S. Korea sees hope, shortcomings in baseball after WBC

By Kim Boram
SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- Watching Japan celebrate its victory in the 2009
World Baseball Classic (WBC), South Korea knows its success in reaching the final
is the fruit of its previous efforts and that it can show up better and stronger
four years from now.
But such confidence depends greatly on how much the country is willing to invest
in baseball.
Team Korea has demonstrated solid pitching and defense as well as offense on its
way to the WBC final. It recorded the highest RBIs, 50, and 11 home runs among 16
contending nations with a 3.00 ERA which stands fourth after the Dominican
Republic, Japan and Puerto Rico.
Backed by only one Major Leaguer in the team, Cleveland Indians outfielder Choo
Shin-soo, the Korean squad routed star-studded opponents such as Venezuela and
Mexico.
The 28 players were far from timid against Venezuela's infielder Miguel Cabrera
who hit 37 homers last season for Detroit Tigers and Mexican pitcher Oliver Perez
of New York Mets, who has 10 wins in the U.S. professional league.
The outstanding performance indicates a successful generation change in South
Korea's baseball.
Younger players, their average age under 27, stole the spotlight, most of them
having cut their teeth in the team that won Olympic gold in Beijing last year.
Three years ago, Park Chan-ho, now with Philadelphia Phillies, Seo Jae, former
New York Mets pitcher, and Lee Seung-yeop of Japan's Yomiuri Giants led the
country's squad to the inaugural WBC semifinals.
Park and Seo pitched most of the games, and Lee homered five to top the list.
This time, it was infielder Kim Tae-kyun, 26, who slammed impressive three home
runs with 11 RBIs, and Choo, also 26, who wore his first national team uniform
this year but was undoubtedly one of the key players in the line-up.
Pitchers Yoon Suk-min, the winning pitcher of the semifinals, and Ryu Hyun-jin,
who pitched for the Olympic gold medal, are still in their early 20s.
Fans are certain to see them again at the Asian Games next year in China and the
next WBC tournament in 2013.
"The future of Korean baseball is bright," South Korean manager Kim In-sik told
reporters after the final match Tuesday (Seoul time). "These guys will be
veterans four years later. The team will be stronger."
Some of the players may get a call.
"It surprises me that there aren't that many Koreans in the big leagues, but I
think from now on, there will be," Venezuela manager Luis Sojo said after losing
to South Korea in the semi.
But given the country's weak infrastructure, what the team accomplished in the
WBC is somewhat surprising.
There are only 55 high school baseball teams in South Korea, while champion Japan
has over 4,000 high school clubs nationwide.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) runs only eight professional teams,
compared to Japan's 12 and 30 in the U.S.
Three South Korean teams use worn-out stadiums built in 1960s, and players risk
injuries on hard synthetic turf grounds.
Yet, there are no long-term plans to foster school teams or for businesses to set
up new youth programs or clubs.
Experts say it is essential to build new ballparks or at least remodel the old
stadiums. The country needs more clubs to provide good environment to
professionals and student players, they say, but the reluctance of clubs and
local governments to invest in sporting facilities has deterred players'
ambitions for years.
Yoo Young-koo, chairman of the KBO, promised to build a domed ballpark and
introduce one or two more professional clubs in the league at his inauguration
ceremony last month.
brk@yna.co.kr
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