"If you do well, if you don't get it right, you're always criticizing."

"If you do well, if you don't get it right, you're always criticizing."

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For baseball fans, the road to the stadium is always fun. The pressure of winning and losing and the excitement of meeting with fans intersect. There are players like this and spectators who go to the stadium with heavy steps. Even if you do well, you are the main thing, and if you don't, you will be criticized. The authority keeps decreasing due to the introduction of various mechanical equipment. It is about Korean professional baseball KBO League referees.토토사이트

Kim Byung-joo (57), chairman of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), who has been the head of the umpire team since this year, told the Kookmin Ilbo on Monday, "I always go to work by repeating 'safely' today," adding, "After the game, the umpires gather to reflect on the mistakes and mistakes made on the day before leaving work. That way, we don't repeat our mistakes."

Kim often used the words "mistake" and "wrong" throughout the interview. Perhaps it was because he had been trying hard to help the players, the main characters of the baseball stadium, to perform well and to give the best game to the audience. On the other hand, he also felt proud that he acts as the final judge who judges balls and strikes, and who decides whether to score, out, save, or score. "I was very surprised by the success of professional baseball, which surpassed 10 million spectators last year," Kim said. "Since the referees are also involved in the baseball world, I made a commitment to reduce the number of mistakes so that the number of spectators does not decrease."

Kim, like other judges, used to be an athlete. After graduating from Masan High School in South Gyeongsang Province, he studied at Dong-A University and played professionally for the Pacific Dolphins in 1991. As an athlete, I lost track of my career. I quit working out in two years. While resting in my hometown after retirement, I found a job as a referee. "I applied because I thought judges were cool when I came to my alma mater for winter training, and I have been using judges as my career for 33 years this year," Kim said with an awkward smile.

After joining the team in 1993, he only watched the second-tier referees, and finally made his debut in the first-tier league by playing third base in a match between the Samsung Lions and the Ssangbangwool Raiders held in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province on July 22, 1994. He was more nervous than when he was a player. "The first game felt like walking on clouds," Kim said. "At that time, professional baseball was very popular, and many fans cheered for him enthusiastically. I stayed alert so as not to make a mistake."

The judges, who are in a group of five, entrust the third base to the judges who will play for the first time. The same applies to situations wherein players participate in a match after a few days off. Kim will stand at the third base first, followed by players at first base, second base, second base, second base, and second base. Kim played in 2,984 matches until last year, as if he was eating a foul ball and sometimes got into arguments with players and coaches. This is a record that can be achieved only when nearly 100 matches are played consistently every year. He ranks second in the history of participating as a judge in the World Baseball Classic final in 2017.

Referees work hard. They work outdoors and go on business trips frequently. Currently, the KBO has 52 judges. Thirty members are in charge of the first-tier KBO League, while the other 22 are in charge of the second-tier Futures League. In the top-tier Korean pro team, five players form a team and the other five rotate in rotation. Except Mondays, 10 teams play in five different teams across the country every day. As such, people rarely stay home during the season. "It was always up to my wife to raise a child because games are held on weekends all year round," Kim said. "I'm always grateful and sorry to my family."

The competition among referees is also fierce. Due to the system of demotion of referees introduced in 2019, referees who fail to produce a certain outcome will move down to the second tier, while referees who have displayed outstanding performance in the second tier will move on to the first tier. Since Koo took office, referees have become more competitive as they have made all-out efforts to reduce misjudgment. On the contrary, the burden of performing games, business trips, tests and evaluations has increased. The KBO plans to hire about two new referees this year to help ease the burden on referees.

At one point, referees were absolute players on the ground. However, it was not the players or coaches that threatened their authority but the advancement of technology. The status of referees began to falter gradually due to the introduction of mechanical equipment. Along with the evolution of broadcasting equipment such as high-speed cameras and video reading, Korea introduced the world's first automatic ball-strike system last season, which weakened the authority of referees. ABS refers to a system that automatically determines strikes and balls by using a pitch tracking system using cameras and radar. This year, the company will officially introduce pitch clock to induce fast play by pitchers and batters. The Futures League will install a camera exclusively for checking swing and operating it on a trial basis. The KBO League will introduce the system around next year.

Although judges are busy with the increasing number of mechanical equipment every year, they are adapting to changes. Much of the controversy over absurd misjudgment and biased judgment has been resolved thanks to the machines. "Authority can only be established when others acknowledge it. The U.S. and Japan also came to Korea to learn about ABS system," Kim said. "We have to adapt to the changing times to survive," adding, "We cannot go against the trend to increase fairness that young spectators want most."

Referees are inextricably linked with players and coaches. Referees, all of whom were former players, are intertwined with players, coaches, and coaches without knowing, and some of them were close to each other when they were players. However, personal conversation is prohibited during games, and we rarely meet outside. In a world of baseball in which a single score and an out count determine a match, the referee's private interest is not reflected at all. "Players give answers when they have questions about a decision, but they never have personal conversations," Kim said. "I am also careful not to meet people in private because I don't want to be misunderstood in my profession."

Wearing 5kg of referee equipment, 2-3kg is easily lost when playing important games such as midsummer or postseason. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old referee work is now considered a vocation.