Already a world star? A baseball player in a baseball wasteland recognized Moon Dong-ju’s face.메이저사이트
The Korean baseball team’s challenge for its fourth consecutive Asian Games gold medal is approaching. With the group stage scheduled to open on the 1st of next month, Korean players first stepped onto the decisive battle ground, the Shaoxing Baseball-Softball Center, on the 29th. Moon Dong-ju, one of the pillars of the one-two punch selected by coach Ryu Joong-il, also started his first training with a confident expression.
I arrived in Hangzhou on the 28th, only one day had passed, but I quickly became absorbed into the atmosphere of the Asian Games. ‘Pin trading (a tradition of exchanging symbolic pins of each country, sponsor, or media at international competitions. It is mainly active in the Olympics)’ is also one of the things Moon Dong-ju wants to try. Dong-ju Moon said, “I want to exchange badges (pins), but the player I want to exchange with hasn’t appeared yet.”
At the same time, he related the episode, saying, “Today (Xiao Xing) was at the athletes’ village, and the Singapore players recognized him first, so we took pictures and talked to him. He said there are no mounds in Singapore at all. We talked about that.”
When asked about the reason for the conversation, Dongju Moon replied, “He just knew me.” He also added, “I talked to him because he speaks English, and if I get the chance, I would like to exchange badges with that Singaporean player.” Moon Dong-ju was so ‘serious about collecting’ that he even talked about pin trades with reporters while returning to the team bus.
Of course, his most desired collectible is the Asian Games gold medal. Moon Dong-ju’s eyes twinkled as he said, “My physical condition is very good. It is difficult to express my condition in terms of percentage, but I would like to say that I am in very good condition.”
He also said, “All athletes probably feel the pressure of winning a medal. (Laughing) I try not to feel pressure, but it still feels like pressure, and if we have the will to become one and win together, that pressure will disappear. Overwhelm the opponent. “I think it’s important to become a team that works together,” he said.
His last first-team game was against LG on the 3rd, and he maintained his sense of actual game by pitching 2 and 3 innings in the Futures League games on the 12th and 17th, respectively. Still, the gap between tense games is longer than that of other national team pitchers.
Moon Dong-ju said, “I didn’t make any special efforts to maintain my sense of real combat, but I’ve had a long rest before and went out. I prepared like I did then. I don’t think there will be any major problems.” He appeared as a pitcher for Sangmu in a practice game against Sangmu held at Gocheok Dome on the 26th and recorded 3 innings against the national team batter, allowing 1 hit, 5 strikeouts, and no runs.
It is also important for him to adapt to an unfamiliar mound. Coach Ryu Joong-il said that the mound is higher than the KBO League stadiums and the angle to the flat ground is steeper. Moon Dong-ju explained, “I felt the same way. Still, I think it would be advantageous if the mound was high. Still, since it is my first time stepping on the mound, I don’t think there will be any major problems if I step on it well in training tomorrow and check its condition carefully to prepare.”