[GLOBAL ECONOMIC TIMES] KIA reclaimed the professional baseball crown with a combined championship for the first time in seven years. Based on the Korean Series (KS), this is the 12th summit, the most ever. KIA lifted the KS championship cup in front of the citizens of Gwangju for the first time in 37 years, marking a happy end to the 2024 KBO League campaign.
KIA won 7-5 against Samsung in the 5th game of KS (4 wins out of 7) held at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 28th. After winning games 1 and 2, they lost game 3, but won again in games 4 and 5, completing the overall championship with 4 wins and 1 loss in the series.
The moment the victory bell was fired, the citizens of Gwangju, who witnessed the team winning at home for the first time in 37 years, cried tears of joy while loudly singing along to the popular song ‘Southbound Train.’ Although KIA was at the top 11 times before this season, it only confirmed its KS win at its home stadium once in 1987. KIA's predecessor, Haitai (2nd place in the regular season), became the champion by winning the 1st and 2nd games held at Daegu Citizen Stadium and the 3rd and 4th games played at Gwangju Mudeung Stadium against Samsung, which was ranked 1st in the regular season at the time.
However, other than that, everyone toasted in enemy or neutral stadiums. Until 2015, the 5th and 7th games of the KBO League were held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul unless it was KS between teams with a stadium that could accommodate more than 25,000 people. For this reason, KIA was toasted for winning nine times in Jamsil (1983, 86, 88, 89, 93, 96, 97, 2009, 2017) and once in Daejeon (1991). The year after the neutral stadium system was abolished (the stadium ranked first in the regular season for games 1, 2, 6, and 7, and the stadium of the winning team in the playoffs for games 3 to 5), they lost the first game to Doosan and won four games down the road, popping champagne in Jamsil.
For this reason, KIA members had a greater desire than anyone else to stand at the top in their home stadium. Coach Lee Beom-ho even said before the game, “I have always dreamed of winning in Gwangju during the 14 years I have been with KIA as a player and coach.” On this day, after a long wait, KIA lifted its 12th trophy in front of its home fans. Coach Lee's wish eventually became a reality. The players, coaching staff, and club staff expressed their gratitude to the home fans after the victory rinse, and the fans who made their way to the first base and away seats waved red mufflers in a moment of joy. I enjoyed it.
It didn't start well. KIA starting pitcher Yang Hyun-jong gave up the first run in the top of the first inning when he hit a two-run home run from Lewin Diaz with two outs and a runner on first base. To make matters worse, he also gave up a solo shot to the follow-up Kim Young-woong, losing the lead to 0-3 as soon as the game started.
KIA's batting line immediately started chasing. In the bottom of the first inning, with one out and runners on 1st and 3rd base, Na Seong-beom scored 1 run with a sacrifice fly to left field. However, Choi Hyung-woo, who came to bat with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd base, was retired by a fly ball to left field and was unable to score any more points.
On the other hand, Diaz arched once again. He hit a two-run home run with two outs and a runner on first base in the top of the third inning, widening the lead to 5-1. It was KS' first consecutive home run in history. With this one blow, KIA had to remove Yang Hyun-jong (3 home runs, 5 runs in 2.2 innings) from the mound.
However, KIA did not give up and gradually gained points. At the center of it all was Choi Hyung-woo. He hit a timely hit with 1 out and 1 RBI on 1st and 3rd bases in the bottom of the 3rd inning, and in the bottom of the 5th inning, he stepped up as the leadoff hitter and drew a solo arch, putting pressure on Samsung. Luck followed. KIA took advantage of the opponent's wild pitch during Kim Do-young's at-bat and had both runners on second and third base step on the home plate, bringing the game back to square one. And in the bottom of the 6th inning, with one out and runners on 1st and 3rd, Kim Tae-gun's infield hit led to a 6-5 comeback, taking the lead for the first time that day. Then, in the bottom of the 8th inning, Park Chan-ho put a wedge in the game with an RBI double and a timely double.
Following Yang Hyeon-jong, KIA started solidifying by mobilizing all of its bullpen pitchers, including Kim Do-hyun (2.1 innings), Kwak Do-gyu (1 inning), Jang Hyun-sik (1.1 innings), Lee Jun-hyung (0.1 innings), and Jeon Sang-hyun (0 innings). They faced a crisis with bases loaded and 2 outs in the top of the 8th inning, but KIA's defender Jeong Hae-young escaped the crisis by setting up Lee Jae-hyeon with a fly ball in the infield. Jeong Hae-young, who was on the mound in the top of the 9th inning, raised both arms after blocking the opponent's batting line with a three-way throw.
Kim Seon-bin, who had a hard hit with 10 hits in 17 at-bats (batting average of 0.588) in KS, received 46 votes (46.5% of the votes) in the press vote (total of 99 people), beating Tae-gun Kim by 1 vote and was honored as the series MVP.
[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]
