Choo Shin-soo’s candid thoughts on the power of the WBC national team. The wavelength was much larger than expected.
Choo Shin-soo recently appeared on a local Korean radio program in Dallas, Texas. The interview, which was conducted in Korean, was uploaded as a video through the YouTube channel and quickly spread to baseball fans in Korea. Choo Shin-soo did not avoid sensitive questions in the program and answered honestly. However, after the video was released, public opinion was not good. In various baseball communities and general communities, criticism of Choo Shin-soo’s remarks spread wildly.
The most important questions were ‘the composition of the WBC national team’ and ‘the controversy over the non-selection of An Woo-jin’. When the host said, “From the perspective of baseball fans, this WBC’s power is disappointing. They say that Japan is a dream team, but there are definitely a lot of good players in Korea, but I feel weaker when we form a team than before.” If you look at international competitions, there are a lot of new faces. Our Korea is (not). The same is true of Kim Hyun-soo. He has good grades to represent Korea and is a really good player, but if it were me, I would have looked at the future. If you’ve seen it, it’s true that many players aren’t going, and there should have been more players who had to be selected.” The most representative example is Kim Hyun-soo, a veteran national team player aged 35 this year, which is interpreted as meaning that more young players in their early 20s should have been selected. 스포츠토토
The presenter added, “Isn’t Kim Gwang-hyun and Yang Hyeon-jong the main players in this WBC selection?” Choo Shin-soo said, “How long will Kim Gwang-hyun and Yang Hyeon-jong go? Isn’t there such an article in Japan? It’s not that young players lack skills. There are so many players, so many good players,” he added. Regarding the generational change of the national team, “The emotions and mindset itself feel when such players go to such international competitions from a young age are terribly different. . The same goes for Ahn Woo-jin. It is also the job of Korean baseball to create opportunities for these players to shine in international competitions and go abroad.
When the An Woo-jin controversy became a hot topic, Choo Shin-soo said, “I definitely did something wrong. It’s very unfortunate to see and hear as a third person. He is a talented player who can become the second best player next to Park Chan-ho if he goes abroad. (I) in Korea I’m playing baseball, but there are so many things I don’t understand.” In response to the moderator’s opinion, “Isn’t it possible to look at the player’s future and protect him?”, he said, “I don’t think it’s easy to forgive in Korea. . I have so many things to say,” he sighed for a while. Choo Shin-soo continued, “I am not a senior. What I want to say to many baseball seniors is that they were born early and played baseball early, so they are not seniors. That’s a pity. If my juniors are going the wrong way or exercising in the wrong place, I have to speak up and try to help them change, but I just watch them. It’s very unfortunate.”
Choo Shin-soo answered more honestly than anyone else about his thoughts on the national team, his views on the non-selection of Ahn Woo-jin, and the role of baseball seniors. There are probably people who agree with his opinion. However, his candid remarks, which went against the existing public opinion, came back to him as a headwind. Perhaps his party, Choo Shin-soo, cannot hide his embarrassment. Criticism of public opinion has not faded due to the growing wave.