The Korean baseball team, which crashed endlessly in Tokyo.
The national team that failed to break through the group 메이저놀이터 stage in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) returned home on the 14th. On this day, WBC coach Lee Kang-cheol said, “I can only say sorry. I hope you will refrain from criticizing the players.” It was my return to Korea 10 days after leaving the country on the 4th with the ‘dream of blue luck’ of advancing to the WBC semifinals.
The result of this competition is also the result, but it is true that we were not prepared at all from the contents of the match. Baseball fans were outraged beyond disappointment with reactions such as ‘The pitching staff was the worst’ and ‘It was a frog in the well’.
Some point out the pitcher lineup and say that Woojin Ahn (Kiwoom Heroes) should have been selected.
Last season, Ahn Woo-jin marked an average ERA of 2.11 with 15 wins and embraced the Golden Glove in the pitching category. He was a skill that should have been selected for the national team, but he was not named to the final 30-man list for the WBC national team due to ‘school violence’.
◆ Controversy over not selecting An Woo-jin resurfaced, divided opinion
First of all, the Korean national team’s pitchers played a poor game against Japan on the 11th, and the opinion is that only An Woo-jin is the pitcher who can block the Japanese batting line, which drove them to the brink of a cold game. Baseball fans claim, “If Ahn Woo-jin had existed, he could have won against Australia.”
The opposite position is the claim that draws a line that the Korean national team disaster and the non-selection of Ahn Woo-jin are unrelated. It is the opinion that it does not make sense to recall it because the results of the national team game were not good even though it was not selected due to ‘academic violence issue’ rather than performance.
The problem is that Ahn Woo-jin is eligible for the Golden Glove Award, but he is not eligible for the national team. In the end, public opinion can only be the criterion.
<Baseball Fan 1 Interview: I think we should give it one more chance. The problem of school violence is really serious right now… The school violence that happens to the children of the political world now goes to Seoul National University and lives in a row. If you live with your talent and pay it back for the rest of your life, isn’t it natural to give one person several chances? I also think that it is necessary to have such a national character or a broad-minded national character.>
<Baseball Fan 2 Interview: I think this is really ambiguous in the case of Ahn Woo-jin. It’s not like Lee Young-ha and other players are doing it legally, and the judgment has been received before and testimonies are coming out again… But since Ahn Woo-jin wasn’t selected, I think it’s better to just self-restraint in terms of social conventions and professional baseball popularity awards. . >
◆ ‘Ahn Woo-jin selected’ even baseball legends complain
Last January, SSG Choo Shin-soo made a statement saying, “Forgiveness is not easy in Korea.” Choo Shin-soo criticized baseball seniors for not taking responsibility, and the national team was embroiled in controversy with this remark.
He said, “Ahn Woo-jin regrets his mistakes and was punished for suspension, but he can’t go to international competitions. If he is going through such an unreasonable thing, his seniors should step up, but he just watches. Just because he was born early and played baseball first doesn’t make him a senior.” .
He also said about the generational change of the national team, “I think I would have seen the future. If I had looked at the future rather than the current performance, many (veteran) players should not have gone.”
‘Korean baseball legend’ Yang Jun-hyuk also spared no criticism about Korean baseball after the defeat in the Korea-Japan match. From the evaluation of coach Lee Kang-cheol to the story of pitcher An Woo-jin, who was unable to participate in the national team due to the issue of ‘school violence’.
On the 11th, on YouTube ‘Yangshin Yang Jun-hyuk’, Yang Jun-hyuk conducted a live broadcast with the title “Yang-shin Yang Jun-hyuk 2023 WBC Korea-Japan Overall Review .. Serious”.
Yang Jun-hyeok claimed that he turned Ahn Woo-jin off the national team because the KBO was overly conscious of public opinion. Then he said, “I won’t say anything else,” and said, “I remembered Go Woo-seok and An Woo-jin the most. Go Woo-seok was sick and couldn’t come out. I understand.”
He continued, “But I had to give An Woo-jin a chance. I should have, but it’s too bad. The national team needs An Woo-jin. It’s time for Korean baseball to wake up.”
As the national team’s mound collapsed helplessly, baseball fans also expressed regret for the absence of Ahn Woo-jin through the community.
From fastballs in the mid-to-late 150km/h range to sharp sliders, drooping curves, and timing-stealing changeups. Opinions that the ‘post-KBO level’ Ahn Woo-jin should be selected were the main ones.
◆ <The Fact> pointed out the softball association’s inappropriate disciplinary process and rubber band disciplinary measures in November of last year
<The Fact> was the WBC player selection match in November last year, the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) inappropriate disciplinary process and rubber band yardstick. I once shed light on Ahn Woo-jin, who was ‘permanently deprived of the national team’ after being suspended for 3 years.
The main content is that the disciplinary process of the Korea Baseball Softball Association, which first disciplined Ahn Woo-jin, was inappropriate, and the fact that the association sent an official letter of disciplinary attendance only to Whimoon High School and did not notify the parents, and that the juniors were assaulted using tools, etc. It was different (assault, not special assault), etc.
In addition, in the police-prosecution investigation, the assault process was found to be untrue, but the association’s misjudgment, which resolved the case only with documents, the lack of confirmation of the fact that An Woo-jin did not reach an agreement with the victims, and the players’ prejudice against An Woo-jin, etc. I pinched the about part.
He did not defend Ahn Woo-jin’s ‘academic violence’, but argued that the sports world could reduce future ‘fairness disputes’ only when a transparent and verified process for ‘academic violence’ and a uniform and fair screening were made.
On the day when Korean national team pitchers were trampled by Japanese hitters in Tokyo, Ahn Woo-jin started in the evaluation match against Doosan Bears held at Gocheok Sky Dome and pitched 2 innings with a fastball of 156 km, striking out 3 and giving up no hits and no runs.
◆ WBC without Ahn Woo-jin and Ryu Hyun-jin, the controversy seems to continue
Ahn Woo-jin is unable to participate in the national team game hosted by the Korea Baseball Softball Association due to a history of school violence while attending Whimoon High School. However, he was allowed to play in WBC games organized by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Nevertheless, ‘Lee Kang-cheol-ho’ did not select Ahn Woo-jin in consideration of public opinion on school violence. No, she might not have been picked.
Korean baseball has an outstanding major league pitcher named Ryu Hyun-jin along with Ahn Woo-jin of the KBO League. However, Ryu Hyun-jin was out of the season last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament joint surgery). As a result, this WBC competition was also unable to participate.
In the end, one could not be selected for the national team due to the problem of ‘academic violence’ and the other due to rehabilitation following surgery.
Due to the Tokyo disaster, it is highly likely that controversy will continue as to whether Ahn Woo-jin will be selected for the national team in the future. We look forward to this tournament as an opportunity to reorganize the lineup of Korea’s ace-class pitchers.