The distance traveled by the plane alone is 18,000 km. As I was on the plane or at the airport for 24 hours, and the time difference changed several times, at first, the exhaustion was evident. 슬롯사이트 However, he vowed to take revenge for the international competition, saying that he regained his normal condition in one day. 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) Korean national team catcher Yang Eui-ji (36) revealed a unique mindset.
He traveled to Australia, Korea and the US in one day. On the 14th (Korean time), I left the Doosan Australia camp and headed to Korea, and I changed planes three times from Incheon Airport to LA, California, USA, and from LA to Tucson, Arizona, USA. Arriving at the Tucson national team accommodation on the 15th, it was inevitable that I would be exhausted, and it seemed that I would have a hard time adjusting to the jet lag right away.
However, on the 16th, Yang Eui-ji completed his first training session with a bright expression. He said, “I didn’t sleep on purpose throughout the flight yesterday. Every time I come to the US, I do not sleep on the plane even though I am tired to adjust to the jet lag. And yesterday I came home and slept a lot. I’ve been sleeping since 10pm, but I think I’ve gotten used to the jet lag.” “I have never been on a plane like this. Thanks to that, I have accumulated a lot of mileage.”
For Yang Eui-ji, this WBC is the stage for revenge. Considered the best catcher in the KBO League, he fell into extreme slump in the last two international tournaments. He struggled with a batting average of 0.087 (2 hits in 23 at-bats) in the 2019 Premier 12 and a batting average of 0.136 (3 hits in 22 at-bats) at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago. Korea also failed to surpass Japan in two international competitions at the time.
Yang Eui-ji said, “I will attend this international competition with the thought that it will be the last. I was in Japan twice, but I have a lot in my heart. I will prepare as hard as I can, and I want to pay it back this time,” he said. “I received the video on my tablet yesterday. I’ve seen it once, but I’ll take a closer look. There are many videos that can be seen in Japanese baseball. Yamada hit a lot of decisive things. Yamada appears again. And Murakami must be vigilant,” he said, pledging to take revenge for the Korea-Japan match.
As a catcher, he also showed strong faith in pitchers. Yang Eui-ji said, “Our pitching staff is strong. If you catch the ball thrown by young players hard, good results will come out. In this WBC, I think our young pitchers are working well enough. There are pitchers who throw strong balls and pitchers who have good breaking balls. At the Doosan camp, I received the ball from Gwak Bin and Jeong Cheol-won, but Bin already has speed during the season,” he said, expressing his anticipation for the performance of the young guns.
There is also a national team pitcher who smiled at the reunion with Yang Eui-ji. It is NC ace Gu Chang-mo, who wore the same uniform as Yang Eui-ji from 2019 to last year. Gu Chang-mo said, “It will definitely be of great help. He worked with Ji-hyung every season until last year. It is true that he is very willful. He seems to be able to throw comfortably,” he smiled. Yang Eui-ji, who made a professional career at Doosan and NC, has experience forming a battery wearing the same uniform as Lee Yong-chan, in addition to Kwak Bin, Jeong Cheol-won, and Koo Chang-mo. It is a part where Yang Eui-ji and the pitchers can expect exquisite breathing.
Finally, Yang Eui-ji said, “There is no burden. Previously, he worked with good senior pitchers in international competitions. As much as I received, I want to give back to junior pitchers.”