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By Daniel Kim
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Apr. 27, 2009 |
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“Dae han min guk!” Korea! — chant Korean fans in a packed Dodgers Stadium during the World Baseball Classic Finals game against their team’s arch-rival Japan.
The grueling game dragged on for ten innings as both Asian teams exchanged blows, but in the end Japan came out on top, edging over Korea 5-3.
The World Baseball Classic, which began in 2006, is an international baseball tournament for sixteen national teams around the world featuring their professional players. The tournament also intends to promote the game around the globe.
On the night of the championship game March 23, both my parents were already on the sofa, waiting for the game to begin. They told me not to do homework until the game was over. Relieved, I grabbed a Coke, took a seat, and enjoyed the show. The game was just as intense and suspenseful as a Yankees-Red Sox game. In the beginning of the game, the Koreans struggled on offense but were solid on defense. They even had a chance to win it all at the bottom of the ninth, but instead the game went to the tenth and the Japanese prevailed.
Though the Koreans lost the game, it meant a lot to me as a Korean. To me, sports are a way to connect to my home country. It has given me another reason to be proud of my country for being able to compete and succeed fairly well against other nations like the United States and Japan. I’ve also been motivated to read about sports in the Korean newspaper as well as learn more about my homeland. Someday, I hope to visit.
Recently, Korea has shined on the world stage in sports. Back in the 2002 World Cup, I cheered in front of my TV as Korea advanced to the semifinals and clinched fourth place. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, my country once more advanced to the semifinals, only to be knocked out by Japan. Fortunately, the Koreans won the baseball gold medal at the recent 2008 Beijing Olympics, defeating Japan as well as other elite teams like Cuba. This year’s game was another opportunity for Korea to find its rightful place in the sun.
I will admit that the Japanese baseball team is one of the best in the world and has far more talent than the Korean team. After all, they have Ichiro Suzuki, who also happened to knock in the game-winning run for Japan in the championship game. The Japanese had five American major leaguers including Suzuki, and the Koreans only had one. Although they were the underdogs, I still had high hopes for a Korean victory. To me, the amount of talent doesn’t matter — what matters is who has more heart and determination to win. The Koreans clearly played with passion to the bitter end. For instance, in the bottom half of the eighth, Korean third baseman Bum Ho Lee led off with a double and moved to third on a ground ball by second baseman Young Min Ko. Lee then charged home on a sacrifice to center field by Dae Ho Lee to cut Japan's lead to one run, 3-2.
The championship wasn’t the first time the two teams clashed in a baseball showdown this year. Prior to the game, they played each other four times, twice in the first round and twice in the second. Japan won in the first encounter by blowing out the Koreans 14-2 on March 7. However, my team Korea rebounded from this humiliating loss by defeating the Japanese 1-0 on March 9 and 4-1 on March 17. Japan evened the series 2-2 with a 6-2 victory on March 19 and went on to win the series with the championship victory.
The loss was very disappointing to me. Nevertheless, it was a great game that was played out by two of the best baseball teams in the world. It lived up to my expectations, but in the end, it wasn’t time for Korea to shine. Maybe next time…
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