The Marmot’s Hole

First, the quality stuff. Over at Japundit, Mike Plugh does a bang-up job looking at Korean slugger Lee Seung-yeop, who not only managed–as a foreign player–to become the Yomiuri Giants’ cleanup hitter after putting on a clinic at the World Baseball Classic, but also has a hot wife. Mr. Plugh points out:

His attempt to play in the Majors after his 2003 season in Korea fizzled when teams balked at giving him a free pass to the Show. Some critics of Seung Yeop Lee have cited his high impression of himself as one of the deterrents to a guaranteed Major League contract. It seems there were enough concerns about the level of competition he faced and his ability to produce against big leaguers that offers for Spring Training invites and minor league deals were all that he could garner for himself.

And:

It seems that “The Lion King” has a lot to prove. He talks the talk and looks the part of the glitzy athlete, but he may be putting the cart before the horse in terms of his career goals. A bit of humility may just open the right door for him to break into the Majors, and a commitment to quietly destroying whatever pitching is in front of him would help to win over the critics. It’s hard to put yourself back in the Rocky I mindset, when you’ve already made it to Rocky III in your home country.

Well, if a little humility training is what Lee needs to take his game Stateside, his agent should fine him–for his own sake–each and every time he’s caught reading a Korean sports paper. The Sports Chosun’s Son Jae-eon, citing a story in the Arizona Republic, proudly proclaimed to the illustrious tabloid’s readers throughout Korea that not only would Lee get a three-year deal from the Dodgers next year, but that he was a strong candidate for 2007 Rookie of the Year. Now, I’ve translated this truly classic piece of sports journalism below, but it’s almost side-splittingly hilarious if you actually take the time to read the original Arizona Republic forecasts.

U.S. Media Forecasts Lee Seung-yeop Signs 3-Year Deal with Dodgers Next Year

Forecast by Arizona’s largest daily
“Seung-yeop signs 3-year deal with Dodgers next year.”
“He’ll become a strong candidate for NL rookie of the year.”
Mentioned with Bonds, Piazza

Lee Seung-yeop, the homerun cannon who hammered the Japanese islands, is receiving endless attention from the United States, the homeland of baseball. Already, he is being highly praised, with people not only discussing his joining of the U.S. Major Leagues as if it were an established fact, but that he is a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. One can tangibly feel the transformation in the position of Lee, who went from Asia’s homerun king to the lofty peak of World Baseball Classic homerun king.
The Arizona Republic, the largest daily paper in the state of Arizona, made specific mention of and expressed interest in Lee’s future course of action in an April 4 (Korea time) article on predictions for this year’s MLB season. The paper predicted, “When Lee Seung-yeop finishes this season and leaves the Yomiuri Giants of Japanese pro baseball, he will sign a three-year deal with the LA Dodgers and become a candidate for 2007 National League Rookie of the Year” (then reprinting the original in English: “After his one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants ends, Korea’s ‘Lion King,’ Lee Seung-Yeop, signs a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is named 2007 National League Rookie of the Year”).
This shows how great the expectations are of Lee in the U.S. Major Leagues. That Lee, who plays in Japan, would be pointed to in the last part of an article on predictions for this year’s MLB season means he’s no less a star than a Major Leaguer. The players mentioned in the article are ten of the biggest stars in the game, including Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza and Ichiro Suzuki. Lee was the only non-Major Leaguer put on an equal footing with those players. And with Lee raised up as a Rookie of the Year candidate, the article recognized that Lee is a player who could immediately perform in the U.S. Major Leagues as well.
Besides Lee’s joining of the Dodgers, the paper made some other interesting predictions. It said Barry Bonds would hit home run No. 715 in an April 25 game against the New York Mets, breaking the record of legendary homerun king Babe Ruth. It also made some more-or-less wild predictions like Japan’s Major Leaguers all hitting homeruns on June 10. It predicted that the New York Yankees would beat the St. Louis Cardinals four games to two to win this season’s World Series.