Why did Tommy Edman (28, St. Louis Cardinals), the first American player on the Korean baseball team, add the letter TH in front of the English name EDMAN above the uniform number?
Edmund participated in training for the WBC (World Baseball Classic) held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the afternoon of the 2nd, and exchanged greetings with Korean players for the first time and matched breathing. Edmund, a member of the Major League Baseball St. Louis, returned to Korea the previous day through Incheon International Airport to participate in the WBC as a Korean representative after training at his team’s spring camp in Florida온라인바카라. This is Edmund’s first visit to Korea as a Korean-American.
The KBO, which had been shouting pure-bloodism, broke it and selected Edmon as the national representative according to the WBC participation rules, which allow nationality to be determined by parental or grandparental lineage and place of birth, regardless of current nationality.
Edman is a Korean player born in May 1995, the second of two sons and one daughter to a Korean mother, Kwak Gyeong-ah, and a college baseball coach father, John Edman. His full name is Thomas Hyeonsu Edmon, and he uses his Korean name Hyeonsu for his middle name.
Although his nationality is the United States, Edmund embodies his Korean identity by engraving his middle name Hyeonsu on the national team uniform. Edman appeared on the day wearing a national team home uniform with the name ‘TH EDMAN’ engraved on the number 11. Like the major leagues, it is enough to engrave only EDMAN, but by adding TH, the abbreviation of TOMMY HYUNSOO, the sense of difference with Korean players has been eliminated. A KBO official said, “Edman requested that TH be engraved directly in front of EDMAN during the uniform production process.”
From the first day of training, Edmund was well impressed by coach Lee Kang-cheol and his teammates. Upon arriving at the stadium, Edmund conducted defensive shifts and operational training in private, and then batting practice in front of reporters at 4:30 pm. Edmund, who was in the left-handed batter’s box, sent his bat far away with an exciting swing, and occasionally buntted during practice. It was also captured talking to new colleagues such as Kim Ha-seong, Park Byung-ho, and Lee Jung-hoo.
National team coach Lee Kang-cheol, who watched the training, said, “They are very active. He tries to speak Korean. I am grateful that he trained hard,” he said with a satisfied smile.
Edman said, “It is an honor to wear the Taegeuk mark,” adding, “I will do my best to meet the high expectations of Korean fans. My strength is that I can be good at batting, running, and defending. I will prepare well so that I can show those strengths well.”