South Korea's stunning victory over Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic has prompted American newspapers to rush to praise the country's baseball.
The New York Times, one of the leading American newspapers, reported that watching the South Koreans humiliate Venezuela, 10-2, was like watching the varsity stomp the junior varsity. ``The South Koreans ran the bases aggressively, they hammered baseballs out of Dodger Stadium, they made no glaring mistakes and they smothered the Venezuelans.''
The NYT quoted Venezuela Manager Luis Sojo as saying, "This Korean team, they showed they are here to win."
The Los Angeles Times also reported that South Korea's baseball success comes as no surprise. ``Since 2000, it has won silver medals in the World Cup and Intercontinental Cup and a bronze in the Olympics before capping it all off last summer by going unbeaten in Beijing to capture its first Olympic gold medal in baseball.''
It has done that by building a national program that values teamwork and continuity over raw talent. Sixteen players on the country's WBC roster were also on the gold medal team in Beijing. And seven played in the first WBC in 2006, when South Korea finished third, according to the Los Angeles-based newspaper.
``Yet just one player on this year's team was considered good enough to merit a contract with a major league organization. Venezuela, by contrast, had 22 U.S. professionals, including eight big league All-Stars, on its roster.''