The World Baseball Classic (WBC) was established in 2006 to ‘globalize baseball’. It is virtually the only national competition in which US Major League (MLB) players participate. In terms of football, it is no different from the World Cup.
In the world’s best ‘Baseball World Cup’, Korea suffered the humiliation of being eliminated in the first round three times in a row. The baseball team led by coach Lee Kang-cheol was eliminated with a record of 2 wins and 2 losses at the 5th WBC held in Tokyo, Japan. We only won victories over the ‘weak’ China and the Czech Republic, but suffered a shocking defeat to Australia, one step below us. They knelt down 4-13 against Japan, who said, “You can’t lose even on rock, paper, scissors.” 메이저사이트
There is no excuse. A chef dedicated to Korean cuisine was assigned to a high-end hotel, and tablet PCs were provided to all players to facilitate power analysis.
Group B of this tournament was evaluated as having the lowest power. This is because the power of the remaining three countries, except for Korea and Japan, has fallen too much. In Group A, where Cuba and Italy advanced to the second round, all five teams including Chinese Taipei, the Netherlands, and Panama showed a 2-2 matchup. Group C, to which the U.S. belongs, is also in a close game of biting and biting. Group D of the Dead, featuring Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, is full of favorites. Despite being placed in the weakest group, Korea was eliminated in the first round. In addition to the results, many fans were disappointed by the poor performance.
Korean baseball has been struggling since winning the Premier12 in 2015. Although he won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, controversy arose over the selection of players. I tasted shame at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2023 WBC. The old reputation of the 2006 WBC semifinalist, the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal legend, and the 2009 WBC runner-up are all gone. From the Taichung (2013 WBC) disaster, the Gocheok disaster (2017 Gocheok), and the Tokyo disaster (2023 WBC), Korean baseball has been devastated enough to be called a ‘disaster’.
The problem is not one or two. The skills and responsibility of the players are lower than in the past. Due to the ongoing controversy, he gave up the full-time national team coaching system and re-assigned the baton to a professional winning team coach, but his lack of experience was clearly revealed through this tournament. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is concentrating only on external expansion, such as major league world tour (cancellation) and promotion of KBO league opening game in the US. The strike zone was expanded to secure international competitiveness, but it was only a ‘temporary prescription’. Regulations and systems such as the abolition and reintroduction of the second draft, the abolition and revival of the first nomination for newcomers, and the upper limit on foreign salaries change too often. It is because of the interests of the clubs and short-sighted logic. Due to these various factors, Korean baseball is falling behind the competition.
If Korean baseball fails to hold its center and falters, youth baseball, the foundation of the KBO League, will also falter. It is said that there are already more players who want to play soccer or other popular sports instead of baseball.
The pain repeats itself. We must get away from the joy and fame of the past and be calmly aware of the reality. The KBO and the club, perhaps baseball, should seriously put their heads together and discuss. Let’s acknowledge the reality right now, point out the problems, and create a ‘baseball white paper’ to prepare for the future. In order not to repeat this kind of pain again, there must be lessons learned from failure. It is not the time to shoot internally, saying, “It seems that people (not on the national team) are doing it very easily. I think it’s more regrettable because I thought they were the same baseball people.”