‘KBO referees’ constantly change, move directly for globalization → promote the quality of Korean baseball
Referees are also constantly changing and making efforts to improve the globalization and quality of Korean baseball.안전놀이터
For the first time in the history of the KBO league, KBO (Korea Baseball Organization) umpires began to interact with U.S. Major League (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) umpires.
An official familiar with the KBO situation told Star News on the 27th, “League umpires have started communicating with MLB and NPB umpires this year. “he said.
First, he met with NPB referees in Japan and exchanged opinions on various pending issues.
Heo Woon (64), KBO referee chairman, met with the NPB referee chairman and referees in Okinawa, Japan on the 17th with the support of KBO President Heo Gu-yeon (72).
It wasn’t just a simple goodbye and parting. We talked for about 4 hours with a total of 6 people, including Chairman Huh, in attendance. They discussed various issues that could arise during the game and what could help the league develop.
Next, Chairman Huh and the KBO umpires plan to travel to Scottsdale, Arizona, USA on the 3rd of next month to meet the MLB umpire chairman and umpires. A total of eight people are expected to attend the event, including the MLB referee chairman, three MLB referees, and the KBO referee chairman and five referees.
An official said, “Seminars are scheduled on how to shorten game time and other directions for league development, which the major leagues are currently focusing on.”
In order to promote the development of Korean baseball, the referees are also playing together during the off-season.
KBO referees made ‘normalization of the strike zone’ a top priority last season to reduce walks and shorten game time. In response, he shouted a strike call in accordance with the rules.
At a strike zone briefing session in March last year, Chairman Huh said, “It feels like a boxer is stepping into the ring on a day when I see the referee,” and confessed the pressure the referees were under. In the end, after going through trial and error for one season, it is evaluated that the strike zone has definitely been normalized compared to the past.
Now, it goes further and moves for globalization. This is also necessary to improve the quality of the KBO league. It is not simply a one-time event, but it is a policy to continue exchanges with the NPB and MLB referee committees for the development of the league in the future.
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