I decided sometime after Korea won the Olympic gold meal in baseball that I was going to make the 2009 World Baseball Classic part of EWC going forward. Afterall, with Korean baseball becoming a focal point of world baseball, it seemed to make sense to add my two cents, and so I started writing the Korean Approach to the U.S. 2009 WBC Team series and doing WBC news and notes last Sept. 12.
It’s ironic that during the pinnacle of Korean baseball history I was away from a TV, working 12 hours a day scouting Korean high school baseball, a clear byproduct of the former, but one that prevented me from seeing a single inning of the team’s thrashing of Team Chubby on Saturday.
Well, the high school baseball tournament has concluded, and luckily I’m back home for the wondrous, colossal matchup that is the final. Today’s Japan vs. Korea WBC final is what East Windup Chronicle was born to be and the timing is perfect. The vision has been realized. At least that’s what I think. The site was really Jackson’s idea in the first place, so he might have a different opinion.
I’ve spent a lot of time here carping about how criminally underrated Korean baseball has been in recent years. I wouldn’t say this trip to the WBC final proves once and for all that I was right, but the proof is in the pudding, and my pudding I mean scouting peepers. Things are about to get very different in Korean baseball. Today, while at Seoul Station waiting for my 7 a.m. train back to Busan, I paced down row of four big screen televisions, each about 20 yards apart. As I walked from one to the next I was greeted by groups of older Korean men, and a few woman, watching news about the Korean team in the 2009 WBC. News reports of Kim Tae-keun’s impending departure for MLB. A “MLB scouting report” of Kim and the news that Tommy Lasorda thinks he’s an MLB level player. Coverage of the WBC in Japan and, of course, what people there think about the Korean team. It was surreal. I spent the next 10 minutes walking from one TV to the next, bewildered in realizing that I’d somehow ended up a part of all this.
As of now there are two full time MLB scouts living and working in Korea. I’m part time, live here, and am the only “active” one of those. That will change. Just in the last week more scouts have shown up, more fans have arrived, and more dollars are being spent or talked about being spent. I think Korean baseball is about to change in a big way. I don’t just mean scouting-wise and I don’t just mean the profile of the national team. I think it’s about to be turned upside down. Where that puts things I can’t be sure. I can only hope people respect Korea along the way. Unlike a number of other baseball-talent nations Korea has infrastructure, the money and the general distrust of foreign business, to make things very difficult on those who don’t respect.
In the meantime we can all enjoy a game that exemplifies everything international baseball has to offer.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Jackson // Mar 23, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I wouldn’t say the vision has been realized yet, just getting started…but the vision that we had has started to play out like we expected and more. Thanks to Mr. Shinsano’s hard work and maybe some of my lil’ old contributions.
2 Bruce B // Mar 23, 2009 at 10:37 pm
The last WBC should’ve served notice that they play pretty good baseball in South Korea, and if the Olympic gold medal didn’t erase any doubts, just being in this game should. No matter what happens tonight, Korean baseball fans have an awful lot to be proud about…but a win WOULD be sooooo sweet.
Now if only Taiwan could get their act together. I first thought the government bankrolling a new team in Taipei was a good idea, but now have doubts. How often does government involvement in anything improve things?
Question for you guys (a little off-topic): On my radio show, I’ve been giving some Asian player names in the classic surname-first sense (e.g., Choo Shin-soo) instead of the Westernized sense (e.g. Shin-soo Choo) as a matter of cultural respect, even though it might confuse some Western listeners. Is there a “right” way to give an Asian player’s name, or am I just splitting hairs?
Finally, this is a great website, one of my two best sources for tracking down stories on Asian baseball. Kudos to Aaron and Jackson both. I love the passion.
3 simon // Mar 24, 2009 at 12:37 am
More recent respectz shown to Asian ball and Korea in particular..
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/03/23/daily-jolt-asian-domination-at-wbc
Once Taiwanese baseball has its house in order, hopefully it’ll be able to (re-?)gain its international reputation.
4 hansioux // Mar 24, 2009 at 2:10 am
to be perfectly Nerdy… if Star Trek DS9 can have a character named Kira Nerys, family name Kira, I don’t think the concept of some cultures place their family name/clan name in front of their name is that confusing. It doesn’t really matter to me though. Because either way, it will still be way too difficult for most other cultures to pronounce my name correctly… So i don’t even bother.
5 Shinsano // Mar 24, 2009 at 7:48 am
I’m looking forward to Taiwan getting back into this mix as well.
As far as Asian baseball names Bruce, when we first started writing EWC we were going out of our way to put the family names first, and sometimes even put the names in Chinese, Japanese or Korean.
But that got old. I tend to put Korean names last name first only because I exclusively read and hear the names that way. For me to switch them around would be like you starting to write Ramirez Hanley all the time.
But I rarely hear Japanese names that way, so I don’t try to switch them around. I say, write the names in whatever way feels comfortable. I don’t think anyone will be offended either way.
6 Jackson // Mar 24, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Yeah, I’ve pretty much stopped getting hung up on the name order. There’s a few purists that insist on sticking to the formula but really baseball is international enough now that nobody will take offense. I tend to use the last name first just because of what i hear like Aaron said, but you’re not obliged to.
7 wat // Mar 24, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Korea is criminally overrated by Koreans. Korea is criminally underrated by everybody else.
8 Bruce B // Mar 25, 2009 at 10:14 am
Thanks, guys. I’ll go with the first name-surname formula. Most listeners are probably Westerners, and wouldn’t be as likely to be confused.
Tough loss for Korea last night, but a great game by both sides. Wonder how Ichiro feels coming back to his 101-loss team in Seattle after standing at the pinnacle of the international game? Oh, well, he’s got 18 million rea$on$ to get over it.
Leave a Comment