Bae Ji-hwan, who couldn't go to AG, "It's every baseball player's dream to play for the national team... I'm greedy."
Bae Ji-hwan, who finished the MLB regular season, returned to Korea through Incheon International Airport on the 11th. When ask…According to Yonhap News on the 12th, Bae Ji-hwan said, "I have never played in Korea and I have been criticized a lot in the past, so Korean baseball will be very reluctant. Since it is not something I can control, I will not be able to use the uniform I am currently wearing on the team." “I want to do my best,” he replied.
Still, he said, “I’m greedy,” and added, “It’s every baseball player’s dream to represent the national team.”
Bae Ji-hwan was summarily indicted on a fine of 2 million won for assaulting his girlfriend in 2017, and was suspended for 30 games by the Major League Baseball (MLB) office in the 2019 season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) viewed this as a reason for disqualification from the national team and excluded Bae Ji-hwan from the preliminary list for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Even though he did not make the national team, Bae Ji-hwan had a meaningful season in the big league this year. Bae Ji-hwan, who began his minor league career in 2018, became a full-time starter in the big league this year, appearing in 111 games and posting a batting average of 0.231 (77 hits in 334 at-bats), 32 RBIs, 54 runs, and 23 stolen bases.
However, it was unfortunate that he had a gap of nearly 6 weeks due to a left ankle sprain in July and was unable to maintain the momentum from the beginning of the season in batting.