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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC POOL A: TOKYOMarch 8, 2009In-Sik KimSuk-Min YoonTOKYO, JAPAN Q. Now you can feel the evenness between the Japanese Team as you have made the coaching today. Not only do you play them in tomorrow's game, but next time you will be going to the second round in San Diego. In San Diego you will be contesting Cuba or México; which team do you want to contest? And also, you want to win tomorrow's game. How do you think tomorrow's game will affect the future games in the second round? IN-SIK KIM: First of all, the Tokyo round, I am very happy to go to the next round of baseball. Baseball is like this; it fluctuates every day. Yesterday, we lost against the Japanese Team, but today, we are able to win against the Chinese Team. And because of the errors of the Chinese Team, we were able to have a called game. Tomorrow, we will be contesting against the Japanese Team. Of course, looking back at yesterday's game, we had a called game against them, but there are many factors that and reasons of yesterday's game. There are many capable players on the Japanese Team. However, the Korean Team also has good players. The Japanese Team overcame that, and they have many super players. But we have to change our mind for tomorrow's game. Players, including the coaching staff, we will try our best, do our best, and we want to play tomorrow's game, that will lead to the games in the second round in the United States. Both teams, Cuba Team and the México Team, they have good players and they are superb and they are capable. Compared to last time, especially the pitcher, I felt in the previous game, contest, the pitcher had a problem and there might be some kind of issues in the issuing. So this time, I think we will be able to overcome that pitching, and many pitcher are practicing to be able to contest these strong teams. Today we were able to have a called game against the Chinese Team, and not every player, capable player, was able to join the game. Especially the pitching part, we have to look on various issues. Q. You lost with big runs last night. How did you manage your team's mentality? And you replaced the third baseman; what is the reason? IN-SIK KIM: Yes, last night, we had our team meeting right after the game. Although we lost with a huge run difference, a loss is a loss; whether the game is 1-0 or 14-0, it's the same loss. I told my players: Let's focus to the next game. And because today we won, we have another opportunity to challenge, so let's go for it. And also, what was your next question? I forgot. Q. Why did you replace the third baseman, what was your intent? IN-SIK KIM: Yes, In-Dae Ho, I manage for my own club team, and In-Dae Ho is playing for them, but Bum Ho is good at under-throw pitching, and my hitting coach is asking me to use In-Bum Ho instead of In-Dae Ho. So that was the intent. It's all about the hitting coach. I just follow my hitting coach's advice, and that worked well. Q. You said your pitcher was nervous and he gave up a lot of runs early in the game. Tonight it was a little bit different story with an older pitcher and he was able to give you good innings. What do you think was the key to his performance tonight? IN-SIK KIM: Yes, I think the reason why is that -- the difference between last night and today's contest is today's starting pitcher, pitched well. But the biggest difference between last night and today is the level of Team Japan and Team China. While Team Japan is a very tough opponent, Kim Kwang-Hyun pitched his best, but Team Japan overcame Kim Kwang-Hyun. Their analysis and their advanced scouting worked well, as well. So that's why I think Team Japan hit against Kim Kwang-Hyun. Generally speaking, the differences between last night's contest and today's game is the level of Team Japan and Team China. Q. There was a comment that the pitcher, you were planning to go for it today, was not able to be included in the team. Do you have any strategy going into tomorrow's game? What is your plan? IN-SIK KIM: Talking about the pitcher, we have a limited number of pitchers, and we were able to use not that many pitchers. And tomorrow, I am planning to use most of the pitchers available. Q. Congratulations of winning. Tell us about your probable starting pitcher tomorrow against Japan? IN-SIK KIM: Well, tomorrow's pitcher Taehyon Chong will be our probable starter. Q. As compared to the last contest, what do you think about the level of the Asian team? What do you think about these Asian teams' skill? IN-SIK KIM: Looking overall, I think their level was upgraded and improved, especially the Chinese Team and the Chinese Taipei team. The Chinese Team won against the Chinese Taipei team. You may think that the level was quite