RYU HYUN JIN SIGHTING!
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
Yes, I think Shohei Ohtani is awesome, and I’m rooting for him and Japan to mess up everyone in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
But I also wanted South Korea to win.
So yeah, it sucks that the Koreans were ransacked by the Dominican Republic, 10–0, in their knockout quarterfinal duel.
The Koreans were in awe when they had to face the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatís Jr., Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez, and Manny Machado.
That said, when I checked out the highlights, the one that really got me awestruck was Ryu Hyun-jin.
Hyun-jin is already at the tail end of his career and has dabbled in entertainment on a couple of occasions. But don’t get the idea that he’s a small fry. The dude spent almost a decade in MLB, starting his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers before moving to the Toronto Blue Jays.
He has since returned to the Hanwha Eagles, the KBO team he first played for back in 2006.
The thing about him is that I’m also a fan of Running Man, and I remember when he and Choo Shin-soo appeared on the show as guests and had that insane name-tag elimination game against the cast. Shin-soo went into full competitive mode, but Hyun-jin was funny as hell.
The dude had four eliminations. But unlike Shin-soo, who was hella competitive, Hyun-jin won by being cruel to the girls—Song Ji-hyo and Jin Se-yeon—and by sneakily betraying Kim Jong-kook’s trust. The only stressful moment he had was with Kang Gary, who was trying his best to survive while also acting like a fan.
Meanwhile, Shin-soo took down Haha seven seconds after the game started and quickly eliminated Lee Kwang-soo. But he had to run almost the entire building just to get rid of Yoo Jae-suk. He and Hyun-jin also cornered Ji Suk-jin to get their fourth elimination.
But then Shin-soo hit a roadblock in Kim Jong-kook, whom he initially thought was just a tough guy because he was the show’s lone physical alpha male. Hyun-jin knew he wasn’t going to last if he took Jong-kook seriously, so he had to be devious—and that strategy rewarded him with the win.
Anyway, I didn’t like how the United States underestimated Italy, and I think if they’re not careful, the Dominicans might beat them. Meanwhile, I feel Japan has an advantage against Venezuela and even against the quarterfinal winner between Italy and Puerto Rico.
Yes, I’m a fan of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but now I’m also finding myself looking for rookie cards of Seiya Suzuki and Masataka Yoshida.
Anyway, let’s go, Japan!
Comments