TV
Han Ki-joo, Shim Soo-chang leaving at the end of Stove League?
In the 35th episode of JTBC's 'Best Baseball' aired on the 10th, the Strongest Monsters' spring camp and tryouts, including the stove league, were revealed.
Before entering the full season, General Manager Jang Si-won held a stove league and called on all of the strongest monsters. There was extreme tension between General Manager Jang Si-won and the strongest monsters, and when the value evaluation report was delivered, the atmosphere became solemn.
The players were classified into a total of 4 groups, from grades A to C and unmeasurable grades, and grade A's Yoo Hee-gwan, Jeong Geun-woo, Lee Dae-eun, and Lee Dae-ho easily boarded the 2023 Strongest Monsters. Grade B's Oh Joo-won, Seo Dong-wook, and Song Seung-jun passionately appealed to their values, which were not visible in the valuation report. All of them were heartbroken when they succeeded in joining the 2023 season.
The problem was the C grade and the unmeasurable grade. This is because, except for Shim Soo-chang and Lee Hong-gu, who were classified as unmeasurable, all were classified as C grade. The C-grade players made a desperate excuse to General Manager Jang Si-won and expressed their will to expect a better performance in the 2023 season. General Manager Jang Si-won decided to join all C-grade players, but notified them of a salary cut.
Lee Hong-gu, who was rated as unmeasurable, surprised the production team with his incredibly changed body shape. He was faithfully carrying out his promise to director Kim Seong-geun at the last company dinner. However, he had a huge task called Yips. General Manager Jang Si-won praised Lee Hong-gu's will and announced that he would join the team for the season with the hope of showing that he could overcome the yips.
Next, news of the opening match against the professional club Wiz was delivered to the strongest Monsters. Coach Kim Seong-geun immediately prepared a long-term training plan, and the hellish spring camp of the strongest Monsters began. The players could not hide their embarrassment at the unexpected high-intensity training. Coach Kim Seong-geun even brought in coach Lee Gwang-gil, who had worked hand and foot with him during his professional days, to provide more powerful training, and it is said that the strongest Monsters fell helplessly in the face of fantasy. The strongest Monsters trained for a month, burning their fighting spirit against their opening match opponent, KT Wiz.
The production team of ‘Best Baseball’ conducted a tryout to strengthen the player base. Due to its huge popularity, a total of 207 players applied, and 104 of them were tested. Among them, one person each from pitcher, catcher, and shortstop will be selected to join the journey of the 2023 Strongest Monsters.
Among the applicants, there were many familiar faces who played against last season's strongest Monsters and showed impressive performances, as well as many professional applicants with brilliant resumes, raising everyone's vigilance. Ki-joo Han, the star of the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Seon-tae Han, the KBO's first non-elected professional, Dae-seong Choi, former Bears' current pitching coach at Dong-A University, Gil-hyeon Yoon, owner of arms worth 3.8 billion won, Joo-ah Park, who was selected as a shortstop for the women's national baseball team for two consecutive years, and active professional Prominent players, including Giants Kang Ri-ho, who attended the free agency period, gathered in one place.
The full-scale test began, and the judges were moved and moved to tears by the sight of applicants with their own stories and dreams doing their best. A total of 37 people passed the 50-meter run and long toss test in the first round, and a one-on-one catch ball in the second round. After much deliberation, 11 additional players passed, making a total of 48 players advance to the second test.
There were as many as 29 successful candidates in the final round of pitcher selection, showing the fiercest competition. Coach Kim Seong-geun ordered each person to throw 20 balls, and the final round became even more intense. Shin Jae-young appealed himself with accurate ball control, and coach Kim Seong-geun showed interest, saying, “It will be fun.” Several applicants threw the ball one after another, but coach Kim Seong-geun showed no significant reaction.
Meanwhile, coach Kim Seong-geun began to respond to the high-level curveball of Hyun-soo Jeong, who is known as the top left-hander in college baseball. Manager Kim Seong-geun looked at the slider and change-up and said, “We need to change all the pitchers,” putting the strongest Monsters pitching team at risk of unexpected unemployment.
In addition, Yoon Gil-hyun, a bullpen pitcher who represented coach Kim Seong-geun's baseball during his time with the SK Wyverns, appeared, attracting attention as a meeting between priests took place after a long time. Coach Kim Seong-geun gave active professional player Kang Ri-ho advice to strengthen his breaking ball. In particular, non-elected Seong-kwon Seon focused attention on his fastball. Coach Kim Seong-geun also showed great interest in Seon Seong-kwon and first asked him how long he had been playing baseball.
Meanwhile, the 35th episode of ‘Best Baseball’ recorded a viewership rating of 3.1% (provided by Nielsen Korea, based on paid households in the metropolitan area).
Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr
