Korean Fans Questioning Response From Team And Organization Following Kang Injury
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - Following the Chris Coghlan slide that ended Jung-ho Kang's season on Thursday, Korean Baseball Organization writer David Kim took to Twitter and voiced his displeasure with the move.
Chris Coghlan. Dirty. No class. #MLB #Pirates #Cubs pic.twitter.com/3caDOjD6v0
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) September 17, 2015
Some #Cubs fans are saying this is part of the game. Really? Do u really think this is baseball? #MLB #Pirates pic.twitter.com/BBTSgSJc5F
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) September 17, 2015
THIS is a CLEAN take out slide. Notice how runners leg stayed low. #Pirates #Cubs https://t.co/9c5kwwEbGW
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) September 18, 2015
Kim then joined Joe Starkey to talk about not only his outrage over the play that injured Kang, but also the outrage baseball fans all throughout Korea are feeling.
"There's some sadness amongst Korean baseball fans, and they're confused a little bit. Anger is definitely there," Kim told Starkey. "A majority of Korean fans felt that something kind of needed to be done during the game...Clint [Hurdle] was kind of, you know, he was I guess politically correct about the play, and a lot of Korean fans here think that he wasn't really protective in a way...Korean fans feel that the Pirates needed to do something about it during the game or even after the game, a lot of the postgame interviews felt maybe Kang wasn't really getting the support and the protection from his teammates and the organization."
Kim was a scout for two different Major League Baseball teams in Korea and offered his expert opinion on Coghlan's slide into Kang.
"Maybe dirty is not the right word...I basically came to the conclusion that it was unnecessary."
As you can tell, Kang is a huge deal to Korean Baseball Organization fans, and Kim uses an American sports icon as a comparison.
"For the year 2015, he has been our basically Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods type player. He has exceeded most of our expectations and we were very proud of the way he performed at the higest level for a really good team."
Kim told us about how beloved Kang is in Korea and how his success with the Pirates will be life changing for him.
"He will not be able to walk around Seoul anymore because he will be recognized right away. He's basically a brand name right now."
Click the audio link below to hear more from Kim on the Kang injury.