This is the era of ‘distrust of judges’. Criticism is fierce that miscarriages that come out whenever you can forget are degrading the quality of professional baseball. On the 20th, the same day that the number of spectators exceeded 2 million after 191 games in the opening game, the judging problem arose, so the joy was not fully enjoyed.
The game in question was the Hanwha Eagles-LG Twins match that took place at Jamsil Stadium that day. In the bottom of the ninth inning, LG Jeong Joo-hyun, who had no first base, was at bat, and Hanwha’s bench pitched out. Jung Joo-hyun, who was instructed to fake bunt & slash, had to hit the ball somehow, so he tried to make contact by throwing a bat. During this process, Jung Joo-hyun’s bat was hit by Hanwha catcher Choi Jae-hoon’s mitt, and the result drawn after a 4-sim agreement was ‘defense interference’, not ‘hitting interference’.
This is also specified in Article 6.03 of the Baseball Rules, Article 4 of ‘Foul play by the batter’. ‘If the batter hits the catcher (including the mitt) by throwing the bat into fair or foul territory with a third strike pitch or runners present’, the batter is out for foul play. However, despite strong protests from Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho, the decision was not overturned. At least, thanks to the fact that Hanwha ended the first and second base crisis without conceding a goal, a bigger controversy was prevented.
In the end, the KBO said, “As a result of additional confirmation by the refereeing committee, it was a situation that should have been judged as defensive interference, not hitting. Accordingly, the KBO refereeing committee plans to take follow-up measures such as disciplinary action.”
This wasn’t the end. At the end of the 12th inning, a battle of words broke out between LG Park Hae-min and referee Kwon Young-cheol. Park Hae-min, somewhat regretful at the judgment of the first pitch strike, came back from the plate, attacked the second pitch, stepped back with a straight hit to the first baseman, and threw his helmet to the ground to show his regret.
The problem was after that. Referee Kwon approached the LG dugout on the first base side and spoke loudly as if admonishing Park Hae-min. Park Hae-min also countered without losing. This event was broadcast live on TV. The referees and LG coaching staff managed to mediate between the two, but it was difficult to completely shake off the sediment.
This is a problem that has been revealed due to the sense of authority of some referees. In the match between Doosan Bears and Lotte Giants on the 10th, referee Lee Young-jae approached the dugout and raised his voice when Lotte Jeon Jun-woo expressed regret over the strike decision. Although the strike zone is the referee’s own right, the players and fans did not hide their uncomfortable feelings about the authority.
As the importance of mutual respect between referees and players is emphasized, there are some referees who are trying to improve it, but there are still not a few people who are obsessed with the sense of authority as ‘senpai in baseball’. This makes the viewers uncomfortable and only increases the repulsion of the players.안전놀이터
The ‘clean baseball’ emphasized by the KBO also comes from mutual respect. This is the most important virtue for both referees and players. This is separate from the evaluation of the referee. It is possible enough if the referees put down a little sense of authority. As the referees’ sense of authority has already surfaced in two cases this season, improvement is still needed. Times have changed, and we must keep in mind that the younger generation does not sit idly by with an authoritative attitude.