The representative players, who were sluggish due to being eliminated from the WBC preliminaries, are regretting it.
As the Korean baseball national team was 메이저놀이터 eliminated from the preliminaries of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) three times in a row, the whole of Korean baseball is facing a crisis. The baseball world, which tried to revitalize Korean professional baseball with the WBC’s favorable record as a catalyst, is embarrassed. In particular, several proposals are coming from the baseball world, saying, ‘Korean baseball should not go like this’ after a complete loss to Japan. Let’s look at the urgent issues in the baseball world and make an emergency diagnosis to set the direction for development. [Editor’s Note]
▲Reintroduction of wooden bats, research underway, but no immediate introduction
When the national team was eliminated in the preliminary round, some raised a problem with the use of wooden bats in high school baseball. It was diagnosed that as wooden bats were used instead of aluminum bats, which have good repulsive power and economy, hitters lacked long hitting power and pitchers’ growth slowed down. In addition, some argued that aluminum bats were being used in rival countries such as the U.S. and Japan’s Ambaseball, and that Korea should reintroduce aluminum bats as soon as possible.
However, the Korea Baseball Softball Association, the body in charge of Amaya, is cautious about reintroducing aluminum bats. Yang Hae-young, executive vice president of the Baseball Association, a former secretary general of the KBO, said, “There has been an argument for the reintroduction of wooden bats for several years, saying that there is a problem in fostering giant guns. So, the Baseball Association conducted a survey of field leaders twice. The result was half and half. He explained the current situation, saying, “While there are half of the leaders who need to re-use the wooden bat because of a problem, there are many leaders who oppose it, saying let’s think about the introduction in the past.”
In addition, Vice Chairman Yang said, “We plan to do more research at the association level, such as looking for scientific verification methods and statistical data. It can be introduced right away, but we need to fully consider the pros and cons of both sides and take time to decide whether to introduce it.” Then shouldn’t Japan insist on using wooden bats instead of aluminum bats?”
. Due to the strong repulsive power and fast hitting speed, players were often injured. Then, in the 2000s, the International Federation made a rule for wooden bats, and the Korean amateur baseball world also used wooden bats instead of aluminum bats. Although wooden bats are less prone to injury, they are heavy for young players, limiting their ability to grow into giant bats. On the other hand, pitchers are said to have an advantage in controlling hitters. As a result, it is analyzed that the hitter has not developed into a long-distance hitter and remains a so-called ‘tick-tack’, and the pitcher has relatively slow development. On the other hand, aluminum bats are introducing regulation bats with reduced repulsive force in the United States and Japan due to the risk of injury to players, but there is no certainty that they are clearly ahead of wooden bats in terms of player growth.
▲”Idiot, the problem is the players. There are no players who can hit the bat.” The
amateur baseball world is more worried about the shortage of youth baseball players than the problem of wooden bats. Over the past three years, through the corona crisis, the Korean baseball world, especially in elementary schools, has been intensifying. At a time when the number of children is decreasing due to the already low birth rate, the elementary school baseball club is disappearing one by one as the corona overlaps. Players became more lacking as they could not exercise properly in the corona city.
Corona was a global problem, not just Korea, but it can’t be a serious situation in the Korean baseball world, where baseball infrastructure is inferior compared to the United States or Japan. A few years ago, elementary school baseball teams with traditions across the country disappeared, and now it appears that the number of elementary school baseball players has decreased by more than 30% than before.
One baseball person said, “These days, middle school baseball team coaches are scouting 6th grade players in elementary school. In middle school, due to the lack of elementary school players, it is difficult to properly manage the team because it cannot properly reinforce players. Until a few years ago, the best position among student baseball coaches was the middle school coach, but it feels different.” In the past, there were many elementary and little baseball players, so middle school coaches had no shortage of players, and when players entered high school, many high school coaches lobbied to bring good players to each other, so the middle school coaches had nothing to regret. It is said that the middle school director was in the position of ‘A’ on both sides.
Yoo Seung-an (67), president of the Korea Little Baseball Federation, who was a star in the early days of Korean professional baseball and also served as the manager of the Hanwha Eagles, said, “The little baseball team has not decreased significantly since before the corona. However, the elementary school baseball team is shrinking a lot,” he predicted. I’m worried that if that happens, Korean baseball may take a step back.
▲The designated hitter system that stops baseball for injured pitchers should be eliminated
Chairman Yoo also added that the designated hitter system, which has been implemented since high school baseball, should be abolished immediately. . He said, “The designated hitter system in high school baseball is like a system introduced by some high school coaches to give more players a chance to play and to create grades for entering college. However, there are players who drop out due to the designated hitter in the already insufficient player resources. For example, a player who was injured while pitching has to try baseball again as a batter, but many quit baseball because there is no place to stand due to the designated hitter system.” It is the same as making students study intensively,” he diagnosed the harm of the designated typing system. At the same time, he added that American baseball does not use the designated hitter system until college.
It is explained that if there is no designated hitter system in Ambaseball, student players have an opportunity to learn and learn both pitcher and hitter, but if they are injured, they will not have a chance to play later, so they will quit baseball midway. In particular, players who were active as pitchers become half and have no opportunity to switch to fielders. It is regrettable that Jaewon, who is talented in baseball, gave up baseball early. It is to aggravate the lack of amateur baseball players.
At this point, if Korean baseball is to find a way to fundamentally develop, it is much more efficient to find ways to invest more in and revitalize Amaya, its root. While improving the irrationality of professional baseball, macro baseball should focus more on the development of amateur baseball. The KBO, a professional baseball organization, is still providing subsidies to the Baseball Association, but it is time for the 10 KBO teams to pay more attention to strengthening baseball players and stadium infrastructure.