jung Woo-sung was a pitcher with a solid career who had won 10 games in the major leagues. And he was definitely a player who was treated as a legend in Korea.
In fact, club employees said that Ji Maeng-ho treated Jung Woo-sung with such courtesy that he would bow and greet him every time he met him, so perhaps Ji Maeng-ho would no longer be so rash.
Of course, even after Jung Woo-sung was recruited, a disaster occurred during an interview, but since it happened unknowingly as soon as the game ended, it was no different from an unpreventable accident, and since there was time to meet the reporter, this incident might have been prevented.
‘But I guess I’ll have to ask Jeong for a favor first.’
It was now almost time for the players to go to work. Perhaps, some players have already started work. And considering the characteristics of conscientious Asians, it was clear that Jung Woo-sung had already gone to work.
Eric stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, left the general manager’s office and headed toward the locker room where the players were staying. And there was Jung Woo-sung, who came to work early as expected. When he saw him tying Spike’s laces, Director Eric felt happy.
“Oh, Jeong! “You got to work early!”
“Haha, at my age, it’s okay if I don’t work hard. And because the general manager and coach believed in me, I stepped on the mound in the major leagues again, and I have to repay their trust.”
An almost standard answer to his own question comes out of Jung Woo-sung’s mouth. And at that standard answer, Eric, who had been thinking about Ji Maeng-ho, almost shed tears for a moment.
‘How great would it be if Ji were like Jeong? No, among the Asians I know, there is no one like Ji. Why was someone like him born in the East?’
Although Eric was not a person with particularly racist thoughts, he had some degree of prejudice against Asians, just like ordinary Americans.
This is the prejudice against Asian athletes who are polite, sincere, have a good work ethic, and are humble.
In fact, all the Asian major-leaguers Eric knew had such attributes. From Otani, the best among Asians, to Japanese people like Yoshida, Yamamoto, Sasaki, Senga, and Imanaga, Sung Hyun, who played in the major leagues, Jung Woo-sung right in front of us, Joo Seung-cheol, Ko Young-hwan, and Koreans like Kim Won-ho and Shin Su-ho who debuted this season. Until. In addition, some players from Taiwan also had the same tendency.
But a special species like Ji Maeng-ho was born in such a place…
“Okay, Jeong. I hope we can continue to see things like that in the future.”
“Of course, Captain. I won’t disappoint you.”
Director Eric, who smiled happily at Jung Woo-sung’s answer, gave a few more compliments before slowly getting to the point.
“Good, perfect. Oh, it’s no problem adapting to the club?”
“No problem.”
“That’s a good thing. Oh, how is it with Ji? Since we are both Koreans and Jeong is a senior, I think Ji will rely on him a lot.”
“Meng Hao? As for Meng Tiger, well, it’s good. Meng Hao also treats his seniors well. We had dinner together not long ago, and he said he would buy it for himself. It’s a commemoration of coming to New York or something. I should have bought it for you, haha.”
Fortunately, as expected, Ji Maeng-ho seemed to be polite to his senior from the same country.
“Hmm… Thank goodness. Oh, did you see this month’s Player of the Month article?”
“Yes. I read it once on my way here today. It’s a shame that Meng Hao didn’t become a part of it. Still, it wasn’t a grade Trout couldn’t get.”
“I’m glad you saw it. I was worried that Ji might be disappointed because of that. As he is from the same neighborhood, I think it would be good if he took some care of Ji…”
“Meng Hao? Meng Hao doesn’t really have that kind of personality…”
“I’m worried because I have an interview against the Mets. Jeong, may I ask you a favor?”
“Haha, of course. “I will try to calm you down so that I don’t say anything strange.”
“Thank you. Jeong.”
“Hey, this is my role too.”
Director Eric almost shed tears of joy once again as Jung Woo-sung responded with a smile.
Actually, I wanted to recruit Go Young-hwan, who is a top bullpen player in the league, but Texas, which is competing for a wild card, had no intention of giving up Ko Young-hwan, so I recruited Jung Woo-sung with a question mark. Now that I think about it, I think Jung Woo-sung has the right personality. I felt like recruiting him was a perfect thing.
‘This might be the best signing I’ve made since signing Ji. It’s worth it just to keep Ji in check. ‘I’m really lucky to have Jeong.’
Just like that, Director Eric returned to the director’s office with a smile on his face,
-Ji Maeng-ho, ‘I don’t care about player of the month!’
… Meanwhile, when asked by a reporter how he felt about missing out on the American League Player of the Month award, Ji Maeng-ho responded, “Player of the Month? You don’t really care, do you? “He’s not even the season’s MVP, so how can he care about such a minor award?” …
… Meanwhile, on this day, the Yankees won 10:1 over the Cleveland Guardians thanks to Ji Maeng-ho’s performance…
“Whoa…, This was a good save. You can tell Jeong did his best just by not saying he was going to punch someone in the ass. As expected, recruiting a Korean senior was the right choice.”
Although Ji Meng-ho called Player of the Month a “Minor award,” He ended the day feeling grateful that he didn’t say he would bash Trout or the reporters who voted for Trout.