The 2023 WBC (World Baseball Classic) national team is training in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
The national team, led by head coach Lee Kang-cheol, has been training at the Kino Sports Complex and Veterans Memorial Stadium in the southern part of downtown Tucson since the 15th (Korean time). Accommodation is a resort near Mount Lemmon in northern Tucson. It is located 30 minutes by bus. Although they have to endure a rather long distance, it is the best condition for players to rest comfortably without unnecessary external influences. It is a place that the KBO decided after a lot of thought after keeping several options open for several months.스포츠토토
However, an ‘uninvited outsider’ recently appeared in the national team’s accommodation.
An agent stayed with the national team until recently. This agent used the same accommodation as the national team under the pretext of ‘to check the players’. It is said that he booked the accommodation at his own expense without KBO or national team support. He also showed up at the national team’s training ground.
This agent belongs to a large agency that has the best players in the KBO League. In Korea, it is called the so-called ‘super agent’. A number of players were also included in this team. It is an agent’s natural job to meet with players who have started preparing for the season and check whether there are any inconveniences or needs. It is deservedly praised for flying all the way to the United States, taking care of the agency’s players, and being faithful to one’s work.
However, the time and place of the ‘work’ reminds me of a question mark.
Korean baseball suffered a series of disasters in the 2013-2017 WBC, and all were humiliated by being eliminated in the first round. Amid sluggishness in international competitions, such as two consecutive losses in the 2019 Premier12 against Japan and a no-medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2023 WBC voices more concerns than expected. The pressure of the representative players who participated in this WBC was considerable. This is why the coaches and players all shout ‘gather’. The fact that an agent who is an ‘outsider’ stays at the national team’s accommodation to ‘check the agency’s players’ can cause unnecessary misunderstanding.
Most clubs in the KBO league started their spring camp schedules from the beginning of this month. The teams that moved to the United States arrived at the end of last month for long-distance flights and jet lag. After two weeks of training in their respective teams, they joined the national team. It was more than enough time to communicate with the players and check their difficulties.
It can be said that the time to convene the national team, when players from the agency gather in one place, is optimal in terms of cost and time saving. But was it really necessary to go to the national team’s accommodation and stay at this time?