Did the Arizona and non-Arizona camps make such a difference? Should we say that the starting point of the ‘Tokyo Disaster’ was the Arizona camp in the US?
Coincidentally, among the 15 pitching staff of the national team, the pitchers who pitched well in this tournament were the players who participated in the national team camp training after spending their team’s spring camp in a place other than Arizona, USA.
Pitchers who pitched well in the WBC are Park Se-woong and Kim Won-jung of Lotte, Won Tae-in of Samsung, Gwak Bin and Jeong Cheol-won of Doosan, Lee Yong-chan of NC, and Kim Kwang-hyun of SSG.
Kim Gwang-hyun said that the weather at the SSG camp in Florida, USA, was good while participating in the training camp in the United States.
Won Tae-in joined Okinawa Camp in Japan, and Gwak Bin and Jeong Cheol-won spent spring camp in the scorching heat of Sydney, Australia. Kim Won-joong did not go to Lotte’s Guam camp, and Park Se-woong did not go abroad, but did bodybuilding at Lotte 2nd Division Stadium in Sangdong, Korea.
Park Se-woong prevented a cold game defeat by taking the mound at the end of the 7th inning with 2 outs and bases loaded in the game against Japan on the 10th by 4-13. He was appointed as a starter against the Czech Republic on the 12th, but when a cold game crisis came, he hurriedly warmed up and came up to prevent a catastrophe. And as a starter against the Czech Republic, he pitched 4 perfect innings, 5 innings, 2 outs, 1 hit, 8 strikeouts, and no runs.
Won Tae-in came out of the bullpen in 3 games in 4 days from the official evaluation match to the match against Australia and Japan, and fought well, and even took on the selection for the last match against China. Kim Won-joong made appearances in two matches and matches against Australia, Japan and the Czech Republic. He hit a three-run home run against Australia on an error pitch, but was ‘slave’ in the bullpen.
On the other hand, Woo-seok Ko, Woo-young Jung, and Yun-shik Kim of LG, Hyun-jong So and Young-pyo Ko of KT, Hyeon-jong Yang and Eui-ri Lee of KIA, 메이저놀이터 and Chang-mo Koo of NC, who trained in Scottsdale and Tucson, Arizona, performed poorly. Only NC Lee Yong-chan did his part.
Koh Young-pyo, who had been unofficially selected as the starter for the game against Australia early on, allowed two balls, and eventually gave up the first run as the sand dunes served as an excuse, and was hit with a home run, leading to two runs in the first half.
Finisher Goh Woo-seok pitched in the official evaluation game against Orix on the 6th and was unable to pitch in a single game in the tournament due to a sore neck injury. Veteran Yang Hyeon-jong failed to catch any out counts in the game against Australia and bowed his head with 3 hits and 3 runs.
In the match against Japan, the young left-handed young guns were disastrous. Eui-Ri Lee faced 4 batters with 3 walks and wild throws, Yun-Sik Kim faced 3 batters with 2 walks and 1 walk (3 runs), and Chang-Mo Koo faced 3 batters with 2 hits (2 runs) and could not even throw a strike properly.
Because of his good condition and pitch, manager Lee Kang-chul had no choice but to keep using reliable pitchers. After the final group stage match against China on the 13th, head coach Lee Kang-chul blamed himself, saying, “I picked the players as I thought when I was selecting them, but I think I didn’t go wrong. .
During the national team training camp in Tucson, Arizona, the weather was cold due to abnormal temperatures, so there were not many practice games. The pitchers’ bullpen pitching was particularly lacking. Before joining the national team, pitchers who improved their condition early in warm places other than Arizona had to be in good condition.
In addition, on the way back from Arizona to Korea, he suffered a 36-hour ascetic journey back home due to a defect in the plane’s fuselage. The overall condition of his pitchers has not improved, and he has not been able to fully demonstrate his usual skills.
