There are many words. The outpouring of criticism was to be expected. However, it does not seem to be a correct diagnosis. This is a story about the Korean baseball team, which was eliminated in the first round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). “The frog in the well.” To summarize the criticism poured out on Korean baseball, it is generally like this. Was the first-round elimination caused by losing to Australia, which was expected to win in the group stage, an unexpected disaster? If you look closely, it’s not. Opening the lid proved that Australia’s power was not so easy. If so, what was the problem? Rather, it is my opinion that the attitude of complacency was wrong. I would like to assert that the decisive cause of this disaster was the results of Korea’s neglect of various efforts to refine its performance during that time, as world baseball has been leveled.스포츠토토

There is no need to question Japan’s objective ability any longer. This is because the difference was so great, and even if all the factors that make up the performance were comprehensively evaluated, no one was better. It is the same with pitching and hitting, which is the most important element of baseball. First of all, in terms of pitching ability, it was possible to visually confirm a significant class difference in velocity and control. Korean pitchers’ average fastball speed was around 140 km/h, while Japanese pitchers recorded 150 km/h. Experts are of the unanimous opinion that the bigger gap than this is control. The difference in level of control that could not be put into the zone, let alone the pinpoint control that precisely stabbed the four corners of the strike zone, was enough to determine the basic skills of pitching.

Hitting might eventually have a close function with the pitching power of the opponent, but Korean batters couldn’t properly use the basic batting technique to form the impact zone flat. Lee Jung-hoo was the only one who consistently maintained the method of flattening the impact zone, proving that he was world-class. The rest left these basics and couldn’t even show the bat speed that could catch up to 150kn per hour. The gap in performance between Japan and Japan was so large that it was meaningless to judge the pitcher’s performance.

Korean baseball was eliminated in the first round in a row in the 3rd and 4th WBC (2013, 2017) competitions and ended up with a no medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. A long dark period spanning 10 years. The problem is to find it right here. I want to ask what the hell did Korea do during that long time? I wonder what the government, the KBO, the Korea Baseball Organization, each club, and the players were thinking about and doing at each level in the rain of criticism and criticism. The reprimand and criticism were only for a moment, and as a result, no meaningful action was taken after the harsh time passed quickly. This means that there was no proper diagnosis and treatment. So what can you expect? It is my argument that that is the cause of this WBC’s disastrous defeat.

There is one more thing that should not be overlooked. Aside from the objective difference in power with world-class players such as Japan, I think one thing that must be equipped is missing. It is a serious attitude and mindset toward baseball. I would like to call this sincerity and soul. Many people think that the words sincerity and soul don’t go well with modern sports, but I don’t think so. It is because I believe that this disaster is caused from the inside, leaving the car of objective skill. Sincerity and soul were the biggest strengths of Korean baseball overcoming the difference in skill and a humble attitude toward baseball. I’m not talking about strong mental strength and fighting spirit. It refers to the sincerity and earnestness that focused on each ball and breathed soul into it. If this is missing, it’s not a matter of just passing it over. It’s because it’s meaningless to discuss skills when the basics are missing. Intoxicated with the outward growth, I only heard a lot of superficiality. Right now, Korean baseball desperately needs a sincere heart, sincerity and soul to play baseball.