Reporter Kim Joo-hee = Tommy Edman (28, St. Louis Cardinals), who boarded the Korean national team for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), leaves a ‘first’ footprint in Korean baseball history.
This is because Edmund is the first player in history to have a non-Korean national player selected for the national team.
Edmon’s middle name is ‘Hyeonsu’ and his full name is Tommy Hyunsu Edmon. He was born to a Korean mother and an American father.
The fact that he, an American national, participated in international competitions as a member of the Korean baseball team is thanks to the special rules that only the WBC has.
The WBC, which was launched in 2006 with the advocacy of ‘globalization of baseball’, allowed players to choose their ‘country’ unlike any other tournament.
This is a regulation considering that baseball is not universal. In fact, there are not many countries that play baseball, so in the case of a national competition, the difference in power between countries is bound to be very large.
In order to overcome this problem, the WBC allowed players to compete in the country where they were born, or their nationality or permanent residency, in the early days of the competition. In addition, there was a rule that one of the parents as well as the nationality of one of the grandparents could participate.
If you use special rules that can only be seen in the WBC, even the baseball periphery can raise its power.
Through this rule, KT Wiz’s sovereignty will play for the Chinese national team in this WBC as well as in 2017. Born to a Chinese father and a Korean mother, Ju-gwon lived in China until the age of 12 and became a naturalized Korean in 2007.
There are also players who competed for two or more countries.
Alex Rodriguez played for Team USA in the 2006 inaugural tournament and wore the Dominican Republic uniform for the 2nd tournament in 2009.
Bruce Chen, who represented Panama in 2006 and 2009, represented China in 2017.
As competitions continued, these special rules were slightly modified. Unlike in the early days of the competition, now the nationality of grandparents cannot participate. It is interpreted that it is because there are cases where it is difficult to actually confirm when the lineage of grandparents is recognized.
A KBO official said, “These rules have been changed and applied since the 2017 tournament.”
In fact, Stephen Kwan (Cleveland Guardians) tried to participate in the WBC with the Japanese national team, the country of his grandmother, but failed to qualify. Kwan’s parents did not hold Japanese citizenship or were born in Japan.
There is another rule that can only be found in the WBC.
The WBC, which puts ‘player protection’ as its top priority, sets the number of balls a pitcher can throw before entering the tournament.
The maximum number of pitches for a pitcher is limited to 65 in the first round, 80 in the quarterfinals, and 95 in the semifinals and finals. 메이저놀이터
There are also rest days depending on the number of pitches. 30 or more pitches, 1 day break, 50 or more pitches, 4 days break, 2 consecutive days, 1 day break.
As there is a pitch limit, pitcher management can have a big impact on the game in the WBC. Needless to say, efficient pitching by pitchers is important.
There are other rules to protect players.
If a player is unable to participate in all or part of a game due to injury, the national team may replace the player after approval by the WBC Organizing Committee (WBCI).
However, even if a player in a position other than the catcher joins as a substitute, he or she can play from the next round, not the current round.
If there are fewer than two catchers left on the team due to injury, the replaced player can start immediately in the next game.