A Great Challenge

Base Players Greatly Comforted Recession-Stricken Koreans

It was certainly with some regrets that we saw the Korean national team lose the World Baseball Classic final Tuesday. Still, the runner-up performance was little short of winning the championship given the circumstances our players were in, and we feel proud of them, like most Koreans would.

When the tournament began about three weeks ago, few expected Korea to last this long and get so far. Without such big-name players as Park Chan-ho and Lee Seung-yup, most foreign commentators expected the country to be almost the last among teams reaching the second round. But Korea routed Venezuela and Mexico, teams with rosters filled with Major League stars, some of whose annual salaries were almost equal to the combined total of all Korean players'.

They surprised everyone in the process, their opponents, scouts and sports experts, forcing them to ask why there are so few Korean players in the big league. Solid basic skills, perfect teamwork and excellent leadership from manager Kim In-shik were major factors of the brilliant performance.

But what set the Korean players, and their Japanese counterparts for that matter, apart from Western players, was that they put the national teams and their countries ahead of individuals, in sharp contrast to some MLB superstars, who tended to avoid participation for fear of injuries or other incidents that might hamper their performances with professional teams.

The biggest outcome of this tournament was the confirmation of the ability and confidence of young Korean players, still mostly in their 20s, that they can squarely face with any world-class opponents in the future. What Manager Kim described as the ``great challenge" has not finished in this regard.

That said, the MLB administration's tournament proceeding has left more than a few problems to be reconsidered. In what is seen as a revenue-maximizing pattern, Korea and tournament winner Japan had to meet each other no fewer than five times, including in the final, drawing sneers of ``Asian Baseball Classic" from fans of the two countries.

Despite its slogan of ``Asia-friendly WBC," the administration also has repeatedly disappointed Korean fans with erroneous descriptions of the Korean national flag. Critics of the WBC even say Korea and Japan, extreme rivals with nationalistic sentiments remaining very high, played into the hands of MLB administration seeking to expand their stage outside the United States.

The Korean team's excellent records aside, the time has long past for this country to increase investment into this national pastime and replenish its infrastructure. It's nearly a miracle that Korea, with just about 50 high school teams, could equally compete with Japan, which has 4,000. While Japan has six domed ballparks, Korea has none. It will be a much better investment and economic stimulus if the government builds a domed park instead of constructing a canal between Seoul and Incheon, the feasibility of which has proven to be very low, even by government think tanks.

For now, however, we should congratulate, encourage and appreciate the hard work of the national squad and their coaching staff. These athletes greatly helped their compatriot eased ― almost forget ― the pains of economic recession if for a while.