Lee Seung-yeop Japan Smarts at Korean Blow to Its Pride in WBC Game Korea Starts WBC on a High, Beating Taiwan 2-0 Koreans Sweep Asian WBC Games Korean Baseball Aces Beat Mexico at WBC Korean Baseball Team Shames U.S. in WBC Triumph U.S. Press Laments WBC Thrashing by Korea All Mouth and No Trousers Korea Beats Japan to Reach WBC Semifinals The Enigma at the Helm of Korea's WBC Team Blue Goblins Lead Cheers for Korean Baseball 'Classic' Korean Baseball Draws Frank Praise in U.S. Korea's Unbeaten WBC Run Ends in Crashing Defeat

The other four picked by columnist Garry Gillette were Yulieski Gourriel (22) of Cuba, Matsuzaka Daisuke (26) of Japan, Cuba's Pedro Luis Lazo and Akinori Iwamura (27). He dubbed them “more than capable of playing in Major League Baseball if given a shot” after their WBC performance attracted the eyes of MLB recruiters.

Gillette assessed Lee Seung-yeop as a first baseman with a relatively small but powerful physique, and said he exhibits excellent contact capability. He added the Korean is on the list of a few MLB teams.

The request for Lee’s bat from the Hall of Fame for exhibition is a promising moment for Korean baseball. Insiders with the Korean Baseball Organization said the Hall of Fame plans to set up a WBC exhibition hall after collecting some of the possessions of players at the end of this year. They asked for Lee Seung-yeop’s bat and Lee Jin-young’s hat. Lee Seung-yeop donated the bat with which he hit a solo homerun off a pitch from Dontrelle Willis in the first inning of the game against the U.S. on March 14.

(englishnews@chosun.com )