Kang Baek-ho (KT Wiz), who was subjected to a ridiculous ‘ceremony jurusa’ that would appear in a collection of highlights of absurd sports incidents for the rest of his life, received all the arrows of Banan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
However, excluding Hwangdang Jurusa, Kang Baek-ho showed a better bat than Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes) in this WBC. Kang Baek-ho got hits in all four games of this tournament. With 7 hits (2 doubles), 2 RBIs, 3 runs, a batting average of 0.500, OPS and 1.143, he was the best hitter in Group B as well as the national team. In particular, his batting average was first with Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) in Japan.스포츠토토
However, we don’t remember Kang Baek-ho’s performance, only ‘Hwangdang Jurusha’. Why is that?
This is because the Jurusa recorded against Australia was a ‘Bone Head’ play that broke the blur of the national team’s pursuit. He hit a double in the 5th inning when he was trailing 4-5, and was out while holding a ceremony for the moment. It was such a thing that he lost his words enough to doubt his own eyes while watching the replay screen.
It was Kang Baek-ho’s mistake that was so obvious that no excuses could be made. But was this outcount the biggest reason for the loss against Australia? Anyone who watched the game knows that. The biggest reason for the failure of the baseball team in this WBC was the collapse of the mound. How can they win against pitchers who do not even know how to throw strikes?
As has been the case in all international competitions so far, a scapegoat is needed if you lose with such a poor fight. Kang Baek-ho was the biggest victim of the baseball team, which was eliminated in the first round of WBC three times in a row.
Kang Baek-ho has an outstanding talent called a genius, but he has created controversy in every international competition he participates in. During the bronze medal match at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, as the defeat deepened, the relay camera caught Kang Baek-ho chewing gum. Park Chan-ho, who was in charge of the commentary at the time, greatly scolded Kang Baek-ho for his behavior and received criticism and criticism from the public. And ahead of the WBC, there was a controversy over walking in a practice game against a Japanese professional team.
However, Kang Baek-ho trained harder than any other player throughout the entire tournament and played seriously. He first came to the field and started training, and after his own training session was over, he went to Kim Ha-seong to receive defensive advice to strengthen his weak point, the defense. Ha-seong Kim also threw the ball himself for his juniors and informed them wholeheartedly.
A Japanese reporter at the scene also showed interest when Kang Baek-ho pulled out a double from Darvish, saying, “What kind of player is that player?” and highly praised his batting ability.
Although Kang Baek-ho became a laughing stock of baseball fans around the world with the overseas topic ‘Hwangdang Jurusa’, he became a more mature player through two trials and errors and is a player who should lead Korean baseball with Lee Jung-hoo in the future.