SPOTV commentator Oh Jae-won is once again embroiled in controversy.
On April 24, Oh, who was a commentator for the Samsung vs SSG game, became the center of controversy when he made a confident statement about an empty ball.먹튀검증
Here’s the situation. SSG scored big runs in the fifth and seventh innings to turn the game around. Samsung, who had recently slipped to last place and were in a bad mood, sent Yang Chang-seop to the mound to put out the fire.
Facing Choi Jeong, Yang fouled off the first pitch and stuck three pitches to the body in quick succession, until a fourth fastball grazed Choi’s jersey. Stunned, Choi stared at Yang for a moment before walking to first base, which is when commentator Oh Jae-won spoke up.
“This was a hard hit, but it’s a good thing it only grazed his jersey,” Oh said, “I hate this situation the most. A losing situation. You don’t even have to apologize for this. There’s no way Choi Jung doesn’t know. It’s a good move from a winning position.”
Oh’s interpretation was that the ball toward Choi was intentionally hit, i.e., an empty ball. In fact, in the past, when the score was wide and the game was in hand, a bean ball was often played as a diversion to intentionally hit the opponent’s center fielder.
Yang Chang-seop, the pitcher, posted something meaningful on social media after the game. Quoting from the Talmud, he said, “Fish are always caught with their mouths. Humans are also caught with their mouths,” he wrote. Commentator Oh Jae-won responded with the same Talmudic quote, saying, “A foolish man speaks of what he has heard, and a wise man speaks of what he has seen.”
The firestorm over the intentionality of the hit spread to the managers of both teams the next day. First, Samsung manager Park Jin-man said, “Choi Jung is relatively weak in the body. That pitch (the body ball) came out according to our analysis. I don’t understand why such a story is coming out.”
SSG coach Kim Won-hyung also drew a line in the sand about the empty ball. “Whether it’s right or wrong, we don’t do that these days. Not only us, but all teams try to play normal baseball even if there is a score difference. It’s different from our time,” he said, taking the opposite position from Oh’s commentary.
Yang Chang-seop’s pitch was definitely suspected to be an empty ball. However, the reason why Oh’s commentary didn’t resonate with baseball fans was because of his conviction and his past history.
Yang Chang-seop took off his hat and made an apologetic gesture toward Choi Jung after the pitch, which could be interpreted as an indication that it was not an empty ball. However, Commissioner Oh said, “There is no need to apologize,” confirming that it was an empty ball.
In addition, he had recently been in the news for taking a swipe at “Korean Express” star Park Chan-ho. As the controversy grew, Oh Jae-won expressed his regret with ambiguous remarks, but he was unable to avoid the crosshairs of baseball fans.
Some people cheered him on for speaking his mind. However, it is also important to recognize that there are a significant number of people who listen to the broadcasts with their hearts in their throats because of the comments that cross the line like a tightrope walker.