You said it was a practice game... Lotte, which is in trouble, sweats over the intense temperature difference with Taiwan, which is in a fiery atmosphere of international war

Feb 12, 2025

Lotte players in local adaptation training at Taipei Dome. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants

[Taipei (Taiwan) = Reporter Kim Young-rok of Sports Chosun] It was considered part of the annual spring camp friendly match, but the local atmosphere is unusual.

Lotte Giants will play against Taiwan's WBC (World Baseball Classic) national team for two days from the 12th to the 13th.

However, Lotte seems to be embarrassed because the atmosphere of the tournament, which was considered simply a practice game in the spring camp ahead of the opening of the season, is far different from what was expected.

I had a media day before last week's game. Head coach Kim Tae-hyung and national player Kim Won-joong attended. Coach Chung Ha-ji, who leads Taiwan's national team, and star Chen Chun-e C&N (corner Lions) also attended and expressed their aspirations for this game. Numerous Taiwanese media gathered at the scene to show keen interest.

In addition, the enthusiasm and interest for the match, which was examined in Taiwan, are different.

The Lotte match is being promoted as part of the '2025 Formosa Series' played by the Taiwan national team (Team Taiwan). The advertising sign announcing this is followed by dozens of brands sponsoring the competition. Just as the Japanese national team is called 'Samurai Japan', it seems that Formosa, another name of Taiwan, is branded as the nickname of the national team and used for public relations.

Formosa series promotional sign at the entrance to Taipei Dome. Reporter Kim Young-rok

More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold to Taipei Dome, where 40,000 people can enter. Lotte players have experienced a rare cheering inferiority.

Taiwan has been humiliated repeatedly in the WBC, and is now in the first round of the 2026 WBC qualifying round. In international competitions such as the Asian Games, Olympics, and Premier 12, Taiwan has generally been a supporting actor or a minor role.

However, he roared at the center of world baseball at once when he won the Premier 12 final last year by beating Japan. It is an opportunity to revive baseball, which will not be easy to come by. Taiwan's professional baseball, which suffered a deep slump after the Black Eagle incident in the 1990s and barely revived, is also in one place.

The Lotte match is a prelude to the WBC qualifying round, which starts on the 21st, and a stepping stone to continue the fiery success for the Taiwanese national team.

Lotte players in local adaptation training at Taipei Dome. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants

However, Lotte is at a loss. Taiwan's national team was called up early and has been preparing for this tournament. Except that some U.S. and Japanese professional baseball players, such as Lin Yu-min (Arizona Diamondbacks Double A), are missing (joined next week), they are actually the best members of Taiwanese baseball.

Lotte, on the other hand, is only one of the 10 KBO league teams. The help of foreign players is also minimal. Victor Reyes, who set a new 202-hit record last year, will play, but foreign pitchers Charlie Barnes and Tucker Davidson did not accompany him to Taipei. Players who were classified as rehabilitation groups, such as Yoo Kang-nam, Choi Jun-yong, and Ko Seung-min, and rookie Kim Tae-hyun were also excluded.

Lotte entered Taiwan on January 24 and has been holding a spring camp. It's only been about three weeks now, and March 22nd is still a month away from the opening game of professional baseball.

It is time to prepare for the opening by building up your body step by step. Starting with Kim Min-seok (currently Doosan) just before the opening, the painful memories of last year when Han Dong-hee, Hwang Sung-bin, Son Ho-young, and Jeon Jun-woo collapsed one after another until May are desperate.

photo courtesy of Lotte Giants

Therefore, this year, the training team has been greatly strengthened, and the season is being carefully prepared without overstretching injured players such as Choi Jun-yong. However, he became caught up in the atmosphere of an `international war' with Taiwan.

First of all, Park Se-woong in the first round and Kim Jin-wook in the second round are scheduled to start. However, considering the current physical conditions of the two players, pitching innings are expected to be limited to two to three innings.

Lotte held its spring camp in Guam until last year. However, there were many regrets not only in the baseball stadium but also in poor auxiliary facilities. There were many complaints within the team as there were difficult situations in many ways, such as batting and defensive training in faraway places.

This year, we moved to Taiwan. Lotte's satisfaction with Tainan baseball stadium and auxiliary facilities is very high. An auxiliary stadium outside the main stadium is attached right next to it, and the size of the indoor dome facility is larger than Lotte's practice ground in Sangdong, Gimhae. Even in rainy weather, you can do simple batting training, catch ball, and training at once. Coach Kim Tae-hyung also asked for long-term cooperation in the future, saying, `The Taiwan facilities are quite good.'

photo courtesy of Lotte Giants

Through this camp preparation process, a solid relationship with Taiwan's Chinese Baseball League (CPBL) was also established. In addition to the first team, the second team camp, which began on the 11th, will be held together in Tainan, Taiwan, and the second team is scheduled to play nine practice games against local professional teams in Taiwan. Lotte's long-term plans, which point to the squad's depth as a weakness every year, are seen.

However, a match against the Taiwanese national team is a problem. Lotte is trying hard to reduce its meaning by saying it is only a practice game, but the Lotte match, which will be held just like the opening ceremony, may be talked about in the future in line with the Taiwanese national team's WBC performance.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.