First Step for Olympic Baseball Team: Beat Japan, Taiwan.

First Step for Olympic Baseball Team: Beat Japan, Taiwan.. October. 25, 2007 03:19. beetlez@donga.com.

The element of surprise is key to quick victories.

Coach Yoo Seung-ahn said that in this Asian Preliminaries for the Beijing Olympics, Park Chan-ho is a likely relief pitcher candidate.

During the last World Baseball Championships, Park started in four matches and held the opposition scoreless for 10 innings (3 saves). It was a mediocre season for Park, however, as he only got to start once while playing for the New York Mets, allowing 6 hits and 7 runs. After being traded to Houston, he recorded an ERA of 5.97 and he had 6 wins and 14 losses in triple-A ball.

While taking on the role of a commentator during the Korean Series game between SK and Doosan on October 22, Park said “Whatever role I am given on the national team, I will bring my A game to guarantee Korea makes it through the preliminaries.”

The two oldest veterans, Song Jin-woo (41) of Hanwha and Gu Dae-seong will provide a much-needed element of surprise when the team faces left-handed pitchers.

Song Seung-jun is set to join the team later.

Initially it was confirmed that Choi Hee-seop (Kia), who dominated the game against the U.S. during the WBC by hitting three big home runs, would not be joining the Olympic effort.

The KBO Technical Committee held a conference with national team coach Kim Gyeong-mun (Doosan) and coach Seon Dong-ryeol (Samsung) and concluded that Choi is not yet 100 percent and needs time to recharge and recuperate. However if Korea is disqualified after the preliminaries, and has to participate in a second preliminary against South American and European teams, Choi will be called upon to join the squad.

A KBO representative said, “Choi Hee-seop and pitcher Song Seung-jun (Lotte) are both veterans who have played in Major League Baseball, and they will join the national team sooner rather than later.”