(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 South Korea announces roster for World Baseball Classic
Nederlands
 SEOUL (South Korea) -
Almost four months before the first game will be played, the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and National Team Manager In-sik Kim already announced the 28-man roster which will represent South Korea in the fourth edition of the World Baseball Classic in March next year.
South Korea is the host of one of the first rounds.
At the Gocheok Sky Dome in capital Seoul, the first games will be played on March 6.
In this round, South Korea will meet Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Israel and the Netherlands.
The two best teams in this pool will advance to the Second Round in Tokyo (Japan).
After ten days of meeting, the WBC Technical Committee of the KBO announced the names of the 28 players on Thursday (November 10).
...Jung-Ho Kang hitting against the...
...Netherlands at the 2013 WBC...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Most players play in the professional KBO League, while four of them are currently playing in the Major League.
These four players are first baseman/designated hitter Dae-Ho Lee (Seattle Mariners), infielder Jung-Ho Kang (Pittsburgh Pirates) and outfielders Shin-Soo Choo (Texas Rangers) and Hyun-Soo Kim (Baltimore Orioles).
All four have participated earlier in a World Baseball Classic.
Kim and Lee both participated in 2009 and 2013, Choo played for South Korea in 2009 and Kang was with the team in 2013.
The 34-year old Choo plays in the Major League since 2005 and played for Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds, before signing with Texas Rangers in December 2013.
This season, he batted .242 in 48 games with seven homeruns.
Choo scored 27 runs and batted in 17.
29-year old Kang plays for Pittsburgh Pirates since last year.
This season, he batted .255 in 103 games, scored 45 runs and batted in 62.
28-year old Kim made his Major League-debut this season, playing in 95 games for Baltimore Orioles.
He batted .302 with six homeruns, scored 36 runs and batted in 22.
34-year old Lee also played in his first Major League-season this year.
He batted .253, played in 104 games, scored 33 runs and had 49 RBI's.
South Korea is the first country to announce its 28-man roster for the event.
In the meantime, other rosters are getting shape and will be finalized in the upcoming months.
On Wednesday (November 9), it was reported that three players of the Baltimore Orioles-Major League Team will be playing in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
They are second baseman Jonathan Schoop (Netherlands), third baseman Manny Machado (Dominican Republic) and outfielder Adam Jones (USA).
They are now joined by Kim, who will play for South Korea.
In 2013, the Dominican won the event, while the Netherlands finished in fourth place.
South Korea was eliminated in the First Round based on Team Quality Balance, while the USA was eliminated in the Second Round.
The Finals of the fourth WBC will be played in Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Schoop's older brother Sharlon Schoop is currently with the National Team of the Netherlands in Japan for the Samurai Japan Warm-Up Games in Tokyo.
The Netherlands and Japan will play against each other coming Saturday and Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Orange squad won an exhibition game (7-5) against a local semi-professional team to prepare for the games.
(November 10)
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