Chapter 377 – Episode 369. 2024 LA Olympic Roster Announced.

[You can see Coach Lee Geum-hyeon, who will lead the Olympic team this year, in the stands. As it is a match between the 1st and 2nd place teams, you must have come to see the outstanding players, right?]

[You’re right. Volcano Falcons and AT Thunders. As it is a match between the current 1st place team and the 2nd place team, there are many players expected to make the national team. Right now, it can be said that it is almost certain that Seong-hyun, who pitched 7 scoreless innings in the first game of this series, Lee Yong-gi, who matched his battery, and Ji Maeng-ho, who achieved a record of 6 home runs in a row last weekend.]

The match between the Hwasan Falcons and AT Thunders, which was awkward but performed well enough to be called a preview of the Korean Series, ended with the Hwasan Falcons winning 1 and drawing 1. And in the bottom of the 9th inning, with a 1:1 tie, AT attacked. Ji Maeng-ho came in at bat.

[This is where Ji Maeng-ho comes in.]

[Shin Su-ho, you have no intention of avoiding it, right? Since coach Lee Geum-hyeon came to watch, it is clear that he wants to make a mark by outing Ji Maeng-ho.]

[Ji Maeng-ho’s strike! This batted ball! It flies far away! Ji Maeng-ho’s walk-off home run! Here comes the walk-off home run that balances the series! And the main character is Ji Maeng-ho!]

[I thought Ji Maeng-ho was slightly underperforming as he was unable to add a home run after hitting 6 home runs in 6 consecutive at-bats, but he ended up hitting a home run here! It’s not enough to say that it’s a real clutch heater. Ji Maengho! In the end, I’m happy.]

[In the series, he recorded 3 hits in 10 at-bats and 0 home runs, raising questions among fans whether his performance did not live up to the name Ji Maeng-ho, but Ji Maeng-ho ended up finishing the game. Ji Maengho! This is Ji Maeng-ho of AT Thunders.]

[Hey, director Lee Geum-hyun also appears. Are you smiling? I am happy with Ji Maeng-ho’s performance.]

*

“Coach, have you thought about the national team roster?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a good thing. Because we have to announce the list quickly. More than that, the reason I went to see the volcanic match held in Jamsil yesterday was…”

“Yes, because there are many outstanding players at first base. Lastly, I came to see Choi Si-woo’s condition.”

Coach Lee Geum-hyun, who is scheduled to be the head coach of the 2024 LA Olympics following the 2023 WBC and 2023 Asian Games, seemed to have puffy eyes as he had stayed up all night reviewing the list of players received from coaches and staff. The position that coach Lee Geum-hyun thought about until the end was first base, which has many prominent players.

The players who won the Golden Glove right away included Kang Han-beom of Charlotte, Jin-cheol Choi of AT, Jin-mo Koo of UG, and Si-woo Choi of Hwasan, who has been showing off his potential since last year. In addition, the golden balance of two left-handed hitters and two right-handed hitters was a factor that made manager Lee Geum-hyun worry until yesterday.

“So who is the director’s choice? First, Kang Han Beom will be chosen unconditionally.”

“That’s right. First, we need a hitter to keep us centered.”

Kang Han-beom’s performance this season is 0.331/0.409/0.593/1.002 and 14 home runs in 60 games. Additionally, he was one of the best hitters in Korea last year, winning the designated hitter award with ratio stats of 0.352/0.436/0.588/1.024 and 32 home runs. In addition, he had a wealth of experience, having recorded a .300 season and a 30 home run season in the big league, so it made no sense for him not to be selected.

Then, the problem is Choi Jin-cheol, Koo Jin-mo, and the rising Choi Si-woo. All three players had their own strengths.

First, Choi Jin-cheol is a slugger who has experienced two 50-home run seasons and has major league experience. Last season, he recorded 0.304/0.413/0.659/1.073 and 44 home runs, which can be safely said to be his second peak. In addition, since he was a third baseman, he had quite good defense, and as a veteran, he also had leadership skills.

However, being a right-handed hitter overlapped with Kang Han-beom, and although his performance this season was good at 0.273/0.351/0.509/0.860 with 12 home runs, it was poor compared to last year.

And the second candidate, Koo Jin-mo, had the advantage of boasting the best defense in the league, being a left-handed hitter, and hitting 10 home runs in 0.314/0.388/0.538/0.926 this season. In addition, last year’s performance was 0.291/0.371/0.566/0.937 with 37 home runs, which was lower than Choi Jin-cheol’s performance last year, but was excellent.

