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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC SEMIFINALS AND FINALMarch 21, 2009Tae-Kyun KimIn-Sik KimSuk-Min YoonLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Welcome Team Korea. With us tonight we have Team Korea's manager In Sik Kim, we have Tae Kyun Kim, Suk Min Yoon, and Shin Soo Choo. Manager Kim, I would like to ask you to give us your impression of tonight's game and what was the critical moment for Team Korea. IN SIK KIM: We won today, and we did not expect to win. But, of course, our win was critical in the sense that the error by the other team played a critical part in our win. I believe that our players, we have a great advantage. Of course, Venezuela team have big leaguers and they have great positions they enjoy in major league. However, our players, first of all, have advantage of being able to bother and annoy the other players. And they do not have bad habits. If it's a bad ball, they do not hit. Because of our advantage in combination, we are able to do it to the end persistently. And that's how I believe it was critical to our win. That is the result. Q. Talking about Suk Min Yoon, Shin Soo Choo, and Tae Kyun Kim. Pitcher Yoon, you are playing against major league hitters when you are pitching. What was your thinking when you face the major league hitters? And we had a home run from Korea in the first inning and second inning, as well. Did you have any responsibility and pride? And also, Shin Soo Choo, you had the most critical homer tonight. What was your feeling and can you give us your feelings one at a time? SUK MIN YOON: First of all, I did the Beijing Olympics and WBC as a starting pitcher, but we had a lot of support in the middle. I was great. I felt great as a starting pitcher. And I was proud, and I was confident as a starting pitcher. Rather than being nervous, I had confidence, even though they are major league hitters. And I did not know who they were, so I was confident against those hitters. So I don't know anything else. TAE KYUN KIM: I believe Seung Yop Lee used to be our hitter in the last WBC classic, and he was the home run king, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps as the home run king. I am not a home run king, and I could not be totally confident, but through various games, I built assurance and confidence and tried my best. SHIN SOO CHOO: Coming here now, it was difficult, but we had a great result, and we felt great tonight. I helped my team to win, and I believe that's the most important thing that I felt. I know there were several problems that we experienced, but I was able to help my team win. And my manager believed in me up to the end, and he had confidence in me, and my hitting coach played a critical part. And teamwork was the best, and that was most critical. My teammates help me a great deal, and I'm thankful to all of them. Q. I want to question Tae Kyun Kim. During the start of the game, you had pitcher Carlos Silva. What do you think of his ability? Was that a big help knowing about Carlos Silva? IN SIK KIM: Shin Soo knew about the pitcher, and we talked about it a lot, and we talked about his knowledge of the pitcher, and he helped us. That is true. We were able to evaluate their abilities, and we talked about that, and we were able to help each other out in perfect harmony. Even for me, I believe a lot of sinkers were going to be thrown, and I was aware of it. And that's how we were able to hit. Q. I want to question In Sik Kim. There is a game tomorrow between U.S. and Japan, and you will face Japan for the fifth time. Did you want to get the trophy from Japan in the fifth game against Japan, or did you want to face the United States in the final game? IN SIK KIM: Baseball, it does not matter who you face, either U.S. or Japan. Either team is fine. We came all the way here, and this is what we hope, that the best team out of the two teams. Maybe some teams have to spend pitchers who have lost their energy, maybe we will face the team who have pitchers with lost energy. Q. Mr. Choo, you played in the major leagues and you played against major league stars. Your team does not have a major leaguer except you, but it is a team that played together in Beijing and in the WBC. Tell me how much it helps you to have a team that has been together for two or three years. SHIN SOO CHOO: First of all, as a major leaguer myself, in terms of the actual players in the major league and the other players, there is not a great deal of difference. Korean players and Japanese players are excellent. There is a slight difference. I know you are talking about the major league, and there was a burden playing against a major league team. As a major leaguer, at the beginning, I had a lot of difficulty adjusting. But I had great players in one team. It helped me a great deal, and it gave me great time and experience. When WBC classic is over, I will think that this is unforgettable game and unforgettable Classic that I experienced. I learned a lot from all the players. Technical aspects and other aspects, I learned a lot, and it was a great game and a great