After the so-called ‘Meho War’ ended with Messi’s victory at the Qatar World Cup, the world football world’s greatest rivalry is now expected to continue between Kylian Mbappe and Elling Haaland. But there are problems with this new rivalry. If Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo had an equal match as national teams, French nationality Mbappe and Norwegian nationality Haaland are not. If France’s Mbappe, the world’s strongest, is also shining as a national team through the 2018 World Cup victory and the 2022 World Cup scorer and hat-trick in the final, Norway has not yet passed the European qualifiers, so Holland has not even debuted on the World Cup stage yet.
However, the story is different in the WBC (World Baseball Classic), which is called the Baseball World Cup. Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs), who recorded a scoreless victory in 6 innings as the starting pitcher for the United States in the final match between the United States and Puerto Rico in the last tournament and became the MVP of the tournament, will participate as Puerto Rico’s representative in this tournament. This is thanks to the WBC’s loose nationality rules. Unlike soccer A-match, the WBC, which is close to the event competition, can choose either the nationality or place of birth of the parents or the nationality or place of birth of the national team in the selection of the national team. Born and raised in New York, USA, Stroman was able to represent Puerto Rico because his mother is from Puerto Rico.
Italy, which is not a baseball powerhouse, can even aim for a championship if all players with Italian ancestry participate, including American League Cy Young pitcher Justin Verlander (New York Mets) and strikeout leader Gerrit Cole (New York Yankees). If the WBC rule had been applied in the World Cup, Holland could have competed against Mbappe in this World Cup as a member of the England national team, his birthplace.
The Korean national team, 먹튀검증 which ignited the heat of baseball by winning the semifinals of the 1st WBC competition in 2006 and runner-up in the 2nd competition in 2009, was eliminated in the 3rd competition in 2013 and the 4th competition in 2017. Like the World Cup, the biannual WBC tournament was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, but was postponed due to Corona 19. In particular, the shock was greater because the last 4 tournaments, where they lost consecutively to Israel and the Netherlands, were held at Gocheok Dome. Since the poor performance of the WBC led to the stagnation of domestic baseball such as the KBO League, Korea, which needs good results this time, is going to make a new attempt. It included Korean player Tommy Edman (St. Louis) in the 30-man reserve list.
The reason why foreign players of Korean descent have not been able to participate as WBC representatives is because of the perception that ‘the Korean national team is a place to fulfill military service’ and the willingness of Korean players to participate is also not strong. Since the WBC overlaps with March, when spring camp is held, major league players have been reluctant to participate in the WBC. However, in the 2013 competition, when the Dominican Republic, which can be said to be the ‘Brazil of baseball’, won the championship before the home country, the United States, the United States, stimulated by this, won the next competition after an all-out war, and the unfamiliar national competition in baseball attracted the interest of players. it started.
In particular, in this tournament, the United States, which has 72% of the major leaguers, built the strongest power including the best hitter Mike Trout (LA Angels) and the best pitcher Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers) under the catchphrase of ‘all in’. Enthusiasm for participating in the WBC peaked. Edmund, who decided to participate in the Korean national team, was also told by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, who are the main players of the team and also representing the United States, that it would be a “very special experience.”
Edmund, whose mother is Korean, is a top-notch hitter who achieved 30 stolen bases for two consecutive years, won the Gold Glove for second baseman in 2021, and showed good defense as a shortstop last year. The infield defense of shortstop Kim Ha-seong and second baseman Edmon is the best among participating teams. Edman’s participation is welcome because he is a player who is paying attention to his future after retiring. Edmund, who graduated with honors from high school and majored in mathematics and computer science at Stanford University, is expected to become a major league general manager. Edmund’s older brother also works for the Minnesota Twins’ analysis team.