They asked me to come back (to first base). I had already passed (the leading runner) and was out.”
It is an international competition in name and appearance, and is the best comprehensive competition in Asia. It’s a country without a professional league, but the umpires don’t know the rules of baseball.
The Korean baseball team, led by coach Ryu Joong-il, won 10-0 against Hong Kong in the first game of Group B of the Hangzhou Asian Games held at the first stadium of the Shaoxing Baseball Culture Center in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China on the 1st, 10-0, a cold game in the 8th inning.
Players from both teams did their best. In particular, the fighting spirit of Hong Kong players, ranked 45th in the world and a ‘weak baseball nation,’ was remarkable. The intense concentration sometimes resulted in unexpected super catches. Korean hitters struggled against Hong Kong’s slow balls. Still, it was a cold game. Korean pitchers, including starter Won Tae-in, showed off their skills to the fullest without allowing any runs.
The referee ruined it all. Was it because the inning was ‘3rd’? A runner who had already died miraculously came back to life. Fortunately, the follow-up situation didn’t change much, but if the Korean batting line had exploded there, it would have been even more uncomfortable even if we won.
In the bottom of the third inning, Korea had a chance to reach first and second base with no outs against Hong Kong’s second pitcher, Lee Ho-chi. Kang Baek-ho, the fourth batter, coolly swung the bat.
Here, the Hong Kong right fielder threw himself into action. Kang Baek-ho’s batted ball was miraculously sucked into his glove.
At first glance, it looked like it was handled as a one-bound. However, there is no video review for this Asian Games due to the on-site situation.
First base runner Noh Si-hwan was confident of a hit. Went too far, too fast. Choi Ji-hoon, who had stopped for fear of being hit by a batted ball, stopped again when he saw Noh Si-hwan. This is because according to baseball rules, ‘if the back runner passes the lead runner who is not out, the back runner is out.’ This hesitation led to a triple play.
However, the referee’s response was strange. After declaring 2 outs, the umpire called Choi Ji-hoon and placed him on first base.
Choi Ji-hoon, who appeared as the first batter of the inning and went to second base in one hit, was reassigned to first base. Next, first base coach Jong-yeol Lee spoke at length with the umpires. Eventually, the umpire called Noh Si-hwan to first base instead of Choi Ji-hoon.메이저놀이터
However, this is also an unfair decision for Hong Kong. There was no room for doubt for Hong Kong. Noh Si-hwan did not return to first base. And the Hong Kong players forced out Choi Ji-hoon at second base and then threw the ball to first base, clearly reaching the base. Regardless of overtaking, it was a triple death. Fortunately for Korea, the next batter, Moon Bo-kyung, was out.
Noh Si-hwan, whom we met after the game, said, “The right fielder seemed very far away from the ball. The batting speed was fast, so I just looked ahead and ran with the thought of getting home. I think I made an unreasonable play because the game wasn’t going well. But suddenly (Choi) Ji-hoon came up. “He was next to me. I think he was waiting for me because he was afraid I would be out, and he was late at second base.”
He added, “Later, they called me to first base again. I was puzzled. They overturned it, but honestly, I don’t know why I started at first base. I didn’t understand.”
On this day, Korea only led 3-0 until the 7th inning, but they scored 7 points in the 8th inning and ended the game with a 10-0 8th inning cold game.
Noh Si-hwan said, “It was a little difficult in the beginning. It is true that we had difficulties because the ball was too slow,” but he pledged, “The players focused until the end and won happily. I want to win with this good trend until the match against Taiwan.”