low; however, they used all of the pitchers and the Chinese Taipei Team were not able to win over the Chinese Team. Like today, looking at today's contest, the Chinese Team used all of their ability, all of the pitchers. Q. Congratulations on winning. This double-elimination system, as a result, your team, Team Korea, advanced to the second round. You have to play three games -- well, you have to play four games, although Team Japan only has to play three games. This is sort of the fact of double-elimination systems. Do you think this double-elimination is fair to all of the teams? Tell us your impression of the double-elimination systems. IN-SIK KIM: Yes, of course. I want to say something about the tournament and double-elimination systems. But we also understand, this is not only our problem, because all of the world, the whole world, is paying attention to the WBC tournament, and all of the 16 teams are using this double-elimination system. So I can handle this double-elimination system. Talking about the WBC tournament, it is also important to have the business side. We have to think about the business side, as well. Japan is the only country that we can play the first round among the Asian region, so it is also understanding, the whole world, hopefully in the future, WBC is pulling more attention from all over the world. Q. You have towed us that you had a meeting yesterday after the game. What was the comment from the players against the Japanese Team? IN-SIK KIM: We were talking about the game, but not the skills and the technique. What we told to the players was to concentrate to the next game and forget about the past. Q. Three years ago, Team Japan faced against Korea three times, and this round, you are going to play two games, and the next round, you might have to play against Team Japan again. What is -- in your mind, what do you think about the rivalry relationship between Team Japan and Team Korea among the whole baseball? IN-SIK KIM: Of course this time we played against the Japan Team twice, and probably in the second round, we might be playing against the Japan Team. So at least three times we will be contesting against the Japan Team. Every time we contest against the Japan Team, we try our best and we have a desire to overcome the Japan Team. But we are contesting quite often with the Japan Team, and that impact will improve the level and quality of our players on the Korean Team. Q. Yesterday you had a big loss. How did you reset your mentality for today's game against China? SUK MIN YOON: Today's game was against China and this game, the second round depended on this game. In this game, we were able to score runs, so that relieved the pressure and I was able to change my mind. Q. Going into the sixth inning, was your manager telling you you could go as far as you can? And when you are on the mound pitching, did the pitching count affect you? If you have a choice, will you pitch against Team Japan tomorrow, or will you save the opportunity for the next round? SUK MIN YOON: Actually, the manager did not say anything about what kind of -- which inning I should pitch. I was planning to effectively use a number of pitches today. And if we were able to win yesterday, I might have pitched tomorrow's game, but unfortunately that was not the case. So I did pitch today. Q. All Korean players, whenever you play against Japan, it's a very big game. And every time you win, your players are always saying, it's a mental win. So followed by yesterday's big loss, how do you keep motivated for tomorrow's contest? SUK MIN YOON: About yesterday's game, whatever the score was, we lost. I changed my mind; we forget about yesterday's game. We concentrated on today's game. And tomorrow, I think we can show you the different Korean Team against Japan. Q. What do you think your teammates have to be successful against the Japanese batters? SUK MIN YOON: Unfortunately it's like you mentioned. I am not able to pitch tomorrow, but they might have a weakness of inside pitches or breaking balls. The combination of inside pitches and breaking balls is key. I'm not an analyst, and our advance scout system works. I am the youngest player, so I cannot say any tactics or content. Q. Yesterday, unfortunately, you had lost against the January knees team, and against the Japanese Team, do the Korean players have some kind of weakness in terms of the spirit mind? Do you have any strategy or plan against the Japanese Team? SUK MIN YOON: A lot of players do not actually have the pressure in terms of yesterday's game. Although we lost in such a big score difference, we are ready to change our mind. At the Olympic Games, our spirit was quite strong. And tomorrow's game, I think we will be playing better. End of FastScripts |
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