Defeating Team Taiwan Key to Advancing to Olympics

A “war of baseball” between Korea, Taiwan, and Japan has begun. Preliminary games for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 24th Asian Baseball Championship will kick off today with games between Korea and Taiwan, and Japan and the Philippines.

Korea’s win against Taiwan will take a lot of pressure off the shoulders of Korean players when they play against Japan, but it may not be that easy, as Korea’s near perfect pitcher Oh Seung-hwan, who recorded 40 saves (four wins and four losses), cannot play for the team due to his elbow injuries. A match between Korea and Taiwan will be aired at 2 p.m. today on KBS 2TV.

Scoring Runs Will Be Key to Victory-

Sun Dong-ryul, head coach of the national team, said yesterday at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taiwan, “We should defeat Taiwan first in order to have the upper hand over the Japanese team,” encouraging his players to secure a win against the Taiwanese team. Team Korea manager Kim Gyeong-mun said, “We will score more than four runs to win the game.

Kim Dong-joo (a former Doosan player) and Lee Dae-ho (Lotte) hit eight home runs in practice, demonstrating that they are in good shape. Park Chan-ho (formerly of the Houston Astros), team captain, said, “I will pitch carefully and try not to give up home runs.” However, due to the absence of Oh Seung-hwan, Jeong Dae-hyun (SK) and Han Gi-joo (Kia), Team Korea may have a difficult time trying to prevent the Taiwanese batters from getting hits.

The Taiwanese team is highly likely to start Lin En-Yu, who recorded a 4 2/3 inning, 1 run loss in a game with Korea during the 2006 World Baseball Classic. According to a Taiwanese reporter, “Experienced Taiwanese players such as Lin En-Yu and Yang Jen-fu will play against the Korean team.”

In the meantime, Ha Il-seong, secretary general of the Korea Baseball Commission, was concerned about biased calls made by umpires in Taiwan, which has hosted 80% of Asia’s international baseball championships recently. For example, some claim that umpiring resulted in 12 walks for Taiwanese batters in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

At a coaches meeting held at the Evergreen Hotel, Taiwanese team manager Kuo Tai-yuan said, “We are going to take our home-field advantage to appear in the Olympics.” Korean team manager Kim said, “We will take revenge for losses in Sapporo in 2003 and Doha last year by winning against Taiwan.” Japanese team manager Hoshino Senichi said, “I will go back to Japan with tickets to the Olympics in my hands.”