Recently, however, there have been a series of incidents that have raised eyebrows among fans. Infielder Bae Young-bin, a former member of the Lotte Giants, and catcher Park Yeon-soo, a former member of the Doosan Bears, have caused controversy by drunk driving.
Players have also elevated the status of Korean baseball. Kim Ha-sung of the San Diego Padres, who successfully settled in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB), became the first Asian infielder to win the Gold Glove, a prize that selects a winner based on his defense capability. Lee Jung-hoo, who conquered the KBO league, made a big surprise by signing a six-year contract with the San Francisco Giants this winter, worth a total of 113 million U.S. dollars.
Bae was caught in a drunk driving crackdown in October. After calling a chauffeur, he pulled out a car parked in an alley and stopped on a main road, and was caught in a police crackdown. Bae was under fire after he was caught for failing to inform his club even though he was driving under the influence. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) issued a one-year disqualification and 80 hours of community service activities, while Lotte decided to expel him.
Park also hid the fact that he was caught drunk driving but shocked his fans when he was later discovered. Park was caught driving the morning after drinking alcohol in September and his license was suspended. Doosan, which learned the news through a report, was released by the bylaws. Park was suspended from 80 games by the KBO.
The KBO tightened sanctions last year to raise awareness about drunk driving. Due to drunk driving, the KBO will be suspended for 70 games, revoked for one year, disqualified for two five years for drunk driving, and permanently disqualified for three or more times for professional baseball. If this is the case, sanctions will be imposed in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. 토토사이트
Earlier, Kang Jung-ho, Kim Ki-hwan and Ha Ju-seok of the Hanwha Eagles paid a hefty price for drunk driving. Kang, who went downhill after drunk driving, sought to return to Kiwoom, but KBO has yet to approve contract between club and player, and Kim Ki-hwan, who lost his team, has yet to return to the ground. Ha returned to the team after completing a suspension of 70 games, but due to his lack of sense of play in actual games, he posted a batting average of 0.114 this year. Fans’ eyes on them are still cold.
“When you drink alcohol, you should not hold the steering wheel. You should be educated from an early age,” KBO President Koo In-yeon said at his inauguration ceremony last year. However, despite cases of drunk driving, corresponding disciplinary action, and the KBO’s toughened sanctions to prevent recurrence of the incident, controversy has been repeated without creating an atmosphere in the baseball community to root out drunk driving.
Question marks are raised over the effectiveness of learning based on education related to drunk driving conducted by KBO and clubs on a regular basis. Just taking the wheel after drinking is considered to be a disregard for the KBO’s regulations on drunk driving and its curriculum. In the end, Bae Young-bin and Park Yeon-bin made an irreversible mistake, appearing to overlook this complacently. It is inevitable to point out that we need to raise awareness about drunk driving.
Bae and Park were promising players. After graduating from Seoul High School and Hongik University, Bae turned into an official player after signing a training program contract with Lotte this year, and posted a batting average of 0.313 in 18 regular season games. Park, who was drafted by Doosan with the 60th pick in the second round of the sixth round in the 2017 rookie draft, was highly regarded as an offensive catcher. He played in 28 games in the main league and posted a batting average of 0.250 on-base plus slugging (OPS) of 0.595.
However, the bright future of Bae and Park Yeon-bin has disappeared due to a moment of wrong judgment. At a time when fans’ resentment has been heightened, chances are slim that they will end their punishment and be called by other teams.