On October 24 last year, when LG and Kiwoom’s playoff heat was heating up, a surprising guest came to Jamsil Baseball Stadium. It was Hideki Kuriyama, Japan national team coach. At the time, the Japanese series was also in full swing in Japan, but director Kuriyama wanted to take a break from his busy schedule and see Korea in person.
Japan is ahead of Korea in terms of objective power, but looking at the preparation process for international competitions, it always seems to be two feet ahead. They appoint a national team coach early on to give them enough time to prepare, and if there is a gap, they convene the national team to play friendly matches. Power analysis is also thorough. Director Kuriyama’s visit to Korea in October last year is also related to this point.
Coach Kuriyama said, “Korea is a team with potential, so I wanted to feel it with my skin. I’ve been coaching for the team for the past 10 years, so I haven’t had a chance to watch baseball in other countries. So I came here because I wanted to see these games where the game was at stake.” He explained the background of the short two-day schedule. I didn’t really come to see the two teams. Coach Kuriyama smiled shyly, saying, “Rather than saying which team I want to see, it’s the timing because of the schedule.”
However, the timing of Director Kuriyama’s visit 토토사이트 to Korea ended up being staggering. Looking at the final 30-person entry in Korea announced on the 4th, nearly one-third of nine are from LG and Kiwoom. A total of six players were selected from LG, including Go Woo-seok, Jung Woo-young, Kim Yoon-sik, Oh Ji-hwan, Park Hae-min, and Kim Hyun-soo, the most among the 10 clubs. Kiwoom also added Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-seong, and Lee Ji-young to the final list.
Coach Kuriyama couldn’t have figured out everything about the players after one or two games. However, the Japanese national team’s power analysis has already turned sharply and grasps many of the players in question, and it is highly likely that coach Kuriyama also visited the stadium after receiving some reports. Watching it on TV and watching it in a stadium give a different feeling. You can check the fine movements that are difficult to see on TV with your own two eyes. It is even more so if it is the eyes of director Kuriyama, who is a veteran of the war.
Among the 9 players, fielders played in both games without exception, and pitchers Jung Woo-young and Ko Woo-seok participated in both the first and second games. In the second game, Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Hye-seong, and Kim Hyun-soo all played an active part, hitting three hits. That’s what I was able to see in good condition. It is interpreted that these players could have been observed more intensively as they were expected to board the national team early on.
During last year’s season, coach Kuriyama visited the U.S. and had direct meetings with players playing in the major leagues and shared ideas for the national team. Conversely, in Korea, Lee Kang-chul, head coach, did not have a chance to see the players playing in Japan. This is because Lee was in charge of kt coach, so he did not have time physically. It would have been helpful for coach Lee to get a feel for it if he had personally watched at least one game of 토토사이트 players playing in Japan, such as Yamamoto Yoshinobu, but unfortunately, that was not the case. In the beginning and depth of his thoughts, director Kuriyama started to lead first.