However, the disadvantages were that Munhak, a hitter-friendly stadium, was used as the home base and that there were quite a lot of strikeouts.

The last candidate, Choi Si-woo, emerged as a left-handed hitter with 0.323/0.410/0.514/0.924 and 9 home runs, but he is a young player without much experience and is evaluated as being inferior to Choi Jin-cheol or Koo Jin-mo in defense. There was.

Since they were all players with their own strengths and weaknesses, the KBA president waited to hear Lee Geum-hyun’s words.

“The starting first baseman… “I decided on Gu Jin-mo.”

“As expected, Gu Jin-mo…”

“In any case, there is a defensive advantage in having a left-handed pitcher at first base, and he has gained international experience at the WBC, so I think Koo Jin-mo will be fine.”

“Of course it is. “Then, can I take a look at the confirmed starting list?”

“Yes. “The president will check and if there is nothing strange, we will make an announcement in the afternoon.”

The president quickly looked through the national team starting list after hearing Coach Geum-Hyeon Lee’s words.

“Not much has changed from the last WBC, huh?”

“Yes. First, we mainly selected players who matched the sum at last year’s WBC. “Because we probably won’t have enough time to put it together.”

“It’s a pity that Lee Eun-chong is missing. “He is a player who will be number 1 or 2 in the national team.”

“I feel sad too. But my performance this season was so bad. In addition, it was judged that Yang Ji-hyeok would be able to fill the role of pinch runner and defender.”

“Jihyuk Yang. Good. Even though Hyunseong is currently at the bottom of the rankings, Yang Jihyeok’s score is at .300.”

The Olympic selection list did not change much from the previous WBC.

Kim Won-ho, who played in the bullpen last year and as a starter this season, was named, Shin Su-ho of Hwasan, who has emerged as the best closer in the league since Ko Young-hwan left, was newly named in the pitching staff, and the batting staff was missing Lee Eun-chong due to a slump. The governor nodded and was satisfied with the selection list, which was nothing to call an exception.

“Then can I announce it like this?”

“I will. However, there may be injured players, so please keep listing the potential players.”

“It’s a given.”

With those words, the conversation between the two stopped for a moment. And the one who broke the momentary silence was the president of KBA.

“After… Coach, as you know, these Olympics are really important. “This may be the last Olympics where baseball is included.”

“I know.”

As the president said, this Olympics was quite important. It is natural that the national team’s performance attracts the public’s attention. In addition to the popularity of Korean baseball, there was also the symbolism of the baseball Olympics, which we do not know when it will be held again. Furthermore…

“If the fans’ public opinion is good in this Olympics, which is to say, if we achieve a silver medal or higher in my opinion, we at KBA will also lift the posting restriction. “You probably already heard it and know it.”

Even the change in the posting system, which the governor had ambitiously prepared, depended on this Olympics.

The reason why the governor was thinking of changing the posting system was simple. For the popularity of the KBA League, and for Korean baseball. The effect of a player who played in the KBA league advancing to the major league was proven in the case of Joo Hyung-jin.

Even people who don’t know baseball become interested in baseball after seeing major league players on the news, which in turn leads to the KBA league.

In addition, it had the advantage of preventing promising companies from being exported to the United States. The dream of baseball players is to play in the May League. There were more than one promising player who went to the United States with the dream of becoming a big leaguer.

Even Jang Woo-soo, who is currently competing for the position of the best starting pitcher in the league by throwing 100 mph, would have been sent to the major leagues if it were not for the extraordinary promise of taking a rookie who had not even debuted to the WBC.

Of course, Ji Maeng-ho, who was selected in accordance with fairness, hit the jackpot, but the outflow of prospects was severe enough to make such an unreasonable move anyway. It was also a problem in the baseball world that players with superstar qualities went to the United States and disappeared without a word.

However, if successful results are achieved in this Olympics and the posting period is changed to 4 years, the story will be different. The period of four years was a long time, but if it was short, it was a short time. It was also the time when prospects who graduated from high school usually debuted in the big league.

If it took 4 years, unless they were extremely talented, their debut age would be similar, so there was no need for promising players to choose to go to the United States. There was no need for promising players to abandon their stable lives in Korea and suffer through tear-soaked bread in the U.S., And brilliant talents could not lose their shine in an unfamiliar land.

Of course, there are players who try to reach the big leagues to pursue their dreams, but it was clear that if the system changed, the number of such players would decrease.

“Still, I’m glad. “The clubs don’t have much opposition.”

“If it were normal, I would have opposed it. It would be a huge loss to only be able to use a player selected in the first round for four years. However, with Ji Maeng-ho active, it was easy to persuade him. Except for AT, it would be beneficial for other clubs to send Ji Maeng-ho to the majors as soon as possible. AT also gave permission on a Mahayana level.”

“Ji Maeng-ho… “It is truly the blessing of Korean baseball.”

“Isn’t this the effect of the coach having that young player debut on the national team?”

“Haha, does that happen again?”

“Anyway, I hope you enjoy this Olympics as well.”

After the disaster at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the appointment of coach Lee Geum-hyun was an excellent choice. Lee Geum-hyun has shown satisfactory performance in the WBC and Asian Games in line with his reputation and career. And the president believed that Lee Geum-hyun would achieve good results this time too. No matter what anyone says, Lee Geum-hyun was the best director in Korea.

“Just leave it to me.”

And Lee Geum-hyun also confidently responded to the president’s words, showing the spirit of a young person despite his age.

*

-Olympic national team roster announced! What is the new face?

(OSEX Reporter Park OO)

The roster of the Korean baseball team participating in the 2024 LA Olympics was announced today at 2 p.M. Meanwhile, this Olympics starts in July…

The list of 24 players, including three active major-leaguers, is as follows.

Catcher: Lee Yong-gi (Hwasan Falcons), Park Jung-hyun (Hyunseong Madcats)

Infielders: Koo Jin-mo (UG Overlords), Kang Han-beom (Charlotte Blue Mariners), Park Cheol-young, Kim Hwan-young (Shilla Triggers), Kim Su-ho, Ji Maeng-ho (AT Thunders), Choi Joo-tae (LAA).
Outfielders: Kim Jeong-hyeon, Joo Seung-cheol (Han-cheol Grizzlies), Gi Ki-ju (AT Thunders), Yang Ji-hyuk (Hyeonseong Madcats).

Pitchers: Woo-sung Jeong (PIT), Young-hwan Go (MIN), Seong-gyeol Kim, Woo-jun Kim (UG Overlords), Joong-hoon Choi (Hyunseong Madcats), Hyeon Seong, Su-ho Shin, Jae-hyun Chae (Hwasan Falcons), Won-ho Kim (Silla Triggers), Jang Woo Joo (Future Buffaloes), Sihyeon Kim (NV Rex).

The national team roster consists of two catchers, seven infielders, four outfielders, six right-handed pitchers, and five left-handed pitchers. The club that produced the most national teams is…

Haha, let’s get a medal this time!! Let’s go!!!

What’s the point? There’s still more than a month left ㅅㅂ

ㄴPlease, I hope there is no disaster in this Olympics.

Wow, I already want to see Maeng Ho-shin and the major-leaguers.

What the fuck are you bastards? Is it true that last year’s winning team didn’t pick a single pitcher? How did you win?

ㄴㄴHonestly, it’s Ji Maengho haha ​​If you can’t win with a .400 hitter with 60 home runs, is that even a team?

ㄴThere is a reason why Hwasan ranks first. They have the most with 3 pitchers and 1 batter.

ㄴI’m glad Jinhong Lee wasn’t chosen. I thought I’d break up after going to America again haha

To be honest, the roster for the Olympics is tight, so it’s not easy to become an outfielder.

ㄴㄴBut isn’t he better than Yang Ji-hyuk or Kim Jeong-hyun?

ㄴㄴ In terms of defense, Yang Ji-hyuk seems to be better than Lee Jin-hong, who only plays as a designated hitter because Korea’s No. 1 Kim Jung-hyun has punching power and a good batting average, and he is good at right field defense. But that doesn’t mean Lee Jin-hong can beat Kang Han-beom, right?

They kept telling me not to pick them for the Olympics, but since I wasn’t picked, they started complaining haha

Honestly, am I the only one looking forward to this Olympics? It seems to be the highest power ever. There are only three active major-leaguers – Jung Woo-sung, Choi Joo-tae, and Ko Young-hwan – as well as former major-leaguers Seong Hyeon, Kang Han-beom, and Gi Ki-joo, and future major-leaguers Joo Seung-cheol, Jang Woo-joo, and Ji Maeng-ho. Honestly, when it comes to power alone, it is the best of all time.

ㄴㄴThe weather forecaster is taking pictures lol Those damn bastards are praising the G team players so much

ㄴㄴI think it’s the best of all time. Come win and come ㅅㅂ

ㄴGoing Korean National Baseball Team!!!