Defeating an amateur team and 'jumping up and down in celebration' — would it have been better to show a bit more restraint? [Kim In-sik's One Word]

*This content was translated by AI.

Korean baseball has achieved its fifth consecutive Asian Games championship. As a senior who experienced winning a gold medal as the head coach of the representative team at the 2002 Busan Asian Games, I would like to convey my congratulations and appreciation for their hard work to my juniors.

However, the process was not smooth. Facing Japan, which was composed of amateur players, Korea suffered a complete defeat with a score of 0-5 in the Super Round on the 25th, and then secured a difficult victory by a score of 3-1 in the final on the 27th. Nevertheless, it is regrettable to see the players jumping up and down and cheering after securing the gold medal. Of course, it was a happy occasion, but considering what kind of team the opponent was, would it not have been more professional to show a bit more restraint?

As someone with experience as a head coach of the national team, I would like to evaluate the bench movements and pitching strategies of Korea and Japan in this tournament.

Matches against Japan carry a heavy burden in any sport, but Asian Games baseball is particularly so. This is because Korea fields professional players, while Japan sends out social (corporate) players.

Perhaps due to the pressure of feeling that they must win naturally, the strategy of this Korean representative team did not look very smooth. As a result, despite hitting many hits, they failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities, giving the impression that they were being dragged around. They also appeared unable to make quick decisions regarding defensive shifts. Shortstop Kim Ju-won did well in tracking down and catching a difficult hit, but if he had shifted his position slightly, he might have handled it more easily.

In the case of the Japanese representative team, while the players worked very hard and gave their best effort, the bench barely intervened. They did not even attempt a bunt during a scoring opportunity with no outs and a runner on second base while trailing by one run. If they had managed to create a situation with one out and a runner on third base despite being unable to hit the pitches of Korea's starting pitcher Kwak Bin, they could have pressured the opponent. Instead, they left it up to the players, much like a high-level Major League team. Ultimately, this was fortunate for us.

Various comments have also emerged regarding Japanese pitcher Higuuchi Shin starting in the final after resting only one day following his start against Korea in the Super Round. This must be considered in light of the fact that the situation differs between professional baseball and Japanese social baseball.

Korean players must immediately join their respective teams upon returning home to continue the league, but Japanese players can rest thoroughly until their next game after the tournament ends. Within their system, such a starting appearance is possible.

Although this is a story from the past, there were iron arms like America's Cy Young (7,356 innings and 511 wins in his career over 22 years) or Japan's Inao Katsuhiro (42 wins and 404 innings in 1961). In the early days of Korean professional baseball as well, it was common for pitchers to rest for one day after a start and then be ready to pitch. It was inevitable that their operational methods differed from today's KBO League, where each team has more than 30 pitchers.

It is not necessarily true that a pitcher will perform well simply because they have rested for a long time. For example, even ordinary people can injure their shoulder or elbow by casually throwing a stone from the riverbank. In fact, pitching frequently can strengthen the muscles used during a pitch. Even in professional baseball, pitchers are made to throw hundreds of balls on a weekly basis during spring camp and fall finishing training to hone their control and shoulder muscles.

I have recently heard that in amateur baseball, even parents interfere with pitching strategies, arguing that they must protect their players. However, resting indefinitely is not necessarily good either. On the other hand, overuse from throwing too much should also be avoided, so proper adjustment is most important.

/Former head coach of the national baseball team (currently KBO Elder Advisory Group) Kim In-sik

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*This content was translated by AI.