(WBC) S. Korean losses 'heartbreaking' for manager

All News 14:54 March 08, 2017

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korean manager Kim In-sik said Wednesday he finds the team's two consecutive losses at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) "heartbreaking."

South Korea is on the brink of another first round elimination, after losing to Israel 2-1 and the Netherlands 5-0 over the past two days.

If the Netherlands beats Chinese Taipei later Wednesday, South Korea will be out of the WBC.

Kim led the defeated squad through a practice at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Thursday, trying to salvage what's left of the competition.

"I know the guys are banged up, but they'll have to take the field in our last game (Thursday)," the manager said. "We'll do the best we can until the very end."

At 70, Kim said this will be his last tour of duty as the national team manager. He led South Korea to third place at the 2006 WBC and then to the runner-up finish behind Japan at the 2009 competition.

"This is my last time around here," he said. "But it's just so heartbreaking to be going out like this."

Kim said it's the losses, not the wins, that have stuck in his mind the most. He singled out the 2009 WBC final against Japan and the 2017 tournament opener against Israel.

South Korean manager Kim In-sik looks on as his players practice on March 8, 2017, at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul before their World Baseball Classic game against Chinese Taipei. (Yonhap)

In 2009, South Korea was trailing 3-1 late in the game. It got a run back in the bottom eighth and then Lee Bum-ho's two-out hit tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Ichiro Suzuki delivered the knockout punch for Japan, however, with a two-RBI hit in the top of the 10th.

Then on Monday here, South Korea lost in 10 innings, with Israel scoring the winning run on an infield single. Kim's team got seven singles against Israeli pitching.

"I keep thinking about what could have been," he said. "If we'd just scored one more run, things would have turned out differently."

And after Tuesday's defeat, Kim admitted the Netherlands was simply a superior team and said he hoped his players could learn from the opponent.

"Whatever the case, everything falls on me as the manager," Kim said.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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