By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
It has been yet another lackluster year for South Korean baseball that seems to have lost its mystery and drama.
The SK Wyverns cemented their first-place lead halfway into the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season and waltzed away with the Korean Series trophy by edging the self-imploding Doosan Bears, finally allowing baseball fans to put away a monotonous season with a collective yawn.
Gone is the euphoria created by the country's superb showing in last year's World Baseball Classic (WBC) with the sport suffering from sagging attendance and a dearth of talent.
An inspiring run at next year's Beijing Olympics just might be what the doctor ordered. However, it's questionable whether South Korea manager Kim Kyung-moon has the right men for the job.
Kim, the Bears manager reeling from the recent Korean Series defeat, currently has 30 players on the senior national team's roster and will finalize a 24-man squad ahead of December's Olympic qualifying tournament in Taiwan. However, only a few players have proved their worthiness of wearing their country's colors.
Kim's squad is now practicing against a scrimmage team mostly assembled of young pros groomed to be put into the national team pipeline in following years. The national team lost both of the games played this week in Seoul's Jamsil Stadium, including a 9-1 drubbing in the second match Wednesday, and revealed an alarming lack of impact hitters and pitching depth in the process.
``We are not really concerned over the two losses against the scrimmage team,'' said Samsung Lions manager Sun Dong-yol, who will serve as Kim's top assistant in the international competition. ``The players on the scrimmage team are close to 100 percent fit, while the national team players are about 70 percent of their top forms.
``After our last game with the scrimmage team on Friday, we take the training to Okinawa (Japan) and pick the players with the best conditions for the Olympic qualifiers.''
Sun's refusal to read too much into the practice matches is understandable, considering that many of the team's players are coming from long layoffs. Besides, what is the point of pressing the panic button when your options are more limited than Britney Spear's common sense?
Doosan Bears third baseman Kim Dong-joo, penciled as the cleanup hitter for South Korea, is continuing his monumental struggles at the plate that apparently cost his club the Korean Series title. He went 0-for-3 in the match against the scrimmage team and complained of pain in the shoulders and neck that bothered him from the start of the postseason.
With Dong-joo struggling to find his top form, the absence of Yomiuri Giants slugger Lee Seung-yeop, currently nursing a thumb injury, is looming large. Aside from Dong-joo, the Lotte Giants' Lee Dae-ho is the team's best power threat, but the chubby 25-year-old could cost as many runs as he earns at the plate with his dismal defense at first base.
Manager Kim would prefer putting Dae-ho in the designated hitter's spot and starting a more reliable Lee Ho-joon at first. However, this means that either the struggling Dong-joo or Lee Hyun-gon, the KIA Tigers third baseman who led the league with a .338 batting average in the regular season, could be omitted from the lineup.
Pitching is even more of a problem. Kim has penciled Major League Baseball (MLB) wash up Park Chan-ho as his No. 1 starter and is praying that the 34-year-old somehow finds a cure for his allergy of throwing strikes.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays prospect Ryu Jae-kuk is the hardest thrower on the team, with his fastball clocked at 148 kmph in Wednesday's match. However, the 23-year-old also gave up four runs over three innings, which was consistent with his performance for the Devil Rays this year.
Among the starters, Hanhwa Eagles phenom Ryu Hyun-jin is clearly the best talent, but the 19-year-old lefty seems to be showing the effects of two straight 200-inning seasons, failing to finish the playoff series against the Bears.
It's not that Kim has a lot of weapons in the bullpen either. Lions closer Oh Seung-hwan and Wyverns reliever Chung Dae-hyun are reliable right-handers, but it remains to be seen whether 41-year-old Eagles lefty Song Jin-woo can fool anybody with his diminished fastball.