It’s over, the Japanese pitcher struck out the side in the 9th to put Korea away 6-0. Ichiro seems really happy because he will not have to eat his words after all. Like I said before championship caliber teams can rise above bad calls like the one Japan had against the US and they did with a little help from the US by losing to Mexico.
So far no signs of outrageous nationalistic celebrations from the Japanese like the Koreans had after their second defeat of Japan. The Koreans did come out of the dugout and give a bow to their many fans in Anaheim though which was a classy thing to do.
The Cuba vs Japan final should be a great game.
It was a good run by Korea and hopefully the Korean media doesn’t ruin it by claiming that the WBC is flawed by having Korea eliminated after only one loss especially when they have defeated Japan twice already. I can understand the sentiment because the WBC’s format is a little strange but the Koreans signed up for the WBC and the rules format that comes with it.
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Ichiro just popped up to end the top of the ninth and the third baseman for Korea Jung who caught the ball just flicked it back at Ichiro. To Ichiro’s credit he did not react to the provaction. If I was him I would at least tell the guy to look at the scoreboard.
Well Korea has one more chance to put some runs on the board and the first batter has already struck out. Not good.
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The ESPN announcer just butchered the Korean fans chant of Dae Han Min Guk. Quick somebody call Vank on him. The rain delay is over and the Japanese bats are still hot with them getting yet another hit. Instead of planting the Korean flag on the pitcher’s mound the Korean team may want to plant a white flag now because it is going to take a miracle to make a come back.
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It is still raining out and the game continues to be delayed which is just prolonging the inevitable that Korea has gotten stomped by Japan. Any bets if Ichiro will plant the Japanese flag on the pitcher’s mound?
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Okay this is getting out of hand right now. The Japanese are hitting the ball all over the place now. Japan is now winning 6-0 in the 8th inning. It is now raining pretty heavily and the game is being delayed which is only prolonging Team Korea’s misery of getting stomped by Japan. It is looking like it is going to be a Japan vs Cuba WBC Final.
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I think it safe to say that Kim Byung-hyun is now the most hated person in Korea. He just threw a wild pitch advancing a runner and then gave up a double allowing the runner to score a third run off of him. Why in the world did the Korean manager put Kim in? You do not use Kim in a tight pressure packed ball game. Ask Tino Martinez.
I have long posted on how much Kim sucks and I have been proven right again. They finally took him out. Why did he take Seo out? Seo was cruising and had only given up three hits. Hopefully this next pitcher can stop the bleeding and at least keep it from becoming a blow out.
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Japan is now threatening with a runner on second with no outs. The starting Korean pitcher Seo was taken out for I guy named Jun who pitched one good inning before giving up the double. Kim Byung-hyun Kim is now in and he just struck one batter out. Now Kim just did his best 2001 World Series imitation by giving up a two run home run. Japan is now winning 2-0. Is anyone now wondering why Seo was taken out of the game now?
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Peter Gammons just got done interviewing Hines Ward who is at the game supporting Team Korea. Ward just commented on how well the Korean community supports there sports teams. Gammons did ask him how he thought he would be received when he travels to Korea for the first time in April. Ward thought he would be treated well and was looking forward to going.
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It is now the 5th inning and the game between Korea and Japan is still stuck at 0-0. Both pitchers Uehara from Japan and Seo from Korea are pitching well and both teams have made some great defensive plays to keep the game scoreless. Ichiro has made a couple hits and stole two bases, so he has gotten off to a good start but has nothing to show for it yet.
The Korean national baseball team played another outstanding well pitched game to defeat Japan 2-1 and advance to the World Baseball Classic semifinals. Here is my favorite quote from the article:
Lee Jong-beom, the hero of the game, said: “On hitting the decisive two-base hit, I thought how lucky I was to be born in South Korea.”
“My colleagues and I were excited throughout the game, listening to the slogan ‘Dae Han Min Kuk (Republic of Korea)’ from the cheering squad.”
Despite the win, he said Japanese baseball remains a notch above the level seen in South Korea.
I don’t know what being born in South Korea has to do with the decisive two-base hit but I don’t agree with his sentiments that the Japanese play better baseball than Korea. The Japanese appeared to be trying their best to beat Korea and they had two opportunities to do it and couldn’t get it done.
The Korean victory in turn will help the US enter the semifinals if they can beat Mexico, which the way the US is playing (crappy) is by no means a sure thing. Of course the Korean media is hyping up the fact that the Koreans have helped the Americans again like they did during the last World Cup, the Marmot’s Hole has the inside scoop on that. Than of course the Korean media has to bring up all the times they were “cheated” of glory to the Korean race by the wicked Americans:
In the Sydney Games of 2000, the Korean team failed to make it into the finals from the round of four because of a bad call, and in the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, short-track skater Kim Dong-seong was deprived of his gold metal because of the “Ohno Incident.†And two years ago, during the 2004 Athens Games, gymnast Paul Hamm took away Yang Tae-yeong’s sure “gold.†At each turning point, the party that tripped up Korea for doubtful reasons was none other than the United States.
Despite this, Korea has played the role of rescuer each time the United States has faced crisis. A typical instance was the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.
Interesting, no mention of the help from the referees in the last World Cup that allowed Korea to advance in the first place. Plus nothing about the Roy Jones Jr. boxing match scandal during the Seoul Olympics. It was a great win by the Korean team and they should be excited about it, but the in your face hyper nationalism has got to go IMHO. Could you imagine what would happen if the US team planted the American flag on a pitching mound in a Korean stadium like the Korean team did in Anaheim?
I’m actually happy that the US team lost to Mexico today eliminating them from the World Baseball Classic because I think the Koreans would have whooped them again in a rematch. The US team was a joke and an embarrassment. I said it once and I will say it again give me amateur athletes that care about the game. These professionals are a disgrace.
Instead of playing the US again the Koreans will be matched up against Japan for the third time. Will the third time be the charm for Japan? I guess we will find out. If Japan wins do you think they will plant their flag on the pitcher’s mound?
Team Korea has handed the US baseball team a thumping in the World Baseball Classic:
Power hitting and steady pitching from Korea’s national baseball team lead a stunning 7-3 triumph over favored Team USA on Monday in Anaheim, Calif.
Lee Seung-yeop of South Korea belted the first inning solo homer off Dontrelle Willis, the National League’s pitcher with the most victories last season. “Big Choi’’ Choi Hee-seop, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, followed with a fourth inning three-run homer against the Americans. Reliever Koo Dae-sung threw scoreless 3 innings.
Go over to Robert’s site for many great comments about the game, but the consensus is that the US team sucks and the Korean team deserved to win. Robert declares a day of national shame but I don’t really see anything to be ashamed about. The US team is a bunch of overpayed premadonas that got beat by a better Korean team. End of story. It is not the end of the story for the Korean media as Nomad pointed out in this posting.
These “all-star” (I use the term loosely) teams used now in international competitions are not working for the United States. Basketball, Hockey, and now Baseball all-star teams are failing because of these big money players not showing any team work, not playing as hard as they should, and just the fact they don’t appear to really care if they win or lose because they got a long season ahead of them and millions of dollars at stake if they get hurt before the season thus they do not give maxiumum effort.
Compare this to the Korean team that demonstrated lots of teamwork and was going all out and playing hard to beat the US and deserved to win.
Maybe it is time for the US to go back to amateur athletes who actually care about winning the game as much as Lee Seung-yeop, Park Chan-ho, and company displayed against the US.
