“I’m going to the national team again after a year and a half.”
Kang Baek-ho (24, KT Wiz), who was selected for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) national team, said this. Having struggled with personal controversies over a no-medal medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he made up his mind, saying, “I will forget the regrets at the Olympics and focus on the upcoming competition.”
Kang Baek-ho was included in the final 30-man list of the 2023 WBC national team announced on the 4th. He was selected as the first baseman/designated hitter agent along with senior teammate Park Byung-ho (37) and major leaguer Choi Ji-man (32, Pittsburgh Pirates).
Although he was included in the 50-man list announced last year, it was difficult to guarantee selection until the final list. This is because the last 2022 season was Kang Baek-ho’s worst year since his debut in 2018. After struggling with injuries throughout the season, he had a batting average of 0.245 with 6 homers and 29 RBIs.
Kang Baek-ho himself said, “I wasn’t expecting it.” Still, he said, “A good opportunity has come and I am happy to be selected for the national team again. I will prepare hard.”
This is the third time Kang Baek-ho has been selected for the adult national team, following the 2019 Premier 12 and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. However, the WBC, which has a large number of Japanese professional baseball players and even major leaguers, has a different feeling.
However, he emphasized that wearing the ‘Taegeuk mark’ itself is more important than the weight of the competition.
Kang Baek-ho said, 메이저사이트 “It doesn’t matter which players come out. Wearing the Taegeuk mark and playing without shame comes first,” he said. “I don’t know what role I will play, but I just want to contribute to the team somehow.”
It is already the third international stage, but the tension is not different from the first. He explained, “Going to the national team itself is bound to be tense,” and “You must not relax anytime, anywhere. You must have a sense of mission.”
For Kang Baek-ho, this year 2023 should be a ‘year of resurgence’. Since his debut, he has been on a winning streak and has been ‘spoiled’, but he is determined to confirm his health once again.
He said, “I was not satisfied with last year, but on the other hand, I also think that I did not show all my skills because I was injured.”
Kang Baek-ho was born in 1999 and is also a rabbit. He vowed to make 2023, the year of the Rabbit, even more meaningful.
He emphasized, “As 2023 is the year of the rabbit, it also gives meaning. I have a great desire to show a good image once again,” and emphasized, “I want to decorate this year satisfactorily, starting with the WBC.”