The Korean baseball team faced a bigger crisis as the possibility of being eliminated in the first round of three consecutive World Baseball Classic (WBC) competitions increased.
Korea lost 4-13 in the second round of Group B against WBC Japan held at the Tokyo Dome on the 10th. Korea, which lost 7-8 to Australia the previous day, has virtually no chance of advancing to the quarterfinals with two consecutive losses. Even if they win all the remaining games, they have to wait until the end to see the results of Japan and Australia. The possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals on their own has disappeared. Korea’s goal for this tournament was to advance to the semifinals.
Korean baseball took the world by surprise through the WBC. In the 2006 and 2009 competitions led by coach Kim In-shik, they advanced to the semi-finals and finals, respectively.
However, they lost to the Netherlands and Israel in the first match of the 2013 tournament held in Taichung, Taiwan, and the 2017 tournament held at the Gocheok Dome in Seoul. The first match loss led to a first round elimination. Korea, who won the first championship in 2015 Premier, won the gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games, but it was noisy due to controversy over player selection. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were disappointing with the failure to win medals.
Korean baseball detected a ‘crisis signal’. Players’ ransom values are rising, but their performance is gradually declining. It also gradually lost its competitiveness in international competitions. Under the influence of Corona 19, fans’ footsteps have moved away.
All of the players, including coach Kang-cheol Lee, threw a ballot saying, “We will use this tournament as a stepping stone to regain baseball popularity.”
However, with a loss against Australia on the 9th, the first game of the tournament was twisted. The shock was even greater as we suffered an unexpected blow from Australia, which was evaluated as one step below us.
In the game against Japan on the 10th, they lost 3-14. The power gap appeared even before the competition. Furthermore, Korea recorded an unexpected defeat on the first day, and Japan, the home team with Ohtani Shohei, beat China and the mood was up. 메이저사이트
However, apart from the results of the game, the content was not very good. Yang Eui-ji’s two-run homer and Lee Jung-hoo’s one-run RBI in the beginning of the third inning led the team to a 3-0 lead. However, at the end of the third inning, he allowed a turnaround. After the bullpen pitcher came up, it collapsed one after another, widening the score gap. At the end of the 7th inning, the score gap widened to 4-13, putting them in a position to worry about losing a cold game. The young pitcher often walked excessively due to lack of control. He showed little strength or hope to follow.
South Korea has built up its pride by often beating Japan on the international stage despite a significant gap in skills. But lately, the skill gap has widened. It was definitely confirmed through this competition.
The sluggish performance in international competitions will inevitably have a significant impact on the box office success of the soon-to-be-opened KBO League.