“It was difficult to determine which ball was a strike or a ball.”
In the 2nd World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2009, KIA Tigers hitting coach Lee Bum-ho was truly a ‘hero’ in Korea. At that time, coach Lee Beom-ho played in 8 games and swung a bat with 3 homers, 7 RBIs and a batting average of 0.400, and was the one who led the final against Japan into an ‘overtime’.
In the last chance of 2 out 1, 2 at the bottom of the 9th inning with the Korean national team trailing 2-3, coach Lee Beom-ho scored a timely hit to tie the game against Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres), who was appointed as a closer at the time, and won 188 wins in Japan and the US. dragged to However, the only regret was that after giving up 2 points again in the top of the 10th inning, they failed to score a point in the attack at the end of the 10th inning, ending up as runner-up.
Coach Lee Bum-ho stepped onto the stage of the Japanese professional baseball based on his impactful performances in the 2006 and 2009 WBC. After the 2009 season, coach Lee Bum-ho signed a contract with the Softbank Hawks for 350 million yen for 2 years and up to 500 million yen for 2+1 years. However, he played in 48 games and had 28 hits, 4 home runs, 8 RBIs, and 11 runs.
Coach Lee Beom-ho, who is currently serving as the KIA hitting coach, recalled memories of the WBC through an interview with reporters in Okinawa, Japan. Coach Lee Beom-ho prayed for the good luck of the WBC Korean team and at the same time generously disclosed know-how for hitters to attack Japanese pitchers.
Coach Lee Bum-ho said, “As a hitter, I think it was harder to hit in Japan because there are many good Japanese pitchers.” I heard,” he said, opening the door. 안전놀이터
Coach Lee Bum-ho explains that it is important to quickly adapt to the ‘height of the mound’. He said, “In the case of Japan, baseball is played in a dome stadium, and since the height of the mound is high, it seems that it was difficult to determine the timing at which point to strike and what height the ball was.”
Continuing, coach Lee Bum-ho said, “That’s why Korean players didn’t hit well in Japan. But after moving to the United States, they showed a lot of good performances.” When I went to the United States and the Dominican Republic, no matter how strong teams and good players were, I couldn’t tell the outcome of the short game.”
There is a lot of talk about the pitcher’s ability being important in short-term matches. However, coach Lee Bum-ho’s explanation was the opposite. He asserted that if the hitters could target the Japanese mound properly, they would have a good chance of winning. Trust in the pitchers who joined the national team was based on the basics and expectations for the hitters.
Coach Lee Bum-ho said, “There is a difference in the strike zone due to the height of the mound. If we just adapt to the high and low zones, many of our players can hit well.” If the hitters do well in the fight against the field, we will be able to play a good game,” he expressed his anticipation along with cheering.
Meanwhile, the Korean national team entered Osaka, Japan on the 4th, played an evaluation match against the Orix Buffaloes at 12:00 pm on the 6th and the Hanshin Tigers at 12:00 pm on the 7th, and then moved to Tokyo to play the first match of the first round against Australia on the 9th.
