Hanwha Eagles, a professional baseball team that has set up a spring camp in Australia for the second year since last year, has been receiving support by signing an agreement with Melbourne Aces. Justin Hoover (43), the general manager of Melbourne Aces, a former Major League player, has prepared to attract KBO teams to spring camps for several years, and this year, even KT Wiz has set up a new camp in Geelong, near Melbourne. 바카라

"KBO teams have recently started to take an interest in Australia, and we have prepared to have a good environment for training, including stadium facilities," said Hoover, who is supporting the two teams' camps. In the process, I had a relationship with Hanwha last year. "I came to Melbourne Ball Park in person to check the training environment, and I was able to invite Hanwha to this place by keeping in touch with Koo Hyun-joon, the manager of the management team." 

Hoover, an Australian catcher who moved to the U.S. after signing an international amateur contract with the New York Mets in 2000, suffered a knee injury in the Minor League and failed to display his talent as a catcher. In the Major League, he played only first base and left field. Since his debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2005, he has played for the San Diego Padres and the Minnesota Twins, recording a batting average of 224 (36 hits in 161 at-bats) with two home runs and 15 RBIs in 72 games for five seasons until 2009. 

On June 25, 2005, when he was in Kansas City, he came out as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies and reported his first major league hit with a double to the right, and the opposing pitcher was Kim Byung-hyun. Hoover, who felt an unforgettable first hit by a Korean pitcher, played for a year in the Japanese professional baseball Hiroshima Toyokaf in 2010. After returning to his hometown of Melbourne and playing as a player from the 2014-2015 season, he turned into an administrator and is currently the general manager of Melbourne. 

Although he was not very interested in Korean baseball, he became fascinated with the KBO League after joining hands with Hanwha. "I played in the U.S. and Japan as a player, but I didn't know about it because I had no relationship with Korea," Hoover said, who also visited Korea during last year's season to watch the game in person. After signing a camp agreement with Hanwha, he became a big fan of the KBO League. He has his own unique style of baseball, which is different from that of Japan. It seems to be a combination of strengths of the Major League and Japanese baseball." 

The inclusion of Australian nationality players in the Asian quarter, which will be implemented by KBO starting next year, also made Hoover excited. "At the time, President Hoog-yeon talked about the Asian quarter, but it was not decided," Hoover, who showed a picture of him meeting with KBO President Hu Jie-yeon in Korea at the end of last year, welcomed, "It was a really good opportunity for Australian players." 

"Our Melbourne players are also excited about Korea's Asian quarter," he said, adding, "It is getting harder to advance to the Major League in Australia. KBO could be another opportunity for our Australian players' careers." 

The Australian professional baseball league, which has been played every winter since 2009, is well known as a place where promising players from all over the world, including the U.S. Minor League, gain experience by signing short-term contracts. However, its low commercial value does not make much money for Australian players. Many players also play based on the concept of "two jobs." The Asian quarter, in which the average annual salary of a professional baseball in Australia is 73,648 dollars in terms of the Australian dollar, which can be up to 200,000 dollars in terms of the U.S. dollar, will be a great opportunity for Australian players in terms of financial resources as well as career development. 

Hoover's ultimate dream is to develop Australian baseball, which is also expected to serve as a supplier for Australian players in the Asian quarter. To this end, he wants to develop a sustainable relationship with Korean baseball. "My dream is to make Melbourne like Okinawa, Japan, where spring camp teams visit every year. I want to develop it into a mini-Okana league," Hoover said. "If that happens, fans and children in Melbourne will have more interest in baseball. Baseball will be a springboard for Australia to become the best sport." 

Australia has the best warm and pleasant weather for training, and the time difference is only two hours with Korea. KBO teams' interest is also increasing as training facilities that were insufficient are gradually equipped. The weather in Arizona, the U.S., is getting worse and more KBO teams are expected to gather in Australia due to the high exchange rate. It is known that the team currently training in the U.S. is also considering going to Australia next year. 

As a former player, Hoover is also interested in Hanwha's spring camp training process. "We are training very hard against Hanwha and KT. I think Hanwha will have strong pitching capability this year. The defensive drills that manager Kim Kyung-moon places most important in are also impressive. It will probably not be easy to score points from Hanwha this year. I think it will be the most difficult team among the 10 KBO League teams."