Bullying controversy resurfaces in baseball with 2 pitchers facing assault charges

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Yonhap) -- With two pitchers set to stand trial over assault charges stemming from their high school days, the bullying controversy that had marred South Korean baseball in recent years is rising back up to the surface.

Last Wednesday, two clubs in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins, said their respective pitchers, Lee Young-ha and Kim Dae-hyun, had been indicted without detention for allegedly beating a teammate while at Sunrin Internet High School in Seoul in 2015.

The ex-teammate in question first came forward with claims in February last year, accusing Lee and Kim of physically assaulting him and other younger players.

The Bears and the Twins met with Sunrin school officials later in the year but they were unable to confirm assault charges.

The former teammate then took the case to the state-run Sports Ethics Center, which asked police to investigate those assault claims.

Following his indictment, Lee was dropped from the Bears' active roster on Aug. 21 and the 2019 All-Star has not even pitched in the minor league since. With his trial expected to drag on, Lee, 24, is likely done for this season.

Kim is currently fulfilling his military duty but remains under the Twins' control. The 25-year-old, who pitched for the Twins from 2016 to 2021, will be tried at a military court.

South Korean sports have long had to deal with controversy emerging from athletes' shady past and wrestle with how to handle the aftermath once they have served their penalties. The debate over whether to grant them a second chance has been a difficult one to settle.

In the coming weeks, two pitchers with a history of bullying school teammates will once again find themselves in the spotlight.

Korea University right-hander Kim Yoo-seong is eligible for the annual KBO draft on Sept. 15, as he will wrap up his sophomore season in college after this year. He had been selected by the NC Dinos with the priority, territorial pick in August 2020 but had been dropped after physical and verbal abuse charges against Kim from his high school days surfaced in cyberspace.

Kim's case forced the KBO to tighten background checks on draft-bound players. All eligible amateurs must write a pledge that they have not committed any act of violence while at school and submit their student records. If they are caught having lied about their past, they will face discipline and their draft selection will be nullified. Teams that selected such players will receive a compensatory pick the following year.

Kim has served his one-year suspension by the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA), which governs amateur baseball. With that behind him, a few KBO teams are said to be interested in the hard-throwing pitcher who could potentially crack a pro starting rotation immediately.

Although there are no legal issues that will prevent KBO teams from drafting Kim, doing so could be a major PR blow in the current climate.

But there is a precedent of a player with a track record of bullying who has thrived in the KBO.

Kiwoom Heroes ace An Woo-jin has been making the most of his second chance granted in the pro ball after serving a lengthy ban for bullying teammates in high school. Through the weekend, An was leading the KBO with 186 strikeouts -- 24 more than the next pitcher, Drew Rucinski of the NC Dinos -- and ranked second overall with a 2.13 ERA.

Allegations against An surfaced after he had already signed with the Heroes as a territorial pick. Instead of being forced to cut him, the Heroes suspended An for 50 games in 2018. He has been pitching for them since.

Separately, the KBSA handed down a three-year ban from the Olympics and the Asian Games for An. This effectively amounts to a lifetime ban, because under the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) regulations, athletes who have received suspensions of three years or longer are permanently ineligible for those multisport events.

However, the ban does not apply to the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), a professional competition run by Major League Baseball (MLB). In several interviews this season, An has said he would like to pitch in the WBC.

Given the way he has pitched this year, An would be the national team's No. 1 or No. 2 starter. Based on talent alone, picking An is a no brainer, but optics, just like in Kim's case, will be a different story.

The KBO must submit their preliminary, 50-man list by November, and the 35-man provisional roster must be set by January next year.

The deadline for the final, 28-man roster will be sometime in February. The WBC will run from March 8 to 21.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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