hankyoreh

By Kim Yang-hee

“I’m going to plant the Korean flag on the pitcher’s mound in the finals.” (Seo Jae-eung, KIA Tigers)

On Jan. 15 at the Renaissance Hotel in Seoul’s Gangnam district, the Korean national baseball team, led by head coach Ryu Jung-il, revealed its team uniform and showed its readiness to achieve victory in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), which will take place in March 2013.

“If we can achieve that unique Korean teamwork, we will reach an even higher level of performance in this tournament than in the first and second WBC,” Ryu said.

“We have a lost a number of good players, but we will make the impossible happen,” Lee Seung-yeop, a player with the Samsung Lions of the Korean baseball league who has also played in Japan, said confidently.

Korea made it to the semifinals in the first WBC in 2006 and came in second the next time the tournament was held in 2009.

Nineteen of the twenty-eight players on the team were present at the event, including Lee Seung-yeop, Kim Tae-gyun (Hanhwa Eagles) and Yun Seok-min (Kia Tigers). Several other members, including Lee Dae-ho (Orix Buffaloes of Japan), and three Samsung players Jang Won-sam, Oh Seung-hwan, and Cha Woo-chan, weren’t able to attend because of their training schedules.

Head coach Ryu was joined by assistant coaches Yang Sang-mun, Han Yong-deok, and Kim Dong-su.

Ryu, current head coach of the Korean league champions the Samsung Lions, was an assistant coach in the first and second World Baseball Classics. “When I put the symbol of our flag on my uniform, I always get so excited and am overcome with emotion,” Ryu said. “We’re going to bring the heat to Korea this March,” he said.

“I don’t think that our team this year is weak. We will keep our minds in the game starting from the first round and will reach peak condition so that we can defeat Japan and Cuba in the second round.”

“I think this will be the last tournament that I can play for the Korean team,” said Lee Seung-yeop, who is regarded as the team’s spiritual anchor. “I promise to do my best so that the team can succeed no matter what role I play.”

Lee described the chance to wear the Korean national uniform for the first time in the five years since the 2008 Beijing Olympics as an “immense honor.”

The team will not include the three powerful left-handed pitcher: Ryu Hyun-jin (LA Dodgers), Bong Jung-geun (LG Twins), and Kim Gwang-hyeon (SK Wyverns), Major league player Choo Shin-Soo (Cincinnati Reds) will also not be taking part.

Despite this, the players are eager to get into action. “We’re going to give it everything we‘ve got,” said Kang Jeong-ho (Nexen Heroes).

“It’s so exciting to see the uniforms,” enthused Yun Hui-sang (SK Wyverns).

After roll call on Feb. 11, the team will head to Chiayi County, Taiwan, for training and an warm-upL game with the NC Dinos.

The first round for pool B (Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and the Netherlands) will kick off at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan on Mar. 2. The top two teams in Pool B will go ahead the top teams from Pool A, who are likely to be Japan and Cuba for the second round, held at Tokyo Dome in Japan on Mar. 8. The two finalists in this round will then go to San Francisco for the semifinals.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]