Usually, professional baseball has five referees per game (1 referee, 3 center players, and 1 standby player), but recently, the Futures League has three referees.
The Futures League match between the NC Dinos and Sangmu held at Mungyeong Stadium in Gyeongsangbuk-do on the 17th of last month was also held as a “two-trial system” in which only two referees watched the game.
Referee Lee Min-ho (42) was the referee, and referee Kang Kwang-hoe watched the game as the first base, and the second and third bases were left empty.
It was difficult to accurately determine whether the left-handed batter had a check swing, a safe-out situation on the second and third bases, and a hit-foul decision on the third base.
The lack of referees in the Futures League has become serious because of a combination of reasons.
This year’s Futures League will feature up to six games a day, with Japan’s Softbank Hawks, an invited team. The number of games played in the Futures League is larger than that played in the first team (five games).
On top of that, the number of available players has decreased recently as referees have been terminated or suspended for unsavory reasons.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) fired referees Lee Min-ho (31) and suspended referees Moon Seung-hoon and Choo Pyeong-ho for three months over the controversy over the cover-up of misjudgment at the NC-Samsung Lions game in the KBO League on the 14th of last month.
On the 10th, Judge Won Hyun-sik (director of the video reading center) who was caught drunk driving was disqualified for a year.
KBO filled the insufficient first-team referees in the second division, and the problems caused by the insufficient number of people were taken by the Futures League.
How serious the shortage of professional baseball referees is can be easily estimated by calculating the number of available players.
This year, a total of 53 members of the professional baseball umpire committee.
Among them, a total of 46 people are responsible for all games and video readings in the first and second teams, except for Oh Seok-hwan, two members of the Futures Development Committee, and four referees who were fired and disciplined.
The minimum number of people required in the first division of professional baseball is 30.
Five referees must play in a group and go to five stadiums, and five referees (including the head of the reading center) will enter the video reading room.
In the end, there are only 16 people who can operate in the Futures League.
Of course, it is based on the assumption that not a single person has taken leave or leave of absence.
Given this situation, it is impossible for the Futures League referee activities to be carried out normally from the beginning. This is why the NC-Sangmu match was held as a “two-trial system” on the 17th of last month.
Some point out that KBO should actively select new judges.
The direct cause of the shortage of referees lies in the disciplinary action of existing referees, but KBO’s responsibility for limiting the number of referees to a minimum is not small.
The number of professional baseball referees has steadily increased over the past decade.
It increased from 41 in 2014 to 45 in 2015, 47 in 2016, 48 in 2017, and 50 in 2018.
On the surface, the number of referees seems to have increased a lot, but in reality, it is not.
As professional baseball became a 10-team system in 2015, the number of daily games increased from four to five.
With the creation of a video reading center in 2017, the number of referees needed became much higher.
Nevertheless, the number of KBO referees has decreased recently. The number decreased from 54 in 2021 to 52 in 2023, with 53 active this year.
Korean professional baseball referees play on a tight schedule like cogs.
If two or three of them are missing, the problem of lack of refereeing appears at once like this time.
For this reason, it is difficult to leave the referee’s job even if he is injured by a ball during the game.
Recently, a judge reportedly rushed to return even after a car accident.
The lack of refereeing is not limited to labor issues.
Ultimately, it could undermine the quality and fairness of the league.
Of course, KBO is also aware of the lack of referees.
BY: 토토사이트