Tommy Edman is making history this coming spring as the first player not born in South Korea to represent the South Korean national team in the World Baseball Classic.
Edman, a key piece on the St. Louis Cardinals roster and a former Gold Glove Award winner, recently announced his decision to play in the Classic, which will be taking place this coming March.
The Classic will be making its return for the first time in six years after the pandemic put it on hold in 2021.
Late last night, Edman stopped by MLB Network to talk about the Classic and his excitement for participating.
Tommy Edman is making history with Team Korea 🇰🇷
He joined #MLBTonight to talk about playing in his first #WorldBaseballClassic and the Korea-Japan rivalry.@RoFlo | @Cardinals pic.twitter.com/c4CHMzAEBB
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 20, 2023
Edman talked about how late last season, he discovered that he was eligible to play for Team Korea and ultimately spoke with representatives for the national team about potentially joining.
The slick-fielding shortstop did just that.
He also mentioned a conversation he had with teammates Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, both of whom were a part of the American national team in 2017, when they won their last WBC championship.
Goldschmidt and Arenado had told Edman about what a wonderful experience playing in the Classic truly is.
Interestingly enough, Korea and Japan’s national teams have a pretty big rivalry.
With Edman making history on the Korean team, his Cardinals teammate in Lars Nootbaar is making history as the first player not born in Japan to be a part of the Japanese team.
The 27-year-old talked about the rivalry and what his expectations were.
The Classic should be fun, and it is right around the corner.
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