series. And I will do my best to the end. WBC is great and I can trust in WBC. Q. As shortstop, Shin Soo Choo, you were able to be a shortstop. You did not practice that hard before, and you could not do that well before. But when you are a defender and you are able to play as a shortstop. Was that a big decision? Was there a long-time decision, Mr. Kim? TAE KYUN KIM: It's certain that I thought about a lot of things in terms of decision with Shin Soo choo, and we received a lot of proposals and suggestions. I understand that we were able to get a lot of suggestions, and we understand sufficiently about the team members. And also in terms of hitting practice, we have to have persistent hitting, because there was instruction from his major league team that he should not be hitting that much. But we were able to get the notification today that he is able to play the shortstop position and be a defender. And he was fine, and we were able to get notification, the permission. We had him as a designated hitter before, and we are allowed now to use him as a shortstop. We were worried maybe some player cannot be shortstop, some player has to be a shortstop and have enough defense practice to be able to be a great player. Some players need the experience, so we wanted to know if Shin Soo Choo could be a shortstop today effectively, and we anticipate that he will be effective. We hoped that he would be, and he was able to face Venezuela's starting pitcher well. And it is basically a sinker ball that the Venezuela pitchers tended to throw, and the low balls, so he was able to adjust. And I believe Shin Soo Choo was able to hit on time, based on his hitting habits. So as far as what we anticipated, we were able to have -- he was able to have a first-inning homer, as we hoped that he could. So he had less burden after that time, and I believe that was great. Q. Mr. Choo, after making the championship in the WBC in '06, and winning the Gold in Beijing, and going to the championship again this year in the WBC, how come you don't think there are more Korean players in the major leagues? SHIN SOO CHOO: I don't know what to say. I don't know. But before coming to WBC, I believed other people were good players. I thought I was a good player, too, but when we had played with all my Korean players, they were excellent players, better than I expected. Even in comparison with major league players. I am a major leaguer now, but in terms of the skills and ability, I believe they're excellent. All the Korean players are excellent, and it depends on how well they adjust. So that's how you could tell, in terms of skills, whether they can adjust. In terms of their skill level, I believe there is no major difference between the major leagues and our Korean players. Our Korean players, I hope, will be able to advance to the major leagues in great number, and I hope they will do so in the future. Q. I have a question of the pitcher, Suk Min Yoon, and Shin Soo Choo. You said you threw well because you didn't know the major leaguers very well. What kind of balls did you throw to attack them? And Shin Soo Choo, as a Korean player, and as you know, there are Korean players in terms of playing with the major league players. What are the advantages that Korean and Asian players have against other players? Can you tell us? SUK MIN YOON: I threw according to the Catcher Park's lead, whether he was outside, and I was able to boldly mix it up. This is what I felt in the beginning, and I was not able to be that bold in the beginning. But I was able to deal it out and I did well. SHIN SOO CHOO: What was the question? Q. Compare the Korean and Asian players to the major leagues. SHIN SOO CHOO: In terms of their styles, I would say there is a major difference. Major league is offensive style from the batting position, and always very active. But in comparison, Korea and Japan, we are more patient at batting, and we have basic skills. Perhaps we have better basic skills compared with major league players in terms of our meticulousness, and to be able to follow up with the play very well in detail. Q. Congratulations on such a great game. I have a question for Manager Kim. In regard to the starting lineup today, in regard to the third baseman and Young Min Ko, who came in as a substitute. I thought they were defensive players, and I also thought that Kyun Kim, I thought he was injured. Is that the reason you consider all that, and you came up with today's starting lineup? And I also think the defensive players did very well today. IN SIK KIM: We had a third baseman, and we had -- Lee did not have -- he had a bad cold, so not in a great condition, so we had to replace him. We had to have a new player, and Young Min Ko was put in as a defender to be able to reinforce the defense. But Young Min Ko was good to reinforce the defense, and he had a homer. And even when the inning changed, he had a different homer. So we believed there was a great deal of difference and I believe it helped coaching. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Team Korea. End of FastScripts |
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