ⓒ JoongAng Ilbo / JoongAng Ilbo Japanese version2023.01.02 14:34
The fateful year 2023 has arrived. The World Baseball Classic (WBC) and the Hangzhou Asian Games may change the future of Korean baseball.
Korean professional baseball, which started in 1982, faced a crisis in the mid-2000s. It was a good fight in the international competition that overcame the crisis. The 2006 WBC (top four), the 2008 Beijing Olympics (gold medal), and the 2009 WBC (second place) continued to show good performance, and the popularity of the KBO (Korean Professional Baseball) league also increased. The era of 10 teams has opened, and the annual number of spectators has exceeded 8 million. The “Beijing Kids”, who started playing baseball and nurtured their dreams by watching international competitions during this period, created a new wind.
However, baseball’s popularity is gradually declining as the moon waxes and wanes. Following the heavy blow from the new corona, the players’ problem behavior was one after another. Audiences were able to enter, but this year’s audience ended up at 6 million, three-quarters of the level. The average audience rating fell below 1%.
Above all, there is a shortage of big-name players who can lead Korean baseball. Lee Jeong-hoo, who became MVP for the first time in history last year, declared a challenge to the major leagues after the season. Kang Baek-ho, Jung Woo-young, Ko Woo-seok, and Ahn Woo-jin have emerged as leading players, but Park Chan-ho and Lee Dae-ho have emerged as leading players. Lee Dae-ho, Choo Shin-soo, Ryu Hyun-jin, and Kim Kwang-hyun failed to become a superstar. According to a survey conducted last year by Gallup Korea, only 18 percent of those in their 20s were interested in professional baseball. Sixty-three percent of the respondents answered that they do not have a favorite domestic player.
There are several reasons, but the impact of the slump in the international competition was large. In the last two WBCs, he suffered a bitter loss in the first round. Last year’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics also finished with no medal (fourth place). This is in stark contrast to soccer, which has boomed due to its well-developed infrastructure, youth training system, and overseas players such as Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae. The Korean national soccer team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Qatar World Cup, further increasing the popularity of soccer.
The results of the WBC, which is held in March just before the start of the season, must be directly linked to the popularity of professional baseball. Compared to previous years, the teams in the lower ranks have been enthusiastically reinforcing their strength, and the difference in strength between teams has decreased, so there is ample possibility of a box office. As seen in the case of women’s volleyball, there is no better opportunity than international competitions to attract new fans. We can also expect an influx of new promising stocks after Beijing Kids.
The Korean national team, led by coach Lee Kang-chul, is aiming to reach the quarterfinals. Not a bad combination. Japan, Australia, China, and the Czech Republic will play against Japan, Australia, China, and the Czech Republic in the first round (the top two teams advance to the quarterfinals), in which five teams play league matches. If they can beat Australia, they will definitely advance to the quarterfinals. At least one match between Korea and Japan, which is a notable card, will be held. Japan will make up the national team with the most elite members including Shohei Otani. If they make it to the quarterfinals, there is a possibility that they will face the United States, which has formed a top-level team such as Clayton Kershaw and Mike Trout.
The Hangzhou Asian Games to be held in September is also a chance. The KBO decided to focus on young players under the age of 23 without suspending the league. This is to avoid repeating past cases where hearings were held as a means of exemption from military service. Gold medal acquisition has become more difficult, but there is a possibility that a new star will be born. Negative images of baseball can also be erased.
KBO President Heo Gu-young said in his New Year’s address on the 1st, “In 2023, various international competitions will be held, including the WBC in March, the Asian Games in September, and the Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) in November. We will actively support the national team to achieve good results by discovering excellent players and thoroughly analyzing their strength.”
