Chapter 83, Not Just Baseball, but Culture
That night, after defeating the Incheon Dolphins 5-0, the Busan Oceans team bus was quiet.
It was not the excitement of victory.
Instead, a heavy tension hung in the air.
Outside the windows, the dark sea passed by.
The streetlights along the road occasionally lit up the players' faces.
Yoon Jae-jun had his eyes closed and earphones in, breathing slowly.
Kwon Geon-woo lowered his head with an ice pack resting on his shoulder.
I was simply staring out the window.
Then my phone vibrated.
[Breaking News: Seoul Triples Win on a Walk-Off Hit! Return to a Tie for First Place!]
My lips tightened.
“We're right back where we started.”
Go Gyeong-tae lightly tapped my shoulder.
“The next series is at Sajik, so it'll be okay... We just need to sweep the three games against the Triples.”
I answered briefly.
“Right. And both teams will be fighting for their lives. The fans are going to be crazy too.”
My prediction was correct.
Early the next morning, the front office was on the verge of exploding.
The servers crashed three times.
“There are more than three hundred thousand people waiting for canceled tickets!”
An operations team employee shouted.
“Even the seats with poor visibility sold out in four minutes!”
General Manager Kim Sang-won threw down his documents.
“Does this make any sense? This isn't even the Korean Series!”
The other numbers were even more shocking.
Choi Seong jersey customization rate: Up 200% compared to the previous month.
If twenty thousand jerseys had sold last month, forty thousand had already sold this week alone.
Even the children's sizes were in short supply despite production lines operating at full capacity.
Supply simply could not keep up with demand.
General Manager Kim Sang-won rubbed his eyes.
“This is unprecedented... I've never seen growth this fast.”
Kim Min-su, the operations team leader, smiled and turned his monitor around.
“Even our parent company's stock price has gone up. It jumped 7.3% as soon as the morning market opened!”
“The stock price is rising because of a baseball team?”
“That's right. Even the analysts are saying so. They're calling it the 'sports hero effect' and the 'transfer of fan loyalty effect'...”
News headlines filled the screen.
[Choi Seong Leads KBO's Popularity Boom]
[Busan Oceans Merchandise Sales Reach Highest Level Since Club's Founding]
[Parent Company's Brand Image Achieves Record Public Favorability]
The entire city was excited.
All because of baseball.
All because of one name.
At 10:40 a.m., the general manager's phone rang.
The call came from the parent company's chairman's office.
A low, firm voice came through the speakerphone.
“General Manager, I'll get straight to the point. Keep Choi Seong. Whatever it takes.”
“Pardon?”
“Major League Baseball? That's fine. But we should make our offer first. The highest salary in history and the longest contract. We need to make him the symbol of our brand and our team.”
After the call ended, General Manager Kim Sang-won summoned the entire front office to the meeting room.
He let out a breath and spoke.
“All right. Let's settle this. If it's a one-year contract, one billion won in annual salary. If it's a long-term contract... twenty-five billion won over ten years.”
Operations Team Leader Kim Min-su opened his mouth in shock.
It was an unbelievable contract.
Especially considering that it was being offered to a rookie pitcher who had not even reached free agency.
Of course, Kim Min-su also felt secretly proud because he had helped select Choi Seong back when he worked as a scout.
“That's the largest contract in KBO history!”
Kim Sang-won nodded.
“Right. If there's no precedent, we'll create one. That's how the Oceans do things now.”
At eleven that night, the general manager called Choi Seong into the meeting room.
A thick contract lay on the desk.
“Seong, you deserve this.”
Choi Seong looked through the numbers.
Guaranteed salary.
Performance bonuses.
Brand-image contract clauses.
There were even provisions for retiring his number and offering him a special coaching position in the future.
I quietly spoke.
“Thank you. But I want to go to Major League Baseball.”
Kim Sang-won closed his eyes.
“I knew you would say that.”
I continued.
“I'll finish everything I need to do here. But I believe my final destination has to be the world stage.”
Kim Sang-won smiled.
“Right. You really are the heart of the Oceans. Then we'll help you get there.”
The following day, the front office immediately activated the Choi Seong Protection Plan.
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Maximum salary allowance.
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Minimize travel for away games, with a limit of one hundred pitches per game. Additional pitching permitted if Choi Seong wishes.
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Hire an additional recovery specialist and introduce a personalized nutrition plan.
·
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Begin actively pursuing trades to prevent the pitching staff from becoming overloaded.
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Manager Rodriguez looked over the plan in the meeting room and nodded.
“Good. Before an athlete is a player, he's a person. Choi Seong deserves this treatment.”
Kim Sang-won was delighted by those words.
After the parent company heard that the Choi Seong Protection Plan had been activated and Manager Rodriguez had agreed to it, the chairman immediately called.
“Please give Manager Rodriguez a multiyear contract.”
A few hours later, Manager Rodriguez returned to the general manager's office and signed a new deal.
One billion won over three years.
The pleased manager confidently declared,
“Good. I'm staying too. With this team and this ace, until the very end.”
Then the fateful day arrived.
Busan Oceans versus Seoul Triples.
A three-game series at Sajik.
From seven in the morning, the area around Sajik Stadium was already overflowing with people.
Fans wearing Oceans jerseys stood in long lines.
Street vendors were offering on-the-spot customization with Choi Seong, Number 30.
“How many strikeouts do you think Choi Seong will get today?”
“I don't know. Choi Seong decides that himself.”
People nearby laughed at the conversation between a father and son.
A message appeared in blue letters on the enormous screen outside the stadium.
HISTORY IS COMING.
There was not a single seat left.
Even the standing-room tickets sold out in four minutes.
Inside the front office building, graphs moved in real time.
“We've already passed one hundred million won in merchandise sales before the game has even started.”
Kim Sang-won laughed as though he had lost his mind.
He had never even heard of a player like this, much less seen one.
“Good. But the most important thing now is making sure nothing happens to Choi Seong while he's pitching.”
I was sitting inside the dugout at Sajik Stadium.
The sunlight falling on the grass felt strangely gentle.
Yoon Jae-jun approached with his mitt.
“Think you can hit well today?”
“I have to. Even the wind is on our side.”
“Right. But the crowd is seriously insane today. They've been chanting your name since they entered.”
I smiled.
