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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: ROUND TWOMarch 15, 2006In-Sik KimJong-Beom LeePOOL 1: ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Begins with questions for Korea team manager in sick Kim and player Jong Beom Lee. We ask that you question the player as well as the manager. Q. I have one question for Mr. Jong Lee and another question for Manager Kim. Today there were a lot of Korean-Americans that came to this game, and so you almost got confused whether you were playing in Korea. So all the cheering, did it help your game? That's what I want to ask to Jong Beom Beom Lee. And Manager Kim, you have two days left for preparing to have a game in the semi-finals, so how do you prepare for this next round of games? JONG BEOM LEE: I was aware of the fact that there were a lot of Korean living in this area, but I didn't know there were that many. So I sincerely happy all the Korean-Americans came to our game today. I was very touched by their cheering, and it was very close game. But I realized that in the 8th inning that we won, and I was very proud to Korean. And more importantly, we won. We beat Japan. So it was kind of sweet revenge, so I'm very happy that we won Japan, and we will work much harder to be in the finals. MANAGER IN SIK KIM: We're going to go down to San Diego tomorrow, and then tomorrow we don't have a training. We're going to have practice training on the day after tomorrow, and then we're going to have a game the following day. Q. Coming to tonight's game -- this is for Manager Kim. Coming into tonight's game, Korea pitching staff had a tournament best 1.40 ERA. How important was the pitching staff in the wins for Korea? MANAGER IN SIK KIM: Well, in baseball people often say that, as you all the know, baseball is like pitcher's gamble. And so our pitchers worked very hard from the Tokyo Dome, and I think they gave their 110 percent. They did their very best, and that's how we got to be where we are. But I think Japanese pitchers are quite excellent as well. Perhaps better than our pitchers. I feel that way because they're on the opposite side. Q. This is for Lee. You talked about sweet revenge against Japan, and earlier manager Sadaharu Oh said he was also looking forward to a chance to play Korea again on March 18th. He said this time we believe our strength will show. So would you like to play Japan again and prove a point once and for all? JONG BEOM LEE: Well, we were not very familiar with the patterns of Japanese pitchers, and maybe that's why we were somewhat weak in the past. But now we feel that we're very comfortable the way that the pitchers pitch their balls and the Korean players who were not selected in this round of roster, among those there were quite good pitchers. So I'm very confident we can win Japan whenever we have another tournament like this. Q. Congratulations on winning on all three games in this Pool 1. You played against Japan twice in this tournament so far, and both -- you won both close games. Does that mean -- this is a question to both of you. Does that mean the level of Korean baseball is now higher than the one of Japanese? If you think so, what made the Korean baseball develop that far? And I'd like to know if there is any special schemes or tactics employed by the KBO? MANAGER IN SIK KIM: Well, this is kind of like league tournament. Each country would have like 20, 30 games per year, and we have four pools round one and round two, and we have numerous games. I don't think that by winning Japan two games that our level substantially was increased. I do not think that way. I believe that with the current members that Japan team has I think they can create a similar quality team, three or four teams. Whereas the current team members in Korea, perhaps we can have one more team, and that's my thing. And only because we won two times to Japan, I don't think that Korea is -- Korean baseball is much superior than that of Japan. As a manager, like I said, I still think that the Japanese baseball is stronger than Korean baseball. And as I stated yesterday, I think many baseball leaders should go to either Japan or USA to learn as much as they could and perhaps learn about a lot of good things about baseball and come back to Korea and nurture and educate young baseball players. And I think that's the way to improve the quality of Korean baseball in the long run. JONG BEOM LEE: Well, we won two games over Japan, and I think this is -- I mean, I don't think we can say that we are better than Japan only because of this two winnings. But I think we have excellent leadership under Manager In Sik Kim from the Fukoka, we stayed together. And he always emphasized we always enjoy our game, and whether we win or lose, we do our best. He also put us in a comfortable first at home. And as a team captain, I try to follow his lead. Under any circumstance we would do our best, and then we have very good team spirit. We work together very well, so perhaps it was bad luck that Japan lost. But I think that Japan has very strong pitchers and batters, but I also think that the level of Korean players' quality was improved substantially. So perhaps we can be a leader in Asia at some point. So, again, I don't think that we are superior than Japan only because we won two games, but I think that we had a good team spirit and we worked together very well. THE MODERATOR: Last two questions. Q. This question is for Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee, your hit in the 8th inning, obviously that must have sent a pretty strong feeling of excitement through you getting to the guy that had a hit, Lee Sung Yeop has had a lot of big hits for Korea along the way. What does it feel like for you to be in that star's role tonight? And did it take any of the edge off whenever you got thrown out at third on the play, or were you so happy the run scored you didn't really even care? Thanks. JONG BEOM LEE: Well, I felt that this is my last chance. That perhaps the God gave me this last chance to test me. And I said, okay, this might be my very last chance and I'll do my best. I've got nothing to lose at this time. So I hit the ground ball, but I was somewhat familiar with the types of balls that Fujikawa was pitching. I had two balls at that point. At that point, I said I had a chance now after I hit it. I was somewhat running slow, and that's when perhaps I missed the last run. So I somewhat feel bad about that, but I'm glad that I made this run. Q. Mr. Kim, what was the feeling like to carry your country's flag around the field tonight? Can you describe that feeling for yourself and the players on your team? MANAGER IN SIK KIM: Actually, I was not there when the players and the coaching staff made that victory lap. I got a phone call from the President of Korea, and perhaps I was talking to the President when my players and coaching staff was making the victory round. Q. Same question for Mr. Lee as well. JONG BEOM LEE: Well, in 2002, the Angels won. So on TV, I watched the Angel Stadium and their winning. I noticed how excellent Angel Stadium was. As a baseball player, I said that would be my dream, to play in that stadium. So tonight my dream came true, and I was very happy to be selected as a member of this Korean team. And when we were sure that we were selected as one of the semi-final teams, every player was ecstatic. That's why it was kind of a natural gesture we did that and also to show our gratitude to Korean-Americans who came to see our game tonight. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Team Korea. Thank you, everyone.
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