“I didn’t know about Kim Gwang-hyun’s pitching habits.”
The 2009 WBC (World Baseball Classic) was a tournament 메이저놀이터 that could not be explained except for the Korea-Japan match. Due to the double elimination system, there were as many as five matches between Korea and Japan from the first round to the final. Korea won 2-3 here.
The first match was a disaster. Korea suffered a 2-14, 7th cold game loss in the first round against Japan. Starting pitcher Kim Gwang-hyeon gave up 8 runs and became a losing pitcher. However, Korea counterattacked Japan with Bong Joong-geun, another left-handed pitcher. They won 1-0 in the first round tie-breaker match and 4-1 in the first match of the second round. In all, Bong Joong-geun took the victory.
At this time, the power analyst who led the Japanese power analysis team attacked Kim Kwang-hyeon and looked back on why he was thoroughly beaten by Bong Joong-geun. According to Japanese media Full Count on the 9th, Yasuhiro Mitsui confessed, “Bong Joong-geun was a player I never thought of.”
It was also said that the background of attacking Kim Gwang-hyun’s fastball and slider was not a pitching habit. Mr. Mitsui said, “He thought that he had to target the main weapon. He thought it would be better to aim for the slider and lower the rate of use. He warned the players that the slider that comes to the center is the ball after all.”
In the end, it is up to the player to decide. Mitsui said, “Maybe he was able to hit because he was that member. I honestly thought he was amazing.” Regarding the story that Kim Gwang-hyun’s pitching habit was exposed, he said, “Honestly, he didn’t know at all at the time.
However, with the appearance of Bong Joong-geun, Japan rather fell into confusion. Mr. Mitsui said, “I was thinking of Kim Gwang-hyun and Ryu Hyun-jin. I thought the rest were not afraid, but a difficult pitcher appeared in an unexpected place and I became nervous.”
He also stuck out his tongue, saying, “It was difficult to imagine that the Japanese lineup, which boasted of brilliant members, would be beaten by the same opponent twice. He was such a difficult pitcher to hit.” In the end, Japan only scored 1 run in 4 innings against Bong Joong-geun in the final.
The last WBC Korea-Japan match was in the 2009 final. Can Korea find a second Bong Joong-geun in the match against Japan on the 10th?