KIA Tigers foreign hitter Jerid Dale, selected under the Asia quota, led Australia's WBC team to consecutive victories over Taiwan and the Czech Republic. KIA manager Lee Beom-ho flashed a satisfied smile at Dale's performance.
On the 6th at Kin Stadium in Okinawa Prefecture, where a practice game between KIA and LG was held, Manager Lee, when asked in a pregame interview, 'Did you see Dale's big performance yesterday?', showed slight surprise and said, "I saw it. (Rather than saying he had a big game) he hit one bloop single, and I thought he would bat seventh to ninth after joining the national team, but he came out batting fifth."
He added, "The Australian manager probably saw Dale for the first time in a while and clearly got a good feeling about him, so I assume he moved him up the lineup. Australian players who are not minor leaguers probably couldn't have stayed long in camp, but Dale trained with us for a long time and got his body in shape, so when the Australian manager saw him he must have felt something good and moved him up in the order," he said.
Australia beat Taiwan 3-0 on March 5 in its first WBC first-round Pool C game at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Australia scored three runs on two homers (a two-run and a solo) and three left-handed pitchers each threw three scoreless innings. It was an upset that defied expectations.
Dale started at shortstop batting fifth and went 1-for-3 with a walk. He looked steady defensively at shortstop. Dale is the only position player among the 10 clubs under the newly introduced Asia quota this year. All other clubs selected pitchers (from Japan, Australia and Taiwan).
Rather than Dale's simple stats, Manager Lee focused on his adaptation to the atmosphere and the opportunity to face good pitchers. He said, "First, defensively and honestly, Dale hasn't played many big games. He probably didn't play in front of large crowds even in the minor leagues, and when he was in Japan he likely didn't play many second-team games in stadiums with big crowds, so I think a game like yesterday would have been very nerve-wracking for him."
He added, "Considering that, he got hits and drew a walk, and the Taiwanese pitchers were really good yesterday. If he can quickly gain experience against Asian pitchers — since opponents include Taiwan, Korea and Japan — experiencing many pitcher types before the season is a very welcome thing," he said, expressing his expectations.
Dale also started at shortstop batting fifth in the Czech Republic group-stage second game held on the afternoon of the 6th. That day he crushed doubles and triples and extra-base hits. He went 2-for-4 and is hitting .429 in the tournament (3-for-7). That must have surprised Manager Lee even more.
With a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning, he hit a left-field double with one out to create a scoring chance, but the rally was snuffed by subsequent hitters and no run scored. With a 4-1 lead in the ninth inning with no outs, he reached on a triple, and after one out scored the insurance run on a hit by Perkins that fell between the first baseman and right fielder.
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