When the reporter saw Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the first time, it was a shock. This is because the combination of the dazzling blue sky, the green ground, and the white spray from the sprinkler spread out like a picture.
The reporter, lost for words and just staring blankly at the ground, muttered, “If you don’t play properly in a place like this, it’s a sin.”
Then he remembered the Korean baseball stadium. A player playing baseball on bare ground, not grass, and an outfielder collapsing against a concrete outfield fence passed by. It wasn’t baseball.
Major league and KBO league stadiums are operated in different ways.
In the case of major league, only a few clubs own stadiums, such as the Dodgers and Yankees.
The rest of the stadiums are either owned by local governments or formed in the form of private consortiums.
Clubs use the stadium in the form of a long-term lease to generate revenue and reinvest in the ballpark. The horse is rented, in fact, it is the same as owning it for decades. Because of this, the field is managed with more sincerity. The stadium itself has the concept of being a part of fan service.
Like major league clubs, the KBO League also takes a method of obtaining long-term lease rights from local governments instead of paying part of the cost of stadium construction. Gwangju-KIA Champions Field, Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Incheon SSG Landers Field, Daejeon Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park, etc.
The problem is that some local governments do not view stadiums as a public good. In the end, the local government has both the operating and advertising rights, and does not provide fan service. The club’s only income is admission.
Choo Shin-soo pointed out the poor facilities of these stadiums.
Choo Shin-soo expressed regret about the exclusion of Ahn Woo-jin from the WBC national team, who was punished for the so-called ‘school violence’ scandal.
Due to the sentiment in Korea, where only ‘virtuous men of morality’ can become national representatives, it is only natural that Ahn Woo-jin could not wear the Taegeuk mark at national competitions such as the Olympics and Asian Games.
However, the WBC is a kind of event competition and has a slightly different nature. The nationality issue has also been greatly eased to the extent that US citizens can participate as Korean representatives. At the KBO level, An Woo-jin can be included in the national team.
KBO selected An Woo-jin as the Golden Glove pitcher category winner. 바카라사이트
Because of the ‘school bullying’ issue, he shouldn’t even be given the Golden Glove award if he can’t be selected for the national team.
Joining the national team and KBO grades are different?
The KBO had Oh Seung-hwan, who caused an overseas gambling scandal, join the WBC national team.
Is overseas gambling different from ‘academic violence’? Gambling is recognized as a crime as serious as ‘school violence’ in Korea in that it not only discredits the family, but also has an adverse effect on the family and society.
In the United States, players involved in sexual scandals and drunk driving are given the opportunity to play again after paying the price, such as disciplinary action. Choo Shin-su, who was drunk and driving, is such a case.
Choo Shin-soo pointed out why it is not done in Korea, even though it is done in the United States.
It seems that he said that because Choo Shin-soo was able to take a chance again after paying the price after drunk driving. Using that opportunity as a stepping stone, Choo Shin-soo was a great success. He said that he should give An Woo-jin the same opportunity.
Shin-soo Choo’s remarks seem to have come from a lack of understanding of Korean sentiment, as in the example of Kang Jeong-ho. The saying “Forgiveness in Korea doesn’t seem easy” came from that context.
However, sentiments in the US and Korea are quite different. According to Choo Shin-soo’s argument, Kang Jung-ho, who has paid the price for his mistakes, should also return to the KBO.
However, it can also be seen that Choo Shin-soo made a complaint about how to show mercy to a promising player like Ahn Woo-jin, who will lead the future of Korean baseball.
Choo Shin-soo also suggested a generational change. He is asking until when Kim Gwang-hyun and Kim Hyun-soo must be selected for the national team. He said that we should give young players a chance.
In fact, in Korean sports, not only baseball, but structural problems in all sports, generational change is not taking place.
Unlike countries with well-developed human infrastructure, such as the United States and Japan, Korea actually has an inverted triangle structure.
Let’s see high school. There are 15,000 teams in the US. There are as many as 140,000 players eligible for the professional rookie draft.
In Japan, there are about 4,000 high school teams.
Korea has 70 high school baseball teams.
Didn’t Choo Shin-soo emphasize that Korea should have a baseball human infrastructure like the United States and Japan? This is because it is possible to form a representative team even if it is not veterans such as Kim Gwang-hyun and Kim Hyun-soo.
Choo Shin-soo pointed out the poor situation of the KBO.
The KBO should humbly listen to his point. Has there ever been a baseball player who has made this point publicly?
Even if that’s not the case, it’s not future-oriented to criticize his past actions as a problem.
Isn’t this why, as he said, the KBO infrastructure is still at the level of Double-A?
Don’t get me wrong. However, I am not defending that all of Shin-soo Choo’s remarks are correct. Constructive comments only emphasize the need to be listened to as each person may have a different opinion.