Baseball fans bemoan Korean batter Baek-ho Kang's base running boner vs Australia: "Jurickson Profar moment"

Australia and Korea kicked off their World Baseball Classic campaigns with a closely contested Pool B game. Both teams relied on big three-run swings to compile their total.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the 7th inning with one out on the board, Korean batter Baek-ho Kang apparently completed a double that put him in scoring position. The KT Wiz left-fielder, however, celebrated overzealously and stepped off the base, allowing Australia's Robbie Glendinning to apply the tag.

Baseball Twitter had a field day reacting to Kang's crucial mistake, rekindling memories of similar brain-fades by Jurickson Profar and Josh Donaldson.

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Kang's mistake proved to be costly for Korea

World Baseball Classic Pool B: Australia v Korea

The next batter singled out, ending Korea's rally. Australia then proceeded to add insurance runs in the 8th. The game reached an exciting conclusion after Korea pulled within one of Australia in the bottom of the eighth. Despite the tension, Australia held on to deliver the first big upset of the World Baseball Classic 2023.

About the author

Amlan Sanyal is a basketball writer at Sportskeeda with more than two years of experience. Amlan has a soft spot for the lovable loser, and years of supporting Leeds Utd, the Seattle Mariners and San Antonio Spurs have made him realize that there's more to sport than just championships.

Amlan started falling for basketball after watching the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 and 2013. He watched as a collective of veteran legends, underrated misfits and a young defensive stud extended the Spurs' era of dominance with a team-oriented style, reminiscent of the aesthetic brilliance of 2011 FC Barcelona.

Amlan has supported the Spurs ever since, even after enduring the heartbreaks of Ray Allen's corner three and several years in the wilderness post-Kawhi Leonard. He hopes Victor Wembanyama will become the face of the league as Pop rides off into the sunset.

When not working, Amlan is a keen quizzer and a podcast buff and can usually be found reading books, watching movies or listening to history podcasts.

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Edited by Amlan Sanyal