‘Salesman’ Martin Chervenka (31) stepped into the plate in the top of the ninth inning without a runner and picked out a walk. Then, ‘Plumber’ Matei Menshik (31) hit a double in the left field to become 1 out, 2nd and 3rd base. Then, ‘youth baseball team coach’ Martin Muzik (27) hit the opponent’s first ball and passed it over the left fence. It was a home run that turned the game around 7-5 for the Czech Republic, who had been trailing 4-5 to China. The Czech Republic eventually won 8-5 with a timely hit by ‘Accountant’ Filipe Smola (26). At the same time, ‘real estate agent’ Marek Minarjik (30) was named the winning pitcher.메이저놀이터
The Czech Republic, the ‘office worker’s corps, defeated China and decorated their World Baseball Classic (WBC) debut with victory. This is the 5th tournament, the first time the Czech Republic has stepped on the stage of the WBC finals, and the Group B match against China in the group stage held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 10th was the Czech Republic’s first match of this tournament. Head coach Pavel Hadim (52), a neurologist, threw out a gauntlet ahead of the opening of the tournament, saying, “We will show that Europe is an important part of world baseball,” and he made this a reality from the first game. Head coach Hadim is the leader who led the club to win the Czech amateur league ‘Extraliga’ for 10 consecutive years. The Czech Republic, which has no active professional baseball player, will play against Japan on the 11th, Korea on the 12th, and Australia on the 13th.
The Czech Republic’s historic first win at the WBC also has a relationship with Korea. First of all, the pitcher who hit the come-from-behind home run in the top of the ninth inning was Ju Kwon (28), who plays for KT, a Korean professional baseball team. Joo-kwon is currently a Korean national, but his father is Chinese, so he participated as a Chinese representative in this tournament. Also, according to Choi Min-gyu, director of the Korean Baseball Association, a member of the association has been helping the Czech national team as a volunteer since the end of last year.