What do American baseball fans think of the national team drinking scandal in an unfamiliar country across the Pacific Ocean?스포츠토토
The national team drinking wave is shaking the baseball world. It was belatedly revealed that some of the players who participated in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) held in Tokyo, Japan in March left the national team’s accommodation and drank alcohol during the tournament.
Three players, including Kim Gwang-hyun, who started the game against Japan, Lee Yong-chan, and Jeong Cheol-won, expressed their apologies. They bowed their heads while explaining the timing of drinking and whether they were present at the female receptionist, but public opinion has cooled down.
Talking Baseball’, a social media account that delivers baseball news, also reported this news.
They said, “Three Korean players are under surveillance for drinking outside of the tournament. Former St. Louis player Kim Gwang-hyun was excluded from the roster.”
There are many comments on this post. It is not possible to say that their thoughts are the thoughts of all fans, but I was able to grasp their thoughts to some extent.
I could feel the clear cultural difference and the difference in perception. The most common opinion was that the freedom of players was excessively suppressed.
“This team must be a North Korean team” “I thought KBO was a South Korean league?” Most of the responses were “I don’t know which Korea this is,” “It seems that North Korea has infiltrated South Korea,” and “I am grateful that I was born in the United States, not South Korea or North Korea.” It was thought that the freedom of the players was excessively suppressed.
There were also opinions that “some countries take this too seriously” and “if you feel fine the next day, there is no problem.”
A netizen who revealed that he was born in Korea and lives in the United States called this a ‘double standard’. “Coachs and front desks drink alcohol every day and demand that the players be incredibly clean and obey orders,” he pointed out.
One fan summoned David Wells’ name, saying, “David Wells would have been kicked out of that team in 12 minutes.”
Wells, a three-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, was a notorious pitcher for poor self-management. In his own autobiography, he even confessed to drinking alcohol the day before the game during the 1998 Perfect Game and playing the game in a less sober state.
He also had sharp points. He said, “I wouldn’t have won anyway,” and pointed out that the real problem was the performance of the Korean national team, while others pointed out that “it is common for Koreans to drink a lot.” There was also an opinion that “if we hadn’t lost in the group stage, there would have been no problem.”