Chapter 60

-4-

#

The day after Kukmin-seong secured a shutout victory against the Thunderbirds with just 98 pitches, the Oceans lost to the Thunderbirds.

Until that day, Andy Garfield had pitched in six games, covering 47.1 innings while allowing only 6 runs, posting an impressive 1.14 ERA. However, he struggled in this game.

3.2 innings, 7 runs. Even the best pitchers have off days.

His sinker didn't have its usual drop, his curveball clustered in the middle of the zone, and when these pitches weren't effective, he switched to a four-seam fastball, but the aggressive Thunderbirds batters pummeled him.

Andy Garfield was a pitcher who had been pitching well at the start of the season but hadn't been getting the wins he deserved.

Oceans fans, knowing this, didn't criticize Garfield for losing a single game.

In fact, since they had won the weekend series against the Thunderbirds, they were being a bit more lenient.

[Kim Kwon-jong - Keltman - Sullivan - Park Yong-jae - Chae Ji-sung - Min Seung-gi - Hwangbo Gyeong-tae. This is the list of pitchers Garfield faced.]

-He only faced the ace pitchers of each team, lol.

-Even so, 2 wins and 3 losses? Seriously?

-Even a good pitcher can have a bad day. King God Field, keep it up!

-If the batters mess up and get hit, it's not a crime.

-Gun-woo can leave if he wants.

The reaction of the Oceans fans was not like that of the old fans who would act as if they wanted to kill someone after a single loss.

Of course, the old Oceans were not a team that lost just one game. Losing six times a week was not unusual.

In the two previous seasons, they had recorded seven consecutive losing series and it wasn't hard to fill half a month with losing streaks. They even made the news for a 17-game losing streak, where the coaches got into a fight after drinking, and it was covered in the social news rather than sports news.

And the next day, they lost again, this time getting into a fight with a fan after drinking.

Anyway, Oceans fans encouraged Garfield, who had been pitching well but not getting the wins he deserved.

The Oceans team, moving from Seoul to Daejeon, prepared for a three-game series against the Meteors.

The Meteors, with their solid five starters—Park Yong-jae, Vito Rodriguez, Drew Offendal, Im Sung-jin, and Lee Do-yun—had a good start to the season thanks to their starting rotation. However, their offense, which had been a weakness, had been struggling. They had recently turned things around with a 4-2 record last week.

And the first game.

In the matchup between Kirk Simpson and Vito Rodriguez, the Meteors' batters suddenly caught fire.

-Oh, Jo Jung-min! He hit his first home run in three years! It was a well-struck ball!

-Kim Tae-ju! Kim Tae-ju! Kim Tae-ju's two-RBI triple! The Wolfpack couldn't handle the ball that hit the fence!

Oceans fans, who thought the Meteors would be easy to beat, started to get angry.

[Why do we have to lose to these pebbles?]

- Damn, the pebble fans are flooding the gallery and causing chaos.

- Hold your head high, Koolions. Losing to a strong team is not shameful.

- Haha, that's true.

- Watching Kirk Simpson get hit by .100 hitters is really frustrating.

- Is this Kirk Simpson? He's pitching like Homer.

#

“I’m uncomfortable at that position. I want to play first base.”

Seeing the large Wolfpack looking dejected is not a pleasant sight, but I can understand it to some extent.

I, too, had my position taken away due to aging and injuries, and I moved around to different positions.

If this player were Korean, I might have told him that practicing outfield defense would be beneficial for his career.

But being a foreign player is a bit different.

In the Major League, there are many foreign players by American standards, but even there, Asians feel a bit more like outsiders.

They have to fight against various prejudices and sometimes face slightly unfair competition with local prospects.

Since he was brought in for his hitting, he probably wants to focus on that in a position where he feels comfortable.

“Talk to the manager.”

I don’t have a specific solution. The team has two first basemen who are starters, one of whom is the team’s best hitter, and the other is a local boy.

Wolfpack complained.

“Korea is tough. The manager said there’s no solution right now.”

Well, without being able to bring his own coach, there’s not much he can do.

It’s a bit of a dilemma.

By the way, Yooli mentioned before the season that she couldn’t understand why they brought in Wolfpack.

Even though left field defense is relatively easy, Wolfpack is originally a first baseman.

Watching him waddle around to chase down balls with his nearly 100kg frame is quite pitiful.

He’s a good person, humanely speaking. He’s cheerful, gets along well with other players, and is diligent in training.

But if we look past the human aspect, he could be let go at any time.

His current stats are a .254 batting average with 7 home runs.

His occasional home runs are quite exciting, but that’s not what the Oceans need right now.

Anyway, our foreign players are going through a tough time recently.

Baseball is like that. When someone starts doing well, someone else’s performance might drop.

It’s impossible for all the players on the roster to perform well throughout the season. I haven’t hit a home run in a few games myself.

After a spectacular April where I hit a home run almost every other day, pitchers are no longer challenging me directly. If Yang Daekyun, who bats after me, had a better hitting streak, I would have gotten even worse pitches.

If either Wolfpack or Lee Si-wook’s hitting improves significantly, the situation would be much better.

But that’s not easy.

-Yooli: If the Oceans had 20 strong Kang Gun-woo players, they would win the championship, right?

-Me: Then we’d get married right after the Korean Series.

-Yooli: Should I change my major?

-Me: To what?

-Yooli: I think it would be faster to major in life sciences and clone Kang Gun-woo.

-Me: I’ll object.

-Yooli: Why??????????

-Me: What if you fall for Kang Gun-woo 17?

-Yooli: Ah, lol.

-Yooli: Kang Gun-woo lol.

-Me: I think you’d be arrested for the murder of a clone.

-Yooli: Are you jealous of our Gun-woo???

Yooli seemed quite worried about the team’s state during the recent two-game losing streak.

The analysis was that the issues that were hidden when the team won through strong hitting or good pitching by the starters were gradually becoming apparent.

Problems with defense and how to handle poor hitting conditions.

Anyway, we lost the next game as well, our first three-game losing streak of the season.

[Teams that are going down will go down.]

[Back to where you belong, Koolions.]

The taunts from other teams’ fans were rampant, and the patience of our fans ran out after just three games.

[Destroy the lousy Koolions.]

[We won’t stand up until the two-core is cut.]

[Fire all the coaches.]

[How can a team lose to pebbles?]

#

[Oceans implement a coaching position change.]

[Oceans, leading the early season, change coaching positions. Reform or impatience?]

[Pitching coach Kim Tae-yong and hitting coach Jeong Byung-gu sent to the minors.]

[Oceans promote minor league hitting coach Jo Hyun-min to the major league hitting coach.]

[Oceans reorganize coaching staff. Overreaction to fan dissatisfaction after three-game losing streak?]

[Oceans general manager Park Jun-ki: ‘A new pitching coach will be appointed soon.’]

#

The team atmosphere is a bit tense.

The head coach looks very angry. His right and left arms have been cut off and sent to the minors, so his expression is very bad, but he can't raise his voice.

There’s a rumor that the journalist who wrote a critical article about the coaching position change is close to the head coach.

The expressions of the two quality control coaches look much brighter, suggesting that the issue is not just the pitchers' poor performance or the losing streak. They are part of the management line and had no real influence among the coaching staff.

“Si-wook, let’s try some swing training with a longer bat.”

“Isn’t this too long?”

“Yes, it is. Try to maintain your balance while swinging with this. Focus on your lower body and hip rotation from the start.”

“Will it help?”

To some extent, my guess was right. The hitting coach, without much interaction with the head coach, started to focus on Lee Si-wook, whose form has been inconsistent recently.

The difference from the previous hitting coach is that he explains to the player how the training will help.

The previous hitting coach, Jeong Byung-gu, would clap when the player hit well and frown when they didn’t, but since it was his job, it seemed positive regardless of whether the training was actually helpful.

“This specially made bat is both long and heavy. It will help you find the balance between your upper and lower body. You won’t be able to do a full swing with just upper body strength, so you’ll need to focus on your swing.”

The manager’s expression also looks a bit brighter, which is a notable point.

I really don’t want to get involved in the political issues within the organization, but it’s fortunate that the manager seems to have won against the head coach.

I don’t really know what the original Oceans were like. I only vaguely remember what Yooli said.

I don’t clearly remember if the head coach was the next manager after Hugh Breadman. I definitely know that the manager changed almost every year after Breadman.

The original Oceans.

The head coach might have won a political battle with the manager or the general manager and served as the manager for about a year.

But since so much has changed from the original history, trying to remember what it was like before doesn’t seem to have much meaning. I just have to do my best in the current situation.

-Yooli: About No Kyung-woo.

-Me: Yes.

-Yooli: Would it be difficult to completely eliminate the leg kick from his batting stance?

-Me: We’ll have to try it to know, but would it be better?

-Yooli: It would help him time his swings much better.

It’s fortunate that there’s a direction for improvement, even if it’s a small one.

If the hitting coach can develop Lee Si-wook’s talent and No Kyung-woo improves, the Oceans can become much stronger.

I don’t think we need to worry about the temporary struggles of our top three starters.

If Garfield, who can come back to the Major League, ends up dominating the KBO, and Simpson, with his two-seam grip, can handle a left-handed bullpen role in the Major League, that’s what I expect.

Kim Jeong-yong, I’ve heard, was very stable.

If Kukmin-seong fully awakens, it would be even better.

And if Seung-gi really comes to the Oceans, we won’t have to worry much about the starting rotation.

“Kyeong-woo.”

“No.”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

I felt a bit wronged. He said no before I even said anything.

“You wouldn’t call me so nicely without a reason.”

Did I?

I thought I had been as kind as I could be to No Kyung-woo.

“What about trying to bat without a leg kick?”

“Leg kick? Ha. I’m already confused. Memorizing the timing and not doing a leg kick?”

“Just try it in practice.”

No Kyung-woo’s strength is that he follows instructions even while grumbling.

If he didn’t follow instructions, it would be hard to help him.

It’s a bit surprising that he doesn’t ask why, but maybe it’s because he hasn’t had a bad experience following my advice so far.

“Hey, but you know.”

“Yeah.”

“Wasn’t this something Coach Yooli told you?”

With No Kyung-woo’s skeptical look, I nodded.

“It will help you time your swings much better.”

“Okay.”

Hmm. Does he trust Yooli more than me?

Well, it’s not a bad thing. I can provide technical adjustments, but Yooli’s analysis is really accurate.

#

“This will be a good experience for you. I promise. There are many interesting players. I want to assure you that this is not a bad decision.”

Hugh Breadman, the manager, ended the call with a rather excited face.

At first, he didn’t want to get involved when the general manager made the proposal, but the situation progressed quite rapidly.

He didn’t know all the details, but he was sure that the general manager’s conversation with the owner went well.

He didn’t want to think about the complicated matters. He was just happy to get rid of an incompetent and talkative person and bring in the pitching coach he wanted.

The pitching coach had been badmouthing the team to the journalist, who, instead of writing an article, contacted the general manager.

He was shocked to think that this kind of thing happens routinely in the Korean league. But he decided to focus on the fact that things would get a bit better now.

“Hey, Gang.