Yang Eui-ji, catcher of the Doosan Bears, arrived in the United States after about three days.
Yang Eui-ji left Sydney, Australia, where Doosan was training, on the 12th (Korean time) for pre-training for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and arrived in Incheon. On the 14th, he boarded a flight to LA, USA, and after waiting for 6 hours in LA, he boarded a domestic flight. Arrived in Tucson, Arizona. It took about 70 hours in Korean time.
Yang Eui-ji was so tired that she closed her eyes for a while even while waiting for her luggage after arriving at Tucson Airport. As it turned out, he fell asleep right after arriving in Tucson, so he purposely came from Incheon without sleeping in order to quickly adjust to the jet lag. Yang Eui-ji met the reporters at the airport and first worried about his training condition, saying, “I took a break from exercise for three days rather than being tired.”
On the day of arrival, Yang Eui-ji, who started training for the first time on the 16th after sleeping soundly at the national team accommodation hotel, looked tired after a day. Entering the interview with a bright face, he smiled and said, “If the national team goes to the semifinals, we will have to travel a long distance (Tokyo, Japan → Florida, USA) again,” saying, “If that’s the case, we can overcome with mental strength.”
The reason why he moves more diligently and earnestly than younger juniors despite being the second oldest in the national team is actually the last Taegeuk mark. Starting with the 2015 Premier12, the 2017 WBC, the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the 2019 Premier12, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are regulars for the national team, but there are no international competitions for the adult national team to participate in the future.
In the 2024 Paris Olympics, baseball was omitted, and in the Asian Games, the KBO decided to participate under the age of 24. This WBC is even more special for the golden generation from 1986 to 1988, including Yang Eui-ji, Park Byeong-ho (kt), Kim Hyun-soo (LG), Choi Jeong, Kim Kwang-hyeon (SSG), and Yang Hyeon-jong (KIA). As the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed for a year, the number of under 25 years old increased by one year, but it does not mean much to them. The 2028 LA Olympics are too late. 보증놀이터
Yang Eui-ji said, “I’ve wanted to wear the Taegeuk mark since I was playing baseball, and it’s an honorable position. I have to go out and do my best no matter how sick. I want to lead well with Hyeon-soo,” he said, expressing his determination to join the WBC.
Choi Jeong-do answered the question about the ‘last national team’ before leaving the camp, saying, “I think so. There will be no tournament for the time being.” Following Choi Jeong-eun, she said, “I hope we win (in 1998) and become a ‘Last Dance’ like the Chicago Bulls.”
The golden generation, which led Korean baseball after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is divided into players born in 1982 and players around 1987. The younger brothers, the ‘Golden Generation’, who conquered the KBO and are still leveling it now, have become veterans enough to wish for a ‘Last Dance’. Can the main players of this national team show a brilliant ‘sunset’ by actually burning up the last international competition?