If you lose once or twice, you could say that you were careless or that it was a mistake.
However, if you lose three times, you must admit and realize that your skills are lacking.
Korean baseball is like that now.
The KBO League, which suffered a severe recession in the early 2000s, reached the world semifinals at the 1st World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2006, won a gold medal in all 9 games at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and finished runner-up at the 2nd WBC in 2009. He prided himself on having reached the top level.
Thanks to the success in these international competitions, KBO pioneered the era of ‘8 million spectators’ and greatly expanded its appearance by founding the 9th and 10th clubs one after another.
Salaries of players have skyrocketed.
Song Jin-woo (then Hanwha Eagles), who signed a contract as the first free agent (FA) in November 1999, signed a contract of 700 million won in 3 years, and the current WBC coach, Lee Kang-cheol, changed his uniform from Haitai Tigers to Samsung Lions at the time and paid 800 million won in 3 years. received.
However, in just 20 years, the highest paid free agent player has skyrocketed to the 15 billion won level.
There are also players who are guaranteed an income of 10 billion won through multi-year contracts even without FA qualifications.
Is it because they have such excellent skills that they receive that much?
Not quite.
As there are not enough good players, the ransom price soared due to scarcity.
Still, the 10 clubs are not aware of anything.
This is because winning the Korean Series is the only achievement that can be recognized by the parent group, rather than increasing crowds or marketing income, even though it is a professional team.
The biggest concerns of the 10 clubs, who have been frantic to achieve that goal, are only the free agency and the new draft system.
I am not very interested in international competition results.
It’s good if it goes well, but if it doesn’t, it’s because they think it’s not their responsibility.
Even if someone points out that ‘the club’s responsibility’ is great for the sluggish international competition, the presidents and general managers of the 10 clubs hide under the shadow of anonymity called ‘KBO Board of Directors’ and are never directly questioned.
In the meantime, Korean baseball has fallen sharply on the international stage.
In the 3rd WBC in 2013 and the 4th WBC in 2017, he suffered the humiliation of being eliminated in the first round.
Korean baseball, which returned empty-handed at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, was also driven to the edge of the cliff from the first edition of this tournament.
The loud voices of some experts who looked down on Australia like that have also gone in.
After the launch of the WBC called the ‘Baseball World Cup’, the skills of other countries are rapidly growing and leveling upward, but it is impossible to erase the feeling that only Korean baseball is stagnant or lagging behind.
In order for Korean professional baseball to start over again, it is necessary to clear the bubbles that have been caught in the KBO league and develop internal competitiveness first.
In order to be comfortable with each other, the 10 clubs should also loosen the regulations limiting the annual salary of foreign players to 1 million dollars and set the stage for infinite competition.
Isn’t it an ‘unfair game’ for Korean players who earn more than 10 billion won for 4 years to compete only with foreigners who earn only 1 billion won a year?
The KBO should also focus more on strengthening the league rather than excessive international events. 온라인바카라
President Heo Gu-yeon, who was inaugurated last year, has made three business trips to the United States in just over a year, showing excessive devotion to the Major League Baseball (MLB).
In November of last year, despite voices of concern from working-level staff, the KBO pushed ahead with an MLB invitational tournament, but was disgraced when it was canceled at the last minute.
Recently, President Huh Gu-yeon has been running around saying that he will hold the opening game of the 2024 KBO League in Los Angeles, USA.
‘The hell, why, for whom’ The KBO League opening game will be held in the United States, most fans as well as baseball officials are promoting things that cannot be understood.
The KBO League, which has undoubtedly revealed its bare face through this WBC, must now get rid of its outward appearance and strengthen its inner core.
Even if coach Lee Kang-cheol’s national team miraculously passes the first round, the fact that Korean baseball is in crisis does not change.