March 26, 1960
World Baseball Championship - South Korea vs. Dominican Republic
The host of the first-ever World Baseball Championship tournament is now just two wins away from capturing the glory and holding bragging rights for the next year.
The South Korean team dispatched Venezuela, winning 4-1 and 3-2 to advance to the title series. Not surprisingly, it was the pitching getting it done as Soo-Keun Bae and Hyun-Koo Chai each turned in another brilliant start.
The pair of 26 year-old hurlers, born just five days apart, have now combined for 62 innings pitched with just 38 hits and 10 earned runs allowed. They've tallied 66 strikeouts against just 13 walks. While they faced off against each other in a previous iteration of Korea's baseball league, being teammates has bonded them.
"I look at it as a friendly rivalry," Bae said. "Every time I go out to the mound I want to do better than he did. And he's right there at the top of the dugout rooting for me. I think that's why we've gotten this far, really, that sense of teamwork and camaraderie."
Chai agreed. "People have been pairing us together because of our age but we're different pitchers. He's out early doing long toss, reading scouting reports. Me? I just like to get out there and throw. It's been working so far."
With one more blazing start, either pitcher would wind up taking home WBC Most Outstanding Players honors. Though it will be their third starter, Byung-Hee Jun, getting the start in game 1 against the Dominican Republic. Jun has been no slouch himself, checking in at 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 23.1 innings.
The three will be rivals once again when the tournament concludes, each headed to a different team in the Australasian League. For now, though, they're trying to make history and send their fellow citizens home happy.
Standing in their way is the team from the Dominican Republic. Like the Koreans, they needed just two games to advance, outscoring the upstart German team 14-3 on their way.
They've been led on the field and off by Angel Varela. At 35, Varela is the oldest player on the team, a full five years older than the next closest pitcher. He's already a hero in his native country, one of the most popular pitchers since he began playing professionally at age 20.
He pitched brilliantly in a qualifying round shutout of Colombia before taking a hard-luck loss to Taiwan. Since then, he's been moved to the bullpen where he's pitched four perfect innings.
"I've been a starter ever since I can remember," he said. "Spring games, all-star games, sandlot games, I consider myself a starter. I don't have to prove that to anyone. But I do have to prove that the Dominican Republic has the best baseball in the word, so I'll pitch in whatever role is needed."
The Dominican team is literally bridging generations with their battery. Varela, the oldest player, has been throwing to catcher Yordano Mirano, the team's youngest.
He's sure looked like a veteran, belting four home runs while providing defense and leadership from behind the plate.
"I grew up watching him whenever he would come back home to San Cristóbal," Mirano said of Varela. "So it means a lot to me that that I'll be the one behind the plate when he closes out the tournament and brings home the win," he added confidently.