Even 15 years ago in 2008 and 15 years later in 2023, the controversy over mistreatment of the youth baseball team is still repeated. Seong Young-hoon, who is a sore finger for Doosan Bears fans, sent a warm message of support to Kim Taek-yeon, who was caught up in the controversy of overuse in five consecutive games.
In 2023, the Korean youth baseball team under the age of 18 (U-18), led by coach Lee Young-bok (Chungam High School), won a bronze medal at the World Youth Baseball Championship.
However, apart from the bronze medal performance, there was a strong controversy over the abuse of the five-game series. Kim Taek-yeon pitched in relief against Taiwan on September 2 and threw 54 pitches. After taking a day’s rest, he made a relief appearance against Australia on September 4 and threw 15 pitches.
And Taek-yeon Kim, who took a day off on the 5th, made a relief appearance against Puerto Rico on the 6th and threw 21 pitches, but was unable to finish the pitch due to a suspended game due to rain. Kim Taek-yeon, who also took the mound in the suspended game against Puerto Rico that resumed on the 7th, finished his appearance by throwing 19 pitches.메이저놀이터
In the Super Round match against the United States held on the 8th, Kim Taek-yeon took the mound in relief, following starter Hwang Jun-seo, and pitched 16 pitches. Kim Taek-yeon, who pitched 3 consecutive pitches, also appeared in relief in the Super Round match against the Netherlands on the 9th and threw 24 pitches along with 4 consecutive pitches.
Following the 4-game series, the much-anticipated ‘5-game series’ became a reality. Kim Taek-yeon took the starting mound in the bronze medal game against the United States and threw a total of 98 pitches until the 7th inning. In 21st century baseball, where a total of 178 pitches were thrown over 5 days, something incredibly and unrealistic happened.
Kim Taek-yeon’s youth baseball team appearance log:
2nd, 54 pitches against Taiwan,
3 days rest,
4th, 15 pitches against Australia, 5
days rest
, 6th, 21 pitches against Puerto Rico, 7th
, against Puerto Rico (suspended), 19 pitches,
8th, 16 pitches against USA, 9th
against Netherlands. In fact
, Doosan fans are looking at Kim Taek
-yeon
10th, is highly likely to be selected by Doosan, which holds the second overall pick, in the 2024 KBO rookie draft held on September 14th. If Kim Taek-yeon, who suffered the controversy over ‘overuse of five consecutive pitches’, wears the Doosan uniform, we can only hope that he prepares healthily for next year’s debut season.
In fact, the reason Doosan fans are looking at Kim Taek-yeon with more concern is because he has already experienced controversy over mistreatment of the youth national team and has not fully blossomed on the professional stage. A representative example is pitcher Seong Young-hoon, who faced controversy over mistreatment of the youth national baseball team in 2008.
Seong Young-hoon was selected to the youth national baseball team in 2008 and pitched as a 1-inning relief pitcher against Mexico on July 26th, an 8.1-inning starting pitcher against Australia on July 27th, a 9-inning starting pitcher against Taiwan on August 1st, and a 9-inning starting pitcher against Taiwan on August 3rd. He showed off his incredible ability by making 9 innings of starting pitching in a row. At the time, he was praised for his fighting spirit, but Seong Young-hoon suffered from injuries and surgical rehabilitation for a long time after joining Doosan as the first draft pick in 2009 and retired at the end of the 2018 season. Seong Young-hoon’s first-team career record was 2 wins, 1 loss, and an average ERA of 4.18 in 25 appearances.
Seong Young-hoon began his career as an amateur coach after retiring from active duty. Currently, Seong Young-hoon is working as a pitching coach at Seongnam Maesong Middle School and is focusing on nurturing juniors.
Coach Seong Young-hoon, who was contacted by MK Sports, carefully expressed his opinion regarding the controversy over Kim Taek-yeon’s five-game mistreatment.
Coach Seong said, “15 years ago, I volunteered to go up to the mound and throw a lot of balls. At that age, if his body is not in serious pain, he will naturally have a strong desire to perform on the big stage. Kim Taek-yeon must have been more motivated because it was a stage where he could win a medal. It may be okay now, but I hope to take better care of it from now on for the future. It was such a fatal blow for me to throw the ball at the National Sports Festival after playing for the youth national team. “I still regret, ‘What would have happened if I hadn’t thrown the ball more at that time?’” he said, looking back on his sad past.
After retiring from active duty, Coach Seong posted on his personal SNS, ‘I still sometimes throw a ball in my dreams. In my dreams, my shoulders and elbows are perfectly fine, but when I wake up, my shoulders and elbows hurt so much. Everyone has regrets, but now let’s put those regrets aside and start anew,’ he wrote, touching the hearts of fans.
The reason why Coach Seong started his career as an amateur coach was because he hoped that unfortunate cases like his would not be repeated.
Coach Seong said, “I still can’t throw the batting ball to the kids because my arm hurts (laughter). He originally planned to leave the baseball world completely, but with the idea of preventing a case like mine from happening again, he began his life as an amateur coach. “If I think the kids are going to push themselves even a little, I step in and stop them and show them restraint,” he said.
Lastly, Coach Seong gave Kim Taek-yeon a warm message of support. Coach Seong said, “I watched Taekyeon Kim pitch a few times on video, and he looked really good. Since he is a player with such good pitch, unlike me, I sincerely hope that he will continue to pitch healthily for a long time. If you take good care of your body from now on, you will be fine. He said he heard there was a chance he would go to Doosan during the rookie draft. “If Kim Taek-yeon wears the Doosan uniform, I hope he can give Doosan fans all the joy that I was unable to give them,” he emphasized.