It was in March of last year. Heo Gu-yeon, the new president of the KBO, delivered a stern message at his inauguration ceremony. President Heo Gu-yeon made a special request to the players for the recovery and resurgence of professional 토토 baseball.
He said, “I hope that you will specially observe the 4 things you must never do (drunk driving, match-fixing, sex crimes, drug use) as prohibited items.” Recently, we have been wary of cases that cause tremendous damage to the entire baseball world due to the deviation of some players.
On the 4th, KBO announced the final entry for the 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC) team of 30 to be held in March. National team coach Lee Kang-cheol and KBO Technical Committee Chairman Cho Bum-hyeon attended and revealed the list of 30 players, along with an explanation of the selection of the national team.
Cho Beom-hyeon, chairman of the Technical Committee, said, “The criteria for selecting players were the final selection of 30 players, considering various factors such as skills, symbolic meaning of the national team representing the country, responsibility, and pride.”
Pitcher Ahn Woo-jin (Kiwoom), who was the biggest concern, was not on the national team list. An Woo-jin won the pitcher Golden Glove last year and achieved comparable results as the best pitcher in the league.토토
He appeared in 30 games last year and recorded an average of 15 wins and 8 losses with a 2.11 ERA. In the Korean series, he pitched with an average ERA of 2.08 (2 runs in 8⅔ innings) despite bleeding from a finger blister injury.
He was first in earned run average, first in strikeouts, and tied for second in wins. In particular, the 224 strikeouts are second in the KBO league for the most strikeouts in a single season, following Ariel Miranda (225) in 2021. Among domestic pitchers, it is the highest ever, beating the late Choi Dong-won (223).
However, Ahn Woo-jin was labeled as a victim of school violence during his high school days. Although he is the best pitcher in the league in terms of performance, he was not included in the reserve list due to misbehavior in the past and was also eliminated from the final entry.
However, Choi Ji-man (Pittsburgh), an infielder with a history of taking banned substances, proudly made his name on the WBC national team list. Athletes who were suspended from playing due to the use of prohibited substances that fall under the four prohibited items specially emphasized by President Heo Gu-yeon will wear the Taegeuk mark.
Choi Ji-man received a 50-game suspension from the Major League Secretariat for testing positive for a banned substance in the Seattle Minor League in 2014.
Ahn Woo-jin’s perpetration of school violence is clearly a wrong act. Following his debut in the KBO League, he was suspended. He was also disqualified from the national team for international competitions organized by the Korea Sports Association, such as the Olympics and Asian Games, due to disciplinary actions by the Korea Sports Association and the Korea Baseball Softball Association. This does not apply to the WBC where professional players compete.
High school juniors who were known to be victims of An Woo-jin’s school violence announced a joint statement at the end of last year. They said, “We are victims of school violence, but no one accepted the situation as an assault.”
Baek Sung-moon, an attorney representing An Woo-jin, said, “It is not that we deny the fact of An Woo-jin’s school violence itself. However, unlike the known facts, it is not true that he committed a severe assault. When the issue of school violence arose, Ahn Woo-jin asked for forgiveness from the victims and reached an agreement. The victims did not want Ahn Woo-jin to be punished steadily from the time the police investigation and disciplinary procedures were in progress. He also received a non-prosecution order from the prosecution,” he explained.토토
Is the weight of school violence different from taking prohibited drugs? Or is Choi Ji-man a major leaguer, so a different standard than Ahn Woo-jin’s was applied? An Woo-jin’s school violence happened in 2017 in the third year of Whimoon High School. Choi Ji-man’s use of banned substances was in 2014. Does the penalty for deviance have an expiration date? How long will the scarlet letter branded on Ahn Woo-jin last?